In the crater, the playful smile that had been hanging on Orochimaru's face gradually darkened. He climbed out of the crater, his gaze penetrating the rising dust, staring fixedly at Shinji standing in the center of the testing ground.
The brief confrontation just now not only shocked everyone on the sidelines but also startled Orochimaru himself.
He patted the dust off his body, his face no longer relaxed.
After surviving the ritual, his power increased day by day, sometimes even shocking himself with this rapid rise in strength. The increase in strength naturally fueled the growth of his ambition, so Amado's judgment was correct; Orochimaru indeed had disloyal thoughts.
And the emergence of disloyal thoughts also indicated that Shinji's 'Kotoamatsukami' cast on him had failed.
But even so, Orochimaru chose not to turn hostile immediately.
Firstly, his condition had not fully stabilized yet; he needed time to adapt to this huge increase in strength. Secondly, he felt that the research institute's environment was very good; staying here would facilitate his research on 'Shinjutsu'.
The last point was that he harbored fear towards Shinji!
This confrontation was less of a test and more of a probe into the mode of his future interaction with Shinji.
If he was the winner, or even if he didn't need to win, as long as he could contend with Shinji, then he could leap from the status of Shinji's subordinate to become an equal partner. But if he lost, then he could only maintain the status quo and continue to work obediently for Shinji.
"As expected of you!" Moving his body, Orochimaru said in a deep voice: "I made a mistake just now, actually thinking of probing first. I won't do that next!"
Sidelines.
"What?!"
"That speed just now was only a probe?"
"We were fooled!"
The onlookers, especially some researchers who previously participated in testing Orochimaru's strength, all felt indignant amidst their surprise.
Amado's face also darkened a few shades.
Judging from Orochimaru's words, in those previous tests, Orochimaru simply didn't use his full strength. Including him, everyone was fooled by Orochimaru!
On the field.
Shinji remained unmoved, merely waving his hand at Orochimaru, signaling him to continue.
Orochimaru grinned: "Careful, I'm coming!"
Whoosh!
Before his voice faded, Orochimaru turned into an afterimage pouncing towards Shinji. His speed was so fast that within the short dash of a dozen meters, he incredibly set off an ear-piercing sonic boom!
Everyone on the sidelines changed expression simultaneously. This really shocked them; many even subconsciously retreated backwards.
Just as Orochimaru was about to pounce in front of Shinji, Shinji only raised his hand, softly saying: "Almighty Push!"
Rumble...
A huge repulsive force was generated out of thin air, like an invisible large hand, holding back Orochimaru who was attacking Shinji.
From the extreme speed that set off a sonic boom to stillness, almost in an instant before anyone could react, Orochimaru halted in front of Shinji.
...
"You must be joking!"
Under the invisible repulsive force, his face was extremely ferocious.
Obviously, facing the 'Almighty Push' activated by Shinji, he not only didn't prepare to dodge but actually wanted to break through head-on, wanting to forcefully resist the repulsive force of 'Almighty Push' to attack Shinji.
Not to mention, the huge repulsive force of Shinji's 'Almighty Push' lifted the reinforced floor of the testing ground, and even the air seemed to be compressed, but Orochimaru still pushed against this repulsive force, slowly moving forward.
"Tch!"
Shinji clicked his tongue lightly and increased the pupil power output.
Boom!
Almost at the instant Shinji increased the pupil power output, Orochimaru could resist no more, and his whole person was blown away by the 'Almighty Push'.
However, Orochimaru, blown into the air by the 'Almighty Push', did not crash heavily onto the ground as everyone expected. Instead, after moving away from the core area of the 'Almighty Push's repulsive force, he immediately adjusted his body in the air, kicked off the floor tiles that were also blown away by the 'Almighty Push', and pounced towards Shinji again, and this time his speed was faster than before!
Rumble...
A huge roar exploded in the testing ground!
Immediately after, the onlookers on the sidelines were all blown away by the blast wave. Even the Eida and Daemon siblings, who had considerable strength, had to retreat tens of meters.
Others like Amado and the researchers were no exception; all were blown away along with their instruments!
When the dust gradually dispersed, the original testing ground had turned into a large crater sunken more than ten meters deep!
Shinji stood in the crater, spotless, with not even much change in his expression.
Orochimaru's impact force just now was already close to the 'Six Paths level', but that was about it. For the current Shinji, this bit of strength was not enough to make him serious.
In the air.
Orochimaru did not use any jutsu and directly floated in mid-air, looking down at Shinji in the crater, his face gloomy.
Although the strike just now was not his full power, seeing Shinji resist it so easily, he was still secretly alarmed: "How is this possible!?"
He knew better than anyone how terrifying the increase in his strength was after the ritual. He thought that even if he couldn't win against Shinji, he could rely on his strength to gain some autonomy and say from Shinji. But unexpectedly, Shinji still stood before him like a mountain, insurmountable.
In the distance, the blown-away Amado climbed up from the ground, adjusted his glasses that were crooked on his ears, and looked at Orochimaru floating in the air: "Flight ability? Hmph, it seems that guy Orochimaru hid quite a few abilities!"
The disturbance at the testing ground had already attracted the attention of the entire research institute, and more and more people were rushing over here.
Hearing the noise in the distance, Shinji lost his patience: "My time is precious, I don't have time to play with you here. Now I will make the move. Ten seconds! Orochimaru, as long as you can block me for ten seconds, I will acknowledge you!"
"Ten seconds!?"
Orochimaru's face was ugly.
He knew he underestimated Shinji's strength, but Shinji's words obviously looked down on him too much. He absolutely did not believe that he couldn't even last ten seconds.
Shinji didn't explain further, saying: "Starting!"
As soon as his voice fell, Shinji used Body Flicker to appear in front of Orochimaru in the air. Then, at the moment he activated 'Almighty Pull' to suck Orochimaru over, he gathered power in his right hand and violently swung a punch at Orochimaru!
"Not good!"
Orochimaru's expression instantly froze.
The sudden suction force made him unable to stabilize his body. At this moment, he could no longer care about being annoyed by the 'ten-second promise' just now, because he knew very clearly that if he couldn't defend against Shinji's punch, he might not even last one second!