Chapter 81: Preliminary Battles (II)

Orochimaru's eye's snapped open upon hearing he was the next entrant, after which he proceeded to begin walking towards the stage.

As he walked, he heard the encouragement of his teammates behind him.

"You better when Orochimaru, otherwise I won't be able to face you in the finals." Jiraiya yelled.

"If you don't win, I'm doubling your training for the next 3 months." Tsunade said calmly, though this sentence sent shivers up the spines of everyone from the leaf who was still there.

They all knew how terrifying Tsunade's training could be, and they didn't wish such horror on anyone.

Orochimaru simply continued walking towards the ring, though if the sweat on his face was any indication, the threat most surely succeeded.

He made it to the ring, with his opponent standing opposite of him with a cocky smile on his face.

"So, how many times do you leaf shinobi need to lose before you realize that you're just as pathetic as your village." Nemu said while standing leisurely.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the comment as he spoke "Oh, what made you make that assumption."

Nemu responded with a still arrogant look as he said "You guys have already lost 2 of your competitors in just the first two matches. At the rate this is going, you will not even be able to get half of your competitors into the main competition. And it's a widely known fact that the Cloud is the strongest village among the 5 Great Nations. Even your last Hokage could do nothing more than sacrifice his life there."

The last sentence seemed to make the air freeze as the Jonin from Kumo named Itoma prepared himself in case he needed to escape with his students.

'I told that brat not to make any unnecessary trouble.' Itoma thought to himself.

He didn't expect the brat to speak ill of the last Hokage, especially considering that most of his students and his granddaughter were in the room.

The immense anger that each of Tobirama's students gained was immense.

But the biggest amount of killing intent came from Tsunade, with her looking as if she wished to kill him on the spot but was refraining from doing so.

However, the immense tension in the room was broken by Orochimaru's next words.

"It seems I have to go serious from the beginning now. Next time you compete, try to filter your words so that you don't die."

"BEGIN!!"

The match started right after he finished speaking, and almost immediately, Orochimaru was directly in front of Nemu and sent a kunai directly at his throat.

However, Nemu disappeared from the direction of the kunai and appeared behind Orochimaru, with his blade drawn and attempting to slash him.

Orochimaru's body then bent in an unnatural direction, after which he delivered a powerful kick to Nemu's chest that knocked him back.

Orochimaru didn't let up for a second as he yelled

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!!"

Orochimaru expelled a powerful windstorm from his mouth that Nemu attempted to avoid, though the wide range of the attack led him to be cut all over his body.

And before Nemu could catch his breath, Orochimaru was already behind him and whispered

"You hurt Tsuna's feelings with what you said earlier, but I can't just openly kill you. So, try not to die."

Orochimaru then weaved very few signs before he inhaled sharply and spoke

"Fire Style: Stream!!"

A large current of flame blew from Orochimaru's mouth completely blasting Nemu.

The examiner immediately jumped in and protected Nemu, saving him, though he still suffered some great burns from the attack.

Seeing Nemu's horrifying state, the examiner immediately announced Orochimaru as the winner.

Seeing everyone was paying attention, Orochimaru prepared to speak so that all the remaining shinobi from other villages could hear.

"I'm not sure what made everyone fall under the false misconception that Konoha was weak, but I'd advise that you reevaluate it. Because if you dare to look down upon us, you shall surely regret it."

His words sparked an immense fire in the hearts of the remaining competitors while Hiruzen looked on at his disciple with pride.

Tsunade gained a smile on her face while the other Villages Shinobi could only grit their teeth.

The stage was then cleared as the next match began to be randomized.

Read chapters ahead on P@treon.com/KillerDJ2023