"Are you alright, Naruto!"
The hurricane subsided, and Sakura rushed over to the boy. Green chakra glowed in her hands, preparing to treat him.
"I'm fine. Just my butt hurts a bit, like I sat on a thorn..." Naruto winced, pulling a wooden splinter the size of his palm from his back. A drop of blood clung to the tip.
Sakura: "..."
"Thank goodness. Just a little blood doesn't require treatment." She immediately dispelled the chakra from her Mystical Palm Technique, not about to touch Naruto's butt.
Up ahead, Sasuke saw he was alright and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his gaze to Orochimaru.
"You filthy, peeping rat. Finally decided to show yourself?" Sasuke sneered. "Hiding underground so close to us—you really didn't take us seriously!"
"So, you knew I was here all along?" Orochimaru removed his straw hat and licked his lips with that disgusting tongue. "I thought I was hiding well. Looks like this battle is going to be interesting..."
He pulled out a scroll marked with the character for "earth" and held it to his mouth. "You have the Heaven Scroll. You must really want this Earth Scroll, right?"
His long tongue coiled around the scroll, and he slowly swallowed it whole. His Adam's apple bobbed as he consumed it.
Orochimaru prepared to plant the Heavenly Curse Seal on Sasuke. He also wanted to test how far Naruto could use the Nine-Tails' chakra. If it wasn't powerful enough, he planned to kill Naruto outright, first, to prevent him from becoming a variable in the Hidden Leaf Crush plan, and second, it would be revenge against the Akatsuki organization relentlessly pursuing him.
After all, who knew when the Nine-Tails would regenerate after its death? That was certainly bad news for the Akatsuki, who were collecting Tailed Beasts. If Naruto gained too much control, they'd have to lure him off the battlefield or change their plans.
As for the Nine-Tails' power itself, Orochimaru wasn't particularly interested. He still had half of the Eight-Tails' horn in his lab, which he'd studied for a long time without finding any use.
"Then let's begin! The scroll battle!" Orochimaru's voice dripped with malice. "Be careful—I'll use all my strength!"
He covered his eyes with his hand, unleashing a torrent of murderous intent. Like a surging tide, it crashed toward Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.
"Such powerful killing intent!"
"But it's useless against us. Way inferior to Menma!"
The three were only slightly intimidated; their bodies weren't overwhelmed.
"Oh? I underestimated you." Orochimaru's eyes flickered. Genjutsu chakra followed the killing intent. Naraku Sight Genjutsu!
In an instant, the three froze. Images of their own deaths flashed through their minds!
Sakura was the first to succumb. Fear paralyzed her, and she collapsed to the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. Blood-red flooded his eyes, and two tomoe appeared. The images vanished after his Sharingan activated.
"The Sharingan! It's finally appeared!" Orochimaru's face lit up with surprise.
But before he could finish reveling in his delight, Naruto—faster than Sasuke—lunged forward. The moment he was caught in the genjutsu, the illusion chakra was swept away by Menma within his mindscape with a wave of his hand.
"It didn't work!"
"Did Kurama help him break free?" Orochimaru frowned deeply. This wasn't good.
He'd initially thought Naruto was just forcing Kurama's chakra through the Eight Trigrams Seal. Now it looked like Naruto and Kurama had reached an agreement!
"Naruto wasn't affected at all?" Sasuke gritted his teeth, watching him rush ahead. Even before Menma appeared, how could Naruto awaken faster than he, who possessed the Sharingan?
Naruto had no idea what they were thinking. He only saw Orochimaru open his eyes and immediately attack his companions. He was furious and wanted to beat Orochimaru to a pulp.
"You long-tongued bastard!"
"I won't let you hurt my comrades!"
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The moment Naruto approached Orochimaru, he completed the final hand seal. Instantly, countless shadow clones reappeared. At the same time, their hands continued forming seals.
"Are we going to use that quantity-based ninjutsu again?" Orochimaru sneered. "Such a waste of chakra. Now let me teach you a lesson—quantity is never as good as quality!"
He narrowed his eyes, hands rapidly forming seals, cheeks puffing out. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A tornado even larger than the one created by the combined power of the shadow clones erupted from Orochimaru's mouth. The terrifying wind pressure ripped the surrounding ground apart, uprooting trees!
Meanwhile, the shadow clones finished their hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless air blasts, like machine gun bullets, roared from the clones' mouths. They tore through the air, breaking through the tornado and leaving trails of white air in their wake. Finally, they all struck Orochimaru.
Orochimaru, like a rag doll, was violently shaken by the blasts and collapsed to the ground.
Orochimaru: "???"
Damn it. Wasn't he supposed to have a major breakthrough? Why did he suddenly become a B-Rank Vacuum Sphere victim?
"Hahaha! Serves you right for being so arrogant!"
"Disgusting tongue monster, you should go home and lie down for a few months. Hee hee hee!"
Naruto didn't aim for vitals. Instead, he aimed all his attacks at the abdomen and limbs, intending only to severely injure Orochimaru.
I almost messed up and damaged this body!
I really don't know if you're kind or arrogant, daring to hold back in a life-or-death battle?
"You didn't pass out?" Naruto, about to leave, turned back in surprise.
He saw Orochimaru—lying on the ground severely injured, limbs twisted—with his mouth inexplicably wide open.
The next second, a pair of hands emerged from that gaping mouth! Then a large amount of clear, sticky fluid flowed out, revealing a completely unharmed body!
Orochimaru's Substitution Technique! A chakra-intensive technique that uses the user's external body as a substitute, transferring the user's essence through their mouth—a ninjutsu without hand seals!
"Whoa!!!" Naruto froze on the spot, witnessing this disgusting scene.
Orochimaru, without hesitation, instantly stood up and stretched out his arms. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
In an instant, his hands transformed into countless venomous snakes, sweeping toward Naruto and his shadow clones. In the blink of an eye, Naruto's clones exploded one after another!
Even Naruto himself was bound and restrained by the numerous snakes, then pulled before Orochimaru.
"Naruto!" The situation reversed dramatically; Naruto went from victory to defeat in an instant.
Sasuke, watching from afar, didn't even have time to react. By the time he realized what was happening, Orochimaru had already drawn a kunai and held it to Naruto's neck.
In his mind's eye, Menma, watching the drama unfold, sighed.
Why do you have to be so pessimistic? Wouldn't it be better to just obediently plant the Heavenly Curse Seal on Sasuke and then get lost?