"You okay?" Sensing Shizune's gaze and overhearing their conversation, Shisui turned his head and responded instinctively.
"Don't be greedy. Restrain your endless desires and guide them onto the right path," Shisui shared the core of his experience and trials.
For him, it was relatively simple. He was never someone with great desires but rather a person with a strong sense of self-sacrifice.
This allowed him to gain power smoothly during the Hōgyoku's test.
Shizune looked a bit lost. Shisui's response didn't completely ease her worries, but she understood that the risks were not entirely unavoidable.
Another ten hours passed. Just as Shizune was reaching her limit, the lights in the laboratory suddenly went out.
Her heart skipped a beat, but the next moment, the door opened. Orochimaru, Kagetsu, and Tsunade stepped out one after another.
At the sight of Tsunade, Shizune rushed forward. A small pink pig followed closely behind, panting.
"Feel?" Tsunade clenched her fist, sensing the strange power flowing within her, and answered truthfully, "I feel great!"
"Well then, do you want to test your Hōgyoku mode?"
Though it had been nearly two days without rest, Orochimaru's spirit remained uplifted as he smiled at Tsunade, his eyes full of expectation.
"Okay." Tsunade agreed quickly. She also wanted to test the new power she had gained. Her gaze turned to Orochimaru. "How should we test it?"
"Let's go outside. I'm afraid you'll destroy my base." Orochimaru suggested. Bases , with such scale and complete equipment, were rare even for him. It was the result of his lifelong accumulation. Destroying any part of it would cause him great pain.
Tsunade didn't refuse Orochimaru's suggestion. She also felt the base restricted her. If she truly went all out, she felt the base would collapse instantly, turning to ruins.
Shizune quickly reached out, picked up Tonton, and cradled it in her arms, then hurriedly followed behind.
The group moved far enough from the base and arrived at the place where Shisui had conducted his test before. The environment, once destroyed by Shisui's Hogyoku Mode, had now regained new vegetation.
Tsunade stood on the field, and in the blink of an eye, a greenish-blue aura enveloped her.
Light eye makeup appeared around her eyes, and her aura became so dense that even from tens of meters away, it felt heavy on the heart.
Shizune, in particular, could sense that under Tsunade's gaze, it wasn't just her mind that was affected. Her body felt numb and stiff.
"Want to spar, Orochimaru?" Tsunade invited, feeling the power flowing within her body.
"You want to test your strength using me?" Orochimaru immediately understood Tsunade's intentions. He was also curious about the power of her Hogyoku Mode!
"Are you sure you're okay with this? I'll fight with the intent to kill!" Orochimaru pulled out the Kusunagi Sword from his mouth, holding it firmly in his hand, and warned Tsunade.
He was eager to see what Tsunade, after years of decline, could do with the power of her Hogyoku Mode under his attacks.
"Stop talking!" Tsunade snapped.
Tsunade slammed her fist heavily onto the ground, shouting.
Kagetsu's shadow immediately connected to Shizune, pulling her back quickly. As for Shisui and Anko, they had already rushed backward with Kagetsu even before Tsunade's fist struck the ground.
The ground trembled like an earthquake. From the point where Tsunade's fist hit, the earth cracked open, forming a huge crack nearly a hundred meters long and ten meters deep.
The ground split like a tree trunk cracking forward, the cracks spreading like branches from the tree.
The force of the strike was more shocking than some B-rank large-scale earth-style ninjutsu.
"Your monstrous strength is always so astonishing!" Orochimaru, running quickly on the battlefield, his body creating blurry afterimages due to his speed, shouted. His voice reached Tsunade's ears from all directions in the center of the battlefield.
Tsunade ignored Orochimaru, her gaze focused as she tracked his movements, trying to predict where he would land next.
Tsunade's foot slightly pressed into the ground, and the earth beneath her instantly caved in, cracking a few meters wide pit.
The next moment, her figure disappeared from the spot and landed a punch right on Orochimaru's body.
Crimson blood instantly splattered in all directions, staining Tsunade's face and clothes. Original content can be found at NoveIＦire.net
Orochimaru's chest caved in from Tsunade's punch, and he collapsed onto the ground like a limp rag, as if every bone and organ in his body had been shattered, leaving him unrecognizable.
"Stop playing dead, Orochimaru! Get up and continue!" Tsunade said, clearly dissatisfied, as she looked at the broken, mud-like figure of Orochimaru lying on the ground. "How am I supposed to test my current limits ?"
Orochimaru's body on the ground suddenly shook. His limp upper body seemed to regain some support and sat up, violently vomiting.
A pair of pale hands propped up the corpse's jaw, stretching its mouth wide like a snake. A completely intact Orochimaru, covered in mucus, slid out from inside the mouth.
"One punch was enough to bring my current body to the brink of death. Your strength, enhanced by the power of Hogyoku, has become even stronger," Orochimaru said, feeling the impact of the punch that had shattered his internal organs and bones, raising an eyebrow slightly.
Soon, he noticed that the blood he had intentionally splattered on Tsunade earlier had not achieved the desired effect.
"Also, it seems your fear of blood has disappeared," he added.
"In the end, it's just a mental illness! I faced my own heart and desires, and walked out of the lab alive. So, isn't it only natural that it would disappear?"
Tsunade replied, glancing at Orochimaru, whose body was still covered in mucus.
"I still can't accept your bizarre techniques. Let me handle the injuries from now on. Save your chakra."
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