Chapter 20: The Shocked ANBU—This Kid Is Really Only Eight?!

"Damn it!"

Orochimaru cursed inwardly, his anxiety steadily growing.

Half a minute had already passed, yet he still hadn’t managed to take down an eight-year-old brat?!

Even if the boy was a genius with impressive abilities, he was still only eight years old!

He had only been a Genin for half a year!

And yet—

After opening the first three Gates of the Eight Gates, the boy’s speed and strength had temporarily surged to the level of a Jonin.

On top of that, his two-tomoe Sharingan gave him powerful insight, allowing him to predict Orochimaru’s attacks in advance.

Furthermore, Orochimaru himself had already suffered severe injuries earlier, leaving his strength greatly diminished.

All these factors combined had produced an unbelievable result: despite the enormous difference in strength between them, Orochimaru was temporarily unable to take the boy down!

If he continued allowing the boy to stall him like this, once the ANBU returned and surrounded him, things would become troublesome.

His mind growing increasingly anxious, Orochimaru threw a punch at Reiji with his uninjured right arm.

It hit!

"No, this sensation..."

Orochimaru immediately realized something was wrong.

He disturbed the flow of his chakra slightly and discovered that he had actually punched a tree!

A Genjutsu?

When had it been cast? He hadn’t even seen the boy form any hand seals!

Could this brat use Genjutsu without hand seals as well?

No!

The real issue was—

He had actually fallen for a Genjutsu!

Orochimaru was horrified, unable to figure out what had gone wrong.

Even if an eight-year-old brat had awakened a two-tomoe Sharingan, that alone shouldn’t have been enough to make him fall for a Genjutsu so easily!

On Reiji’s side—

Seeing that his Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings had taken effect, Reiji was somewhat stunned himself.

He knew that Orochimaru’s resistance to Genjutsu would become weaker in the future, but that was the future.

Besides, he only had a two-tomoe Sharingan. He wasn’t Uchiha Itachi, who would eventually awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Still, Reiji had decided to give Genjutsu a try.

It only took an instant to cast without hand seals, so there was no reason not to.

He hadn’t expected it to actually work!

Although Orochimaru quickly realized that he had been caught in a Genjutsu and broke free, it had still worked!

Is Orochimaru’s resistance to Genjutsu already this weak?

Reiji was puzzled.

Orochimaru had only just defected from Konoha. The Living Corpse Reincarnation should not have been completed yet, right?

Suddenly, Reiji thought of something.

Before Orochimaru defected, he had left a Cursed Seal on his disciple Anko Mitarashi, and that Cursed Seal contained a fragment of Orochimaru’s soul!

In other words, before defecting, Orochimaru had already begun researching the soul and had even tampered with his own soul?

Reiji couldn’t help but marvel at just how much of a scientist Orochimaru really was, but his attacks did not slow down in the slightest.

He threw a punch straight toward Orochimaru’s previously injured left shoulder!

Crack!

The sound of something splitting apart rang out.

Feeling that something was wrong with the impact, Reiji immediately pulled back and retreated.

Only then did he notice that the place he had struck had turned brownish yellow.

Orochimaru had already used Earth Release: Earth Hardening Technique to defend himself.

"You little brat!"

Orochimaru was furious.

He had actually fallen for a Genjutsu cast by an eight-year-old!

If he hadn’t prepared the Earth Release beforehand, that punch would have landed directly. Even he couldn’t have taken it head-on without consequences!

Just as he was about to charge forward, he suddenly heard the sound of something slicing through the air behind him.

He turned his head and saw two kunai tied with explosive tags.

He had no idea when they had been thrown behind him. Now, they had already changed direction and were flying straight toward him!

Orochimaru cursed inwardly and quickly used Wind Release to blow the kunai away.

But when he turned back—

A wave of scorching heat rushed toward his face.

A fierce fire dragon slammed directly into him!

"Damn it!"

Orochimaru, now covered in soot and no longer looking nearly as composed, reinforced his entire body with Earth Release and forced his way out of the fire dragon’s range.

The admiration he had previously felt for Reiji’s talent was completely forgotten.

Killing intent surged in Orochimaru’s heart!

Because he had fallen for a Genjutsu, the boy had seized that brief opening and unleashed an entire chain of attacks!

Before throwing that punch at Orochimaru, the boy had already used his shuriken technique to throw kunai tied with explosive tags.

And he had deliberately thrown them behind him!

When Orochimaru was forced to react in haste, the boy immediately followed up with another Great Dragon Fire Technique without hand seals, striking him directly!

Even Orochimaru had to admit that the combination was beautifully executed.

It had left him in such a sorry state.

This was the first time he had ever been toyed with so thoroughly by someone so young!

"I was truly foolish. Why did I insist on fighting you at close range?"

Orochimaru shook his head with a smile.

His hands moved rapidly through a series of seals, and a massive water dragon surged up from the ground and roared toward Reiji!

A simplified version of the Second Hokage’s Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

As Reiji used the Great Dragon Fire Technique to counter it, Orochimaru continued forming hand seals without pause.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

The ground around them instantly transformed into a raging mudslide!

Reiji frowned and hurriedly leaped onto a nearby tree.

The mudslide swept toward him from below, toppling trees and uprooting massive rocks, forcing him to continue jumping farther away.

Orochimaru definitely possessed an enormous number of ninjutsu, and the techniques he used were also more powerful than Reiji’s.

If they competed purely in ninjutsu, Reiji’s only advantage was that he didn’t need hand seals, allowing him to cast his techniques much faster.

He rapidly leaped from tree to tree, dodging the mudslide below while gathering the chakra released by the Eight Gates and frantically unleashing ninjutsu!

One Great Dragon Fire Technique after another shot toward Orochimaru as if they cost nothing at all!

"Damn it!"

Only now did Orochimaru realize the problem.

He was the one trying to escape. He couldn’t squander his chakra recklessly.

Reiji, on the other hand, only needed to stall him for a certain amount of time, so he had no reason to conserve chakra when using ninjutsu!

Judging by the time, the ANBU should be almost back by now.

No!

I have to leave immediately!

Orochimaru’s gaze turned cold, and fury filled his heart.

He had spent an entire minute and still couldn’t take down an eight-year-old brat!

This was even more humiliating than when he had once lost to Hanzo and been bestowed with the title of one of the Legendary Sannin!

But he had no time to care about that now.

Orochimaru immediately prepared to withdraw.

From not far away—

A sound like the simultaneous chirping of a thousand birds approached from a distance!

A white-haired figure rushed forward first, lightning enveloping his entire body as he shot toward Orochimaru like an arrow!

Hatake Kakashi!

Right behind him was Might Guy, who had already opened the Sixth Gate in rapid succession, his entire body enveloped in a green aura!

"I’m safe..."

Seeing Kakashi and Guy arrive, Reiji finally let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time, the duration of the Eight Gates had reached its limit.

The explosively increased chakra vanished.

The tremendous strength and speed disappeared as well, leaving behind only overwhelming exhaustion.

Soon after—

A large group of ANBU rushed into the forest one after another.

They stared at the devastated ground, most of it covered in traces of scorched earth from Fire Release.

Then they looked up at Reiji, who had just exited the Eight Gates state and was completely exhausted.

Every ANBU member was left utterly stunned!

This battlefield was created by this brat and Orochimaru?

This eight-year-old kid actually managed to stall Orochimaru?

This damn kid is really an eight-year-old Genin who only graduated half a year ago?!