Fortunately, Orochimaru didn't send the sound trio over like in the original work. It might be because of Ryoha's existence, and Orochimaru didn't know how much strength Ryoha still had after he left,
After all, if Ryoha still had a bit of strength left, it would be enough to defeat the three of them. Rather than letting those three die in vain, it would be better to let them stay and use them as sacrifices for himself later.
Reality proved that Orochimaru's decision was very wise. After drinking Bulma's nutrient solution, Ryoha had already woken up by dawn. His pale face was energized. Although he still needed a bit of time to recover to his peak, he had roughly recovered 70% of his full strength. This was enough to sweep through the Forest of Death. It was more than enough to protect himself.
At this rate, he could completely recover before the evening came. Ryoha lost too much blood, consumed too much chakra and physical energy, and got injured. There were also side effects from exerting the Sharingan over its usual limits. To be able to recover completely from all of them in just under a day, was very terrifying.
It was no wonder why Bulma had repeatedly warned Ryoha not to drink it unless he was in a critical situation. It was truly too useful and too precious. If the info about this solution would leak to the public, it would definitely be a precious item that countless ninjas sought after. It had to be said that Ryoha really turned his luck around. And the best thing that happened to him since then was Bulma.
"Everyone, since you're all already here, come out!" Ryoha's voice rang out in the forest. As for Sakura who was taking care of him all night long, she had already fallen asleep after he woke up.
"Swoosh! Swoosh!"
Several silhouettes suddenly flew out of the shadows. There were six of them. These were Neji's group and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
"Ryoha, what's wrong with you?" Ino walked over and saw Sakura and the other two sleeping behind Ryoha. Her eyes were focused on Sakura, and there was no longer the usual competition in her eyes.
Instead, there was only pure worry. Obviously, the friendship between them had been temporarily covered up because of their competitive relationship. Once it was needed, the veil that covered their friendship would fall off.
"Yesterday, a man called Orochimaru came to attack us. Although he wore the Otogakure head guard like a genin, I can be sure that he is stronger than any of our Jonin. Even comparable to the Third Hokage."
Ryoha's words changed the expression of everyone around. Shikamaru, who was the calmest and most intelligent among the three people, seemed to have realized something and his pupils quickly contracted.
"Ryoha, the Orochimaru you talked about.. was his skin looked as pale as paper, giving people a very gloomy feeling..."
"...With snake-like pupils, right?" Ryoha completed the rest of Shikamaru's words.
"It seems that you are very unlucky and lucky at the same time. He is an S-rank traitor of Konoha. In the past, he was the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, and he has made a lot of achievements for Konoha. He is one of the Legendary Sannin, The Legendary Orochimaru. You actually managed to survive when you met him. How lucky."
Shikamaru's words made the other brat, who originally did not believe that Orochimaru was so strong, immediately believe him. Especially Ino and Chouji, who was also in the same group as Shikamaru. The three of them had a close relationship with each other. After hearing Shikamaru's words, of course, they would forever remember the fear of Orochimaru.
"Yeah, he's really lucky. He ran away just before my breakthrough." Ryoha sighed. He completely didn't notice how much of an impact his words had brought to the brats.
In fact, Ryoha was just exaggerating. Although Orochimaru had run away, he hadn't run away. He had left on his own. However, Ryoha had indeed survived the battle for a minute. It could be considered that he had won against Orochimaru in some aspect.
"Don't tell me you have the strength of a Hokage?" Ino looked at Ryoha in disbelief.
"Don't be silly. No matter how talented I am, it is impossible for me to have the strength of a Hokage so quickly. Not to mention that not everyone with a Kage-level strength in a certain aspect could be considered a Kage"
"Instead, their ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu have to reach the level of a Kage (Mizukage, Tsuchikage, Kazekage, and Raikage are also the same. One with a Kage-level of mastery in certain aspects is different from the Five Kages of the Five Ninja Village. Their ability in some aspect may be comparable to that of a Kage, but The Five Kages are a completely different matter)."
Ryoha said in a bad mood. At the same time, it also made Neji feel relieved. He also wanted to challenge Ryoha. If Ryoha had a Kage-level of strength, he did not need to challenge him. If that was the case, then challenging him was simply overestimating himself.
"This power.. such a great feeling." Just as Ryoha was about to tell him about the battle between him and Orochimaru, a strange voice rang out from the cave. Sasuke, who was covered in tomoe mark, slowly walked out of the cave.
"Eh? You're awake. Why are you so satisfied with the power that Orochimaru gave you? Hehe, how does it feel to be a slave of power?"
Ryoha found that he was right. Sasuke's heart was completely distorted and he had fallen. At the same time, he could not bear the temptation of power. The cursed mark had begun to corrupt his body, mind, and even his soul. He was now just a slave of power, not the master of them.
"Orochimaru? Where is Orochimaru?" Sasuke was dumbfounded. He actually wanted to use the cursed mark's power to fight against Orochimaru. It seemed that this guy had been completely confused by the power of the mark.
"By the time you come, everyone will be dead, and Orochimaru would have been beaten away by Ryoha long ago." Before Ryoha could open his mouth, Ino had already explained to him.
"Did he run away?" Sasuke's clouded mind suddenly cleared up. He remembered that thet he actually wanted to use the power that Orochimaru had given them to fight against him. Was he really an idiot? Moreover, thinking of Orochimaru's powerful strength, he was immediately covered in cold sweat.
He was sure that the power that Orochimaru had displayed before was definitely not his real strength. When he heard that Ryoha had actually defeated Orochimaru, who had given him such a powerful strength, he immediately looked at Ryoha in horror. Just now, besides looking for Orochimaru to fight, he wanted to use this power to defeat Ryoha as revenge for shaming him. Now that he heard that Ryoha had actually beaten away Orochimaru, the fighting spirit in his heart was immediately disappeared.
"You still want to fight with me? Hehe. Before, you would still have the qualifications to challenge me. But now you don't. This has nothing to do with your strength. Everyone here is the master of their own strength. This has nothing to do with whether they are strong or not."
"They can control everything about their power. But now, you are just a slave of strength People like you are not qualified to fight with me."