Naruto Uzumaki frowned, not understanding Neji's meaning.
Beside him, Tsunade and Jiraiya both showed complex expressions, clearly aware of the reason for Hyuga Neji's betrayal.
Naruto Uzumaki still wanted to question him,
but Tsunade stopped him, sighed, and explained, "The Caged Bird is a cursed seal that the Hyuga Main Family places on the Branch Family."
Listening to Tsunade's explanation, Naruto Uzumaki's frown deepened.
He looked at the expressionless Neji and said, "Is it not right to be a guardian, protect the Main Family, and protect Konoha?"
"Guardian?"
Neji gave a mocking smile and said, "If that's the case, is Orochimaru also the Main Family?"
Naruto Uzumaki was suddenly speechless.
Only then did he realize that the Hyuga Main Family's Caged Bird and Orochimaru's cursed seal branded on slaves seemed to be no different.
Neji raised his thumb, pointed to his smooth forehead, and questioned, "Is it wrong for a slave to want to break free from their shackles?"
Is the son of a scapegoat ultimately still a scapegoat?
If this was fate, then breaking it was his own will, and it was with this will that he had been able to come this far.
[Nen Master Lv. 44].
"So, do you want to kill me, Jiraiya?"
Countless Black Cursed Snakes crawled all over Orochimaru's body, and a death aura erupted, though it wasn't offensive, it made Tsunade and the others' expressions change drastically.
"Gold-tier?"
Tsunade took a deep breath, her face solemn.
Most players had realized that the attribute strength of Pollution Monsters far exceeded the most basic player panel.
A bare player, simply leveled up without equipment or skills, had attribute strength on par with regular monsters.
Players wearing blue-green quality equipment and using skills could display strength roughly equivalent to [Elite Monsters] and [Leader Monsters].
The same applied later on.
However, combat power was not only related to game items but also to player level differences, which could easily lead to players making incorrect judgments.
Therefore, players internally developed the quickest and fastest standard for judging the strength of opposing players.
With every 10 levels serving as a watershed,
players were compared to Pollution Monsters of the same level.
The aura strength emitted by Orochimaru could already rival Gold-tier Pollution Monsters of Lv. 40-49.
"No fighting is allowed inside the Reincarnation Shrine, so come with me!"
Orochimaru looked at the intimidated Tsunade and Jiraiya, stuck out his tongue, and licked his chin.
Then, he turned and stepped out of the edge of the Reincarnation Shrine's light, entering the black mist area.
"Tsunade…"
Jiraiya's expression was serious as he said, "This is a good opportunity to test Orochimaru's strength. Don't be impulsive yet; let me fight him."
"In the Black Mythology map, death will result in being transported to the Road to the Underworld…"
Tsunade frowned, everything was still unknown.
Although the game hinted that one could revive by completing a [Huangquan Task] and collecting underworld flowers, the task content, difficulty, and time limit were all unknowns.
"Don't worry, my ability is [Prophet]. Even if I can't defeat Orochimaru, I'll have no problem retreating safely."
Jiraiya laughed twice and followed closely behind Orochimaru, rushing out of the Reincarnation Shrine.
Minutes later,
Tsunade felt something was wrong; there was no sound of fighting coming from inside the black mist. Had Jiraiya been instantly killed?
Suddenly,
at the very edge of the Reincarnation Shrine, shattered stones were pushed aside, and a thumb-sized cursed snake emerged.
Ugh…
A pale arm stretched out from the cursed snake's mouth, followed by the entire body.
Orochimaru, covered in slime, showed a regretful expression and shook his head, "How truly foolish, Jiraiya. You haven't improved at all from back then."
"How is that possible?"
Tsunade frowned.
Just as Jiraiya himself said, the [Prophet]'s skills were very complex and could handle various emergencies. Although his combat power wasn't strong, his survival ability was definitely top-tier.
Even Orochimaru couldn't kill Jiraiya in just a few minutes.
This was also why Tsunade agreed to let Jiraiya test Orochimaru.
"I indeed have no way to kill an Lv. 40 [Prophet] with Lord-tier strength in a short time."
Orochimaru spread his hands playfully and said, "But, Pollution Monsters can."
The hundreds of cursed snakes just released, though all killed,
one of them had run the furthest, reaching the outpost of the [Fallen Bandits].
Hundreds of Fallen Bandits, plus two Leader-tier Bandit Captains, were all Lv. 50 high-level monsters.
No matter how strong one's survival ability, fighting across levels would lead to being surrounded and killed.
"From the very beginning, I intended to provoke Jiraiya, but I didn't expect the fool to take the bait himself before I even said much…"
"Still as despicable as ever, Orochimaru!"
Tsunade clenched her fists, veins bulging. Though angry, she didn't act excessively.
After all,
Jiraiya could still revive and could explore the special map, [Road to the Underworld].
…
On the other side,
Jiraiya, who had been killed by the surrounding Fallen Bandits, opened his eyes in a daze, scanning his surroundings.
A pitch-black night sky,
with a gray river flowing backward, thick like mercury, hanging upside down in the firmament.
Vibrant flowers bloomed all over the mountains, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Countless figures: men, women, old people, children, well-dressed city dwellers, turban-wrapped bandits, armor-clad knights, ragged-robed mages…
They were expressionless, their eyes devoid of light, simply walking forward on tiptoe.
It was as if countless spirits from Otherworlds had gathered here, passing on.
[You have entered the special map [Road to the Underworld]. Please revive as soon as possible, otherwise you will be completely devoured by the [Huangquan Ghost King].]
"There's even a revival time limit?"
Jiraiya's expression changed drastically. He looked up and saw at the destination of the countless advancing spirits,
a skull as vast as heaven and earth opened its mouth, devouring the spirits that reached the end.
Above his head, there was a burning incense stick, slowly emitting wisps of blue smoke.
[Soul-Returning Incense]: As long as the incense burns, the person returns; when the incense burns out, they enter the underworld. Remaining burning time: 3 days.
Note: When the Soul-Returning Incense extinguishes, the player will truly die.
"Indeed, the further we go, the higher the level of the Reincarnation Game map, and the greater the death penalty."
Jiraiya's expression was solemn.
His [Prophet] skill's premonition had already told him that the [Fourth Tier] map would inevitably be extremely perilous, and now it had indeed come true.
"What about the task?"
Jiraiya opened his task bar but saw no new tasks.
Prophet Sense…
He brought his hands together at his brow, and a faint light flowed out, converging into the shape of an eye at his brow.
"Hoo hoo… So tired. Just two seconds consumed nearly half of my energy."
"The map level of the Road to the Underworld is too high!"
Jiraiya was panting. [Prophet Sense] could vaguely capture surrounding situations and was an extremely powerful perception-type skill.
In the new season's Black Mythology map, it was directly suppressed by the rules and could not be used.
Upon reaching the Road to the Underworld, it was no longer restricted, but due to the map's high level, the consumption was enormous.
"Store, communication, teleportation functions, even the exit game function have been cut off?"
In other words, if he couldn't gather enough [underworld flowers] for revival, he would be trapped indefinitely in the Road to the Underworld.
"I must return quickly and inform Tsunade and the others that the Road to the Underworld map is too bizarre, and dying should absolutely be avoided in the new season!"
Jiraiya quickly caught up to a slowly advancing spirit.
The moment he touched the spirit,
[Huangquan Task triggered]
Task World: Attack on Titan
Task Content: Resist the Titan's attacks and defend [Wall Maria].
Task Reward: underworld flower * 1.
Hint: During the Huangquan Task, the player's four-dimensional attributes, equipment, and skills will be sealed and equivalently converted into [underworld points].
Hint 2: underworld points can be used to purchase native goods in the task world.
Hint 3: After leaving the task world, the seal will be lifted, and game items purchased with [underworld points] will be automatically recovered. If you wish to retain them, you must spend reward points to purchase them.
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