That single punch nearly cost Manda half his life.
The giant serpent's body convulsed violently. Its tail thrashed against the ground, every lash shattering rubble and sending debris flying. Yet, the Wood Golem's left claw clamped around its skull, fingers buried deep in the scales, unmoving.
Standing atop the golem's head, Tejima Shinichi's eyes were cold as he drove the wooden giant to attack again. "Die!"
The golem's right fist was already rising for a second blow. If it landed, Manda's head would burst like a melon.
At the critical instant, a sharp shout came from the side. "Summoning: Rashōmon!"
Orochimaru, who had been atop Manda's head, had leapt clear to a civilian rooftop to dodge the blow. At his cry, a towering iron gate carved with a fiendish face erupted from the earth. Boom! It shielded the limp serpent's skull.
The next instant, the Wood Golem's fist slammed into the Rashōmon.
Boom! The gate groaned, spider-web cracks racing across its face. It nearly shattered, yet it barely held.
That split-second delay was all it took. Below, a surge of pain snapped Manda back to awareness as its survival instincts kicked in. The serpent's body arched, every muscle contracting in a violent, unnatural spasm.
"Shedding Technique!"
A hoarse roar tore from his throat. Riiip! With a sickening tear, the skin, muscle, and scales where the golem gripped Manda's neck split apart. The colossal body slid free of its own hide.
A newborn Manda thrust his head from the old neck-skin and dove straight for the ground. Crash! He smashed through the rubble and vanished underground. In the golem's left claw, only a blood-soaked, twitching husk remained.
"Running away?" Shinichi frowned.
With a thought, the golem's right fist curved past the Rashōmon toward the burrow site. But at that moment, Orochimaru finished another set of seals.
"Earth Release: Underworld Swamp!"
Rumble! For dozens of meters, the ground gave way, liquefying into a bubbling, sulfurous swamp. The Wood Golem started to sink, its pursuit abruptly stalled by the trap.
Bang! Thirty meters away, intact flagstones burst open. Manda erupted into view, his eyes wild with terror and rage. The fist's imprint still scarred his newborn skull, but he had survived. He had lived through the killing strike.
Feeling the pain, Manda glared at Orochimaru on the rooftop and roared. "Damn you, Orochimaru! A thousand sacrifices isn't enough! Not nearly enough! Up the price! Right now! Two thousand—no, five thousand living offerings!" He bared his fangs. "Short me by even one, and I'll swallow you first, bastard!"
Orochimaru ignored the serpent's tirade. His heavy gaze remained fixed on the black-haired youth atop the golem, who was already forming new seals.
Shinichi glanced at the swamp. "As expected of Orochimaru. Using nothing but a C-rank Earth Release: Underworld Swamp, he's stalled the golem by exploiting the terrain."
Praise aside, breaking the trap came next. Shinichi's hands, already clasped, snapped into a new seal.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rumble! For a hundred meters around Shinichi, the ground erupted again. Countless massive trunks burst from the swamp, lifting the golem clear.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Timbers shot outward, lunging at Orochimaru and Manda.
That wasn't all. Freed from the mire, the golem stepped forward as the Wood Dragon coiled once more over its shoulder. Golem and dragon stood side by side again.
Iron sand drifted around the magnetic Wood Dragon, condensing into a cloud of senbon.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Cloudburst!" Bzzzz! "Go."
Shinichi swept his right hand forward. The magnetic Wood Dragon reared, its jaws gaping.
Shnk-shnk-shnk! It was a triple onslaught, sky and earth moving as one. For Orochimaru and Manda, the world became a storm-blown death trap.
Manda's lone eye narrowed into a panicked slit as the black senbon rain, the wooden spears below, and the mountain-like golem and dragon bore down on him. His breath froze. His massive body made the perfect target; under the blanket of iron needles, there was no escape. Giant timbers on the ground would block every attempt to dodge, and the golem—that monster which had nearly smashed his skull—charged with murderous intent.
In a flash, Manda made his choice.
"Orochimaru!" he howled. "I'm out of here! But remember, the sacrifices better not be short!"
Boom! White smoke exploded. At the critical moment, the giant serpent fled.
On the rooftop, Orochimaru's face darkened. He knew Manda too well; faced with Shinichi's overwhelming triple assault, running was utterly unsurprising. He only found it a little embarrassing.
Before he could think further, the iron needles were already overhead.
Shnk-shnk-shnk! Wooden spears shot up from beneath his feet as the golem's raised foot came crashing down. The triple strike swallowed the rooftop where Orochimaru stood.
Boom! A thirty-meter crater sank beneath the house; a shockwave leveled the already crumbling buildings nearby. Dust billowed sky-high, cloaking everything in a thick haze.
Nearby, several Konoha ninjas disengaged from their fights and stared at the dust-shrouded ruin.
"I-Is it over?"
"Maybe... an attack like that..."
The sheer force of the triple strike had left them breathless from afar. Surviving it seemed impossible...
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