Chapter 138 : Riku Also Summoning, The Legendary Serpent
Hearing Riku’s words, Tsunade frowned and said, "Alright. Now’s not the time for talking—we need to prepare."
Standing beside her, Riku glanced at Orochimaru on the opposite side, frowning. "I could defeat Orochimaru on my own, but he has a resurrection technique. Even if I kill him now, he’ll just come back. It’s disgusting."
Tsunade nodded in agreement. "That’s right. Orochimaru always had a bunch of twisted techniques up his sleeve."
Though they hadn’t encountered each other in years, Tsunade was well aware of Orochimaru’s many inhumane experiments.
At this moment, Manda had locked his eyes on Riku, fully intent on provoking him. It was clear he wouldn’t back down.
That massive pair of eyes stared unblinking at Riku, ready to swallow him whole.
Riku met Manda’s gaze and smirked. "So this big snake wants to eat me, huh?"
Katsuyu’s calm voice rang out beside him. "Master Riku, I will protect you."
Clearly, Katsuyu hadn’t quite understood what Riku meant.
But Riku didn’t bother to explain.
It was a strange sight: Riku, a contractor of Ryūchi Cave himself, standing opposite Manda.
If he summoned Shinya, the battle would be over quickly—Manda wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
But Manda wasn’t going to wait.
Seizing an opportunity, he lunged forward at astonishing speed.
"Let’s take one out first."
In a flash, Manda rushed at Gamabunta. His speed was overwhelming; Gamabunta barely had time to draw his short tantō.
Even so, he clearly couldn’t match Manda’s speed.
In terms of raw strength or food chain hierarchy, Manda didn’t have an obvious advantage over Gamabunta. But in this skirmish, speed tipped the balance.
As Gamabunta and Manda clashed, Manda abruptly changed direction—just as Katsuyu had anticipated.
At the moment Manda lunged toward her, she unleashed a stream of concentrated acid.
But under the cover of a rocky outcrop, Manda coiled around her in an instant.
Before she could react, he had her completely restrained—and then lunged straight at Riku with his fangs bared.
Tsunade leapt aside in shock.
Riku reacted instantly as well, vanishing in a flash of lightning and reappearing just above Katsuyu’s head.
Katsuyu, meanwhile, was being tightly constricted, her soft body visibly deforming under the immense pressure.
Just as Manda began to squeeze tighter, Katsuyu split apart into hundreds of miniature clones, escaping his grip.
Katsuyu’s regenerative ability was unmatched among the three Great Sage summoning creatures—she wouldn’t be killed so easily.
Landing nearby, Riku watched as Katsuyu rapidly reformed and commented with a smile, "Katsuyu, combat really isn’t your specialty, is it?"
Katsuyu apologized softly, "I’m sorry, Master Riku. I’m not very good at fighting."
Riku smiled. "I know. That’s why Lady Tsunade is dealing with Orochimaru."
Sure enough, Tsunade had already jumped onto Manda’s head and delivered a powerful punch, sending Orochimaru flying.
Orochimaru tried to retaliate with a bite, but Tsunade countered with another blow to the face—so forceful it nearly knocked his head off.
While Manda failed to finish off Katsuyu, he turned back to battle Gamabunta once more.
Though Gamabunta wielded his tantō effectively, he was clearly being pushed back. In a prolonged fight, he was at a disadvantage against Manda.
Even with Tsunade hammering Orochimaru relentlessly, she still couldn’t kill him.
In fact, she was beginning to look vulnerable.
Just as Orochimaru’s jaws neared Tsunade’s neck, Riku appeared beside her in a flash of lightning.
An explosive surge of chakra erupted from him.
"Zzt—"
BOOM!
A blinding bolt of lightning shot out from Riku’s body, thick as a man’s wrist. It struck Orochimaru dead-on, sending him flying and charring his body black.
Orochimaru nearly fell off Manda’s head.
Manda, furious at the chaos on his head, began thrashing violently, trying to throw Tsunade and Riku off.
But Riku sensed his intention, grabbed Tsunade’s hand, and vanished in a burst of lightning.
The two of them reappeared on Katsuyu’s head, which had fully reformed.
Tsunade wasn’t particularly fast—speed had never been her strong suit.
Though she was faster than most Jōnin, she was still slower than Kage-level shinobi like Jiraiya or Orochimaru.
Riku, on the other hand, was blindingly fast—so fast that even the Fourth Hokage might struggle to keep up.
What he had just used wasn’t the Flying Thunder God Technique, nor the Mangekyō Sharingan’s space-time abilities—it was pure Lightning Body Flicker.
And even that was enough to outpace most shinobi.
Tsunade turned to him, eyes wide. "What was that Lightning Style technique just now?"
Riku didn’t hesitate. "It’s a defensive technique I developed from Chidori—Raimei no Ami. ’Thunder Net.’"
Tsunade blinked. "Thunder Net? That didn’t look like ordinary ninjutsu..."
"It’s not," Riku said with a grin. "It’s S-rank. Orochimaru was killed by this and the Flying Thunder God back in the Forest of Death."
He glanced at Orochimaru’s scorched figure. "Though now he’s been resurrected. Like I said—disgusting."
Tsunade looked at him in disbelief. "You killed Orochimaru before?"
Riku shrugged. "Didn’t I say that earlier?"
"I thought you were bluffing," she said flatly.
Riku sighed. "I don’t need to bluff. There’s no point."
Not wanting to dwell on it, he turned toward the battlefield. "Katsuyu isn’t built for combat. I’ll summon someone more fitting."
At that moment, Gamabunta was clearly losing ground. If things continued like this, he’d be defeated.
Despite Katsuyu and Gamabunta fighting together, they were only just barely holding back Manda. Neither was in peak condition, and Orochimaru’s control over hundreds of support snakes made Manda more ferocious than ever.
Under this pressure, even their combined efforts were starting to falter.
Without hesitation, Riku leapt from Katsuyu’s head.
Tsunade frowned, watching him. "What’s he planning to summon?"
Katsuyu, having overheard Manda’s earlier comments, knew exactly what was coming.
"He should be summoning Shinya."
Tsunade blinked. "Shinya? Who’s that?"
She had never even heard of such a creature from Ryūchi Cave.
Katsuyu hesitated, then said, "He’s very powerful. Stronger than Manda. But his temperament is worse—far more aggressive."
"I don’t know how Riku managed to tame such a rebellious snake."
Tsunade looked at Riku with renewed curiosity—and a trace of concern.
A few dozen meters away, Riku had begun forming hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A massive cloud of smoke exploded outward.
Katsuyu immediately sensed Shinya’s presence and went stiff. "He really summoned Shinya... Lady Tsunade, be careful. That snake’s venom can petrify anything."
"It’s extremely dangerous. Do not get close. And he’s much faster than Manda—don’t underestimate him."
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