Chapter 150

"Screech!"

Sensing danger, Danzo quickly dodged, but he still ended up with a shallow cut on his back.

At that moment, Leo's figure materialized behind Danzo.

"Is that the Transparent Escape Kekkei Genkai like Hayate Gekkō's?"

Seeing Leo's body go from transparent to visible, Danzo immediately thought of Hayate Gekkō, a Konoha ninja with a Kekkei Genkai that allows the user to become invisible—a unique type of stealth jutsu.

In reality, Danzo didn't know that Leo didn't have any so-called stealth jutsu.

He had simply created a shadow clone after using the Smoke Screen Charm, then took a thick iron shield from his task space and threw it to the shadow clone while he himself cast an Invisibility Charm.

"All right, time to retreat!"

Seeing the blood on his kunai, Leo stored it away and called out to Zabuza and Haku.

Zabuza and Haku immediately disengaged from Torune Aburame and Fu Yamanaka and returned to Leo's side.

Seeing Danzo injured, Torune and Fu quickly returned to his side to protect him.

"Smoke Screen!"

Releasing another thick cloud of smoke to cover their retreat, Leo grabbed Zabuza and Haku and used Apparition to teleport back to the villa. There, he stored the Scroll of Seals in his pouch and then Apparated back to the Chunin Exam arena.

As for Danzo and his men, wary of Leo's invisibility technique, they didn't immediately pursue. By the time they cleared the smoke and realized something was wrong, Leo and his team had already vanished without a trace.

Why did Leo want Danzo's blood?

He planned to use Hidan to eliminate the Mangekyō Sharingan that Danzo had taken from Shisui.

The ten Sharingan on Danzo's arm didn't scare Leo—they just meant ten minutes during which Danzo couldn't be killed. With enough power, he could completely overwhelm Danzo for those ten minutes, and if things got too tough, he could retreat and wait it out.

His real concern was Shisui's eye, which possessed the most powerful genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, capable of permanently and completely altering someone's will.

If, one day, Danzo perceived him as a significant enough threat and used that jutsu on him, things could turn dire.

Therefore, Danzo could wait, but Kotoamatsukami had to be dealt with first.

When he had time, he planned to hire Hidan with money to perform his Jashin ritual and commit suicide eleven times consecutively. That should disable Danzo's Kotoamatsukami.

Upon returning to the arena, the battle there had become far more intense than what he had just experienced with Danzo.

Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation above, the Third Hokage, wielding the Monkey King Enma staff, was locked in a fierce battle against Orochimaru and the reanimated First and Second Hokage, unleashing a barrage of high-powered combined jutsu.

Below, Konoha's Anbu, jonin, and the genin participating in the exam were fighting against the Sound and Sand ninjas, with kunai and ninjutsu flying everywhere, creating a spectacular scene.

Meanwhile, Leo's shadow clone was using "Kannon: Thousand-Armed Strike" to protect the unconscious daimyos and nobles from harm.

The weakness of shadow clones is their lack of defense; they easily vanish after sustaining a certain amount of damage.

However, "Kannon: Thousand-Armed Strike" effectively shielded the body from attacks. As long as the chakra wasn't depleted, it was almost impossible to break through unless the jutsu's power far exceeded normal levels.

This shadow clone held half of Leo's chakra, so it could last about half an hour without a problem.

More importantly, given Leo's skill level in ninjutsu, the shadow clone could only exist for about five to six minutes, so he had rushed back to avoid blowing his cover.

...

"Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu doesn't seem to be perfected yet!"

Dispelling the shadow clone, Leo's true body appeared where the shadow clone had been, looking up at the Four Violet Flames Formation above.

If it were the perfected version of the Reanimation Jutsu from later, even without the combined strength of the First and Second Hokage, either one of them alone could have easily overpowered the aged Third Hokage.

However, if that were the case, Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to control the First and Second Hokage at all.

"Damn, I forgot something: Orochimaru doesn't have the Kusanagi Sword anymore!"

Suddenly, Leo remembered a crucial detail: the reason Orochimaru wasn't sealed inside the Shinigami's belly by the Third Hokage using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was that, at the last moment, he used the ability of his Kusanagi Sword to fly through the air and counterattack the Third Hokage.

But now that Leo had taken away the Kusanagi Sword capable of remote control, Orochimaru was left with the sword he originally gave to Sasuke, which apparently didn't have the ability to fly.

If things continued like this, wouldn't Orochimaru and the Third Hokage end up dying together?

Orochimaru was indeed hard to kill, but the Dead Demon Consuming Seal utilized the Shinigami's power to seal souls. If Orochimaru's soul were sealed, he would be completely dead.

Leo found himself in a dilemma once again.

His initial plan was to watch the battle from the sidelines, waiting for the Third Hokage to die and for Orochimaru's hands to be crippled, then seize the opportunity to reap the benefits.

But if Orochimaru were to die now, he wouldn't be able to get the Soft Physique Modification Jutsu that allowed things to be swallowed into the stomach.

Moreover, if Orochimaru died now, the entire storyline could spiral into chaos.

"Should I intervene?"

Leo's eyes narrowed as he made up his mind.

It wasn't just about Orochimaru's life. Over the past month, Leo's perspective had also shifted somewhat.

Initially, neither the Third Hokage nor anyone else in Konoha mattered to him; he considered everything purely from his own interest.

But people are emotional beings, and Leo was no exception. Over the past month, he had interacted daily with Konoha's jonin and genin, and consulted the Third Hokage about ninjutsu.

To say he felt absolutely nothing would be impossible.

Moreover, his upbringing in his previous life instilled in him a deep respect for his teachers.

The Third Hokage wasn't necessarily a good person, but he hadn't done anything bad to Leo and had even guided him in ninjutsu. To choose not to save him when he had the power to do so would leave a knot in his heart.

And then there was Asuma. Asuma had no ulterior motives; he simply helped Leo because of his connection with Chiriku, even gifting him his most proficient jutsu.

The Third Hokage was Asuma's father, and even for Asuma's sake, standing by idly didn't feel right.

Although his actions could be ruthless, and he never hesitated to kill, he still had his principles.

"Apparate!"

Seeing the Third Hokage split into three shadow clones, about to perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Leo didn't pull out the Elder Wand. Instead, he made strange hand gestures, casting a spell quickly. Three seconds later, his figure vanished from where he stood.

"Orochimaru, today I will atone for my mistake of letting you go back then. Let's end this, master and disciple, together today!"

Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Third Hokage formed a series of hand seals:

"Serpent – Boar – Ram – Hare – Dog – Rat – Bird – Horse – Serpent"

Just as his hands were about to clap together, a figure suddenly appeared beside him, grabbing his hands to stop him.

"Lord Hokage, using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal will kill both you and Orochimaru. It's not worth sacrificing your life for him. The Land of Fire and Konoha still need you to lead!"

"The Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the technique the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Nine-Tails!"

On the opposite side, Orochimaru's pupils shrank upon hearing Leo's words.