Chapter 261: True Human Nature: Orochimaru

(A/N: Well apparently, my work finished earlier than I expected. So here today Chapter)

(T/N: Please consider reviewing this Fanfic, Thanks and appreciate all who support me)

(T/N: Enjoy!!)

<><><><><><>

Human nature is the most difficult thing to fathom and the hardest to change. 

What Asahi wanted to see were the shining points of humanity within these people. 

So, as everyone's state returned to its peak, Asahi's eyes narrowed slightly. 

The energy within him circulated rapidly, and an invisible wave of mental energy emanated from him.

As the targets of Asahi's technique, the twelve hundred participants instantly felt their vision go pitch black. 

Immediately after, they felt as if they were plunged into chaos, their minds foggy, unable to recall anything. 

But this feeling quickly passed. Rubbing their heads, they opened their eyes to see entirely different scenes before them.

The grand palace, the plaza, the competitors—all had vanished, replaced by their homes, villages, or other familiar settings. 

Each person saw different scenes, all deeply etched in their memories. 

However, seeing these familiar people and places, 1200 participants furrowed their brows in confusion.

They felt like they had forgotten something important, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't remember. 

As they stood there frowning, their family members, friends, or teachers asked them what was wrong. 

This question snapped them out of their confusion. Shaking their heads, they all replied that it was nothing, just a moment of distraction.

Of course, none of this was real. To assess human nature, the best method was using genjutsu. 

Everything the participants saw was an illusion created by Asahi. 

However, all the people and things were derived from the participants' memories, making it impossible for anyone to notice the deception.

Asahi only intervened at critical moments to influence the course of events. Additionally, to prevent any anomalies, Asahi sealed their memories. 

Essentially, everything they experienced in the illusion was something they had lived through before, except that at crucial junctures, Asahi altered the direction of events.

Faced with such a realistic scenario, how could anyone possibly see through it? 

Every choice, every facet of human nature, would be laid bare before Asahi. Take Orochimaru, for instance. 

In his illusion, he found himself young again, reliving the time of the Sannin battle against Hanzo, but without Asahi's intervention. 

This time, Hanzo showed no mercy to the three.

Asahi was deeply curious about what choices the cold and ruthless Orochimaru, would make when confronted with the lives of his comrades and himself.

In Orochimaru's illusion, he calmly surveyed the devastated surroundings, his mind racing to find an escape route. 

The momentary sense of something being off was long forgotten. Yet, despite his frantic calculations, he could find no way to escape unscathed.

With a helpless chuckle, Orochimaru looked at his two exhausted teammates and said, 

"Tsunade, Jiraiya, it seems our luck has run out this time. We might actually meet our end here."

Jiraiya responded with a carefree laugh, "Haha, I figured this might happen one day." 

"Ever since I became a ninja, I've wondered how I would die. Looks like I finally have my answer." 

"Too bad, though. The name Jiraiya hasn't yet echoed through the ninja world."

Despite his weariness, Jiraiya's hearty tone was unmistakable to anyone listening.

Tsunade joined in with a lighthearted laugh, saying, "Yeah, being a ninja means being ready to die at any moment." 

"But I really don't want to die alongside this idiot Jiraiya."

Jiraiya, feeling indignant, retorted, "Hey, hey, Tsunade, what's that supposed to mean?" 

"What do you mean you don't want to die with me? And who's the idiot here?"

Hearing the two still having the energy to banter, Orochimaru couldn't help but let a faint smile slip across his lips. However, he quickly concealed it. 

Meanwhile, standing atop the giant salamander, Hanzo looked down on the three with a lofty demeanor and said, 

"You three are at death's door, yet you still have the heart to joke around. Any last words? Feel free to speak; I'll give you that chance."

Tsunade's eyes flashed with determination as she glanced up at Hanzo. 

She pulled out a red pill from her pouch and, without hesitation, moved to pop it into her mouth. 

But before she could, Jiraiya, quick as lightning, stopped her. "What are you doing, Tsunade?"

Jiraiya asked anxiously. Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, then at Orochimaru, and said, 

"We've come to the end of the line. If we drag this out any longer, all three of us will die here." 

"I have a secret pill from the Akimichi clan that can give me the strength to fight Hanzo. I'll hold him off while you two escape."

Without a second thought, Jiraiya reached out to take the pill from her. Tsunade hesitated for a moment, but Jiraiya pressed on, 

"Don't just stand there. Give me the pill. Saving our comrades is a task for a man like Jiraiya." 

"How can a man run away, especially under the protection of a woman?"

But Tsunade didn't hand over the pill. It wasn't a matter of doubting Jiraiya's strength; rather, she knew that the secret medicine of the Akimichi clan could only be fully effective with her Senju clan physique. 

The drug's side effects were evident from the Akimichi clan's emaciated post-use forms.

So Tsunade said to Jiraiya, "Jiraiya, stop being ridiculous. The Akimichi clan's secret medicine will only work best with me." 

"I'll hold off Hanzo, and you and Orochimaru need to... uh~" Before she could finish, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck and lost consciousness.

Seeing Tsunade collapse into Orochimaru's arms, Jiraiya asked urgently, "Orochimaru, what are you doing?!"

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya calmly, masking the emotional turmoil in his eyes.

"Tsunade is the princess of the Senju clan, her status is special." 

"If she were to sacrifice herself, the impact on Konoha would be far greater than if it were you." 

"Konoha needs peace now, not destruction. Therefore, the task of stalling Hanzo cannot fall to her," 

Orochimaru's voice was steady and calm, as if he were stating a simple fact, with no trace of emotion detectable.

As he spoke, Orochimaru pried open Tsunade's hand and took the secret pill from her grasp. 

Jiraiya nodded in agreement upon hearing Orochimaru's reasoning. 

He was long accustomed to Orochimaru's cold logic, so the urgency on his face faded, and he laughed, saying, "Alright then, I'll take on this task."

However, Orochimaru merely cast a brief, indifferent glance at Jiraiya. Without hesitation, he swallowed the Akimichi clan's secret pill. 

"Such a critical mission can't be entrusted to you. I'll handle it myself." Jiraiya wanted to argue, but Orochimaru cut him off before he could speak.

"As your captain, I order you to take Tsunade and leave immediately!" Orochimaru commanded. 

At the same time, Hanzo, observing from above, felt something was amiss when Orochimaru took the pill. 

Though the three were not as strong as him, if they used some forbidden drug, it could be troublesome for him.

As Orochimaru issued his order to Jiraiya, Hanzo also spoke, "Stop muttering, your fates are already sealed. Prepare to die!" 

With that, Hanzo tightened his grip on his scythe and charged at the Sannin. But by then, it was too late.

Having ingested the Akimichi secret pill, Orochimaru felt a shudder run through his body as an enormous surge of chakra erupted within him. 

In that moment, Orochimaru's body was filled with a sense of contradiction. 

The immense chakra gave him a boundless sense of power, but simultaneously, massive fatigue seemed to seep into his very soul.

This was not an illusion. At this moment, Orochimaru looked like a skeleton, his body wrapped in just a thin layer of skin over bones. 

Both Jiraiya and Hanzo were deeply shocked by Orochimaru's transformation. However, there was no time for words.

As Orochimaru's chakra surged, he immediately unleashed several jutsu at Hanzo, who was charging toward the Sannin. 

Jiraiya, not one to hesitate, accepted that the situation was irreversible and decided to make the best of it. 

He swiftly picked up Tsunade and ran, not looking back, his face contorted in pain and his jaw clenched tight, revealing his inner torment.

Hanzo, desperately wanted to stop Jiraiya, but he was powerless to do so. 

Supported by an enormous amount of chakra, Orochimaru didn't care about the toll on his body. He knew he couldn't hold out for long. 

His mission was to stall Hanzo for as long as possible, so his strategy was straightforward: unleash a relentless barrage of jutsu. 

He didn't want to reach a point where his body gave out while still having a large reserve of unused chakra; that would be truly tragic.

Of course, this wasn't the only reason. The main issue was that Orochimaru's body couldn't sustain such vast amounts of chakra for long. 

Had he been in his prime, he might have been able to handle the sudden influx of power, but now, he was like an overinflated balloon, constantly on the verge of bursting.

In such a situation, the best solution was to release some of that pressure. 

To last as long as possible, Orochimaru needed to find ways to deplete the immense chakra.

Hence, he opted for a mindless, continuous assault. However, facing this onslaught from Orochimaru, Hanzo was genuinely overwhelmed.

Hanzo felt nauseated as he dealt with Orochimaru's relentless attacks. 

Orochimaru, understanding his body's limitations, relentlessly continued his barrage. 

He was aware that his body, now emaciated and frail, could not sustain this massive chakra influx for long. 

To mitigate this, he unleashed powerful jutsu after powerful jutsu, each one designed to buy more time for Jiraiya and Tsunade's escape. 

This unyielding assault left Hanzo struggling to find a moment to counterattack, further entrenching Orochimaru's advantage.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, carrying Tsunade, felt the weight of their predicament. 

Every step away from the battlefield was a step filled with guilt and sorrow, knowing Orochimaru was making the ultimate sacrifice. 

But he pushed on, driven by the understanding that this was the only way to honor Orochimaru's determination.

In the chaos of the battlefield, Orochimaru's desperate measures created a spectacle of raw power and tenacity. 

Despite his skeletal appearance and the imminent danger of his body failing him, his spirit remained unbroken. 

The battlefield became a testament to his will, his chakra flooding the area with explosive force, each attack a statement of defiance against the inevitable.

Although Orochimaru was no match for Hanzo, the barrage of jutsu and venomous snakes kept Hanzo constantly on the defensive. 

Despite his strength, Hanzo's primary offensive capability was his poison. 

His physical defense was nowhere near the level of the muscular warriors from the Hidden Cloud Village, and he was not as resilient as pure taijutsu specialists.

Orochimaru, being a Kage-level shinobi, unleashed attacks that Hanzo couldn't simply ignore or withstand without consequence. 

This forced Hanzo to stay in place, unable to pursue Jiraiya and Tsunade as they fled. However, Orochimaru's struggle was ultimately a desperate one.

Even though Orochimaru fought with all his might, he couldn't maintain his onslaught for long. 

Before long, he reached the limits of his endurance. But he knew he couldn't afford to collapse. 

Driven by sheer willpower, Orochimaru remained standing, albeit barely. 

Hanzo observed Orochimaru's deteriorating condition and stood still, making no move. 

Finally, as darkness overcame Orochimaru's vision, he fell straight to the ground. 

In that moment, many thoughts flashed through his mind—his past, his dreams, his comrades. 

He wondered if he would regret this, considering his ambitions had barely begun. Yet, he found no regret within himself. 

Although he was dying and could no longer pursue his dreams, at least Jiraiya and Tsunade would survive. 

With a dull thud, Orochimaru lost consciousness completely.

...

In a place unseen by Orochimaru, Asahi and the members of the Ogami Clan observed everything from an omniscient perspective. 

As the creator of this illusion, Asahi could come and go as he pleased. The others were able to enter seamlessly with his assistance.

As the newly inducted members of the Ogami Clan, the first hundred recruits had the option to take on one or more disciples. 

Asahi brought them into the illusion to witness the candidates' performances firsthand. 

Although there were many participants, the illusion provided ample time for the Ogami Clan members to observe each one thoroughly.

<End Chapter>

If you want to support me, join my patr**on. Have 15 advanced Chapters for you guys.

patr**n.com/saitamablast > TSMSW NOVEL TIER