The moment Naoki nodded in agreement, the atmosphere of the entire training ground changed.
If the previous fight was just a farce of an upperclassman bullying a lowerclassman, then this was now a true, highly anticipated duel between geniuses.
The surrounding students all widened their eyes, fearing they might miss even a single detail.
Tsunade also put away her playful thoughts, her expression becoming serious.
She knew Orochimaru’s strength very well; although that guy had a gloomy personality and didn’t like to talk, he was the recognized No.
1 in the Ninja Academy.
Whether it was theoretical knowledge, Ninjutsu combat, or Taijutsu sparring, no one could match him.
“Is Naoki really going to fight him?” She felt a bit uncertain.
“Orochimaru’s Taijutsu is not on the same level as that idiot from the Inuzuka family just now.”
Jiraiya, on the other hand, stood to the side, clenching his fists nervously and muttering, “Go Boss!
Boss will win!
Beat that cold guy until his teeth are all over the ground!”
In the center of the field.
Orochimaru slowly took off his shirt, revealing an upper body that was thin but full of flexibility.
He looked at Naoki and said in that raspy voice, “Naoki-kun, to show my respect for you, I will use a technique I recently perfected to deal with you.
Please…
make sure I enjoy myself.”
After speaking, his body began to twist eerily in a way that defied human anatomy.
His arms, as if they had no bones, bent backward at an exaggerated angle.
His waist was as soft as a noodle, capable of swaying back and forth at will.
“Is this…
Soft Physique Modification?”
The term instantly surfaced in Naoki’s mind.
He knew this was one of Orochimaru’s future signature abilities.
By modifying his own body structure, he gained flexibility and elasticity beyond ordinary people, allowing him to perform all sorts of bizarre and unpredictable attacks.
He hadn’t expected that at the age of eight, Orochimaru had already developed a prototype.
“As expected of the future Uncle Snake, he really is a genius,” Naoki marveled internally.
But despite the admiration, the expression on his face remained as calm and indifferent as ever.
“Come,” he simply uttered two words.
Orochimaru smiled.
It was the kind of smile full of pleasure and excitement one has when seeing a favorite toy.
“Then, here I come.”
Whoosh!
The next second, he appeared behind Naoki, an arm like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, coiling toward Naoki’s neck at an extremely tricky angle.
So fast!
And silent!
Naoki was startled.
Orochimaru’s speed was actually a notch faster than the Inuzuka youth from before!
But, that was all.
In the vision of Naoki’s passively activated Three-Tomoe Sharingan, although Orochimaru’s movements were bizarre, they still left a trail to follow.
He could even clearly see how every muscle in Orochimaru’s coiling arm exerted force and how every joint twisted.
Naoki didn’t turn around; he simply lowered his body slightly and slammed his shoulder backward.
This was a move called the ‘Iron Mountain Lean’ from the Uchiha Fluidity Art.
The range of motion was extremely small, but the force was incredibly fierce, focusing on a burst of Inch Power.
Bang!
Naoki’s shoulder accurately slammed into the elbow joint of Orochimaru’s coiling arm.
“Hmm?!”
Orochimaru let out a muffled groan.
He felt a fierce and overbearing force transmit through his arm, causing his subsequent throat-locking move to instantly lose its form.
He immediately used that momentum to flip his body in mid-air, his other hand flickering like a snake’s tongue, aiming straight for Naoki’s eyes.
Fast, accurate, and ruthless!
Furthermore, there was no pause between the moves; they flowed like water, full of a snake’s coldness and cunning.
Naoki’s reaction was even faster.
He pushed off with his toes and drifted back half a step, just barely dodging that lethal strike.
Simultaneously, he delivered a hand-chop as fast as lightning, slashing toward Orochimaru’s neck.
Orochimaru’s neck leaned back at an angle absolutely impossible for a normal person, dodging the hand-chop.
At the same time, his legs crossed like scissors, snapping toward Naoki’s lower body.
For a moment, two figures moved so fast on the training ground that it was dazzling.
One had movements that were concise and sharp, full of fierce and overbearing explosive power; every move targeted vital points, reeking of the bloodiness of military combat.
The other was bizarre and flexible, like a phantom; the attack angles were incredibly tricky, and the moves were full of a sinister ruthlessness that was impossible to guard against.
Hard and soft, two completely different Taijutsu styles, collided most intensely at this moment.
The surrounding students watching the battle were completely stunned.
“My god…
is this really a battle between people our age?”
“I can’t even see a single one of their movements clearly!”
“Too strong…
Naoki-kun and Orochimaru-kun are both too strong!”
Tsunade’s pretty face was also written with shock.
But seeing the duel between Naoki and Orochimaru today, she realized that the strength she was so proud of was quite crude and clumsy in the face of true skill.
Especially Naoki.
The combat instinct and timing he displayed were just like a battle-hardened veteran!
“This guy…
just how many secrets is he hiding?”
The battle had entered a fever pitch.
Naoki became more and more alarmed as the fight went on.
Orochimaru’s Soft Physique Modification was even more troublesome than he had imagined.
This guy’s body was like it was made of plasticine; there were essentially no so-called joints or vital points.
Many of Naoki’s seemingly certain attacks were neutralized by him in inconceivable ways.
And Orochimaru became more and more excited as he fought.
He could feel that within Naoki’s body resided a vast amount of blood energy and power that was hard to imagine.
However, Naoki wasn’t fully unleashing it; instead, he was using extremely exquisite techniques to control this power.
Every attack was just right.
A bit more would be a waste, and a bit less would be ineffective.
“This ultimate control over power…
these textbook-like combat techniques…
and those eyes that can predict all my movements…
Senju Naoki, just what is your body made of?!”
In Orochimaru’s eyes, a dangerous light flickered, as if he wanted to drag Naoki back to a laboratory to dissect and study him.
Bang!
The two exchanged another move and both retreated.
Naoki was panting slightly.
He found that relying purely on Uchiha Fluidity Art, while allowing him to go back and forth with Orochimaru, made it almost impossible to win easily.
This guy was too slippery, like an eel that couldn’t be caught.
“It seems Taijutsu alone won’t work.”
Naoki made a decision in his heart.
“Since you are a snake, I will use the way of the eagle to deal with you.”
He looked at Orochimaru, who was also panting but whose eyes were becoming increasingly excited, and slowly raised his right hand.
A surge of Chakra, completely different from the previous fierce and overbearing one and full of majesty and pressure, began to slowly rise from his body.
Orochimaru’s smile instantly froze.
He felt it.
That aura from the Entrance Ceremony that had made him tremble and driven him mad had appeared once again!