Orochimaru and Slug Sage, every single one of them, stand at the top of the ninja world, undoubtedly important figures.
But once these non-human existences form a connection with people, problems are nothing more than eating, drinking, relieving oneself, and bodily functions.
It's really too down-to-earth.
Anyway, the Genie Lamp witnessed this scene and suddenly found it a bit funny.
Orochimaru seemed to ignore the Genie Lamp's strange remarks, but his brow furrowed slightly.
Although he had successfully transplanted White Zetsu cells, even White Zetsu itself did not possess the ability of Wood Release, and naturally, neither could he.
And lighting fires to cook three meals a day would undoubtedly consume a lot of firewood.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru tilted his head and looked at the little thing on his shoulder, "Slug Sage, Your Excellency still hasn't mastered fire Ninjutsu?"
Before entering his research state, he had recorded a copy of the hand-sign-free casting for all five elemental Ninjutsu for Slug Sage to learn.
"I can't use it."
Slug Sage shook her body slightly, "I estimate I won't be able to learn it. So far, I can only use water and earth Ninjutsu."
Although these non-human existences have unique advantages, on the other hand, some limitations are even stricter than for humans.
Asking a slug that lives in a damp sea trench to learn Ninjutsu that is the opposite of its living environment is truly asking too much.
Orochimaru shook his head, "Tsk, the village really found me a troublesome matter."
Despite saying this, he had no intention of returning it. Not refusing immediately meant he tacitly agreed, and Orochimaru would not easily go back on his word.
And since he didn't want to constantly interrupt his research train of thought, the matter of eating and drinking could only be left to Roshi himself.
Putting away the research data and experimental equipment, Orochimaru dragged his huge body to Iwagakure Roshi.
The other party had just woken up, and his memory was still stuck in the time he was heavily beaten by both Susanoo and Jiraiya. Being in an unfamiliar environment, his expression was very vigilant.
Then a huge black shadow loomed over him.
Roshi subconsciously took a few steps back, looked up, and exclaimed, "You are... Orochimaru?"
As the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, one of Iwagakure's strongest forces, equivalent to Konoha's 'Sannin', Roshi was naturally no stranger to information about Orochimaru.
Upon seeing Orochimaru in his half-man, half-snake form, his mind raced with various speculations.
Is this the so-called 'Yamata no Orochi'? But looking at it, it doesn't seem to be like the painting.
He subconsciously wanted to enter a partial Tailed Beast form, but his Chakra was completely unresponsive. Only then did Roshi remember that Jiraiya seemed to have done something, and his face turned very ugly.
"You Konoha dare to lay hands on me, aren't you afraid of provoking a ninja war?"
As a ninja, he couldn't use Chakra, but Roshi's courage was not diminished, and he opened his mouth with a stern rebuke.
He felt a bit self-mocking in his heart. He had a falling out with the current Tsuchikage and left the village in anger, but now, when he truly encountered danger, he could only rely on the village.
"This matter has nothing to do with me, and it has nothing to do with you now."
Orochimaru flicked his scarlet forked tongue, a smile appearing on his face, and slowly said,
"You just need to know that this is a prison to hold you, and you must stay here obediently."
"Understood? If you understand, I will remove the seal Jiraiya left on you."
"You... I..." Roshi was about to curse after hearing the first half of Orochimaru's words, but upon hearing the latter half, his mind got confused, and the words got stuck in his throat.
Orochimaru watched the other party teasingly. After waiting for a moment, he chuckled, "Since you can't say one or two things, I'll take it as your consent. I'll remove the seal for you now."
"Remember, this is your cell, and you are not allowed to try to leave."
"But other than that, as long as the master of this domain has no objections, you can do whatever you want."
Domain master? What domain master? Questions flooded Roshi's mind.
But Orochimaru clearly had no intention of explaining. He finished stating the rules by himself, then grabbed Roshi's body.
"What do you want to do?"
Roshi struggled with all his might, but after losing his Chakra, he was just a well-exercised middle-aged man. How could he resist the current Orochimaru?
With just a light pat, Roshi felt as if his entire body had been hit by a giant rock. His limbs and bones ached immensely, and he couldn't move at all.
This state lasted for nearly fifteen minutes. At one point, the Chakra in his body actually began to respond to his calls, and a layer of fiery red outer clothing surged onto his body.
"Jiraiya's sealing technique is not bad, but it's still a bit lacking compared to Minato," Orochimaru chuckled and released Roshi. A faint green light appeared in his palm, quickly healing the burns on his skin.
Roshi fell downwards, twisted his waist in mid-air, stepped on Orochimaru, and jumped far away, using him for leverage.
After standing on the ground again, Roshi looked up at the colossal figure in front of him, his voice filled with disbelief,
"You're not kidding me? You really unsealed it?"
"Kid you? Why would I kid you? What good would that do me?" Orochimaru looked puzzled, "My original intention in unsealing you was not to waste time on you, so why would I do such a redundant thing myself?"
"Let me repeat, do not try to leave this place. This is my bottom line. Seafood will be sent here periodically. You should handle the ingredients yourself to ensure you don't starve to death when the next shipment arrives..."
Orochimaru droned on, explaining in detail the precautions for living in the Forest of the Shrine, avoiding bringing up old matters.
From Orochimaru's words, Roshi finally confirmed the reason why the other party easily broke his restraint.
He felt deeply humiliated, "Afraid I'll starve to death? Don't want to waste time? Just for such a ridiculous reason?"
Being able to disregard the Tsuchikage's authority in Iwagakure and leave on a whim after a conflict, Roshi was by no means the type to suffer in silence. On the contrary, 'Melt Release Roshi' was known for his fiery temper.
"If you don't want to waste time, then I'll show you if I have the right to make you waste time!"
Crimson Chakra, like magma flowing beneath the earth's surface, surged from Roshi's skin. His figure expanded and rose limitlessly like flames, transforming into a colossal being in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
The giant red ape hammered the ground, and fiery magma flowed out of the cracks. It roared, "Now, do I have this qualification?"
"Tsk... I knew it. Doing this would inevitably lead to a fight."
Orochimaru shook his head, "Why bother? You should know you are no match for me. Why not just obey and accept my conditions?"
Roshi's face was full of anger, and he did not answer. Genie Lamp floating in the air next to him ridiculed, "It's all your fault for your mouth. Hearing that, anyone with a bit of spirit would be provoked."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, "I'm telling the truth. Even if I hide it, he'll see through it later. Why bother with useless lies?"
"But lies don't hurt people, while the truth is a sharp knife."
Genie Lamp shrugged, spreading his hands, "See through without saying it, right? Everyone gets along better this way."
"Lies don't hurt people, but the truth is a sharp knife? There's some truth to that. But I don't think Iwagakure Roshi is the type to easily reason with."
Orochimaru's gaze fell on Roshi, "In the end, we'll have to fight. Let him know his own strength."
"That's true too," the Genie Lamp also saw that Roshi was simply hot-tempered.
And as a prisoner, once they have the ability to escape, they would naturally try. Moreover, compared to ordinary people who can only escape by digging holes, Roshi's method is much more brutal.
"Aren't you going to attack? Oh, right, your physical condition doesn't seem to be very good..."
Orochimaru looked at the fully Tailed Beastified Roshi, a smile appearing on his face, looking particularly mocking,
"Want another half hour to recover your Chakra?"
"No need!"
The giant red ape's eyes widened, his hair and beard bristling.
Wave after wave of Chakra accumulated, the red light on his body grew more intense, and the flowing magma made crackling sounds, as if an explosive thunderous blow would erupt at any moment.
As Orochimaru said, he had just gone through a major battle. Although he had recovered somewhat after a long period of sleep, he was not in perfect condition.
Even in his prime, he might not have been Orochimaru's opponent, let alone now.
The correct choice would be to stop here. Anyway, the seal on him had been broken, and he could take things slowly.
But Roshi couldn't swallow this resentment.
Although his condition was not good now, he could still unleash two or three full-power attacks. How dare this bastard Orochimaru underestimate him? Allowing himself to charge up, he would let him taste his power.
As the magma temperature rose, a layer of evaporating mist began to diffuse in the starry cave.
The Slug Sage clones distributed around raised their heads, their Senjutsu Chakra ready to be unleashed at any moment, prepared to cool down this cave.
She naturally believed that Orochimaru was superior to Iwagakure Roshi. Whether in his peak state or now, Orochimaru would undoubtedly be the victor.
But that was under normal circumstances.
How could a battle between ninjas not involve dodging and weaving, giving the opponent time to charge up? The power being gathered by the Four-Tails Jinchuriki was already not to be underestimated. Blocking it head-on would not be easy, and there was a chance of some leakage.
"This guy, did he forget that this is not the wilderness, but my residence?" Slug Sage glanced at the still smiling Orochimaru, feeling a bit resentful.
"Orochimaru, pay the price for your arrogance!"
At this moment, Roshi finally completed his Ninjutsu and let out a roar, "Melt Release: Volcanic Eruption!"
The giant red ape swung its thick ape arms and hammered the ground heavily. A huge crack immediately opened beneath its feet, and magma gushed out, resembling a burning red river.
"It's truly a dangerous Ninjutsu..."
Almost at the same moment, Orochimaru placed his hands on the ground, and dense golden particles surged from beneath the surface, instantly forming a thick golden wall that stood in the path of the red river's flow.
The next moment, the red fire and gold collided heavily.
"This is... Magnet Release? How can you use Magnet Release?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Roshi's eyes, but the next moment it turned into a fierce glare, "Even with Magnet Release, it's no match for Melt Release. Let's see me melt you!!"
The magma emitted intense heat, quickly corroding the golden wall and swallowing it bit by bit into the red river. It was evident that in a short while, this defense would be completely defeated.
Roshi's hair and beard bristled, and a sinister grin appeared on his face.
The ninja wars had lasted for a thousand years. The clashes between Melt Release and Magnet Release were not one or two. The superiority or inferiority between the two had long been thoroughly researched.
Ordinary Melt Release bloodline users were slightly inferior to Magnet Release users due to Chakra issues and were heavily countered by ninjas who controlled iron sand.
But as a Jinchuriki, Roshi was naturally different.
The Melt Release he unleashed could completely melt the defense of a Magnet Release ninja and attack the ninja's body.
Sand gold and sand copper were the easiest to melt. Iron sand might not melt, but the heat alone could bake the enemy dry.
"Orochimaru, you were overconfident. Pay the price for your arrogance!"
Roshi glared, his gaze seeming to pierce through the red fire and golden wall, wanting to see Orochimaru burned into a dried snake.
"Is that so?"
A light laugh entered Roshi's ears. The next moment, golden liquid, accompanied by molten flames, seemed to be causing this red river to flow backward.
Roshi's eyes widened abruptly, and he exclaimed, "How is this possible?"
As everyone knows, Magnet Release is inevitably affected by high temperatures. Melted metal loses its magnetism and is no longer controlled by Magnet Release ninjas. This scene completely violated the common sense of bloodline users.
"Who told you this is Magnet Release? Your information is too outdated. This is the power of Senjutsu."
Orochimaru manipulated the molten lava river with ease, even more skillfully and smoothly than Roshi.
'Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation' could control most inorganic matter and had no drawbacks of Magnet Release. Changing its nature did not affect control at all.
"What, you're not escaping?"
The teasing voice woke Roshi from his shock. However, before he could make a move, the red river of lava had arrived before him, forming a circle like a ribbon, trapping him within.
A drop of sweat trickled from his forehead and quickly vaporized.
This was not only due to tension but more so due to the surrounding temperature.
Tailed Beast transformation was not omnipotent and could not resist all damage. At the very least, the lava with its surrounding temperature of thousands of degrees could not be ignored.
He was already doing well, only feeling a bit hot. If it were an ordinary ninja in this high temperature of thousands of degrees, they would be baked into jerky within a few minutes.
"Now, have you recognized reality?"
Before waiting for a reply, Orochimaru retracted the red river, slowly sinking it into the ground, completely acting as if Roshi was not worth his attention.
But this time, Roshi was no longer as angry as before.
With the mastery of this Ninjutsu, Orochimaru was essentially the nemesis of all Melt Release ninjas. And his Tailed Beast form had not yet mastered the power of a 'Tailed Beast Bomb'. No matter how many times he tried, it would be the same.
"To defeat... no, to put it another way, to escape from here."
Orochimaru licked his lips, a slight curve at the corner of his mouth, "Either you possess heat capable of vaporizing metal, or you have the strength to crush it head-on."
"Until then, be good, how about that?"
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