Orochimaru raised a hand, yet no arm or palm emerged from his sleeve.
Instead, countless venomous snakes hissed and lunged forward!
It was Orochimaru’s signature ninjutsu: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!
One moment he was smirking lightheartedly and praising him as “interesting,” and the next he struck without hesitation!
As expected of Orochimaru—ruthless as ever!
However, Inaba Hyuga was not caught entirely unprepared.
He had long guessed that a fight might break out.
Leaning his upper body back to pull away, he drew the short sword from behind his back with his right hand while forming a seal with his left!
In less than a second, pale blue lightning blazed around his entire body!
A flash of sword light severed several large snakes in two.
Their severed heads hit the ground charred black, scorched by electricity, completely unable to writhe any further.
Orochimaru’s expression showed a flicker of surprise, but his interest only surged.
“Lightning Style and swordsmanship?” Many shinobi were skilled in Lightning Style and swordsmanship, but few among them belonged to the Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga kid in front of him seemed to exceed his expectations.
Yet what surprised Orochimaru even more was what came next!
Inaba Hyuga was never the type of shinobi to play strictly by the rules.
Unlike the countless members in the village who revered the Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palms as sacred treasures and badges of honor, Inaba had looked down on these ancestral techniques ever since coming to this world.
Chakra point strikes?
Gentle Fist?
By the late game of the plot, weren’t those only useful for trimming the nails of Tailed Beasts?
Furthermore, within the strict hierarchy of the Hyuga Clan, the version of Eight Trigrams Palms accessible to Branch House members was incomplete.
It was already something he didn’t care for; did they really expect him to grovel to the Head House just for a chance to learn the full version?
How could he stomach that?
So even though over the years his clan members advised him to just kneel if he wanted the tradition, claiming there was no shame in it…
Inaba Hyuga felt it was damn shameful!
Besides, now that he had a system, why couldn’t he stand tall and level up his strength?
Thus, in the two and a half years since his transmigration, he had trained relentlessly, grinding his Proficiency.
And today, he was finally going to let Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, sample the fruits of his labor!
After slicing through the swarm of snakes, Inaba snapped back from his backward lean, and the fine electric arcs humming along his short sword flowed back into his body!
The next moment, he lunged forward with his blade, current bursting outward with a violent crackle!
In the blink of an eye, he unleashed a staggering burst of speed, leaving even Orochimaru moved!
Using Lightning Style to stimulate cells for maximum explosive power already bore the embryonic form of the Lightning Style Chakra Mode!
It was hard to believe this was a technique developed by a Hyuga!
Of the seven chakra natures, Inaba’s strongest was Lightning.
This was something he had personally grinded out bit by bit over the past two and a half years!
The Byakugan also enhanced dynamic vision, so he didn’t need to worry about his eyes failing to keep up with his sudden surge in speed.
This strike was the absolute peak of his speed!
*Sizzle!* With a single strike, Inaba flashed past Orochimaru and came to a stop behind him, his hand holding the blade trembling slightly.
Unable to contain the wild current, lightning blasted forward, piercing the wall in front of him and rushing outside, instantly triggering a wave of chaos.
“What happened?!” “An enemy attack?!” “Lord Orochimaru, are you alright?!” A moment later, numerous figures flickered into the area outside.
This was the temporary headquarters of Konoha’s southern war zone, housing at least a thousand shinobi.
The first batch of shinobi to arrive caught a glimpse inside the room, and their eyes widened in shock!
Because they saw that Orochimaru, the commander-in-chief of the front lines, had lost his right arm!
Who?!
Who could possibly do such a thing?!
When did Kirigakure get a powerhouse like this?!
Just then, Orochimaru’s cold, stern voice rang out, forcefully nipping their rush of adrenaline in the bud.
“I am fine.
Stand down.
You are not needed here.” The crowd outside wavered in shock and doubt.
Fortunately, they quickly spotted the Konoha forehead protector on Inaba Hyuga’s head, which dispelled the panic in their hearts.
Yet as they left, many were still exchanging astonished whispers.
“Who is that guy?
Did he actually wound Lord Orochimaru?” “I don’t know, but he looks like a Hyuga.” “Since when did the front line have such a powerful Hyuga?” These shocked, curious, and admiring voices reached Inaba Hyuga’s ears, giving him both relief and apprehension.
Fortunately, after that single strike, Orochimaru took no further action.
Instead, he turned around, his smile growing even broader.
He even stretched out his tongue to lick his lips in excitement, making Inaba shudder involuntarily.
*You just lost an arm.
It’s one thing not to react, but why are you smiling even more pervertedly?* As expected of Orochimaru…
“Heh heh…
It seems your strength goes far beyond that of a Chunin.
Have you been hiding your true abilities all this time?
And as a Hyuga, you don’t even specialize in the Gentle Fist…
It seems your relationship with your clan is quite delicate.
What an interesting little fellow.” After taking a blade strike, Orochimaru not only harbored no anger, but he even chatted warmly with Inaba.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have been completely bewildered by Orochimaru.
Fortunately, Inaba understood Lord Snake.
Before moving, he had already guessed: Orochimaru’s move was largely to test his worth.
After all, from Orochimaru’s perspective, if a weakling came to seek refuge with him, it wouldn’t be worth breaking the rules and offending a major ninja clan for them.
By testing him through combat, if he possessed real strength, Lord Snake would be delighted—he could gain a useful subordinate; If he lacked strength, Lord Snake would also be delighted—he could gain a useful test subject.
There was no doubt about the killing intent behind Orochimaru’s move earlier, because Lord Snake never cared about accidentally killing his own people.
So in a sense, Inaba had indeed just taken a stroll outside the gates of hell.
If his strength had been lacking and he hadn’t landed that strike, he really would have died under the snake venom!
Thankfully, he pulled it off!
Facing Orochimaru’s question now, Inaba chose not to answer, as there was no need—Orochimaru already had his answer.
On the surface, Inaba’s ninja rank was merely Chunin.
But that was only because he had rarely revealed his Lightning Style before, nor had he ever shown the miraculous power of his flawless Byakugan to outsiders.
He had played it completely safe!
Exposing all this now was partly because he was so heavily buffed that he had nothing left to fear, and partly a gesture of goodwill toward Orochimaru.
“I will arrange your teammates for you shortly.
If your clan has any objections, they can come find me anytime.” As he made the promise, Orochimaru unzipped his shinobi vest with his remaining left hand.
The moment the vest fell open, Inaba’s pupils shrank— He saw a perfectly intact, pale right arm stretch out casually from beneath Orochimaru’s vest.
This?!
He was me-level certain he had sliced off Orochimaru’s right arm just moments ago; the tactile feedback of the blade cutting through flesh was undeniable.
Furthermore, judged by skin tone, Orochimaru’s current right arm was noticeably paler than the rest of his body.
So that really was a newly regenerated arm.
However…
why didn’t he see any hand seals?
There hadn’t been a single sign, and he didn’t even know when Orochimaru had completed the limb regeneration.
It was like a magic trick—he had been chatting calmly the whole time without doing anything, only to pull open his vest and reveal a newly grown arm extending naturally, without the slightest hint of effort.
A little Snake-style shock!
Then he looked up and saw Orochimaru smiling even more brightly.
Alright, he got it.
This was mostly a little warning from the boss, telling the young man not to get cocky and to behave himself…
Inaba wisely bowed his head immediately and declared, “I shall follow your instructions, Lord Orochimaru.” He had no complaints about Orochimaru’s warning.
On the contrary, he wished Orochimaru were as formidable as possible!
Because the stronger this backer was, the safer his own situation would be going forward!
He wondered if Orochimaru realized just how many buffs he was carrying?
Perhaps even now, Orochimaru thought accepting this subordinate only meant facing pressure from the Hyuga Clan.
Little did he know that Inaba was carrying a total of four heavy buffs on his back!
*So you better hang in there, Cold Monarch!* *Restoring the glory of the Sannin is your bounden duty!*