Chapter 29: Solo Battle Against Orochimaru

"Greetings, everyone from the Hidden Leaf Village. It has been a while." As the dust and smoke gradually dispersed, a giant purple serpent coiled its body in preparation for an assault. Orochimaru, dressed in his red-cloud patterned robe, stood atop the massive snake's head, looking down at the group with an air of condescension.

"Orochimaru..." The presence of Manda, Orochimaru's summoning, placed immense pressure on everyone. Sweat began to bead on the foreheads of the Special Jonin present. While veteran Jonin like Seiichi Nagai and Kaze Inuzuka maintained their composure, the sheer size of Manda made them feel extremely troubled.

"Orochimaru, are these the sacrifices for this time?" Manda’s slit pupils, radiating a sinister chill, fixed on the group below. The serpent spoke in a human voice, "This is not enough."

"Inabi, Zaido, take everyone and fall back. Leave this to me," Uchiha Touhuan commanded. The three tomoe in his eyes swirled slowly, and sparks of lightning began to crackle around his body. "Kakashi, protect everyone."

Kakashi pulled up his headband, revealing his Sharingan, and asked, "Are you sure you can handle this alone?"

Uchiha Touhuan laughed aloud, his hands weaving seals at lightning speed. "Do you know why I usually performed missions alone during the Third Great Ninja War? Lightning Style: Azure Dragon!"

Violent lightning-attribute chakra erupted from Uchiha Touhuan as the center. Kakashi, standing nearby, pulled his teammates back with a look of shock. Within a few breaths, Uchiha Touhuan was surrounded by viscous plasma, and the wild thunder surged like ocean waves, emitting deafening roars.

Uchiha Touhuan, standing at the heart of the sea of lightning, appeared like a demon god descended upon the world.

Only now did everyone recall why Uchiha Touhuan had earned the moniker "Thunder of the Hidden Leaf," slaughtering fifteen Mist Village Jonin squads single-handedly on the battlefields of the Third War. It was precisely because of these massive-scale, powerful lightning ninjutsu. In this situation, staying near him would only force him to hold back his techniques to avoid hitting his allies, preventing him from unleashing his full power.

"Still, the sheer volume of this chakra is absurd," Kakashi muttered, his jaw dropping as he retreated with his teammates. He had not been on the same front as the Uchiha clan during the war, so he had only heard rumors of Touhuan’s fighting style. Seeing it today, he couldn't help but shed tears of envy in his heart. Among all the ninja he had ever seen, only his sensei's wife, a jinchuriki, could arguably surpass Uchiha Touhuan in raw chakra capacity.

At that moment, Uchiha Touhuan let out a low growl. From the surging thunder, a giant azure lightning dragon, no smaller than Manda, burst forth and whistled as it streaked toward the target.

Giant trees in its path collapsed one after another, their broken ends scorched pitch-black by the violent thunder in an instant. Facing the incoming dragon, Manda’s eyes filled with terror. "Orochimaru! What kind of monster have you provoked?"

"It has been years, and Touhuan-kun's strength has improved yet again," Orochimaru said, his face turning solemn. He had only seen his master perform ninjutsu of this scale in his youth. In other words, Uchiha Touhuan was likely no longer inferior to the Third Hokage in his prime—and that was without even considering the abilities of his Mangekyo Sharingan, which had yet to be revealed.

Orochimaru cancelled the summoning of Manda, realizing that against a ninja like Uchiha Touhuan, whose techniques were all wide-range area-of-effect attacks, Manda’s size made it nothing more than a target. Upon landing, Orochimaru bit his finger and slammed his palm onto the ground.

"Summoning: Triple Rashomon!"

Three massive gates, each adorned with a demonic face, erupted from the earth, blocking the path of the roaring lightning dragon. The moment they collided, a violent shockwave surged into the sky, engulfing everything nearby. Although the group led by Kakashi had retreated several hundred meters, the impact of the explosion still sent them stumbling. As for Utatane Shu, who had lost an arm and had no one to assist his retreat, he was blown away directly by the blast, slamming into the ground dozens of meters away before spitting out a mouthful of blood and falling unconscious.

"Gulp..." Seiichi Nagai couldn't help but swallow hard. It was hard to imagine that the man causing such devastation had been sharing drinks with him just the previous night.

"Is your clan leader always this exaggerated?" Hyuga Kenya asked, his expression dazed as he looked toward Uchiha Inabi, who had covered his retreat earlier.

"Of course. Our clan leader is the strongest person in the Uchiha clan!" Uchiha Inabi replied with fanatical eyes.

"Kenya! Stop chatting! Check the situation at the center of the explosion!" Kakashi shouted a reminder.

Hyuga Kenya quickly regained his focus, activated his Byakugan, and stared at the center of the blast. "Leader Touhuan... he has charged at Orochimaru! They have already engaged!"

Although the Triple Rashomon had weakened the attack, preventing it from inflicting direct damage, the massive shockwave had forced Orochimaru to retreat. Taking advantage of this, Uchiha Touhuan drew his blade, *Jirai* (Swift Thunder), and chased after him, stepping on the lightning.

Orochimaru saw this and drew his Kusanagi sword. Within a few moments, the two had traded several blows.

After a few exchanges, even a sword-master like Orochimaru felt troubled. Uchiha Touhuan's speed was simply too great, and combined with his exquisite swordsmanship, every strike was as swift as thunder, aimed directly at his vitals.

"A lightning chakra mode similar to those guys from the Hidden Cloud?" Orochimaru thought to himself. "This is going to be difficult."

The relentless Uchiha Touhuan also furrowed his brow. Orochimaru's swordsmanship was not to be underestimated, and with his body modified to be soft and flexible, he was able to parry Touhuan's tricky strikes from impossible angles.

After *Jirai* and the Kusanagi sword clashed once more, the two separated instantly.

"Is this the power of the Uchiha clan? Truly terrifying," Orochimaru said, extending his long tongue to lick his entire face.

"You're not so bad yourself, Orochimaru. Worthy of being one of the legendary Sannin," Uchiha Touhuan replied with a faint smile.

"I hear you have awakened the same Mangekyo Sharingan as Uchiha Madara. I wonder if you might let me see it?" Orochimaru, confident in his own immortality, asked suddenly.

"The Mangekyo? That depends on whether you have the ability to make me use it." Azure lightning crackled once more around Uchiha Touhuan as he stepped on the thunder and lunged toward Orochimaru.