The trees in the Forest of Death were extremely thick—even the branches up high were almost as thick as a person.
Naruto stood on a nearby branch, looking down at the people below.
Sakura was placed on a branch not far away. Sasuke, holding a kunai, was staring sharply at a ninja who was barely holding on to the tree like a coiled snake.
Naruto was jumping around, yelling at Orochimaru to distract him.
Sasuke's Sharingan scanned left and right as his mind raced.
Just the killing intent alone had frozen both him and Sakura in place. This guy was scarier than any of the Kirigakure ninjas!
Back then, when he fought Haku, he was ready to die.
But now, this person in front of him… was someone he couldn't beat, even if he gave up his life. Fighting him made no sense at all!
And there was no backup in this forest. They were too high up, completely cut off. No matter how you looked at it, this was a dead end.
Sasuke bit his lower lip and reached into his tool pouch behind him.
They had to run—grab Naruto and Sakura and get out of here. Losing the scroll didn't matter. What mattered was getting away from this guy.
"Hey, the scroll's what you want, right? I have it."
"Take it."
Sasuke pulled out the scroll marked "Heaven" and held it up for Orochimaru to see from a distance.
Naruto and Sakura both froze. Naruto had just escaped from the giant snake's belly. Even though he could tell this Kusagakure Ninja seemed snake-like…
So what? They hadn't even started fighting yet—how could they give up now? Naruto jumped up, shouting in protest.
"Hey, Sasuke! What are you doing?!"
"Giving the scroll to the enemy? What are you thinking?!"
"Shut up!"
Sasuke snapped, yelling louder than usual, and glared fiercely at Naruto with his dark eyes.
Normally, he just mocked or teased him. It was rare to see him this serious.
Naruto was caught off guard, shocked, staring at Sasuke.
He had no idea how terrifying this guy really was. Sasuke didn't want to die for nothing.
Before fighting Haku, Sasuke didn't really understand what death felt like—he had no clear idea what it meant to be on the edge of dying.
But after going up against Haku, he had experienced that bitter, unwilling feeling of being close to death. He still had things he needed to do. He couldn't die in some meaningless test like this.
"That's true. You guys really only have those scrolls to protect your lives now."
Even though Orochimaru said that, he had no intention of letting them go just because they handed over the scroll.
To him, they were just a bunch of naive little birds—easy prey.
With a strange smile, Orochimaru reached out toward Sasuke.
"Take it."
Sasuke reached out and threw the scroll over.
"No way!"
Naruto jumped down from a tree branch, snatched the scroll mid-air, and landed right next to Sasuke with one foot on a branch.
Sasuke opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Naruto waved the scroll in front of him, frowning.
"Are you out of your mind? Hand over the scroll and we're safe? There's no way it's that simple!"
"..."
What Naruto said made sense, but the situation they were in still felt like a dead end.
"You're pretty smart, Naruto. But scrolls? All I have to do is kill you and take them."
To be honest, whether he got the scrolls or not didn't matter to him.
Orochimaru's face darkened slightly as he stuck out his tongue with a grin. Then he bit his thumb and drew a bloody line across his arm.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A strong gust of wind kicked up in front of Orochimaru. As the three of them squinted against the wind—
CRACK! CRASH! The sound of trees breaking filled the air, and a massive snake broke through the branches from below, sticking its head out toward them.
Orochimaru crossed his arms and watched Naruto and Sasuke from above while the giant snake lunged forward to crush them.
Things had gotten to this point—there was no other way.
Sasuke suddenly leapt into the air, took a deep breath, quickly formed hand signs, and launched a huge fireball toward where Orochimaru was standing.
"Fire Release! Fireball Jutsu!"
The snake's tail smacked Sasuke away in a single hit. With a dull *thud*, his back slammed into a tree trunk before he slid down onto a branch.
Naruto jumped up several branches to avoid the snake's attack, but the snake suddenly struck upward, and Naruto was knocked down hard.
"Then I guess I'll just eat him."
Orochimaru didn't really care much about Naruto. It didn't matter where that guy ended up.
The only thing that caught Orochimaru's attention was Sasuke's Sharingan. What kind of potential did the younger brother of "one versus seven" have?
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes scanned the nearby branches, but before he could get a good look at Sasuke's face, he suddenly sensed a powerful wave of chakra that shook him to his core.
Just as Orochimaru hesitated, Naruto slammed a punch into the giant snake.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Orochimaru. With pure human strength, he punched the giant snake so hard it began to pull back in pain.
"Naruto… Is he really this strong?!"
Sakura stared at Naruto in disbelief.
Sasuke had just crashed head-first into a tree. He was still seeing stars when he got up.
He struggled to steady himself against the trunk, squinting to get a better look at Naruto. Then, he reached into the pouch behind his back for a weapon.
"This feeling… it's the Nine-Tails."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and opened one hand. Purple energy representing the five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—quickly formed on his fingertips.
He then used his tongue to grab Naruto, who was furiously punching the summoned beast, and pulled him in. Lifting Naruto's shirt, the seal mark was clearly visible on his stomach.
The red-eyed, snarling boy glared at him, baring his teeth and thrashing wildly, like he could tear Orochimaru apart at any moment.
But with the power he had now, that was still out of reach.
"You've grown strong, no doubt about that… but right now, you're just getting in the way!"
"Five Element Seal!"
Orochimaru suddenly pressed his fingers against Naruto's stomach, and five swirling marks appeared where he touched.
Naruto's fierce, beast-like behavior faded right away. His red animal eyes returned to normal, and his head drooped as if he had passed out.
Orochimaru took out a scroll from his weapon pouch and, without a second thought, used his tongue to toss Naruto behind him.
Sasuke saw the chance. The moment Orochimaru threw Naruto, he quickly launched a few shuriken toward him.
"He's gonna fall!"
---
Read 30 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---