Since there were more people from Konoha present, the Root and Anbu members, though nervous, remained relatively calm. The Anbu leader even directly questioned, "Orochimaru, wasn't causing trouble during the Chunin Exams enough? What are you trying to do now!"
Unlike the Anbu, the Root group was trying to eliminate Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru, and the leader immediately began to criticize them.
"Orochimaru, you traitor to Konoha! So Sasuke Uchiha betrayed Konoha and colluded with you long ago! No wonder you had such clear intelligence when you invaded Konoha before."
In truth, the Root ninjas knew very well how much intelligence Sasuke Uchiha could gather and transmit on his own, but for the sake of Lord Danzo's great cause, what was wrong with letting him take the blame?
"It seems that your numerical advantage has made you lose your sense of awe."
Orochimaru coldly surveyed the Konoha ninja around him, then suddenly bit his finger, formed hand seals, and pressed them to the ground.
"Spiritual Communication"
Amidst a cloud of smoke and dust, a giant serpent with purple stripes appeared out of nowhere, crushing a section of the trees where the Konoha ninjas were standing.
Upon seeing the surrounding situation, Manda angrily accused, "Orochimaru, you called me out again! You still haven't paid me back the 100 offerings you owed me last time!"
Orochimaru had anticipated Manda's attitude, and immediately began to deceive him with a smile.
"Hehe, you can use these Konoha ninjas around you as you please. Fight well today, and I'll make up for the sacrifices next time."
"Remember what you said, or the Great Serpent Lord will devour you alive!"
Seeing that the people around him were already itching to make a move, Manda, after hearing Orochimaru's words, uttered a harsh threat and quickly pounced on the Konoha ninja. His massive body twisted and turned, blocking out the light and plunging the surrounding area into a gloomy and eerie atmosphere.
"What the hell is this?! Isn't it too much to make us ordinary genin face enemies like this?!"
Kiba and the others had been completely bewildered since the beginning, and now, seeing this gigantic summoning beast, they felt even more dizzy. Was it too early for him to deal with such a terrifying creature? Kiba's highest expectations hadn't even reached this point.
Fortunately, Naruto and the others had retreated some distance when the incident occurred, so they didn't have to face Manda immediately. However, the roots that fell from the trees and the Anbu members had to contend with Manda's venom and the crushing force of its massive body, and the two sides quickly became embroiled in a fierce battle.
"Hiss, you guys have a good chat with Manda, we're leaving now."
Orochimaru watched the Konoha ninja being devoured and gnawed by the ten thousand snakes and revealed a smug smile. He beckoned to Kabuto Yakushi to leave. Sasuke Uchiha's body would soon belong to him, so why waste time with these Konoha ninjas?
But before they could leave, more commotion came from the outside.
Fire Release: Head Carving
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage".
Enemies who had infiltrated from the periphery immediately used a combination of ninjutsu to clear a path, with gale-force winds and raging flames spreading endlessly.
The two violent energies of wind and fire raged through the forest, uprooting rows of trees and setting them ablaze in mid-air before crashing down on everyone in the area along with the raging wind and fiery clouds.
The Konoha ninja, who were focused on dealing with Manda, were suddenly attacked from both sides and suffered heavy losses. After the raging winds and flames swept through, a scorched clearing was left in the forest, where nearly thirty charred corpses lay.
Naruto and his group were at the furthest point in the direction of the attack and were not affected by the ninjutsu. Nearly half of the other Konoha ninjas had burn marks from flames or wind pressure.
Those Konoha ninjas who reacted quickly and escaped unharmed turned around in horror to see two mysterious figures dressed in black robes with fiery clouds staring at them with strange eyes.
A large part of the sky turned red, and a fierce wind, carrying flames, raged through the forest.
"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm really lucky today. I was just going to go and investigate in Itachi's place, but I didn't expect to be able to gather the organization's traitor, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Uchiha descendant all at once. I'm going to make a fortune again."
Kakuzu spoke arrogantly, seemingly disregarding everyone in the arena. He looked around, his eyes gleaming with the light of gold coins, completely ignoring the ordinary Konoha ninjas, only lingering for a moment on Orochimaru, the wooden barrel behind Kabuto, and Naruto.
"There are indeed many people! I can spread the greatness of the evil god again. Everyone, please join me in believing in the evil god!"
Beside Kakuzu, Hidan, carrying a large scythe, looked on with anticipation.
The Konoha members were completely unfazed by Hidan's erratic behavior, instead focusing their wary gazes on Kakuzu. That powerful combination ninjutsu was truly terrifying; caution was never an overreaction. The situation was chaotic, and they were unsure what to do next, so they could only observe cautiously for the time being.
"Hiss, what a coincidence! I didn't expect to run into so many old friends today."
Orochimaru couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache when he saw Kakuzu and Hidan; he knew very well how troublesome the rogue ninjas in the Akatsuki were.
"Orochimaru, you are not my primary target. The most valuable person here is Uchiha Sasuke. The Uchiha clan is very valuable; their black market bounty is 30 million ryo."
Kaku ignored Orochimaru's greetings and focused on calculating the gains he could make that day. After thinking for a while, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and excitedly clapped his hands.
"Wait, why would I sell him? If I just keep Uchiha Sasuke and buy some fertile women for him to breed with, wouldn't I be able to harvest a batch of Uchiha clan members every year?"
At this rate, I can live off Sasuke for the rest of my life!
Kakuzu's bizarre ideas left everyone in the room somewhat shocked, and even the wooden barrel behind Kabuto Yakushi trembled slightly, as if it had been greatly stimulated.
"No, Sasuke is mine!"
Orochimaru was very excited when he heard that someone wanted to take his Sasuke, and immediately got into a fighting stance.
"No, Sasuke has to come back to Konoha with me!"
Naruto was completely bewildered by the sudden turn of events, but when he heard that someone was going to do something so terrible to Sasuke, he immediately snapped out of it and jumped up in protest.
"No, we can't let Sasuke live like that, he's practically a stud pig!"
In the sky, Uchiha Mikoto's reaction was even more agitated than Orochimaru and Sasuke's. Her body writhed, her breathing became rapid, and her breasts heaved. If it weren't for Hyuga Kaze firmly holding her slender waist, Mikoto probably would have rushed down and killed the strange man with masks on both shoulders.
At this moment, Uchiha Mikoto and Hyuga Kaze sat cross-legged, embracing each other, a thousand meters in the air. It was unclear what kind of magical method Hyuga Kaze had used. Beneath them were thick white clouds, seemingly soft yet as tough as iron, supporting them as they flew through the air.
In front of them was a water mirror, through which the images and sounds below were transmitted in real time, as clear as if they were right in front of them.
They had received intelligence from Konoha that Sasuke Uchiha had defected. Mikoto was extremely worried about her son and pleaded with Hyuga Kaze until her lips were swollen before he finally agreed to bring her to protect him. How could Mikoto possibly stand by and watch Sasuke be in danger?
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