23A blow worth 800,000 taelsAI Model: gemini-3.0-flashChapter 23: A Strike Worth Eight Hundred Thousand Ryo
"Damn brat..."
Relying on the Regeneration Technique, Orochimaru's charred skin began to heal rapidly.
Flying Thunder God, Shadow Clones, and that zero-delay exploding tag technique... the opponent carried far too many secrets.
He must not be allowed to escape.
He had to capture that Boar-headed Youth and interrogate him thoroughly.
With that thought, Orochimaru took a deep breath and his hands began to form seals at high speed.
In terms of speed alone, he certainly couldn't match the youth who mastered the Flying Thunder God.
However, it seemed that the opponent's overall strength was far inferior to his own.
The reason he had been injured by the explosion earlier was entirely due to the disadvantage of missing information.
Now, Orochimaru was already fully prepared.
"Ninja Art... Hell Viewing Technique!"
A simple and efficient basic Genjutsu, yet an effective means of countering speed-type Ninjas.
Genjutsu activated!
In Naruto's vision, the surrounding forest vanished instantly.
In its place was a pitch-black, dark lair filled with the smell of blood and rotting corpses.
He was pinned to the cave wall, unable to move, forced to watch as Orochimaru drew closer and closer.
However, Naruto's eyes only flickered for a moment before quickly regaining their clarity.
"Release."
He was well-prepared.
He knew his current weaknesses all too well.
As long as he wasn't caught by a Genjutsu first, no one could keep him here.
To this end, Naruto had left ten Shadow Clones at home in advance.
A second after the technique hit, a Shadow Clonefrom home appeared behind him via the Flying Thunder God mark.
Then, it released the Genjutsu for him.
Just before Orochimaru's ensuing Hidden Shadow Snake Hands could hit Naruto's main body, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Swish!"
Space suddenly warped.
The figure of the Boar-headed Youth vanished from the spot, and the snakes lunged fiercely into the tree trunk, riddling the entire tree with holes like a honeycomb.
"He didn't go far!"
Hundreds of meters away, Orochimaru sensed the other's Chakra again and followed without the slightest hesitation.
Flying Thunder God teleportation wasn't infinite.
On the contrary, it required a massive amount of Chakra.
It seemed that this teleportation distance of several hundred meters was the limit the Boar-headed Youth could currently manage.
"Hehe..."
Orochimaru snorted coldly in his heart.
It was no wonder, as it was a legendary forbidden technique mastered only by the Second Hokageand the Fourth Hokage.
For a brat to learn it at such a young age was already considered extraordinary talent.
How could he possibly achieve the perfect long-distance teleportation of the Flying Thunder God?
Atop a giant tree.
Watching Orochimaru speed toward him, a glint of cunning flashed in Naruto's eyes.
"He took the bait."
He had a theory as early as yesterday—
Since the same evil act against the same person would only result in evil points being settled once within a certain period...
...then if the severity of the evil act deepened, could it break through this limitation?
For example, during his fight with Danzo yesterday, the System settled 100 evil points for the evil act of [Sneak attacking a seventy-year-old man].
If he had gone a step further then, such as crippling Danzo, would the System have resettled it as the evil act of [Heavily injuring a seventy-year-old man]?
This thought had flashed through Naruto's mind at the time.
And now, he had a chance to test it.
The moment Orochimaru leaped onto the canopy of a giant tree, Naruto formed hand seals.
"Detonate."
The next instant.
BOOM—!!
A deafening roar, like heavenly thunder exploding in mid-air.
A violent shockwave swept outward, centered on the giant tree beneath Orochimaru's feet.
The entire Forest of Death seemed to tremble.
Eight hundred exploding tags were detonated simultaneously; in the distance, various teams stopped their movements at once.
Almost all the examinees looked up at the same time.
"Holy crap, what's going on?"
"An explosion?!"
"You've got to be kidding me, an explosion of this scale—"
In a nearby woodland, the Sand Ninja trio came to a halt.
"...What kind of powerful technique is that?!"
Kankuro subconsciously lowered his voice, the markings on his face twitching along with the corners of his mouth.
Gaara stood in place, saying nothing.
Sand flowed silently at his feet as Temari looked toward the direction where the explosion rose.
"I'm going to take a look."
"Hey, Temari?" Kankuro was taken aback. "You're going alone? There's clearly something wrong over there!"
"It's precisely because something is wrong that I have to see it."
The next second, she leaped up and vanished through the trees... The aftershocks of the explosion hadn't fully dissipated, and the smell of heat and char still lingered in the air.
Broken trees lay scattered everywhere, and in the center, the ground had collapsed into a massive crater.
As for Orochimaru, he lay in the pit, his entire body carbonized and motionless.
"No notification, so my theory was wrong?"
Naruto rubbed his chin.
"Or... did the System judge that Orochimaru only suffered minor injuries?"
"Is he lying there playing dead on purpose to lure me over?"
Naruto thought for a moment and felt the latter was more likely.
Previously, Hinata had lent him a total of one million Ryo, which he used to buy a thousand exploding tags.
The explosion just now, worth eight hundred thousand Ryo, had left him with only a little over a hundred tags.
Now, he was truly out of tricks.
"Continuing the fight won't yield any more benefits..."
"Time to go home."
After the battle just now, Naruto had a clear understanding of his current strength.
His foundation was too weak—his Taijutsu and reflexes couldn't keep up with high-intensity combat.
However, the Flying Thunder God Bomber Technique was quite useful; it was no problem for ambushing an average Jonin, though it was still a bit child's play against a Kage-level Expert.
Overall, he had probably reached the level of a Special Jonin.
Of course, this was assuming he didn't undergo the Three-Tails Transformation.
Once he transformed, his strength would increase significantly.
However, the side effect was that unless he exhausted the rampaging Nine-Tailed Chakra, he couldn't actively deactivate that state.
If it lasted too long, it would be difficult for him to remain conscious, and he would inevitably be influenced by the Nine-Tailed's malice.
His next goal was to further develop the Cursed Seal Technique and see if he could create a simplified version of Sage Mode.
His mind made up, Naruto was about to activate the Flying Thunder God.
At that exact moment, Temari entered his line of sight.
Their eyes met.
Temari's mind went blank for a second.
That iconic boar head mask—she could never mistake it.
It was him.
That scum who stole her first kiss.
So, this guy really was participating in the Chunin Exams too.
Was the explosion just now caused by him?
"You—"
Temari's breath hitched uncontrollably.
The next second, the Chakra around her surged, and her hands began to form seals.
"Summoning Technique..."
"Blade Dance!!!"
"Bye-bye."
Naruto's figure vanished from the spot.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his comfortable bed.
"Alright, let's begin."
Now, he had a total of 130 evil points, equivalent to 130 months, or 11 years of simulation time.
As Naruto's thought shifted, a light screen emerged.
He began his training to balance the three types of Chakra.