"Sasuke Uchiha, if you don't hurry, I really will kill him!"
Naruto was subdued so easily that Orochimaru grew suspicious of Kabuto Yakushi's information. He didn't kill Naruto immediately. Instead, he ran his long tongue across the blood trickling down the boy's neck.
He was trying to provoke Sasuke, who watched from the shadows with a tense, worried expression. Orochimaru wanted to see how far Sasuke had grown and whether he still needed more training before becoming a vessel.
"Damn it, why didn't Menma show up this time?" Sasuke thought, his heart pounding. "The situation is this critical. Does he have a death wish?"
Looking at Naruto—neck bleeding, eyes unfocused and lifeless—Sasuke's heart clenched painfully. He tightened his fists. That feeling of powerlessness reminded him of the night of the massacre more than seven years ago. The same helplessness washed over him.
No. He wasn't the same scared kid anymore.
The man before him had killing intent and genjutsu that rendered him powerless, sure, but he was still far inferior to Itachi Uchiha.
If Sasuke couldn't even muster the courage now, how could he ever hope to kill his brother in the future?
Thinking this, Sasuke's expression hardened. His eyes filled with intense killing intent.
"Oh? Finally mustered the courage to attack me?"
Orochimaru's smile widened, his lips stretching unnaturally down to his ears. "Then let me add some fuel to the fire…"
As he spoke, Orochimaru freed one hand, bit his finger, and slammed it onto the ground.
Summoning Jutsu!
Boom!
Black markings spread out like ink on parchment. A wisp of white smoke flashed by, and a gigantic, flower-patterned python appeared in the clearing. It was over ten meters long and more than two meters wide. The snake's tail was dangerously close to Sakura.
With a casual flick, Orochimaru swept the immobilized Sakura into the air.
"Alright! Time to choose, Sasuke!" Orochimaru laughed wildly, his face twisted in pleasure. "Will you save Naruto in my hands, or Sakura, who's about to be crushed by my tail?"
Sasuke didn't even glance at Sakura being flung away. Instead, he swooped forward, his hands weaving hand seals in front of his chest with blinding speed. His Sharingan eyes, blazing with ferocity, locked onto Orochimaru.
"Release Naruto!"
Orochimaru's smile didn't fade. He aimed his kunai back at Naruto's neck. "Looks like you've made your choice. Then come get him!"
"Roar!" As Orochimaru finished speaking, the giant snake opened its blood-red maw and swallowed Sakura whole.
At the same time, a piercing sound—the scream of a thousand birds—echoed through the forest.
Screeech!!!
Sasuke, charging forward, finally finished his hand seals. Lightning crackled and leaped wildly across his right hand.
"This is…!" Orochimaru's eyes widened in disbelief and surprise.
But before he could utter another sound, Sasuke vanished.
The next second, Sasuke's voice and a piercing bird's cry came from below Orochimaru.
"I told you to let Naruto go! Didn't you hear me?!"
Screeech!!!
Zzzzz!!!
A terrifying bolt of lightning instantly struck Orochimaru's abdomen. The Sannin collapsed like a rag doll in the wind, laughing maniacally while trembling violently.
"Hahaha! This Lightning Release: Chidori… you've actually mastered a nature transformation ninjutsu! What beautiful talent, Sasuke! I can't wait to obtain it…"
Learning chakra nature transformation enhanced the power of ninjutsu of the corresponding attribute. Naruto's breakthrough and Orochimaru's breakthrough were proof of that. Naruto had simply released his technique using hand seals; its power was far inferior to Orochimaru's, who truly understood nature transformation.
Some jutsu required understanding nature transformation to be released, such as Chidori. Another example was the Rasengan, which required mastering shape transformation to successfully compress chakra and release it.
As Orochimaru was struck, the snake binding Naruto dissipated, and he fell to the ground. Then, the laughing Orochimaru suddenly froze, his body turning a sickly brownish-yellow. Finally, he shattered like dried dirt and collapsed.
"A clone technique!" Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.
He immediately grabbed Naruto by the collar, hauling him up. The clone technique was a Shadow Clone enhanced with nature transformation. It consumed less chakra, was completely controlled by the original body, and was far more durable.
"Here's the scroll. Don't chase me anymore!"
As he fled, Sasuke threw out a scroll inscribed with the character "Heaven." Orochimaru's ambiguous words had made him feel extremely dangerous. He didn't want to linger. His plan was to take Naruto and rescue Sakura before escaping.
"Killing you won't stop the scroll from being mine!"
The scroll was just a decoy. Orochimaru had no intention of taking it. He stood atop the giant snake that had swallowed Sakura, controlling it to swing its tail and send the onrushing Sasuke flying backward.
After landing, Sasuke immediately got up, placed Naruto at his feet, and began rapidly forming hand seals. He planned to use Chidori to slash open the giant snake's belly, rescue Sakura, and then escape.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Having experienced Chidori once, Orochimaru had no intention of trying it a second time. He conjured several slender pythons that tightly coiled around Sasuke, just as he had done with Naruto. Then, his modified neck suddenly extended, reaching out. Like a long-necked monster, he lunged at Sasuke's neck.
However—
Snap!
Naruto, who had been lying unconscious on the ground, somehow got up. His body radiated a pale red, malevolent chakra, and a chakra fox tail floated behind him. With one hand, he grabbed Orochimaru's outstretched neck.
Naruto's eyes had transformed into scarlet vertical fox pupils. Four sharp fangs had sprouted from his upper and lower jaws, and his whiskers had grown thicker. Combined with his ferocious expression, he looked terrifying.
"No! You can't touch me, my comrade!" a voice like a wild beast's roar erupted from Naruto's mouth. Savage killing intent and ominous aura surged forth.
"Menma… no, you're Naruto!" Sasuke was initially delighted, then shock took over. "You can actually use the Nine-Tails' chakra!"
Naruto ignored Sasuke. Instead, he grabbed Orochimaru by the neck and shot out like a missile. In the blink of an eye, he smashed through the giant serpent's belly.
Then, a dark figure flew back at incredible speed, crashing into Sasuke's arms. It was the unconscious Sakura.
"Take Sakura and get out of here! Leave this to me!" Naruto was clearly struggling; he could barely speak.
Sasuke gave Naruto a deep look, finally nodded, and quickly turned to flee.
"None of you are getting away!"
While speaking, Orochimaru used the Orochimaru Substitution Technique again, sliding out of the mouth of his original body. Then he bit his finger, slamming his hands onto the floor.
"Summoning Technique: Manda!"