In just a few words, Kakashi's presence was suppressed by Orochimaru.
Yūgao Uzuki and Eagle were both as if facing a formidable enemy.
In the field, Uchiha Sora probably felt the least pressure, because he had already prepared the Flying Thunder God coordinates as a trump card; Orochimaru's appearance couldn't threaten his life at all.
However, a person like Orochimaru is extremely goal-oriented; his appearance here was likely no coincidence.
At this point in time, it had only been a year or two since Orochimaru defected from Konoha. Based on the original work's plot, he should be in the phase of searching for subordinates everywhere and likely hadn't joined the Akatsuki Organization yet.
Just as Uchiha Sora's thoughts were racing, Orochimaru's gaze suddenly fell upon him.
"Hehehe, if I'm not mistaken, this must be the genius of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sora, right?" A cold laugh rang out.
Uchiha Sora instantly felt as if he were being stared down by a venomous snake, making his entire body feel uneasy.
"As expected of Senior Orochimaru, to recognize me even while I'm wearing a mask. May I ask what business you have?" Uchiha Sora gathered his Chakra, secretly on guard, as he spoke indifferently.
Although Orochimaru's presence was imposing, Uchiha Sora had no intention of being suppressed by him.
He activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and powerful Dōjutsu power and Chakra erupted at the same time.
The air was stirred, forming a gust of wild wind.
The strength of his aura was so great that Kakashi and the other two beside him couldn't help but look sideways in surprise.
"Such strong Chakra! Uchiha Sora's Chakra capacity is likely much greater than mine!" Kakashi thought to himself.
"Not bad, not bad, Uchiha Sora. You truly are the genius who could defeat Itachi! Seeing you today makes this trip worthwhile!" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed as he extended his long tongue to lick his lower lip, looking like he was admiring his prey.
Hearing the hidden meaning in Orochimaru's words, Kakashi's expression changed as he said, "Orochimaru! What are you trying to do?"
Orochimaru chuckled, "Don't be nervous, Kakashi. I just want to play a little with a Konoha junior."
"Orochimaru! Don't you dare!" Kakashi immediately blocked the way in front of Uchiha Sora, his hands forming seals as the sound of thunder resonated in his palm.
It was Kakashi's famous technique, the S-rank Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter!
Holding the Lightning Cutter, Kakashi had already revealed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, staring fixedly at Orochimaru as he said, "If you want to lay a hand on Sora, you'll have to get through me first!"
"Me too!" Yūgao Uzuki also jumped over, drawing her long sword and pointing it at Orochimaru. Although the hand holding her sword was trembling slightly, her tone was incredibly firm.
Eagle also silently stepped forward.
"Heh, how troublesome." Orochimaru shook his head helplessly, raised his right hand to bite his finger, and formed seals: "Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A massive cloud of white smoke billowed up.
Three yellowish giant snakes, at least twenty meters long, slowly emerged from the white smoke.
"You three stall them; don't let them disturb me," Orochimaru ordered, standing atop the head of one of the giant snakes.
The three giant snakes obeyed and instantly lunged toward Kakashi's group of three.
Faced with the attack of large summoned beasts, everyone had no choice but to scatter.
Just as Uchiha Sora leapt into the air, he saw Orochimaru's neck suddenly stretch out, shooting toward him.
This grasp of timing was far beyond what an ordinary Ninja could compare to.
Stranded in mid-air, Uchiha Sora couldn't dodge and could only rely on his swordsmanship to slash out several Gale Slashes in succession.
But Orochimaru's neck was far too flexible; with a casual twist in mid-air, he easily avoided the attacks.
Following that, Orochimaru gave him a wicked smile, opening his large mouth to bite toward Sora's neck.
Just as Orochimaru's fangs were about to pierce Sora, he suddenly caught a glimpse of blue Chakra light from the corner of his eye.
Orochimaru's expression changed drastically.
At the same time, Uchiha Sora's left hand, hidden behind his back, suddenly thrust out carrying a violently spinning Rasengan, slamming it toward Orochimaru's face which was inches away!
Just when Uchiha Sora thought he was about to succeed, Orochimaru's tongue suddenly curled out, actually wrapping around his arm. With a sudden pull and toss, the trajectory of the Rasengan in Sora's hand was instantly yanked off course.
The Rasengan missed!
Orochimaru retracted his neck, his head returning to his body, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
This kid actually knows the Rasengan! Could it be that he has a connection with Jiraiya?
Uchiha Sora's body also used the momentum to land on the other side.
"As expected of Orochimaru. This counter-combo I planned actually failed to hit him. This is the strength of the Sannin; his adaptability—his combat experience—is simply too strong!" Uchiha Sora thought to himself.
In terms of combat experience, he couldn't compare at all to a powerhouse like Orochimaru who had survived the Second and Third Great Ninja War.
However, only by fighting against a Kage-level Expert like Orochimaru could he truly feel that pressure!
Only by experiencing this level of combat could he be tempered quickly!
Feeling the immense pressure from Orochimaru, Uchiha Sora actually felt a hint of excitement in his heart.
"Ding! Under the pressure of Orochimaru, your Mental Energy has successfully entered automatic cultivation mode!"
"Pressure is also motivation! Your will is very excited! Mental Energy automatic cultivation accelerated! Mental Energy increased by 100% instantly!"
Suddenly, a system notification sounded in his mind.
Sora couldn't help but be overjoyed.
He didn't expect that tempering his will would actually cause his Mental Energy to enter automatic cultivation!
One must know that Mental Energy is one of the two major components of Chakra, but it is usually very ethereal, with no specific method to increase it.
For an ordinary Ninja to increase their Chakra capacity, besides practicing the Chakra Concentration Technique, they must find ways to enhance their physical and Mental Energy.
Otherwise, blindly practicing the Chakra Concentration Technique would quickly lead to a bottleneck.
To increase Chakra capacity, the most fundamental approach is to enhance physical and Mental Energy.
However, enhancing these two energies is extremely difficult. Although Physical Energy can become stronger through constant training, it relies heavily on one's bloodline; for example, those with a Sage Body are born with much more Physical Energy than ordinary people.
As for Mental Energy, besides the Sage Eye clans who can enhance it by upgrading their Dōjutsu through stimulation, others can only strengthen it by constantly tempering their will, and the effect for ordinary people is actually very limited.
This is also why most Ninjas can only remain Chunin.
Because most Ninjas lack bloodline advantages, their physical and mental energies lack a method for rapid improvement, and their upper limits are fixed. Only true geniuses have the chance to break through this bottleneck.
Uchiha Sora had already put his physical training into automatic cultivation mode earlier, which meant his Physical Energy was automatically cultivating at all times; he had even awakened a Sage Body.
Now that his Mental Energy had also entered automatic cultivation mode, it meant that moving forward, Uchiha Sora wouldn't need to worry at all about how to raise the upper limits of these two energies.
Barring any accidents, Uchiha Sora's Chakra capacity would continue to increase indefinitely!
Though it sounds complicated, after the instant 100% increase in Mental Energy, Uchiha Sora not only felt more mentally refreshed, but under his body's passive Chakra extraction, his total Chakra was also growing at an extremely rapid pace!
At the same time, the Dōjutsu power of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan also increased passively due to the growth of his Mental Energy.
While it wasn't enough to open the Mangekyo Sharingan, compared to an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his Dōjutsu power had already far exceeded it.
At this moment, the system spoke again.
"Ding! Due to the increase in your Mental Energy, your Sharingan feels very comfortable and happy! In the process of automatic cultivation, it is brewing a new talent!"
Hearing this prompt, Uchiha Sora was shocked!
Impressive! My Sharingan, you can even do that?
Previously, under Shisui's Genjutsu, it had already awakened the Illusion Immunity talent. Now it was preparing to create another one?
Good! My Sharingan! Daddy will be waiting for your surprise!
For the Sharingan to brew a talent, it naturally wouldn't be that fast.
Uchiha Sora reined in his surging emotions, looked at Orochimaru, and couldn't help but show a sincere smile: "Senior Orochimaru, I really have to thank you!"
Because without Orochimaru's appearance, his Mental Energy wouldn't have entered automatic cultivation and increased by 100%, leading to his Chakra capacity becoming nearly double what it was before.
"???" Orochimaru was stunned, somewhat confused.
"Heh, to express my gratitude, I'll let you experience the power of the Sharingan that you desire most!" Uchiha Sora smiled slightly.
Within those crimson eyes, Dōjutsu power surged violently.
An invisible wave of Dōjutsu power spread toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's expression changed instantly.
"Not good!" Just as he wanted to pull away, he found that he had already been pulled into a Genjutsu.
The scene before him suddenly changed.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Uchiha Sora's eyes expanded continuously, eventually drowning out Orochimaru's entire field of vision.
As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru not only had rich combat experience but also extraordinary attainments in Genjutsu. He immediately formed hand seals to perform his own Genjutsu, attempting to reflect Uchiha Sora's Genjutsu back.
In his view, even if Uchiha Sora possessed the Sharingan, his Genjutsu skills couldn't possibly be as great as his own.
However, Orochimaru was shocked to find that his body actually couldn't move!
It was the Binding Technique!
"How is this possible? I could actually be controlled by this kind of Genjutsu?" Orochimaru was incredibly shocked; this situation was completely beyond his expectations!
At this moment, Uchiha Sora's leisurely voice rang out: "Orochimaru, it seems you haven't noticed yet, but I've already seen right through you with these eyes!"
"What do you mean?" Beads of cold sweat appeared on Orochimaru's forehead.
As one of the Sannin, he had never before experienced being controlled by someone with a single Genjutsu.