"It seems you were expecting me," Orochimaru spoke in his hoarse, chilling voice as he looked at Naruto and Sasuke with intense interest.
He slowly reached up and pulled off his straw hat, letting his long black hair fall around a pale, snake-like face. His yellow eyes glinted with dark amusement as he surveyed the massive stone maze surrounding them.
"I just wonder, how did you detect me? Hmm, is it the inherent detection of the Uzumaki clan or the analytical ability of the Sharingan?" Orochimaru chuckled, a low, wet sound that echoed uncomfortably off the stone walls.
"Neither," Naruto said calmly, looking down at Orochimaru from the high stone wall. "Your chakra is just way too disgusting to miss. It smells like a rotting corpse."
Sasuke let out a low laugh, his red Sharingan spinning smoothly in his eyes. "He's right. You might think you're good at hiding, but to us, you stand out like a torch in the dark."
Orochimaru's smile twitched slightly, his pale snake-like eyes narrowing. He was used to genin shaking in fear at his presence, yet these two boys were talking to him as if he were just an ordinary enemy.
"Arrogant brats," Orochimaru hissed, his voice sounding like dry leaves rubbing together. "You really have no idea who you are dealing with, do you?"
"We know exactly who you are," Sasuke said cold-heartedly, taking a step forward. He reached into his pouch and pulled out three shuriken. "You're Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin. A traitor to Konoha."
"And a crazy researcher who likes to stalk young boys," Naruto added with a bored look on his face.
" Oh, if you know about me, what gave you the confidence to stand before me?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he looked at both of them with malice. He didn't care about the insults Naruto threw at him because, for him, such a small insult was not worth his attention.
But he felt angry seeing these brats who were not even chunin dare to point their blades at him and act so arrogantly. It seemed his absence in the ninja world had made everyone forget that he was also a Sannin who brought victory to Konoha for two ninja wars.
"Then let me remind you," Orochimaru whispered softly, though his voice carried terrifying weight.
He didn't make a hand seal. He didn't even draw a kunai. He simply flared his killing intent.
In an instant, the air in the maze turned heavy as lead. A suffocating pressure crashed down on the stone walls, thick with the scent of blood and dark chakra. To an ordinary genin, it would feel like a giant blade hovering right above their neck, forcing them to freeze or faint from sheer terror.
Orochimaru watched closely, expecting their confident expressions to break. He wanted to see their eyes widen with fear, to watch their knees tremble beneath the aura of a true powerhouse.
Then he was once again surprised. Among the kids, only Sasuke and Sakura seemed to be affected by his killing intent. That kid Naruto seemed to be totally fine facing it.
And that was the truth. Even though this much killing intent was impressive enough to stun someone like Sasuke, it didn't bother Naruto at all. Naruto was used to facing the terrifying aura of Kurama and Izanami. In fact, compared to those two, Orochimaru's killing intent was like a gentle breeze. Especially the malice Izanami had once released—it was so intense that Naruto had nearly suffered a heart attack back then.
So now, Naruto just tilted his head and yawned, looking completely unimpressed. "Is that really all you've got? A scary glare and some heavy air? For a legendary ninja, your tricks are pretty weak."
Beside him, Sasuke took a deep breath, forcing his body to move as his Sharingan spun fast in his eyes. He shook off the pressure and glided his hand toward his weapon pouch. "Don't waste your time talking to him, Naruto. Not everyone is a monster like you "
Even though he was stunned at first, he still managed to calm his thoughts after a few seconds. He decided that after this, he would go train with his sister to get used to killing intent.
Sakura also managed to return to her calm a bit later. Although she didn't go through training like Sasuke and Naruto, she too had gone through that new pressure training that was introduced during the Ninja school.
Because of that strict training, Sakura managed to bite back her terror, gritting her teeth as she pulled out a kunai. She took a battle stance behind them, her hands trembling slightly, but her eyes locked onto the legendary Sannin.
One had to say that with Izanami's presence, the training that young ninjas got from the ninja school was much greater than it was in the original story. Those useless courses were eliminated and were filled with some training methods that Izanami recommended.
One must say that when it comes to training people, Izanami is far better than a certain perverted old man. Most of the students from commoner backgrounds actually get some useful training that would help them in their ninja career.
Because of those changes, Sakura wasn't the weak link she might have been in the original story. Even with fear chilling her veins, her stance was solid, and her focus was sharp.
Orochimaru's yellow eyes scanned the three of them, observing how each of them handled his pressure like some veteran ninjas. Although he still had that cold smile in his eyes, there was a bit of appreciation and relief in his eyes.
Although he was called a traitor, how could he still not have some lingering affection towards the village he had lived in for many years? Still, that affection didn't mean he would stop his actions. For his dream, he could discard anything.
" Interesting, let's see how much you kids can handle " Orochimaru spoke as he attacked instantly. There was no hesitation in his eyes as he used a very lethal jutsu
"Striking Snake Shadows!"
Orochimaru thrusted his arm forward, and in a split second, long, thick snakes erupted from his sleeves like black lightning. Their jaws snapped wide, dripping green, highly corrosive venom as they surged straight toward the stone wall to tear the three genin apart.
"Sasuke, right!" Naruto barked out, stepping in front.
"Got it!" Sasuke replied instantly.
With his red Sharingan tracking the exact trajectory of every fanged maw, Sasuke wove hand seals at a blinding speed. He drew a deep breath, his chest expanding as fire chakra surged within his throat.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A massive torrent of roaring flames shot out from Sasuke's mouth, racing along a set of ninja wires he had seamlessly attached to his shuriken. The fire rode the metal lines straight into the horde of serpents, instantly turning Orochimaru's summoning into a screeching inferno.
*BOOM!*
The burning smell of charred scales filled the air as the snakes turned to ash before they could even reach the wall.
Through the thick smoke, Orochimaru's yellow eyes gleamed with genuine delight. "Fast execution, sharp teamwork, and precise chakra control... amazing, it seems Tsunade is a good Hokage compared to the old man"
Before the smoke could fully clear, Orochimaru vanished from his spot.
"Behind us!" Sakura yelled, her sharp eyes picking up the sudden shift in the air.
Orochimaru shot up onto the high stone wall, his neck extending like a coiled serpent, his face stretching outward at an impossible angle as he lunged straight for Sasuke with his fangs bare.
Just as Orochimaru's stretched neck surged forward, a cold flash of silver sliced cleanly through the air.
Before his fangs could get within an inch of Sasuke, a sleek blade emerged out of thin air with terrifying precision. With a sharp, sickening *slash*, Orochimaru's extended neck was severed clean through.
A shower of dark blood sprayed against the stone wall as his pale, snake-like head fell away, plunging toward the maze floor below.
"What?!" Sasuke gasped, his Sharingan widening in pure shock as he instinctively took a step back.
Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, her hands freezing on her kunai. "N-No way... who did that?!"
Even Naruto, who was about to defend Sasuke, froze in place as his eyes darted around the surrounding air, trying to trace where the attack had come from. Sensing chakra was his specialty, yet he hadn't felt a single whisper of movement until the blade had already swung.
"Did... did someone just kill him?" Sasuke muttered, his red eyes spinning frantically to catch any trace of residual chakra or a hidden figure.
*Thud.*
Orochimaru's severed head hit the dirt floor below. But instead of a dying scream, a low, wet chuckle echoed through the maze, rising directly from the decapitated head.
"My, my... what a rude interruption," the head rasped out, its yellow eyes still glinting with dark amusement as it looked up at the stone wall.
The three genin watched in grim tension as mud and mud-like snakes began squirming out of the severed neck stump, dragging the body and head back together. As a master of running from death, this much is not enough to completely kill him off, but this attack did catch him off guard.
"I never imagined I would one day see you face to face, Your Excellency," Orochimaru spoke, his long tongue sliding out to lick his pale lips as his head reattached to his neck with a sickening, squelching sound.
He didn't even bother looking at Team 7 anymore. His yellow, slit-pupil eyes were fixed entirely on the empty air above the maze wall, where a figure slowly materialized out of thin shadows.
*******
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