"Gaara!"
Temari and Kankuro's expressions changed drastically as they hurried to stop him, but Gaara had already reached the limit of his patience.
"Get lost, or I'll kill you," Gaara growled.
His killing intent surged violently as he raised his hand, and an enormous torrent of yellow sand burst out of the gourd on his back, rushing toward Sora at terrifying speed.
At this moment, Sora had just finished a fierce battle and was at his weakest.
Gaara's sudden attack caused many people to break out in cold sweat for him.
"Has he lost control?" a masked man murmured quietly. "In that case, the operation must begin immediately."
He quickly formed hand seals while staring at Sora, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Demonic Illusion: Temple of Nirvana Technique."
Countless feathers slowly drifted down across the entire arena. Anyone who saw them gradually began to fall into a deep sleep.
Of course, not everyone was affected. Powerful individuals such as Gaara, Temari, and jonin like Kakashi remained awake.
"Hm?" Sora reacted instantly, forming hand seals at lightning speed as he said, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
A massive fireball burst from his mouth, burning away the sand rushing toward him.
At the same time, he retreated rapidly and formed another seal as the blood qi within his body circulated quickly, restoring the natural flow of his chakra.
"Who cast that gengutsu?" Sora frowned slightly.
He could clearly tell it was a large-scale illusion technique.
It did not appear to be aimed solely at him, but with Gaara attacking at the same time and his chakra nearly exhausted from battle.
He could easily have fallen for it if he had not reacted in time.
This made Sora extremely displeased with whoever had cast the gengutsu.
Perhaps it had not been meant specifically for him, but the timing was far too perfect to ignore.
"Hm?" Sora suddenly glanced toward the VIP stand. "A clash between two Kage-level experts?"
The Third Hokage and the Kazekage were already trapped inside a barrier. Even a fool could tell that a battle between Kage-level fighters was about to begin.
"What I need to do now is recover my chakra first."
Sora had not expected his battle with Naruto to consume so much energy. Fortunately, he had prepared for this situation.
He took out a sealed test tube from his pocket. The container had a sealing jutsu placed on it to preserve the nutrients within the liquid.
Opening it, Sora drank the contents in a single gulp.
His powerful digestive and absorption abilities activated immediately, and his chakra began recovering at astonishing speed.
"Die!"
Suddenly, a massive hand of sand burst from beneath Sora's feet, grabbing him tightly before crushing him with a loud explosion.
However, the shattered body instantly turned into a block of wood.
Substitution Technique.
Sora's real body had already vanished.
Seeing his prey escape, Gaara immediately went berserk. His gaze shifted toward Uchiha Sasuke, and he launched an attack at him instead.
As for Sora, he stood in a hidden corner near the arena alongside two women, quietly watching the figures fighting atop the building.
"This is what a real clash between Kage-level experts looks like," Sora murmured as he observed the battle between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage.
"Even the simplest ninjutsu becomes terrifyingly powerful in their hands."
The strength Orochimaru displayed now was completely different from when they had fought earlier.
Back then, Orochimaru had clearly been playing with him.
He had simply never expected to be caught off guard by the Soul Devouring Hand.
"Mom, aren't you going to help?"
"No," Tsunade replied calmly, shaking her head. "Although the bond between master and disciple still exists, it was already broken long ago.
The moment I left Konaha all those years ago, that connection ended. Besides, even Jiraiya hasn't made a move since returning.
Why should I? This is their personal grudge. It isn't our place to interfere."
On one side was their teacher.
On the other was a teammate they had fought beside for many years.
Even if that teammate had become corrupted, the bond formed through years of life-and-death battles could not disappear overnight.
This was a conflict between the two of them.
Neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya knew how they could possibly intervene.
"The relationship between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage is far more complicated than you think," Tsunade continued.
"The person Orochimaru cares about most is actually the Third Hokage. But Orochimaru's personality is too extreme. The deeper the love, the deeper the hatred.
You can tell how much Orochimaru cared about him by the fact that he is willing to go to such lengths just to kill him."
Tsunade revealed many secrets that even most people in Konaha did not know.
"But for Orochimaru to walk the path of killing his own master, something extremely significant must have happened between them.
Being driven out of Konaha was definitely not the main reason for his assassination attempt."
Sora had heard the official reason for Orochimaru's defection.
Human experimentation to research forbidden jutsu.
He had reportedly used enemy prisoners for experiments, but even some Konaha ninjas had been used as research subjects.
However, Sora did not believe that alone would cause the Third Hokage to drive a Kage-level expert out of the village.
Kage-level fighters were not common.
Especially during wartime, their importance was immeasurable.
The Third Hokage would never expel someone like Orochimaru over something so simple.
"What is the real reason?" Sora asked.
"It's very simple," Tsunade replied.
"Orochimaru was once chosen by the Third Hokage as the successor to the Hokage position. But in the end, he was not selected. Instead, Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage."
Tsunade smiled faintly, "What kind of shady business do you think was involved in that?"
In truth, Tsunade intentionally told Sora these things because, as Orochimaru often said, Konaha had already become decadent.
Behind the peaceful and bright surface of the village lurked a terrifying darkness.
Since these things could not be avoided, Tsunade wanted Sora to understand the darker side of ninja villages.
"Orochimaru was the Third Hokage's disciple and had earned countless military merits," Tsunade continued.
"He had two Kage-level teammates—Jiraiya and myself. In terms of strength, fame, influence, and support, he had everything.
In comparison, although Minato Namikaze shined during the Third Great Ninja War, at that time he still could not compare with Orochimaru.
Furthermore, Minato had not yet gained worldwide fame. Yet in the end, Orochimaru did not become Hokage. And the position instead went to Minato Namikaze."
Tsunade paused briefly before speaking again, "Don't you think that's a little strange?"
...
Author's Note:
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