"Rip!"
Danzo, sensing danger, quickly dodged, but a deep gash was still left on his back.
At this moment, Li Chuan's figure also appeared from behind Danzo.
"It's a see-through Bloodline Limit, just like Gekkō Hayate's!"
Danzo saw Li Chuan's body transition from transparent to visible and immediately thought of a Ninja from Konoha named Gekkō Hayate, whose Bloodline Limit was a special Ninjutsu that could make his body transparent.
Actually, he didn't know that Li Chuan had no such thing as a see-through Ninjutsu.
He had merely cast an Illusion Charm, then created a Shadow Clone, pulled out a thick iron shield from his mission space and handed it to the Shadow Clone, while he himself cast an Illusion Charm that granted invisibility.
"Alright, we can withdraw!"
Looking at the blood on the kunai in his hand, Li Chuan put it away and called out to Zabuza and White.
Zabuza and White immediately disengaged from Aburame Takeji and Fu Yamanaka and returned to Li Chuan's side.
On the other side, Aburame Takeji and Fu Yamanaka, seeing Danzo injured, quickly turned to guard him.
"Smokescreen!"
Releasing a cloud of smoke, Li Chuan pulled Zabuza and White and Apparated directly back to the Villa, put the sealing scroll into a small cloth bag, and Apparated back to the Chunin Exams venue.
As for Danzo and his two companions, wary of Li Chuan's recent invisibility, they did not immediately pursue. By the time they realized something was wrong and dispersed the thick smoke, Li Chuan and his two companions had already vanished without a trace.
Why did Li Chuan want Danzo's blood?
Because he wanted to use Hidan's hands to destroy the Mangekyo Sharingan that Danzo had taken from Shisui.
Li Chuan wasn't afraid of the ten Sharingan on Danzo's arm, which merely granted him a state where he couldn't be killed for ten minutes. If one's strength was sufficient, one could completely abuse him for ten minutes, or if one couldn't win, one could run away and wear him down.
What he was worried about was the Kotoamatsukami, the strongest Genjutsu unique to Shisui's eye, which could permanently and completely alter the opponent's will.
If one day he showed himself to be strong enough and Danzo used it on him, that would be bad.
So, Danzo could be left alive for now, but Kotoamatsukami absolutely had to be dealt with first.
Later, when he had time, he could pay Hidan to commit suicide eleven times in a row using the Loki ritual, which should disable Danzo's Kotoamatsukami.
Returning to the venue, the intensity of the battle here was far greater than what he had just witnessed with Danzo.
Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation above, the Third Hokage, wielding the Monkey King Enma staff, was single-handedly fighting Orochimaru, and the Edo Tensei First and Second Hokage, with various powerful compound Ninjutsu appearing one after another.
Below, Konoha Anbu, Jonin, and participating Genin were also fighting Otogakure and Sand Ninjas, with various blades and Ninjutsu flying everywhere, a truly spectacular sight.
At this moment, Li Chuan's Shadow Clone was using Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder to protect the unconscious Daimyo and nobles from harm.
The weakness of a Shadow Clone is that it has virtually no defense and will easily disappear if it takes a certain amount of damage.
However, Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder can protect the physical body from attacks. As long as the Chakra is not exhausted, unless the Ninjutsu's power truly exceeds the norm, it cannot be broken.
The Shadow Clone currently on site has half of Li Chuan's Chakra, so lasting for half an hour is not a problem.
The main thing is that with Li Chuan's Ninjutsu level, the Shadow Clone only lasts for about five or six minutes, which is why he was in such a hurry to return to prevent exposure.
"Orochimaru's Edo Tensei shouldn't be perfected yet!"
Dispelling the Shadow Clone, Li Chuan's main body arrived at the Shadow Clone's location and looked up at the Four Violet Flames Formation.
If it were the perfected Edo Tensei from later on, not to mention the First and Second Hokage together, even one of them alone could easily kill the aging Third Hokage.
However, if that were the case, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to control the First and Second Hokage at all.
"Oh no, I forgot something, Orochimaru doesn't have the kusanagi sword anymore!"
Just then, Li Chuan suddenly remembered something: the reason Orochimaru wasn't sealed into the Shinigami's stomach by the Third Hokage using the Soul Reaper Seal was because he had used the kusanagi sword's ability to float in the air to strike the Third Hokage at the last moment.
But now, the kusanagi sword that he could control remotely had been taken by Li Chuan. The remaining kusanagi sword that he had originally given to Sasuke did not seem to have the ability to float in the air.
If things continued like this, wouldn't Orochimaru die with the Third Hokage?
Orochimaru was indeed difficult to kill, but the Soul Reaper Seal uses the Shinigami's power to seal souls. Even if Orochimaru's soul was sealed, he would be completely dead.
So now, Li Chuan was once again in a dilemma.
Originally, his plan was to sit back and watch the tigers fight, waiting for the Third Hokage to die and Orochimaru's hands to be crippled, and then see what benefits he could gain from it.
But if Orochimaru died now, he wouldn't be able to get the Soft Physique Modification Technique that allows one to swallow things into one's belly.
Moreover, if Orochimaru died now, the entire plot might go completely awry later on.
"Should I intervene?"
Li Chuan's eyes narrowed, and he already had an answer in his heart.
In fact, it wasn't just about Orochimaru's life or death. Over the past month, Li Chuan's own thoughts had also changed somewhat.
Originally, neither the Third Hokage nor anyone else in Konoha had anything to do with him, so he considered issues solely from his own self-interest.
But humans are emotional beings, and Li Chuan was no exception. In the past month or so, he had daily contact with Konoha's Jonin and Genin, and sought Ninjutsu guidance from the Third Hokage.
To say he had no feelings at all would be impossible.
Moreover, his own upbringing in his previous life made him value respect for teachers and elders.
The Third Hokage couldn't be considered a good person, but he had never done anything bad to Li Chuan and had even guided him in Ninjutsu. If he chose not to save him when he clearly had the ability to, he would feel some discomfort in his heart.
Then there was Asuma. Asuma truly had no self-serving intentions towards him. It was purely because of Chiriku that he gave him his most skilled Ninjutsu.
The Third Hokage was Asuma's father, so even for Asuma's sake, standing by and doing nothing seemed a bit unreasonable.
Although he sometimes resorted to unscrupulous methods and never hesitated to kill, he still had some personal bottom lines.
"Apparition!"
Seeing the Third Hokage create three Shadow Clones and about to cast the Soul Reaper Seal, Li Chuan did not take out the elder wand. Instead, he quickly performed the spell with strange hand gestures. Three seconds later, his figure disappeared from the spot.
"Orochimaru, today I will put an end to the mistake I made by letting you go back then. Let us, master and disciple, end this together today!"
Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Third Hokage formed hand signs:
"Snake - Boar - Ram - Rabbit - Dog - Rat - Rooster - Horse - Snake"
Just as his hands were about to clasp together, a figure suddenly appeared beside him and reached out to stop him.
"Hokage-sama, if you use the Soul Reaper Seal, both you and Orochimaru will die. Sacrificing your life for Orochimaru is not worth it. The Land of Fire and Konoha still need you to preside over the overall situation!"
"Soul Reaper Seal, the Jutsu the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Nine-Tailed!"
Orochimaru's pupils constricted when he heard Li Chuan's words.
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