The palm, wrapped in ice and snow, took the invitation letter thrown by Orochimaru. After giving Orochimaru a deep look, Xue Wu slowly opened the envelope in his hand.
"Unified Chunin Selection Examination of the Ninja World?"
The Third Mizukage let out a light snort and casually tossed the letter onto the table.
"I didn't expect Hiruzen Sarutobi to be such an arrogant and frivolous person. How could..."
"Does your Third Hokage believe that Konoha's current strength has reached the point of suppressing the entire Ninja World?"
"To issue an invitation to the entire Ninja World with the strength of one village, hmph!"
"Truly conceited!"
Xue Wu glanced at Orochimaru, waved his wide sleeves, and made a gesture of seeing off a guest.
"Kirigakure has no intention of participating in such a boring event. As you are a junior, I will not make things difficult for you."
"Go back and tell Hiruzen Sarutobi that if he wants to showcase Konoha's military might, he might as well have Konoha emulate Amegakure."
"Relying on junior ninjas to put up a facade, Kirigakure disdains to associate with it!"
Orochimaru's eyebrows twitched. As expected of the Third Mizukage who commanded the Village of the Bloody Mist!
To bring up the topic of ninja wars so casually.
"Heh heh!"
"Esteemed Mizukage, you painstakingly selected the successors for the Seven Ninja Swords, didn't you, all for the day when you would declare Kirigakure's strength to the Ninja World?"
"Why not take this opportunity to showcase the new generation of powerhouses cultivated by the Village of the Bloody Mist to the Ninja World?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Wu's eyes narrowed into two dangerous slits.
"Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swords have never been revealed, yet Konoha already knows this information..."
"It seems that Konoha has planted quite a few spies in Kirigakure over the years!"
"In that case..."
The Third Mizukage's aura slowly intensified, and a bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped the entire Mizukage's office.
"You, the personal disciple of the Third Hokage, will have to stay in Kirigakure as a guest for a while!"
"It's not too late to leave after you've clarified the identities of those spies!"
Orochimaru shook his head noncommittally and glanced at the spreading frost.
"So, does the Third Mizukage wish to test the strength of this junior?"
"This junior would be happy to spar with you, Esteemed Mizukage, but perhaps we could change the venue?"
"If we stay here, Kirigakure might have to rebuild the Mizukage building!"
Xue Wu snorted and formed a hand seal with a casual gesture.
"Hyōton: Hōjin no Jutsu!" (Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique!)
"If you want to change the venue, let's see if you can break through this icy seal first!"
In the Mizukage's office, the sounds of ice walls rising connected into a single entity, instantly forming a frosty cage exuding an icy chill.
Orochimaru surveyed his surroundings and nodded in agreement.
"That makes sense!"
"Then let's break this ice prison first!"
The Third Mizukage was instantly provoked by Orochimaru's nonchalant attitude. His eyes hardened, and he flung a handful of ice mist.
A large number of ice senbon instantly formed from the mist, whistling sharply as they shot towards Orochimaru's vital points.
Compared to the senbon used by ordinary ninjas, these ice senbon, besides being condensed from the ice release power of the Yuki clan, were not much different in appearance.
However, the Third Mizukage was, after all, a Kage-level powerhouse. The senbon he personally released with his ice release were exceedingly strong in terms of hardness, speed, and power.
If an ordinary ninja were in Orochimaru's position, trapped in an ice prison and facing such attacks at close range, they would likely have met their end on the spot after the first exchange.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru, whom Xue Wu considered a 'junior,' was a powerhouse who wielded numerous Kekkei Genkai powers.
"Yōton Chakra Mode!"
Chakra of fire and earth attributes flowed freely, and surging lava fire instantly enveloped Orochimaru's entire body.
"Chh chh!"
As the ice senbon rain, carrying a chilling sharpness, approached Orochimaru's body, they let out a sizzling sound under the scorching lava fire and were instantly melted into large drops of water.
Before the water droplets could even hit the ground, the Yōton chakra armor on Orochimaru's body rippled gently, completely evaporating the water droplets.
"Yōton?"
The Third Mizukage's angry eyes froze, then turned into a bone-chilling cold.
"I didn't expect Orochimaru, one of Konoha's Sannin, to also possess Yōton like Roshi, an Upper Ninja of Iwagakure..."
"Is this the confidence with which you come to Kirigakure to provoke me?"
"You want to use Yōton to counter the ice release of my Yuki clan, a clever idea!"
"Unfortunately..."
Xue Wu suddenly clasped his hands together, his fingers flying as he quickly formed a series of hand seals.
"You're still too naive!"
"Hyōton: Hishō Sekai!" (Ice Release: Ice Crystal Secret Realm!)
The Third Mizukage roared, and the extreme cold aura within his body instantly erupted.
Under the influence of this terrifying low-temperature chakra, the vast Mizukage's office let out a creaking groan. Deep blue-white ice crystals rapidly filled the entire ice prison.
Sharp spikes quickly emerged from the thick ice layer, all their tips simultaneously aimed at Orochimaru, who was encased in Yōton chakra armor, and stabbed fiercely.
Orochimaru looked at this ice release secret technique, which had never been displayed in the ninja world, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"First, use extreme cold power to construct an indestructible cage, then slowly shrink the cage's space."
"The enemy within the cage will inevitably become slower and have less room to move under the influence of the cold air emitted by the ice release chakra and the constantly regenerating ice spikes."
"And the Yuki clan can freely move within the ice release to harvest enemy lives at will?"
"What an interesting Kekkei Genkai!"
Orochimaru, as if he didn't feel the approaching danger at all, casually commented on the purpose of his move in front of the Third Mizukage.
Xue Wu's face was so dark it seemed like water could drip from it.
"Junior, you are too arrogant!"
He suddenly urged the chakra within his body, and the speed of the ice spikes stabbing towards Orochimaru increased by another level.
These ice spikes were different from the previous ice senbon; they were thicker, and their numbers and density were greater.
Even though Orochimaru's Yōton chakra armor managed to melt some of them with great effort, it was beginning to show signs of faltering against the relentless onslaught of ice spikes.
"Pfft..."
With a series of light sounds, like bubbles bursting, the layer of high-temperature Yōton chakra armor was pierced with countless holes. The originally fiery red lava fire, like a candle in the wind, seemed on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.
The ice spikes that broke through the Yōton chakra armor continued their unstoppable charge and fiercely struck Orochimaru's body.
"Clang clang..."
"Crack..."
"Huala la..."
A series of violent metallic clangs rang out. Under Xue Wu's shocked gaze, the ice spikes that had stabbed Orochimaru's body from all directions were instantly broken by a rebounding immense force, clattering to the ground.
"This..."
"How can a ninja's physical body possess such defense?"
Xue Wu stared at Orochimaru, who was unharmed amidst the ice spikes, with a look of disbelief in his voice.
"Oh!"
"This is..."
Orochimaru patted the ice fragments that had splashed onto his hair and said naturally:
"Just ordinary Steel Release!"
"Although it doesn't have much combat power, it does have some defensive effect against attacks that are solely aimed at the physical body."