Chapter 15:
Except for Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya were just as surprised at first! However, they soon breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Hiruzen who had been sliced in half gradually lost his original appearance, his body transforming into two lumps of dirt at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Seeing this, Orochimaru's brows furrowed in frustration.
As expected, it was an Earth Clone!
He knew Hiruzen wouldn't be defeated by such a basic ninjutsu, but what puzzled him was when Hiruzen had even cast the clone jutsu.
In memory, Orochimaru had seen many battles where it seemed like the enemy captured was a real person, only for it to turn out to be a clone. However, those battles were part of a story, and such instances were rare in reality. In a real battle, you'd usually notice something wrong if an opponent was a clone.
Did I miss a detail? Orochimaru wondered. Did Hiruzen use the Earth Clone when he first appeared or when he hid his real body somewhere?
"Amazing. You managed to defeat my clone…" Hiruzen's voice came from the nearby woods as he emerged calmly.
Looking at the two Orochimarus his real body and the shadow clone Hiruzen couldn't help but show approval. "Orochimaru, you've really surprised me. Your clones can release ninjutsu too?"