Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 351 Death, here I come!

As the Grim Reaper focused his attention on Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also pulling Orochimaru's soul outwards.

Perhaps because he wasn't pierced by Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pulling was quite effective, and he was confident that he could take Orochimaru away directly.

However, Orochimaru is, after all, a living person in the mortal world and is not dead yet, so the pressure from the Grim Reaper is not too severe, and he is struggling.

It seems unlikely that Hiruzen Sarutobi could pull out Orochimaru's entire soul in a short time; at this moment, only the souls of his hands are exposed.

"Old man, if you're going to die, don't drag me down with you!" Orochimaru said through gritted teeth.

"Let our feud continue in the belly of death with me," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the situation suddenly changed. The usually composed Grim Reaper seemed to have sensed something and became extremely uneasy.

Even before the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique had ended, the Grim Reaper was already trying to escape.

This left Hiruzen Sarutobi completely bewildered. He forcibly pulled at the Shinigami's soul, utterly astonished. What was going on?

This technique is said to guarantee death once it is used, so Hiruzen Sarutobi had no relevant experience with it. However, based on his understanding of this technique, the Grim Reaper cannot leave before one's soul is sacrificed.

The procedure isn't even finished yet, and you're already being so irresponsible? What kind of professional competence is this?

It wasn't like this when the Fourth Hokage used the Reaper Death Seal!

The Shinigami, who was being forcibly pulled back by Hiruzen Sarutobi, was clearly in a hurry. He didn't care about Tobirama Senju anymore. He raised his hand and with one slash, he directly severed the souls of Orochimaru's arms that had been pulled out of his body and swallowed them whole. Then, he hurriedly tried to harvest Hiruzen Sarutobi's soul, end the ritual, and run away.

However, he had just devoured Orochimaru's arms and souls, and hadn't even had a chance to attack Hiruzen Sarutobi, when Bane's figure descended from the sky above the Three Seals.

"Finally found you, Death! Don't run away this time, let's get along!" Bane shouted.

As Bane's words fell, the Grim Reaper became even more agitated, no longer even wanting to collect Hiruzen Sarutobi's soul. He forcibly severed his connection with Hiruzen Sarutobi, and a black hole slowly opened behind him. Behind the black hole was the Pure Land.

However, it was too late at this moment. Hiruzen Sarutobi's seemingly invincible three-way seal was shattered into dust by Bane's punch, leaving no possibility of resistance whatsoever. Immediately afterward, Bane grabbed the Grim Reaper's arm.

"Don't even think about running!!!" Bane unleashed a burst of brute force, forcefully holding back Death.

At the same time, he landed on his feet, the powerful force shattering the ground, and the rapid impact sent Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi flying.

Death cannot speak, but at this moment he is like a panicked child, desperately trying to break free from Bane's pull. As he becomes more agitated, the black hole behind him that connects to the Pure Land also becomes violent, and a surging attraction bursts out from the black hole, forcibly pulling half of Death's body into it.

As for Tobirama Senju's soul, it seemed unable to resist the attraction of the Pure Land. It was forcibly pulled out of the Impure World Reincarnation technique and absorbed into the Pure Land, disappearing in an instant.

Not only Tobirama Senju, but also Hanzo of the Salamander, who was fighting Jiraiya in the far distance, had his soul forcibly absorbed.

In comparison, Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who were closer to the scene and had just been blasted away, did not feel the call of the Pure Land. It seems that this call only works on the souls of the dead.

At this moment, Bane exerted force with his feet, crushing the fragments of the ground into dust. The power of his soul vibrated incessantly in his hands, gripping Death's hand tightly, like a passionate lover.

"Swallow, Swallow, don't rush off! How can I live without you?" Bane said through gritted teeth, pulling hard.

His frantic struggle with death left Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was lying in the distance, completely dumbfounded. What was going on?

Is the Spirit Lord really that fierce? Even Death would run away in his presence!

What kind of existence is he in the Pure Land?

Speaking of which, if Death just gets away like this, does that mean I've gotten a free Reaper Death Seal? I won't have to sacrifice my soul?

Although Bane's superhuman strength was unparalleled, the allure of the Pure Land was still powerful enough. Although it was slow, it was still clear that Bane was gradually losing ground in this struggle, and Death's soul was slowly entering the black hole.

"You forced me to do this!" Bane cursed, instantly activating the full power of the Soul-Soul Fruit. His entire body seemed to be welded to Death. The next second, his soul left his body and, in the blink of an eye, entered the Pure Land with Death.

Then, the black hole quickly dissipated, and with a bang, everything seemed to be over.

Bane's physical body remained standing still, while his soul had already chased after Death to the Pure Land.

Off the field, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru were both somewhat bewildered by what they saw.

what?

What kind of fantastical scene is this? Is this the legendary battle of gods?

Before Orochimaru could recover from the shock, he suddenly felt weakness and excruciating pain in his hands. His body began to disintegrate, turning purple with lividity. He could no longer lift his hands. It was a feeling of emptiness, as if his soul had been severed and a large part of him was missing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had also come to his senses. Regardless of the situation between the Shinigami and the Spirit Lord, he still had Orochimaru to deal with! That damned traitor! He had the upper hand just now, forcing me to choose to die together with him. Now the situation is much better, isn't it?

Orochimaru reacted very quickly, noticing his teacher's dangerous gaze in an instant. However, at this moment, his hands had lost their soul and he could not control them at all. Obviously, he could not form hand seals, and his combat power dropped by more than half.

What's the point of fighting?! Let's just run away!

Without much thought, Orochimaru immediately activated the final plan.

When it comes to escaping, Orochimaru is second to none in the entire ninja world.

Even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha wouldn't do it!

Orochimaru opened his mouth and stuck out his long, thin tongue. At that moment, a cursed seal was already branded on his tongue. Then, he bit down hard on his tongue with his back teeth and said in a sinister tone, "Hiruzen-sensei, you win this time. But you won't be so lucky next time we meet."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi also moved, leaping up to grab Orochimaru.

However, at this moment, the blood from Orochimaru's mouth had already flowed onto the curse mark on his tongue. The curse mark was instantly activated by the blood, and then with a bang, a large snake burst out from the ground and swallowed Orochimaru's body whole before turning into dust and disappearing.

Orochimaru's escape left Rasa completely dumbfounded.

At the same time, a firework exploded in the sky above Konoha Village. Rasa noticed the firework; it was a signal flare fired by Maki, indicating that their Konoha Crush plan could no longer continue.

With a heavy heart, Rasa dared not entangle with Jiraiya any longer and began to focus on escaping.

He was no ordinary man; after all, he was the Fourth Kazekage. With Rasa focused on escaping, it would be somewhat troublesome for Jiraiya to stop him. Moreover, Jiraiya was more worried about his teacher at the moment. After a brief chase and stalemate, Rasa escaped, and Jiraiya did not pursue him, quickly returning to the top of the Hokage Rock.

"Old man, are you alright?!" Jiraiya rushed over and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi squatting on the ground, panting heavily, his face extremely pale.

Not far away, the Spirit Lord stood there motionless, like a statue.

"What happened? Where is Orochimaru? Was the Spirit Lord summoned by Orochimaru? What happened to him?" Jiraiya asked hurriedly.

"It's a long story," Hiruzen Sarutobi wiped the sweat from his brow, then said, "I originally planned to perish together with Orochimaru, so I used the Reaper Death Seal technique."

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"The Reaper Death Seal!?" Jiraiya exclaimed in surprise, "The situation hasn't gotten to the point where you need to sacrifice yourself, has it?"

Although he doesn't use forbidden techniques, it doesn't mean that Jiraiya hasn't heard of or understood these techniques. Otherwise, if he encountered an enemy who used a related forbidden technique and he knew nothing about it, wouldn't he be completely clueless?

"I was hit by the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Seal," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, pointing to his shoulder.

Jiraiya looked over and, sure enough, even though Tobirama Senju had returned to the Pure Land, the Flying Thunder God mark was still preserved on Hiruzen Sarutobi's body. This mark was permanent.

This is also the terrifying aspect of the Flying Thunder God Technique. Once you are struck by this mark, it is almost impossible to escape unless you kill the caster first.

In an instant, Jiraiya understood why his teacher had made this decision.

The Second Hokage was under the Impure World Reincarnation technique at the time, which meant he was practically immortal. Under these circumstances, he was hit by the Flying Thunder God Technique. If he continued to delay, the only outcome would be that he would be killed by Tobirama Senju.

After all, Tobirama Senju could make countless mistakes, but Hiruzen Sarutobi could only make one.

Knowing how terrifying his teacher was, even though he couldn't unleash his full power from before his birth, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't dare to gamble. So he made up his mind to use the Reaper Death Seal, intending to perish together with his teacher.

But then, everything was going smoothly, and they were about to take Orochimaru away with them, when suddenly the Spirit Lord appeared, scaring the Grim Reaper so badly he wet himself. It was just ridiculous.

"You mean, after sensing the aura of the Spirit Lord, the Grim Reaper was terrified and forcibly severed the connection between the Corpse Demon Seal and you in order to escape back to the Pure Land? That's why you were able to escape with your life, and the Spirit Lord was even more ruthless, directly leaving his body and chasing the Grim Reaper into the Pure Land?" Jiraiya said in disbelief.

"That's pretty much it. Don't tell me you're surprised; I'm completely baffled myself," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, looking at Bane's body.

Now that the Spirit Lord's soul is not in his body, the thought of attacking him was immediately dismissed by Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had no grudge against the Spirit Lord, and they were not even on the same wavelength.

He is the Hokage of Konoha, a ninja, while the Spirit Lord claims to be a summoning beast. In the situation just now, it could even be said that the Spirit Lord saved his life. Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't stoop so low as to repay kindness with enmity at such a time.

Moreover, judging from the situation just now, the physical body is probably not that important to the Spirit Lord.

"Go quickly to the village to stabilize the situation. I will stay here to protect the Spirit Lord's body," Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed.

"Where's Orochimaru?" Jiraiya nodded first, then asked.

"I have already punished him enough by severing his soul from both hands. That bastard should not even think about using any ninjutsu again," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a dark look in his eyes.

"Being unable to use ninjutsu is indeed the cruelest punishment for him," Jiraiya murmured softly, then quickly returned to the village without delay.

Meanwhile, in the charred ruins of the Tree Realm's Birth Forest, a nine-tailed fox was hiding among the rubble, observing the situation.

Far away, outside Konoha Village, Robin sat under the shade of a tree, her eyes closed, and said, "It seems that the Third Hokage of Konoha has made the right choice. You don't need to expose yourself anymore, Zoro."

With Zoro's abilities, he could instantly "descent into the spirit" of the entire Hidden Leaf Village. If Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had any ill intentions toward Bane's body, he could kill them all in an instant!

(End of this chapter)