Living in Konoha: Picking Up Abilities Starting from the Anbu

At that moment, in the swamp...

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

BOOM!

A massive fireball, more than ten meters in diameter, exploded in the center of Orochimaru's camp.

"Who is it!?"

Orochimaru roared furiously.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

Quickly forming hand seals, he slammed his palms to the ground.

Instantly, a towering wall of water surged upward, blocking the fireball's path.

BANG!

Water and fire collided, creating an explosion!

Scalding steam swirled through the swamp, spreading like a wild storm.

What strength!

Orochimaru's gaze sharpened.

That wasn't just an ordinary Great Fireball Jutsu—this was far more powerful than that of a regular Jonin!

A Kage-level ninja!

Is my opponent Kage-level?!

And then, Orochimaru saw his answer.

A white cloak. A mask.

Konoha's ANBU!

"It's you..."

Orochimaru's cold eyes flickered with fury.

That ANBU!

That bastard who slashed an X across my back!

Persistent as a ghost!

He had indeed followed Orochimaru all this time.

Over the past two days, Orochimaru had sensed an eerie presence occasionally watching him. Now it was clear—it had been this ANBU tailing him all along!

"Orochimaru-senpai..."

Beneath his mask, Kazuya smiled softly. "We meet again."

What a heartwarming reunion.

As the explosion went off, Orochimaru's followers immediately scattered. At this moment, all of them were intently watching Kazuya, but none dared to make a move.

Anyone capable of being a shinobi wasn't a fool.

Even without saying a word, they could all see clearly that this masked ANBU was going toe-to-toe with Lord Orochimaru and holding his own. There was no way they could handle an opponent of this caliber.

Kazuya scanned the scene.

Hmm... The group wasn't bad.

There were only two Konoha ninjas among them. The rest weren't wearing Konoha headbands.

It seemed Orochimaru had recruited these ninjas from other places.

It made sense. Konoha shinobi usually had a strong sense of loyalty to the village. Defection wasn't easy.

Even for Orochimaru, many of his former subordinates chose to stay behind in the village, waiting to face the consequences of their actions in the name of the Will of Fire.

They were loyal to Orochimaru, but they believed in the Will of Fire even more!

"This'll do..." Kazuya smiled.

Soon, he could clean up the battlefield without worries! He didn't want to end up killing too many, only to be used as a scapegoat later by Hiruzen Sarutobi. He knew well enough not to trust the higher-ups of Konoha.

After all, even someone as strong as White Fang, who was stronger than the Sannin, had been driven to death. If you believed there wasn't some hidden agenda behind that, you'd have to be pretty naive.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

Orochimaru moved quickly, weaving hand signs in the blink of an eye and launching two powerful ninjutsu.

The gust of wind! The dragon flame!

The wind fueled the fire, instantly transforming the entire swamp into a blazing inferno.

Orochimaru had been through countless battles and wasn't stupid.

This ANBU was incredibly annoying, but more importantly, he was a user of the Flying Thunder God Technique!

If he allowed this ANBU to get too close, even he might end up paying the price!

Flying Thunder God!

The technique was unmatched in close combat!

That was a rule the Fourth Hokage had established during the Shinobi World War!

And it was a rule everyone had to follow!

Even a Kage-level ninja like Orochimaru wouldn't dare take the risk of getting too close!

"Yes!"

Kazuya felt excitement surge inside him.

He almost wanted to give Orochimaru a round of applause.

Well done, Orochimaru!

Finally, you've figured it out!

Beautiful!

Just keep using ninjutsu! Don't worry about running out of chakra!

Keep aiming well and fire with everything you've got!

[You have picked up 200 points of chakra]

[You have picked up 200 points of chakra]

[You have picked up 100 points of Wind Style proficiency]

[You have picked up 100 points of Fire Style proficiency]

[You have picked up 100 points of Wind Style: Great Breakthrough proficiency]

[You have picked up 200 points of Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu proficiency]

[Your Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu has leveled up to level 5 (0/1000)]

[Your Wind Style proficiency has leveled up to level 4 (0/1000)]

Endless streaks of golden light showered down!

In no time at all, Kazuya's Wind Style proficiency and Dragon Flame Jutsu had both leveled up.

What a haul!

As expected from a peak Kage-level shinobi—the quality of his drops was insanely high!

Swoosh!

Kazuya used the Flying Thunder God and instantly vanished from his position.

Several hundred meters away, he stood calmly, watching the inferno blazing across the swamp.

"Flying Thunder God... what a convenient technique!" Kazuya murmured.

If you could win, it was an instant victory. If you couldn't, no one could catch you anyway. The chakra consumption was relatively low when used by a single person. Truly a broken technique!

In hindsight, Minato Namikaze had been quite underhanded, hadn't he? Using the Flying Thunder God technique multiple times during the bell test with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin...

Shady Minato!

Using Flying Thunder God in a bell test!

Damn! That's like playing the game on nightmare difficulty!

It wasn't just Kakashi and Obito; even if you swapped in the Raikage, Killer Bee, or the Third Raikage, they still wouldn't have been able to get those bells from Minato!

Well, I suppose...

"I'm much kinder than Minato, after all."

Kazuya chuckled softly.

At least he was using Flying Thunder God to deal with a peak Kage-level opponent like Orochimaru!

Swoosh!

In a flash of white light, Kazuya reappeared.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed!

Flying Thunder God again!

Damn that Flying Thunder God!

Back then, he lost his bid to become Hokage to the Fourth Hokage. Now, even after defecting from Konoha, he had to face yet another shinobi with the Flying Thunder God!

How infuriating!

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Orochimaru gritted his teeth and quickly formed hand seals.

In an instant, a roaring water dragon took shape and surged toward Kazuya.

However, this time, Kazuya didn't dodge.

Because...

From above...

A figure with long white hair appeared in a blur.

"Fire Style: Giant Flame Bomb!"

Boom!

A massive blast of fire collided with the water dragon in mid-air.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the area.

The wind from the explosion whipped through Kazuya's white cloak, making it billow in the air.

"Using Fire Style to Counter Water Style?"

"As expected..."

"The so-called elemental advantage in the Naruto world only seems to work for Deidara. Poor guy."

Kazuya sighed softly.

In the field...

Jiraiya swung his hand, releasing a burst of chakra that dispersed the scalding steam swirling around him.

"Kazuya!"

He turned toward Kazuya and shouted, "Don't worry! Even crying children will be comforted in the presence of the great and handsome Jiraiya! I'm here to help!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, eleven ANBU ninjas arrived on the scene in a flash.

"Captain!"

"Captain, we're here!"

"Captain!"

The Konoha ANBU, seeing that Kazuya was already there, was visibly excited.

As Kazuya faced the impending onslaught, the situation shifted into a tense standoff between the two groups of shinobi.

"Hmph!" Jiraiya let out a cold snort, exuding an air of superiority. "I am Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin—Konoha's finest! You lot..."

At that moment, Jiraiya's expression was as cold and imposing as ever, and his aura of strength was palpable, enough to overwhelm anyone.

However...

Suddenly, his foot slipped.

SPLASH!

Standing right in the middle of the swamp, Jiraiya sank deep into the muck like a wooden post, slipping helplessly into the mud.

His eyes went blank with disbelief.

He sank deeper... and deeper.

"Kazuya!"

"Help!"

"Blub, blub..."

"Pull me out, dammit!" Jiraiya's frantic calls for help immediately shattered the tense atmosphere, making the scene feel absurd.

Note: If you are interested, read up to chapter 40 at patreon.com/MythicForge11