Son of the Sannin

by Ander Arias

Naruto lost his parents the night of his birth due to the Kyubi escaping, but fortunately Jiraiya and Tsunade are willing to take care of him in their place. Watch how his life unfolds while being raised by the Sannin, and how such actions will change not only Naruto's life, but the lives of those around him. Slight AU

125. The Legendary Sannin

Author's Note: Well, here it is, the fight so many of you have been waiting for. Hope it meets your expectations:

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Chapter 125:

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru: the Legendary Sannin

or

Farewell to a former friend

Mountain Graveyard, Akatsuki Lair

When the wall behind him was blown to pieces from the other side, Orochimaru barely even reacted. He calmly stood up, and turned around to see the newcomers. Despite the ensuing cloud of dust, Orochimaru was able to tell who the newcomers were, since he could identify them by their chakra –and his chakra sensing had gotten especially good thanks to some of the DNA strands he had spliced with his own–. This brought a smile to his face.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't my old teammates, coming to pay me a visit," Orochimaru said, grinning. "Hello, Jiraiya, Tsunade. It's been a while since the last time I saw you. How have you been?"

"Small talk? Really?" Jiraiya asked, unimpressed. "Come on Orochimaru, your fake politeness is grating. Let's just get down to the business already."

"Always the impatient one, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said, shaking his head, before his yellow eyes rested on Tsunade. "I'm sure Tsunade will be more likely to catch up with me."

"Catching up? No. But I do plan to make you catch my fist with your face," Tsunade threatened. "I owe you one for kidnapping our children several years ago. And then cloning them like that. Not to mention using that horrible jutsu to bring my grandfather and granduncle as your undead slaves. Plus all the people you have indirectly killed."

"We also know how you killed Sarutobi-sensei when you attacked the Genbu Island," Jiraiya added.

"As well as Tenzo, our children's Jonin-sensei," Tsunade said, clenching her fist. While she hardly knew the man, she knew Kaida and Hagane would be devastated once they learned of his demise.

"So no, Orochimaru, as you can see, there won't be small talk. Nor we will try to convince you to change your evil ways or surrender peacefully," Jiraiya continued. "You won't live to see another tomorrow. We will make sure of it."

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "I'm almost impressed, Jiraiya. And here I thought that Konoha was all about making friends and taking the higher road. It seems that you guys finally learned."

"We're ninjas, Orochimaru. We will kill if the situation demands it," Tsunade said.

"Though, have you considered that killing me won't cancel Impure World Resurrection?" Orochimaru asked. "If you kill me and the jutsu is still active, the reanimations will carry the last orders I give them."

"Let us worry about that, you slimy bastard," Jiraiya angrily said. "You aren't getting out of here alive. You will die by our hands."

"It seems you guy really are out for my blood. Then again, it's understandable, given your list of grievances against me," Orochimaru admitted. "However, before we begin, a question: how did you find this place?"

"A good ninja doesn't reveal their secrets to the enemy, Orochimaru," Jiraiya said, as he took a step forward. "You will die without having such knowledge."

"It was Hebiko, wasn't it?" Orochimaru asked, a scowl developing on his face. "I know about her betrayal, Kabuto told me about her. But I didn't know she'd go as far as to help my enemies. After rising her from infancy and turning her into a ninja most people would kill to be, this is how she thanks me. Ungrateful brat."

"Maybe you shouldn't have abandoned her brother when it wasn't convenient," Tsunade fired back. "As a parent, you leave a lot to be desired."

"Oh, right," Orochimaru said, seemingly forgetting about Hebimaru's existence. "So that's why she went to help you, right? She wanted her dear brother back. Now it makes sense."

"You developed a penchant for discarding people the moment they no longer are of any use," Tsunade said. "And sweet irony, said attitude lead you to your downfall."

"Downfall?" Orochimaru repeated, before laughing a bit. "Oh no. All what my treachearous daughter accomplished was to give me what I sought for such a long time. You see, the reason I regretably had to return to Obito's side and pledge my help to his silly cause was because he promised me a Rinnegan in return. More especifically, the Rinnegan you're wielding in your eye socket under that piece of cloth, Tsunade."

This made the blond Sannin to adopt a defensive stance.

"But now... you saved me a lot of trouble by bringing that eye to me, Tsunade," Orochimaru said, as his lips curved into a maniacal grin. "To show you that I'm not ungrateful, I'll make sure your death is quick and painless!"

"Enough talking! I'm tired of seeing your ugly mug and hearing your odious voice!" Tsunade said, raising an open hand at her former teammate. "Bansho Ten'in!"

Suddenly, as if yanked by an invisible hand, a great force pulled Orochimaru towards Tsunade's open hand, whose fingers wrapped around the black haired man's neck the moment he was within reach. She then moved her other hand towards the top of Orochimaru's head.

"Now-"

But before Tsunade could finish, "Orochimaru" burst into a mass of large snakes that quickly wrapped around Tsunade's body.

"Ack-"

"Tsunade-sama!" the Katsuyu mini-clone cried, as she started to spray acid around the snakes from her mouth.

Between Katsuyu's acid and Tsunade's own strength, they were able to get the snakes away from her, who quickly scurried away, hiding behind the many stone columns.

"Nice way getting rid of my surprise attack. Then again, I shouldn't have expect that a Sage like yourself would have fallen to that," Orochimaru's voice said. "Hmmmmm... two Sages versus little old me... yes, I'd say the deck isn't stacked in my favor, isn't it?"

"You must be delirious if you think we're going to let you escape after how much it took us to find you," Jiraiya replied, as he tried to sense which of the snakes was the real Orochimaru.

"Hide? Weren't you hearing me, Jiraiya? Why should I hide, when everything I want is on this very cave?" Orochimaru asked, as he emerged from under the mouth of one of the snakes. "Do you think your chances against me are so good? Because Rinnegan or not, underestimating me would be a very poor choice."

Orochimaru completely emerged from the snake's mouth, wearing nothing from the waist up. His pale skin was now covered in what appeared to be reptilian scales, and several horns grew at the side of his head., as the four snakes seamlessly attached to his back hissed angrily at the two Konoha ninja. The Snake Sannin finally got up, and as his yellow eyes turned the red of the Sharingan, he flexed his chakra, and the entire cave shook.

"What the...?" Jiraiya asked, as he almost lost his balance.

"Yes, I'm sensing it too! His body is saturated with nature energy!" Fukasaku said. "He's a Sage too!"

"Ah yes, Senjutsu... that art always evaded my skill... but alas, I finally found the way to channel nature energy. And it's all thanks to your son, Jiraiya, Tsunade. I'm sure the poor boy is overshadowed by his sister's because of her Bloodline Limit, but being able to draw nature energy and mix it with your own chakra without any risk... plus being able to do it while you move... kukuku, let's say that I don't feel like I'm going to lose this battle."

"So you're a Sage too. So what? We're still going to pound you into bloody paste," Tsunade said.

"You don't get it, Tsunade. Nature energy isn't merely my ally. We're as one now. And that makes me a better Sage than you or sorry husband can hope to be," Orochimaru boasted, as he started to make hand seals. "But let my actions speak for me rather than my words! I have your daughter to thank for this ability! Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

The entire cave started to shake once again as large wooden roots emerged from underground and lunged at the pair of married Sannin. Jiraiya, however, was already preparing a counterattack.

"Pa, I need some oil!" Jiraiya asked, as he also started to make hand seals.

"You got it, Jiraiya-chan!" Fukasaku replied, as his dewlap swolled up, before releasing a deceptively large cone of oil at the incoming roots.

"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

Taking a deep breath, Jiraiya exhaled a huge stream of flames his mouth, which ignited the oil Fukasaku was expelling, resulting in a raging inferno that quickly burned the cimong roots to a crisp.

Orochimaru merely chuckled at his initial attack being countered, and made more hand seals. "Fire, huh? Alright then, let's fight fire with fire! Lava Release: Melting Apparition Jutsu!"

Orochimaru's cheeks puffed as burning lava build inside them, before releasing a huge cone of molten earth at the two Sannin. Tsunade, however, merely took a step forward and raised a single hand. From said hand, a barrier of white light was projected.

"Gakido!"

The moment the wave of molten earth touched Tsunade's barrier, it was quickly absorbed into it, before it was converted into pure chakra and funneled into the blond Sannin's body. Tsunade closed her fist, extingushing the light produced by her barrier once she had absorbed the jutsu.

"So, aside from our children's DNA, you also got a bunch of Bloodline Limits there, huh?" Tsunade asked, as she placed a hand on her hip. "Well, as you just saw, all those fancy techniques arent' going to do shit against me, as long as I have the ability to absorb ninjutsu."

Orochimaru forced a smile. "So kind of you to make that clear," Orochimaru replied, as he formed three hand seals in quick succession, while his eyes were sealed shut and his ears closed completely. "Try absorbing this then! Sage Art: White Rage Jutsu!"

From Orochimaru's mouth emerged a chakra construct that looked like a serpentine dragon, with a solid looking, purple orb in one of its claws. The dragon then coiled itself around the orb, exploding into a blast of blinding light and an extremely loud and high pitched screech. The effect was immediate, and Jiraiya and Tsunade fell to their knees, their eyes closed, hurt by the bright flash, while gripping their pained ears, their summoned animals being on a similar predicament. With his enemies incapacitated, Orochimaru took the chance to strike.

"Sword of Kusanagi!" as a snake crawled from inside his mouth, the snake regurgitated the legendary sword, which the Snake Sannin was quick to grasp. "Thanks to my body modifications, I can completely seal my eyes and ears shut, thus becoming immune to the effects of the White Rage Jutsu, while I can use the sensing granting by Sage Mode to keep track of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Now, to gut Tsunade like a fish before claiming my prize!"

However, being as fixated as he was on Tsunade, Orochimaru didn't notice that, despite the pain, Jiraiya was forcing himself to make hand seals.

"Needle Jizo!"

Jiraiya's hair quickly grew in size and volume, and wrapped itself around both himself and Tsunade, forming a protective barrier, before the hair facing outward took the shape of very hard spikes, forcing Orochimaru to stop the attack.

"You're forgetting that we're also Sages, and thus we can't sense your movements!" Jiraiya reminded him, before making another hand seal. "And as long as I'm here, you won't put a finger on my wife! Needle Hell!"

Jiraiya then fired a multitude of hardened hair needles in every direction, forcing Orochimaru to jump backwards. Thanks to his Sharingan, he was able to predict the trajectory of the white needles flying at him, allowing him to dodge most of them and parry with his sword those he couldn't.

However, that attack served to keep Orochimaru busy while Tsunade healed their eyes and ears. Once the two of them were recovered, Jiraiya undid the protective hair barrier, allowing Tsunade to leap towards the retreating Snake Sannin. She generated a black chakra rod from one of her palms, and channeling chakra through it in order to increase its power, she delivered a mighty swing at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru managed to parry it in time, his sword resisting as he expected, but the Konoha traitor was unexpectedly hurt by the sheer energy that Tsunade's blow carried. Undeterred, Tsunade attacked again, but this time Orochimaru focused on redirecting her attacks to the sides rather than parrying them in full. Tsunade surpassed him in hseer power, but he was much better than her when it came to armed combat, and he was going to take advantage of that.

And indeed, during their exchange, Tsunade fumbled a swipe, leaving her completely wide open. Orochimaru's lips curved into a predatory grin, as he thrust his sword forward.

"You Lose Tsuna-"

However, before Orochimaru's cold metal could pierce Tsunade's flesh, Fukasaku's prehensile tongue wrapped around her waist, pulling her backwards. Given the lack of surprise on the blond Sannin's face, she was clearly expecting that move. And as Tsunade was moved to the back, Orochimaru's Sharingan saw how Jiraiya rushed towards him, with one of his hands holding a large sphere or chakra.

"Big Ball Rasengan!"

Having no time to dodge, all what Orochimaru could do was put his sword between himself and the large sphere of destruction Jiraiya was thrusting in his direction. The sword provided of little protection, as when the Rasengan exploded, it blasted the sword out of his hands while lunging the Snake Sannin crashing against the wall of the opposite side of the cavern, making the whole place rumble.

"You got a nice hit there," Tsunade praised, as he walked towards her husband. "You think that got him?"

"Not even close," Jiraiya said with a chuckle, as Fukasaku shivered. "We're going to need more than that to bring him down for sure. But that definitely help-ug, Pa? Is everything okay?"

"Don't you guys feel it's getting a little chilly in here?" the toad sage asked, hugging himself.

The moment he mentioned it, the two Sannin realized that he was right, and the temperature was rapidly falling. Then, they noticed a spike of chakra coming from Orochimaru, and much to their surprise, a sheet of ice started to spread around the entire cavern.

"What the... Ice Release!?" Jiraiya asked in shock. "When did he get his hands on Ice Release!?"

"Getting a smaple of the Yuki boy's DNA was laughably easy, Jiraiya," Orochimaru laughed, as he slided on the icy floor towards the two Sannin.

Two additional pair of arms grewn under Tsunade's arms, and opened up several compartments, firing a multitude of missiles from them. Orochimaru, however, was able to dodge all of them with the help of the icy floor. He then jumped into the air while making several hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Snake Thunder!"

One of the snakes on Orochimaru's back started to crackle with yellow electricity, before it opened its jaws, releasing a snake-shaped lightning bolt towards the blond Sannin. Tsunade, however, already moved to counter it, rising her two original arms towards the incoming attack.

"Gakido!"

Once again, Tsunade created a ninjutsu-absorbing barrier to protect herself. However, the snake-shaped electric bolt changed its course mid air, and forked downwards, striking the ice instead. The ice helped spread the electricity, zapping Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"You're mine!" Orochimaru said, as he prepared to strike Tsunade.

However, Tsunade wasn't down for the count, as she managed to extend one arm.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Once again, Orochimaru was blown away backwards by a powerful gravitational force, sending him crashing against a frozen stone pillar, which broke upon impact, making the cavern shake again. A few rocks and stalagtites fell from the roof.

"Jiraiya, you okay?" Tsunade asked, as she placed a hand on her shoulder, and began to heal him.

"I'll live," the white haired Sannin replied. "Thanks, good save there."

"Come on, we need to continue attacking. We can't let him drive us into fighting defensively," Tsunade urged,

There was another spike of chakra, and Orochimaru burst from the pile of frozen rocks he had been buried under, the force of his chakra sending the rocks flying away into every direction, before he slammed both hands into the ground.

"Ice Release: Certain Kill Ice Spears!"

Rows of gigantic frozen spikes shout out from the ground towards the two Konoha Sannin. However, before they could impale them, Tsunade took a step forward and raised a hand, calling for the most versatile ability of the Rinnegan.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Releasing yet another repulsive shockwave, the ice spears shattered like weak glass, turning into thousands of ice shards. However, Orochimaru was already expecting that, and was already weaving more hand seals even before Tsunade destroyed his ice attack.

"I know you can't use that jutau again until five seconds pass! Let's see if you can survive this until then!" Orochimaru laughed. "Ice Release: Thousand Flying Ice Needles of Death!"

The moment he finished the seal chain, the thousands of ice shards froze mid air as if time stopped for them. Then, they all pointed towarda Tsunade, and lunged at her at insane speed. Jiraiya, however, stepped once again to shield his wife from harm.

"And you're forgetting that she isn't alone!" Jiraiya said, as he finished his own chain of seals. "Sage Art: Fire release Big Flame Bullet!"

Jiraiya expelled a massive cone of roaring flames, completely engulfing the hundreds of ice shards coming towards them, melting them almost instantly before they had the chance to touch them, as well as melting the sheet of ice that covered the floor of the cavern. However, there was something Jiraiya's admittedly impressive fire jutsu was unable to melt: the Kusanagi blade, which, as if being pulled by an invisible force, emerged from behind the wall of flames and drove itself into Tsunade's gut.

Tsunade was able to react in time and grabbed the sword by its blade in order to stop it, but she didn't break its momentum completely, and it managed to bury itself into her stomatch. Tsunade choked out blood.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya yelled.

"Tsunade-sama!" Katsuyu shouted.

"I'm... I'm okay!" Tsunade said, as she forced the legendary sword out of her gut, before tossing it away. "I can heal myself! Just... keep him busy while I do so!"

"Let me help you healing your wounds," Katsuyu offered.

"Got it!" Jiraiya said, as he took a couple step forward, in order to face Orochimaru. Right now, he needed to push him away from Tsunade while she healed from such a sneaky attack.

Orochimaru grinned, and extended his hand. As if the sword had life of its own, it floated mid air, before it shot back towards the Sanke Sannin, whose fingers firmly wrapped themselves around the handle, before pointing the blade towards Jiraiya menacingly.

"Do you plan to face me alone, Jiraiya? I already proved to be the better of the two in the past, and that was before becoming what I am now," Orochimaru boasted. "Without a Rinnegan wielder to help you, you have no chances to survive against me."

"Keep underestimating me, let's see how good it does to you," Jiraiya fired back.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Fine then. Let's fight in a way I know it's far from your favorite: in close quarters!"

Kusanagi in hand, Orochimaru basically blitzed towards Jiraiya, ready to impale his hated enemy like he did with Tsunade. Jiraiya, however, was faster than he anticipated, and prepared a counter attack.

"Needle Jizo!"

Once again, Jiraiya's size grew in size and volume, while also taking the form of sharp spikes that were as hard as iron. The Toad Sage shook his head, throwing his weaponized white mane at the incoming enemy. Orochimaru sidestepped and prepared to strike, but unfortunately, Fukasaku wasn't going to make the fight any easier.

"Sage Art: Toad Oil!"

Once again, Fukasaku expelled a huge stream of oil from his mouth, but he didn't aim it at the Snake Sannin, but at the ground below. Orochimaru immediately caught wind of what the small, elderly toad was planning, and broke his dash, opting instead to jump back and throw his sword at him. Jiraiya gritted his teeth.

"He knows I can't afford to dodge, or else that sword will fly towards Tsunade," thanks to his sensing, Jiraiya could tell Tsunade was still healing her wounds. She was almost done, but needed a few more seconds. "Let's try deflecting it then!"

Jiraiya held out a hand and formed a Rasengan as fast as he was able to, before driving the chakra sphere onto the incoming sword, which detonated the Rasengan upon piercing it. The resulting explosion harmed Jiraiya's hand and forearm a little, but he was able to deflect the sword blow, sending it flying away.

However, as Jiraiya did this, Orochimaru took advantage of his predicament and prepared to attack again. He bent over and rested his hands on the ground, while the four snakes on his back hissed angrily at the Toad Sannin. The snakes opened their jaws, and more snakes emerged from it. Said snakes also opened their jaws, releasing even more and more snakes. Soon, Orochimaru was buried under a pile of a truly staggering number of snakes, before all of them who lunged at Jiraiya, ready to sink their venomous fangs onto his flesh.

"Shit!" Jiraiya cursed, as he jumped back while wrapping himself with his chakra-enhanced mane. And while many of the snakes crashed against his spiked barrier, he saw that just as many passed by him and went after Tsunade, who was still healing herself. Panicking, Jiraiya's hands weaved hand seals as fast as he could. "Earth Release: Multiple Earth Style Wall!"

Jiraiya slammed both hands onto the ground, and several walls of rock and earth sprouted around Tsunade, protecting her from the mass of snakes

"And done! Thanks for the help, Jiraiya! Now better get out of the way!" Tsunade warned from within her rock shelter.

Several whistles alerted Jiraiya of what Tsunade was about to do, as a cluster of missiles flew out of the makeshit shelter. Jiraiya quickly jumped towards the shelter, while missiles rained upon the mass of snakes that covered the ground around them. Despite the number of snakes destroyed this way, there were many of them left. Tsunade them jumped out of the shelter, and scanned the area.

"Hey, where's Orochimaru?" the slug Sannin asked.

"I don't know, I can't sense him. His chakra is all around the place," Jiraiya replied.

"He must be using the snakes in order to hide his position!" Fukasaku pointed out.

"How so clever of you!" Orochimaru's voice said.

Suddenly, one of the snakes quickly tripled in size as it lunged at Tsunade. The enlarged snake opened its jaws, and Orochimaru crawled from under them, ready to strike Tsunade down. However, the Slug Princess was faster in the draw, and quickly raised a hand towards him.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Orochimaru was blasted backwards. However, as he did, another snake came from his mouth, lunging towards Tsunade again. Jiraiya was able to intercept it by wrapping his arms around them, but the snake regurgitated yet another Orochimaru, who lunged once again at Tsunade, while the snake wrapped its body around Jiraiya. Raising a hand, the blade of Kusanagi flew back to it, and prepared to strike his former teammate.

Tsunade managed to generate another black chakra rod from her palm just in time to parry the blow of the legendary sword. Unfortunately, her makeshift weapon broke under the assault of Orochimaru's blade, forcing Tsunade to jump back.

"You're really out to get me, aren't you?" an annoyed Tsunade asked.

"What can I say, the Uchiha genes within this body makes me yearn for Senju blood!" Orochimaru said with a feral grin. "Now-"

Unfortunately for Orochimaru, a prehensile tongue wrapped itself around his ankle, pulling him back and tossing him backwards with extraordinary strength. As he was flung over, Orochimaru could see it was that wrinkled toad on Jiraiya's shoulder pulling him back, while the white haired man got rid of the snake with the help of a Shadow Clone, and was using its help to prepare his next jutsu, before the Snake Sannin was slammed against the ground, making the whole cave shake once more.

"Well done, Pa!" Jiraiya praised, as he held a Rasengan with both hands, while the clone infused it with elemental chakra. The Rasengan started to grow in size and change color, from blue with a white core, to bright red with an orange core. Though rather than a mere fireball, Jiraiya looked like he was holding a miniature sun on his hands.

"Now's your chance boy! While he's down!"

Nodding wordlessly, Jiraiya dashed towards Orochimaru, who just jumped back to his feet. However, he wouldn't be able to dodge the next attack, something was aware of as his red eyes shrank in horror upon realizing the sheer power Jiraiya's attack was packing.

"What kind of-"

"Fire Release: Spiraling Inferno!"

Jiraiya slammed the miniature sun onto Orochimaru's chest, the sphere of fire and heat tripling in size as its stored power was released at once, before it exploded in an infernal cone that bathed Orochimaru in a sea of orange flames, while being violently pushed backwards. The flames burned so bright, they illuminated the entirely of the cavern for a few seconds as if it was bathed by daylight.

As Orochimaru smashed against yet another wall, the cave shook again.

"You know, I'm tempted to say that there's no way Orochimaru survived that," Tsunade said as she walked towards Jiraiya. "But I still sense his chakra going strong."

"I know. Though even if you must be the one to kill him for the plan to work, I'm not even going to bother to hold back," Jiraiya told her. "Look, there he comes."

Once again, Orochimaru was back on his feet. As the cloud of dust raised by the impact dispelled, the Konoha ninja could see Orochimaru's smoking body was covered in burnt bone plates. The plates started to fall to the ground one after another, revealing sizzling charred flesh. Orochimaru then opened his mouth extremely wide and regurgitated a new body, shedding the charred one.

"Even with Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse to protect my body, that jutsu nearly killed me," Orochimaru said, as he got back on his feet. "It pains me almost as much to admit that you developed quite the killer jutsu, Jiraiya. But as you can see, not even that is enough to bring me down."

"Don't worry, I can perfectly settle for seeing you suffer," Jiraiya snarked. He then looked at Tsunade. "Ready to continue?"

"You can bet I am," Tsunade replied.

As Jiraiya and Tsunade closed in, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he started to rethink his plan of action.

"I think I underestimated these two. Tsunade's Rinnegan doesn't make her impossible to get close to, but gives her several ways to avoid my ninjutsu attacks. And Jiraiya is no slouch, either. I can beat either of them on their own, but by working together, they can always get in the way and help each other if they're in trouble... distract one while I focus on the other has proven to be an ineffective strategy... my many Bloodline Limits give me a huge advantage over them, so I better use those to overwhelm them. Time to test the limits of my new power..." Orochimaru pondered, just as his enemies were getting closer.

As Jiraiya rushed forward, he made several hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The white haired Sannin slammed his hands on the ground, turning it into a muddy swamp, spreading towards Orochimaru's position. The Sanke Sannin avoided the attack by leaping into the ceiling, using chakra control to stick his feet on one of the stalagtites.

"Got you!" Tsunade said, as she cast her hand upwards. "Bansho Ten'in!"

"Dance of the Larch!"

However, Orochimaru already expected that, and he was flung towards his former teammate, he quickly grew multiple sharp bone spikes around his body. Tsunade's eyes widen in shock upon seeing he had been played with, and jumped backwards in an attempt to avoid being skewered, while Orochimaru landed on his feet with a thundering noise.

"And that's not all!" Orochimaru said, as he started to spin around his feet. "Dance of the Larch: All Killing Bone Spikes!"

Orochimaru fired the bone spikes growing from his body in every direction, forcing Jiraiya and Tsunade to put even more distance between them and his opponent, as well as between themselves. As the bones landed on the ground or hit a stone column, they could see that the spikes either burst into flames, were crackling with electricity, or melted the rock.

"ARGH!" Jiraiya screamed, as he failed to dodge one of the bones, who lodged into his shoulder.

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade screamed.

"Yes, I should better get rid of Jiraiya first. Unlike Tsunade, he has no way of healing himself," Orochimaru said, as his lips curved into an evil grin.

"Don't worry, Jiraiya-chan I'll get that out in a-" Fukasaku said, as he moved to remove the bone spike from the Toad Sage's flesh.

However, before he could do so, the wound was frozen in ice, as the ice started to slowly spread around Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Do you like that, Jiraiya? I can combine my many elemental Bloodline Limits with Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse attacks. This is nothing but the tip of the iceberg of all the possible combinations I can experiment with!" Orochimaru boasted, before sending a flurry of more elemental bone spikes towards Tsunade with a swing of his arm.

Even if Tsunade could absorb the elemental chakra the bone spikes were coated with, Tsunade couldn't absorb the bones themselves, at least not before they caused her damage, so she only had one way to avoid the attack.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The first wave of bone spikes was repelled. However, Orochimaru continued to fire them at a fast pace, to both at her and Jiraiya, forcing the two of them to continue running.

"I already lost count of how many times you have used that ability, Tsunade," Orochimaru mocked, as he continued his assault. "Did the Rinnegan degrade you into such a one trick pony? That's all you can do now?"

As she ran, Tsunade hel an arm, which then reassembled itself into a sleek looking cannon. Its barrel started to glow as chakra was gathered on it.

"Try on this then!"

After stopping and grabbing her cannon-turned arm with her free hand, Tsunade fired multiple bolts of chakra at Orochimaru, who was now forced to be on the defensive, stopping his attack and jumping away. The chakra blasts, while small, produced pretty big explosions when they landed on the ground or on any of the rock columns.

"Slightly better. But you still fail to grasp the potential that eye you have has to offer," Orochimaru replied, as he started to make hand seals. "While intelligent, you were always a blunt woman, Tsunade. You're an excellent medic, but when it comes to actual fights, you can't think in anything more complex than smashing your enemy with your fists or with something big and blunt. I can't stand seeing that Rinnegan being misused like you're doing right now! Wood Release: Deep Forest Bloom!"

Once again, Orochimaru summoned a multitude of large wooden roots and vines across the cavern. Said vines, however, had many large flowers growing on them. Tsunade's eyes widened upon realizing what jutsu was that.

"Jiraiya, stay away from the pollen released by the flowers! It will knock you out!" Tsunade warned, as she covered her mouth and nose with her forearm. "It's especially worse here since we're in a place with no air flow."

"I'll deal with them myself before they can turn into a problem!" Jiraiya replied, weaving hand seals of his own. "Sage Art: Fire Release Big Flame Bullet!"

"And you think I'm going to let you?" Orochimaru asked, his hands moving even faster than Jiraiya's. "Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

Jiraiya breathed a massive wall of fire towards the pollen-pumping flowers, but unfortunately, it was met by a roaring vortex of torrential water, putting out the fire before it could incinerate the offending plants. Jiraiya gritted his teeth and growled in frustration, while Orochimaru grinned in triumph.

"I won't let you destroy the flowers. Now stop resisting, and let them put you to sleep," Orochimaru said as the yellow cloud began to expand. "At the very least, your deaths will be quick and painless."

"So, the complete opposite of what your death is going to be then!" Jiraiya said, as she made several hand seals. "Sage Art: Flying Needle Senbon!"

Jiraiya's hair stood on end, before he fired thousands of needles made of his own hair towards Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin was ready to counter the attack, when suddenly the needles changed their direction to the sides, crashing against the wooden vines and roots Orochimaru had summoned, as well as the flowers.

And without the flowers constantly pumping polled into the air, the pollen cloud quickly began to shrink down in size instead of expanding, breaking down and dissipating.

"What the...?"

"Did you like that, Orochimaru? Thanks to Sage Mode, I have a degree of control of my hair senbons once I launched them!" Jiraiya boasted.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade as she walked towards her husband. "This enclosed space puts us on a disadvantage, limiting us to smaller jutsu and not allowing us to summon animals. We need to take this to open air."

"I'm with you, but I doubt Orochimaru will let us change the battlefield," Jiraiya replied.

"I have an idea. Do you have any jutsu to protect us if this cave where to collapse? Tsunade asked.

"Yeah. I have something that could shield us. But why are you asking that?" Jiraiya asked. "You aren't planning to bring this cave down while we're still inside, are you?"

"Brash as she is, I don't think Tsunade-sama would ever do something so recklessly stupid," the Katsuyu clone said, before looking at her summoner. "Right?"

Tsunade merely smirked, much to the white haired man's horror. Before Jiraiya or Katsuyu had the chance to speak any further, Tsunade began to smash every stone column she could see, while also stomping on the ground with asw much force as she could, subjecting the cave to the equivalent of an earthquake. The effect was immediate, and soon rocks and boulders of every size started to fall from the roof as the cave started to collapse on itself.

"Are we getting that desperate?" Orochimaru asked in a jovial manner, almost unfazed by the cave being brought down on him, as large rocks landed around him. "Whatever suits you then."

"Jiraiya, prepare that jutsu, NOW!" Tsunade said, as she returned to him.

"You're batshit crazy, woman! Did anybody tell you that!?" Jiraiya shouted, as he scrambled to make the hand seals for the protective jutsu.

"You'll be thanking me when we win!" Tsunade replied, before the two of them were buried by an avalanche of boulders.

…

As the mountain collapsed, the Graveyard was shook by a powerful tremor, toppling down many trees, scaring birds into flying away and ground animals into running as far as they could from the epicenter of the man-made catastrophe.

While not with the same intensity, the aftershocks of the initial earthquake were felt in the rest of the continent as well.

…

After several minutes of thundering noises produced by rocks and boulders falling on top of each other, like a solid-rock storm, there was nothing but silence. One might had the impression that no one survived the avalanche Tsunade had provoked. And in a way, they would be right, since no ordinary human, hell, even ninjas of above average power wouldn't be able to survive such catstrophe either.

Then again, the Sannin were no ordinary people. Or even ordinary ninjas for that matter. And indeed, after a few minutes of silence, several rocks started to rumble, as if something was under them. And, indeed, a toad statue made of solid black rock burst from under the pile of boulders, sending them flying away. The toad statue then opened its mouth, and spat both Tsunade and Jiraiya to the ground. Its job done, the statue disappeared, leaving a puff of smoke behind it.

"Next time you plan to do something like that, warn me with a lot of time in advance," Jiraiya began. "So I have enough time to get as far away from you as possible."

"Quit whinning. It wasn't so bad. I mean, we're alive, and we're not worse for the wear, aren't we?" Tsunade asked.

"What happened to Orochimaru?" Katsuyu asked. "Is he still alive?"

"I'd wish he wasn't, but I know this isn't enough to kill him. Not by a long shot," Tsunade replied.

"I hope he didn't run away. Because I can barely sense him," Jiraiya mentioned.

"He made it clear he won't run away when he has the Rinnegan within reach," Tsunade insisted. "I bet he's trying to disguise his chakra presence as to catch us by surprise. The fact that we can sense him at all should tell you as much."

More tremors, this time coming from multiple spots all around them. Rocks were sent flying in every direction one after the other as several gigantic snakes burst from under the piles of rocks, hissing loudly and angrily, before setting their eyes on the Sannin, and lunging at them.

"There's your answer to both questions," Tsunade said, before jumping right before one of the giant snakes could bite her. When the snake tried again, Tsunade knocked it out with a powerful right hook, making the snake to fall back. Tsunade then quickly grabbed the snake by its tail, and started to use it was a weapon against the other snakes.

"Yes, this is what I was talking about!" Tsunade geelfully said as he slammed the uncosncious snake against another one. "I really need a wide open space to properly go all out!"

Jiraiya, meanwhile, bit his thumb and made several hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Slamming his palm on the ground, there was a huge burst of smoke, with Gamaken emerging from the resulting cloud, Jiraiya standing on his head. The Sannin didn't even have to say anything, since the moment the giant toad saw the equally large snakes coming, his battle instincts quickly kicked in and started to fight them off.

"Good job, Gamaken-chan! You're doing great!" Fukasaku praised.

"Thank you, esteemed elder. My training to curb my clumsiness is paying off," the soft spoken toad replied as he fended off a snake.

As Jiraiya oversaw the battle, he directed his senses towards tracking Orochimaru. This attack made it obvious that Tsunade was right in her assertions and their treacherous former teammate didn't plan to leave empty handed. And that moment, he sensed a spike of chakra: Orochimaru prepared to attack again now that Tsunade was busy and apparently, distracted.

"There!" Jiraiya said, having tracked the position of his former teammate, who was moving under the piles of rubble covering the ground, and leaped towards him. He held up a hand, as an energy sphere formed on it. "Rasengan!"

Jiraiya slammed the sphere of destructing where he believed Orochimaru was, producing a huge explosion that grinded the rocks it directly hit into peebles, while sending more rocks and boulders away in every direction. Unfortunately, however, Orochimaru had evaded Jiraiya's attack. The moment Jiraiya attempted to strike again, he was attacked by a pair of giant snakes.

"Tsunade, watch out, he's going after you!" Jiraiya warned, while dodging the attacks of the giant reptiles.

However, Tsunae heard Jiraiya's advice too late, and when she sensed Orochimaru coming out from under the pile of rubble, riding on the mouth of yet another giant snake, the ex-Konoha ninja was already weaving hand seals at an imperceptible speed.

"Lightning Release: Wrath of the Thunder God!"

As he jumped out of the mouth of the giant snake, Orochimaru's body started to crackle with yellow electricity, before he thurst his arms towards the blond Sannin, and his entire body released a massive electric discharge in the form of a storm of lightning bolts that moved towards Tsunade in an arc. Tsunade, who was still using a giant snake to bludgeon other snakes, tried to drop it in order to absorb the attack, but wasn't fast enough, and the attack connected.

"AAAAAAAAAGGH!" she yelled, as the powerful electricity coursed through her body.

Grinning triumphally upon seeing that a ninjutsu attack finally connected, Orochimaru decided to go for another before Tsunade had the chance to recover or Jiraiya could interfere.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Orochimaru blew a powerful wind current from his mouth, which thanks to Sage Mode was akin to an hurricane, and besides blowing Tsunade away, it cleared the area in front of him of rocks and boulders of all sizes, sending them flying as well. Once the wind attack subsided, Tsunade fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Despite the brutal impact, Tsunade was stirring on the ground, attempting to get back on her feet. Her chakra signature was faint, but it was still there. No doubt she'd try to heal the damage first. Fortunately, Orochimaru could sense that Jiraiya was still busy with the rest of the giant snakes. Yes, now it was the best chance to end her and claim the Rinnegan. Summoning the Sword of Kusanagi to his hand once more, the Sanke Sannin rushed towards his fallen enemy.

"This is your end, Tsunade! No one can save you now!" Orochimaru said, as he leaped into the air, ready to sink his trusty blade onto the Sannin's gut. "Say hello to Dan and Nawaki when you see them in the afterlife!"

However, seconds before Orochimaru's blade touched Tsunade's body, Tsunade's chakra signature were from faint to exploding like a supernova, and the blond Sannin rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the thrust. Tsunade then jumped back to her feet with a vitality that surprised Orochimaru, and stomped on the ground, causing a small tremor that made the black haired man to almost lose his balance. And that moment, knowing that he couldn't use the Sharingan to avoid it, Tsunade took the chance to deliver a savage punch to Orochimaru's face, sending her ex-teammate flying in an arc, before landing on the ground.

"You think that those two shitty jutsu were enough to put me down?" Tsunade asked. Then again, those jutsu did harm her more than she wanted to admit, but she was still good enough to keep fighting.

Miraculously, Orochimaru had survived the hit, having only his jaw dislocated, almost blown out of the rest of his skull. However, he was able to recover from the damage with his Shed Skin Body replacement. Then again, Tsunade wasn't fazed.

"That jutsu of yours is really annoying, didn't anybody tell you that? We work so hard to pound you to death, and there's not even a miserable bruise to show for it," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "Unfortunately for you, my next attack won't be something you will be able to heal so easily."

"Oh, is that so?" Orochimaru asked, sounding almost curious. "Now that's quite the bold and confident affirmation, Tsunade. If you have such a jutsu under your arsenal, why didn't you used it before?"

Tsunade smirked, almost expecting that question. "Because the battleground wasn't suited for it," she then aimed a hand at Orochimaru, who quickly tensed up. "CHIBAKU TENSEI!"

A black sphere the size of a marble flew out of Tsunade's hand and slammed into Orochimaru's chest with a deceptively strong force. Much to his surprise and horror, Orochimaru was then lifted into the sky as the gravity core began to pull all the rubble around it, burying the Snake Sannin under a ball of rocks. Just like it did when Pain used it with Jiraiya on Konoha, the forming planetoid slowly rose into the air as more and more rocks, rubble and chunks of earth were pulled into it, increasing its size.

Tsunade was sure the jutsu alone wouldn't be enough to bring Orochimaru down. Thanks to Sage Mode, Jiraiya was able to survive the crushing pressure the rocks exterted on his body, to the point that he only have a few broken bones that were easy to mend. And there was the fact that Orochimaru had more than likely made a lot of extra modifications to his body –born from extremely unethical researchs from a medical point of view, Tsunade could tell– to make himself harder to kill.

Not that it mattered, as Tsunade didn't want to kill Orochimaru with this attack, since it wasn't part of her and Jiraiya's plan. However, he was sure that the impact of the nascent asteroid would left Orochimaru within an inch of his life, too weakened to use that annoying Shed Skin technique. And then Tsunade would carry the final step of her plan.

But alas, it wasn't mean to be.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!"

Tsunade saw in shock how after the loud roar, like a chicken hatching from an egg, a massive monster broke out of the asteroid from the inside, destroying it completely. The monster appeared to be eight giant snakes with razor sharp white scales, but upon further inspection, she saw it was a single creature with eight snake heads and eight tails.

With the gravity core destroyed as well, the giant monster fell to ground below, producing a thundering noise upon hitting the ground, and sending nearby rocks flying in every direction.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted, as Gamaken landed behind her. Jiraiya jumped off Gamaken and ran towards his wife. Tsunade could sense the worry in the white haired man. "What the hell just happened? What's that thing?"

"I thought I already had him," Tsunade said, trying to repress her frustration. "I had him, and then he goes and pulls out this... bullshit..."

Humans, toads and slug watched the eight headed snake with a mixture of awe and horror. Each one of its heads was probably as big as Manda or Kurokiba, yet the chakra the monster radiated was way more powerful than that of those snakes. Even the large Gamaken looked puny compared to them.

"I... I think this enemy goes beyond my capabilities..." Gamaken noted, remaining calm even when fear bubbled inside him. "Then again, I'll stay and help you as much as I can."

"HAHAHAHAHA!" a laugh echoed through the place, as one of the snakes opened its jaws, and Orochimaru crawled from beneath it, Sword of Kusanagi in hand, reminding the Konoha ninjas and their allies that this wasn't a summon, but a transformation. "Behold, you filthy worms, the true extent of my power! Now perish so I can claim the Rinnegan!"

Five of the snakes opened their mouths, releasing a torrent of water, a mass of electrical bolts, a barrage of rocks, a powerful tornado and a stream of flames at the people and animals below.

"Shit, those elemental blasts are too far apart, I can't absorb all of them!" Tsunade thought, gritting her teeth in anger. "Scatter!"

They did as she commanded, with Tsunade jumped to one side, Jiraiya to another and Gamaken to another. The snakes, however, were relentless and continued to fire elemental streams towards them, leaving them no opportunity to attack. Two of them fired their blasts towards Tsunade, fortunately for her, close enough to absorb.

"Gakido!"

Tsunade held her arms towards the torrent of water and storm of electricity, creating the barrier of white light that converted the attacks into pure chakra and assimilated them into her body. And after how much chakra she had been expending, even with Sage Mode, a recharge was something she welcomed. That failed Chibaku Tensei had cost her a lot of chakra.

"Tsunade-sama, watch out!" the Katsuyu clone warned.

Unfortunately, Tsunade absorbing the attack was what Orochimaru was coutning on, and while she absorbed the water and the lightning, a sixth snake head opened its jaws, releasing a torrent of molten lava to the ground, creating a flow of lava that moved towards her. Since the first two attacks came from above, Tsunade's barrier didn't cover the ground, and thus couldn't neutralize the lava. However, if she stopped absorbing the two basic elemental attacks, she would be hurt by them.

And she couldn't use two Rinnegan abilities at once. At least not from the same body.

"Earth Release: Fissure!"

Tsunade sighed in relief upon sensing a spike of chakra coming from her husband. The earth shook a little as a large crack spread across the path the flow of lava was taking, creating a deep rift. The lava then fell down the rift on the earth instead of following its course, leaving Tsunade unharmed. After a few seconds, she finished absorbing the streams of water and lightning fired from the other two snakes, and quickly jumped back in case the lava snake attacked again.

"Nice save, Jiraiya!" Tsunade told him.

"Anytime!" Jiraiya replied, while dodging a storm of razor sharp rocks and a wave of flames. "But we can't continue like this! This giant monster is pushing us into fighting defensively! We need to attack!"

"I know!" Tsunade said, as her one visible eye scanned what she believed was Orochimaru's strongest form. "Hmmm... that thing sure has a lot of range, but I don't remember seeing it move from that one spot. Perhaps it's stationary. In that case, I have the perfect jutsu to counter it."

"Not even your Rinnegan is a match for this form, Tsunade! Now die and let me claim it!" Orochimaru said, as he raised the sowrd of Kusanagi above his head. The other seven snake heads stopped firing elemental blasts at Jiraiya and Tsunade, and instead beams of purple and black chakra flowed out of their mouths and into the blade of Kusanagi, which absorbed the energy, as an aura of the same color enuglfed it. "Try absorbing this!"

Orochimaru then thre his chakra-charged sword towards Tsunade. The sword flew fown leaving a trail of puurple light with black edges as it moved towards the blond medic. She knew Orochimaru was expecting her to use Shinra Tensei and attack her while she was wide open, so she no option other than jump backwards. The sword missed her, but once it stabbed into the ground, it released all its stored energy in the form of a powerful purple and black explosion, ripping the ground apart, sending large chunks of earth and rocks flying away in every direction, and knocking Tsunade backwards.

"Ugh...!"

"Do you realize now how big the gap between you two and me actually is?" Orochimaru taunted. "Unfortunately for you, this is the kind of mistake you pay with your life!"

"Only one life will be come to an end today, and it won't be ours!" Jiraiya loudly replied. In front of him, there were six clones, preaparing three Spiraling Infernos. "Take this, you monster! Fire Release: Spiraling Inferno!"

"Don't make me laugh, Jiraiya! That attack might have do something before, but countering it will be child's play!" Orochimaru said, watching the three spinning flaming orbs flew towards him. Five of the snake heads fired streams of the five bassic elements towards Jiraiya's truple attack, detonating them prematurely.

However, much to Orochimaru's surprise, the three attacks merged into one, massive wall of fire that started expanding towards him, forcing the Sannin to pour more chakra into his attacks in order to counter them. Little by little, he was able to push the expanding wall of fire backwards.

"You almost got me there, Jiraiya, but once again-"

"Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!"

Orochimaru sensed the spike of chakra coming from Tsunade too late, as red torii gates started to fall from the sky onto him, pinning the snake heads to the ground.

"Weren't you watching when I used this jutsu to against Nagato's summoned animals, Orochimaru?" Tsunade asked. "Jiraiya, now!"

"You got it!" Jiraiya said, carrying yet another Spiraling Inferno on his hands. "You won't evade this one! Fire Release: Spiraling Inferno!"

Jiraiya threw the spinning fireball at the snake head Orochimaru was hiding in. However, Orochimaru revealed that he wasn't really attached to the snake head as it appeared, and like an actual snake, quickly scurried out of it before Jiraiya's attack made contact, and reduced the head to ashes in a spiraling dome of blazing death.

"You missed-"

"Bansho Ten'in!"

Orochimaru felt how his body was devoid of all weight for a split second, before being forcefully pulled towards Tsunade's open hand by an invisible force. He tried to anchor himself to the ground like he had done before, but thanks to Jiraiya's distraction, he didn't see what Tsunade was going to do, and couldn't plan accordingly. In a couple seconds, Tsunade's fingers strongly closed around his throat. Orochimaru was about to make the snakes on his back to bite Tsunade, but before he could Tsunade quickly placed her other hand on top of his head. Much to his horror, Orochimaru's body went rigid.

"I wish it didn't have to end like this, Orochimaru. But you brought this upon yourself," Tsunade said, her voice laced with a bit of regret. "Ningendo!"

Tsunade pulled her hand backwards, tearing Orochimaru's soul from his body, who was released from her other hand's grip, falling to the ground with a dry thud.

He didn't move. Neither she not Jiraiya could sense any chakra coming from it.

Because Orochimaru's sordid life had finally come to an end.

---

Author's Note: And there you go, Orochimaru kicked the bucket, unlike canon, where the fucker got away with all his atrocities with a slap on the wrist. Yayyyyyyyy!

Now, as for questions I know you guys are going to ask me: yeah, I noticed that they killed Orochimaru without forcing him to undo Edo Tensei first. Trust me, I haven't forgotten about that. They DO have a plan to undo the jutsu, but it won't be seen until a couple of chapters. I think you guys will like the solution I came up with.

And second, because I KNOW a lot of you are thinking the same thing: but what about Mitsuki? Well, the answer is, I don't care. The fact that Orochimaru was going to die was something I already decided to do even before I started writing the first chapter, because like I said before, I hate how the guy got away with all the shit he did in canon (the guy literally murdered babies, for fuck's sake). And while I think Mitsuki is one of the better characters introduced in Boruto, I don't like him enough to spare his absolute monster of a father.

Well, now that that's done, we can now move onto the chain of fights that will make the final battle, beginning with Obito and his Six Paths jinchuriki (many of you asked who was the sixth jinchuriki taking Fu's slot; the answer is Bunpuku, Gaara's predecessor) versus Naruto, Fu and Killer B.

Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.

So, how did you find my take on the Sannin battle? Are you excited for the next battles? Whatever your thoughts are, share them with me in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!