CHAPTER 180: CHAPTER 180

Not just Orochimaru—even Mangetsu and Hiruzen were surprised as they stared at Hatake Satoru floating above them.

Does the Four Purple Flame Formation not work on this guy? Or is it some strange ability?

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, staring at the figure above. That blindfold, that voice...

He felt like he had seen this person somewhere before.

It had been a few years, but people like that—always showing up out of nowhere—were hard to forget.

"You... you’re that kid from the Hatake clan."

Orochimaru had once suspected that Hatake Satoru had some kind of special eye ability—that’s why he could use such weird techniques.

But back then, he didn’t get to study him closely or see his eyes for real.

Orochimaru preferred studying bloodline powers he could actually observe, like the Sharingan.

With so much going on, he had let the Hatake kid fall off his radar.

But there was no mistaking it—he couldn’t sense even the slightest chakra from him.

A kid who can teleport without warning and use strange techniques...

It had to be Hatake Satoru.

Orochimaru had fought him once before. This guy was definitely not easy to deal with.

Still, he didn’t expect him to just walk straight through the barrier like it was nothing.

"Sensei!"

Mangetsu’s eyes lit up at once, looking at Hatake Satoru like he was his last hope.

It felt just like when someone shows up to save the day at the last second.

Even though Hozuki Mangetsu didn’t want his teacher to see him looking this pathetic, now really wasn’t the time to care about that.

He and Sarutobi Hiruzen had just looked up when vines suddenly wrapped tightly around them, making their faces twitch slightly from the pressure.

"How did you get in here?"

Both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Orochimaru had the same question in mind.

Even though Hatake Satoru rarely stepped in, Hiruzen had always had a feeling this kid wasn’t just some useless dropout.

But coming straight in from outside the barrier!?

Just how strong *was* this guy?

A vine was still wrapped around Hiruzen’s neck as he struggled to twist his head slightly and glance at the barrier around them.

Sure enough—Hatake Satoru had entered without even breaking the barrier.

The four Sound ninja standing at the corners all looked shocked too, raising their heads to look at Satoru, who had somehow appeared inside without them even noticing.

They were sure the barrier was perfect, and none of them had messed up.

What the hell was going on?

Was he already inside before the barrier was set?

The First and Second Hokage stood silently below the trees, also looking up at the suddenly-appearing Hatake Satoru.

They had no awareness of their own. Without Orochimaru’s control, they wouldn’t move at all.

"Oh? So you guys building a nature park in here or something?"

"Fake mountains, rivers, and now even a nice layer of plants."

Hatake Satoru stood on top of a mud wall, looking down at everyone below.

He acted like he didn’t even notice the intense, almost frozen atmosphere around him. Instead, he just grinned and made sarcastic comments about the setting inside the barrier.

That smirk stayed on his face, like everything was already under control.

What a time to show up. Orochimaru had already gotten both the Mizukage and the Hokage under control.

Right when everything was going his way, this guy strolled in like it was nothing.

Orochimaru wiped the smug grin off his own face and seriously focused on Satoru standing up on the mud wall.

Suddenly, a kunai sliced through the air and landed behind Hatake Satoru—Namikaze Minato had teleported to his back in a flash.

At the same time, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had finally managed to get a hand on a tree branch, slammed it downward.

"Ninja Art—Summoning Jutsu."

"Appear—Monkey King Enma!"

Orochimaru’s expression changed immediately. His attention had been locked on Minato and Satoru, giving Hiruzen the opening he needed.

Orochimaru quickly waved at the First and Second Hokage, giving the signal to attack.

"Well, this is turning into a real pain."

"Move. Don’t let him transform."

With a puff of smoke, a huge white monkey appeared in an instant.

"I’m counting on you, Enma."

"Adamantine Staff!"

Hiruzen struggled a bit as he tried to move within the vines wrapped around him.

The First and Second Hokage were already rushing toward him.

Enma instantly transformed into a long staff and smashed through the vines around Hiruzen with several heavy hits.

Grabbing the adamantine staff with one hand, Hiruzen leapt down from the tangle of vines.

Now, the First and Second Hokage stood to either side of him.

Meanwhile, Hozuki Mangetsu’s water clone rose up from the puddle below. It was holding two blades crackling with blue lightning and charged straight at the real Mangetsu.

With a bright flash and a loud electric buzz, the vines in front of Mangetsu were all sliced to pieces.

Hozuki Mangetsu flipped the scroll he’d been holding and waved it through the air. All the scattered ninja swords nearby instantly returned into the scroll.

His water clones had already been mostly destroyed by Orochimaru earlier. And now that his teacher had arrived—

There was no need to keep the clones around just to stall. It was time to step in himself.

Since the two Hokage were focused on Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mangetsu gripped his Executioner’s Blade with one hand and, without a moment’s hesitation, charged straight down at Orochimaru.

"Quit looking around and start paying attention to me!"

Mangetsu grinned wide, showing off a row of sharp shark-like teeth.

He placed one hand in front of himself and muttered quietly:

"Hidden Mist Technique."

As Mangetsu rushed forward, a thick mist began to rise from the puddles on the ground.

Creating water around someone from the Hidden Mist was definitely the wrong move.

The air filled with the heavy sound of something slicing through it. Inside the growing fog, where it was already hard to see—

A massive Executioner’s Blade, nearly as tall as a person, came swinging straight at Orochimaru.

"Having your teacher around really lights a fire under you, huh."

Orochimaru’s golden, snake-like pupils darted quickly before he suddenly opened his mouth wide.

A huge snake shot out from inside, twisting rapidly as it lunged at Mangetsu’s neck.

"Well of course. I’m not like you—someone who’d betray their own teacher."

"No one’s going to lay a finger on him while I’m here."

Mangetsu stomped right on the snake’s weak point, then brought his blade down in one clean slash, cutting its head off.

Just as Mangetsu swung his blade and glanced to the side, Orochimaru took the chance to thrust his Kusanagi Sword straight toward him.

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