Chapter 451: Fleeing in Panic

Chapter 451: Chapter 451: Fleeing in Panic

As one chased and the other fled, the two quickly arrived at the battlefield in the forest.

"Stop him!"

Orochimaru roared sharply at the reanimated bodies of the First and Second Hokage.

The First and Second Hokage, who had been mechanically entangled with the forest of bones, turned around in unison. Their vacant gazes fell upon Kagami, who was pursuing Orochimaru from close behind.

"Tch!"

Clicking his tongue, Kagami immediately activated the Body Flicker Technique!

Whoosh...

In the blink of an eye, before even the sound of rushing wind could catch up, Kagami flashed behind the Second Hokage’s reanimated body and completed his slash!

Before the razor-sharp bone blade, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body was no different from a block of tofu. It was sliced cleanly in two without the slightest resistance, while paper-like fragments scattered from his body and drifted away in the wind.

Kagami immediately formed hand seals, intending to take advantage of the interval before the Second Hokage’s reanimated body regenerated and attempt to seal him with the Four Symbols Seal.

But before he could finish forming the seals, a slender branch silently reached toward his left leg.

It wrapped around his ankle and violently yanked him away!

Even as he was dragged through the air, Kagami’s expression remained unchanged. He merely glanced toward his ankle.

In an instant, a bone blade extended from his ankle, slicing apart the branch wrapped around him before retracting back beneath his flesh.

Immediately afterward, a nearby bone spear extended toward him on its own and caught him in midair.

Standing atop the tip of the bone spear, Kagami rested one hand on his hip, his expression cold as he stared down at Orochimaru below.

Orochimaru’s expression darkened, his gaze flickering as though he were plotting something, while the reanimated bodies of the First and Second Hokage stood before him like a pair of guardian deities.

As the two sides remained locked in a standoff, Kurenai peered through the gaps of the Iron Sand cage, staring fixedly at Kagami standing atop the bone spear.

"So that’s what he looks like..." After a pause, Kurenai became even more puzzled. "But... I don’t know him at all. Why would he risk himself to save me?"

"Byakugan?!"

Immediately afterward, Kurenai’s attention was drawn to the Byakugan in the eye sockets of Kagami’s Type-A Wind Release clone.

Because her captain, Hyuga Kagami, was himself a member of the Hyuga Clan, Kurenai was no stranger to the prestigious Hyuga Clan and its dojutsu Kekkei Genkai.

So after noticing the Byakugan in the Type-A Wind Release clone’s eyes, her first reaction was to look toward his forehead.

She immediately thought, "Unlike Kagami, he doesn’t have the Caged Bird seal. Is he a member of the Hyuga Main Family?"

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept through the forest, rustling the leaves with a soft shasha sound.

Neither Kagami nor Orochimaru, still locked in their standoff, made a move.

There was no doubt that after the battle had reached this point, Orochimaru had no choice but to admit that he had severely underestimated this Kamigami member codenamed Furin.

At this point, he had already lost any interest in continuing the prolonged battle.

After all, he had no real conflict with Kamigami, and while he was already being hunted by Akatsuki, the last thing he wanted was to provoke another organization that was anything but easy to deal with.

However, his opponent’s speed was simply too terrifying.

His attacks were fierce yet concise, almost completely devoid of unnecessary movement. Combined with the assistance of the Byakugan’s penetrating vision, even the slightest lapse on Orochimaru’s part could result in an irreversible mistake.

Therefore, even retreating required careful planning for Orochimaru in his current situation.

Otherwise...

He might inexplicably lose his head somewhere along the way.

At that moment, Orochimaru’s snake-like vertical pupils casually flicked toward Kurenai, who was trapped inside the black Iron Sand cage and plagued by countless questions.

An idea immediately came to him.

He slowly extended both hands and pressed them against the backs of the First and Second Hokage’s reanimated bodies.

In an instant, both reanimated bodies activated ninjutsu simultaneously.

"Wood Style: Wood Expulsion Technique!"

"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Amid a series of heavy sounds as massive wooden sections slammed together, an enormous wooden shield engraved with the relief of a demonic face erupted from the ground, enclosing Orochimaru within and protecting him.

At the same time, as the Second Hokage’s reanimated body brought his palms together with a sharp clap, a raging torrent appeared out of thin air.

In an instant, the forest was submerged.

Taking advantage of the flood, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body plunged beneath the water and rapidly swam toward Kurenai, who was now trapped underwater inside the Iron Sand cage.

Standing atop the bone spear, Kagami was naturally unaffected by the Second Hokage’s Water Release ninjutsu.

However, he immediately realized that Orochimaru’s target was not him.

It was Kurenai inside the Iron Sand cage.

His gaze shifted beneath the water, locking onto the Second Hokage’s reanimated body as it swam toward her.

The Second Hokage’s underwater speed was astonishingly fast. Like a fish born to live in the ocean, he closed the distance to the Iron Sand cage in only a few moments.

Kagami curled his lips slightly and merged his body into the bone spear.

Soon, Kagami emerged from another bone spear near the Iron Sand cage and reached toward Kurenai inside.

The sturdy Iron Sand cage instantly disintegrated at the slightest touch of his hand, opening a circular hole large enough for one person to pass through.

With the entire area submerged—and the residual poison still lingering within her body—Kurenai was already in terrible condition and beginning to suffocate, struggling violently inside the cage.

The moment Kagami grabbed her hand, Kurenai reacted as though she had caught hold of a lifeline, immediately wrapping both arms around his arm.

Suddenly, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body lunged toward them through the water, swinging the kunai in his hand at Kagami.

Kagami had absolutely no experience fighting underwater, and with Kurenai clinging to one of his arms, he was immediately forced into a rather awkward defense.

Seizing the opportunity, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body completely disregarded the danger of being struck by Kagami’s bone blade and flicked his wrist, throwing the kunai directly toward Kurenai.

Swish...

Just as the bone blade in Kagami’s hand was about to strike the Second Hokage’s reanimated body, the latter abruptly vanished.

In the next instant, he appeared beside Kurenai!

Catching the kunai he had just thrown toward her, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body followed through with the motion and slashed Kurenai across the body.

In an instant, a large portion of Kurenai’s chest was stained crimson with blood!

Kagami’s gaze sharpened.

"Flying Thunder God Technique!?"

Having succeeded in his surprise attack, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body did not remain to fight Kagami. Instead, he immediately swam away into the distance.

At the same time, the floodwater rapidly began to recede.

By the time the Second Hokage’s reanimated body regrouped with the First Hokage’s reanimated body, the massive volume of water that had just submerged the entire forest had completely disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a vast expanse of muddy ground.

Kagami glanced toward Orochimaru, who had seized the opportunity to flee in panic, but chose not to pursue him.

That was because he had already noticed something.

When the Second Hokage’s reanimated body had launched his surprise attack against Kurenai just now, he had secretly left a string of formula markings on her lower back.

And judging from the pattern of those markings...

It was none other than the marking formula commonly used by the Second Hokage for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

If Kagami chose to pursue him now, the Second Hokage’s reanimated body could use the Flying Thunder God Technique at any moment to teleport back and kill Kurenai.

As Orochimaru fled in panic, he glanced back toward the battlefield behind him.

After confirming that Kagami had chosen not to pursue, Orochimaru finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"Looks like Furin didn’t appear here because of the Totsuka Blade after all. What rotten luck... Forget it. I’ll deal with the Totsuka Blade another time!"

Orochimaru had ordered the Second Hokage’s reanimated body to ambush Kurenai not only to create an opportunity for himself to escape, but also to test whether Furin had truly appeared here solely because of Kurenai...