*Swish swish swish.*
A few senbon needles brushed right past Orochimaru's cheek, forcing him to retreat before he could bite Kimimaro.
Each senbon was aimed at a vital spot—no mercy at all.
He frowned slightly and looked down at the two figures below. The silver-haired guy with shark-like teeth was standard for Kirigakure shinobi, nothing surprising.
But the boy next to him—the one who threw the senbon at Orochimaru...
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Interesting… that kid must be the one who used to follow Zabuza around.
There were at least two Kekkei Genkai users on this team. The Hidden Mist Village really went all out for this Chunin Exam.
Was it because it was their first time joining, so they wanted to show off these Kekkei Genkai kids?
That move was pretty unexpected.
Orochimaru looked thoughtfully at the three kids across from him. Kekkei Genkai users weren't exactly easy to deal with.
After all, he had never fought anyone like that himself before.
"You actually got hit. That's rare. Doesn't really seem like you."
"Ugh, stop poking me. Just help clean up these bones."
Suigetsu tried to mock him but ended up almost getting stabbed by one of Kimimaro's bones sticking out. He crouched awkwardly to the side.
You couldn't even tell if his sarcastic comment was on purpose or just a slip.
Haku took a deep breath and helped Kimimaro back up.
All three of them stared straight at Orochimaru.
"Be careful. He's not like the others."
"He always tries to bite people with those snakes. Maybe it's some kind of power."
Haku looked up, thinking. He'd seen it before when Orochimaru went after Sasuke, and again just now with Kimimaro.
Teeth… Haku's mind started racing. He was trying to figure out what Orochimaru's teeth might mean.
Was he trying to leave some kind of mark on them?
"Even if I want power, I don't need your help. Don't stick your nose in where it's not needed."
Kimimaro had heard the words Orochimaru whispered to him in that moment, and he glared at him, clearly annoyed.
He only existed because of his master. Whatever his master wanted—that was what he wanted.
Kimimaro did want to prove himself to his teacher, but only under certain conditions.
The power he showed had to be his own.
Kimimaro did crave strong opponents. He was drawn to fighting and bloodshed. That was something built into his clan's blood—the Kaguya clan.
It was a deep instinct, something he couldn't help but be pulled toward.
But if he used someone else's strength to prove himself…
Then it would be meaningless. It might even make his teacher disappointed enough to say, "That's it?"
Orochimaru pressed his lips together. That look in Kimimaro's eyes—it was just like Haku's when he was little. He must have someone important to him.
Still, Kimimaro hadn't earned approval yet. He was still climbing toward his goal.
People like him were usually the easiest to sway. Too bad Orochimaru hadn't done his homework properly. He hadn't expected the Hidden Mist to send Kekkei Genkai users into the exam.
They were really treating the Leaf Village like a big deal.
"Even though leaving now would be the smart move, I remember you took those three scrolls from earlier, didn't you?"
"Hand over the scrolls first!"
Suigetsu jumped up, swinging his arm—powered up by the Hydrification Technique—and aimed a punch straight at Orochimaru.
"You're reckless. You're really different from your two teammates."
Orochimaru's raspy voice echoed, sounding like something pulled out of a grave. He looked at Suigetsu with a dark, gloomy stare.
Suigetsu was clearly not Orochimaru's type. Even if he were dragged back, Orochimaru would probably just lock him up somewhere.
Then Orochimaru suddenly lifted his head and opened his mouth wide—masses of snakes came pouring out all at once.
In a flash, the swarm of snakes knocked Suigetsu aside. They quickly gathered and coiled into a mass shaped like a human figure around him.
With a loud splash, Suigetsu's body turned into a puddle of dripping water, and the snakes all missed, twisting and writhing in the puddle.
What was this kid planning?
Orochimaru glanced sideways at Suigetsu with a strange look. These Kekkei Genkai users…
Orochimaru might have liked them, but he didn't really want to deal with them either.
In the end, normal Ninjutsu only went so far. But with these guys, you never knew what kind of monsters you'd be facing.
But Kekkei Genkai was a different story — it was mysterious, hard to understand, and very dangerous when encountered.
Even if he turned into water among the snakes, there was no chance of putting himself back together. And even if he somehow did, he'd still be surrounded by snakes.
Except for its weakness to Lightning Release, the Hydration Jutsu was almost the perfect defense — it was nearly impossible to hit.
"Demonic Ice Mirrors."
Haku's voice suddenly rang out, and Kimimaro charged in right after with his bone blade.
Kimimaro's taijutsu was very good. Maybe not as flexible as Orochimaru, who could twist like a pretzel, but he could still pull off most complex moves with ease.
The bone sword coming out of his body had to work together with his movements to be used properly.
The puddle that Suigetsu had turned into was quickly frozen by Haku, and multiple white ice mirrors appeared around Orochimaru.
The bright mirrors reflected dazzling light. Orochimaru held a kunai in one hand, defending himself from Kimimaro's fast attacks.
While his finger bones could break a kunai thanks to the impact force, close-range attacks with the bone blade weren't quite as strong. Orochimaru could still block them with one hand and a kunai.
Haku quickly slipped into the mirrors, then started throwing senbon at Orochimaru and Kimimaro from all directions at an eerie speed.
Even though this was just a last-minute team-up, Haku and Kimimaro had practiced this kind of combo before.
To avoid hitting his own teammate, Haku had to be very precise with his throws — his skill with senbon had reached another level.
"Even without the right setup, they're using teamwork to make one. No wonder they're from the Hidden Mist — even as genin, they're already working together this well?"
Haku's speed was strange and fast, but Orochimaru wasn't an easy target. While defending against Kimimaro, he was also watching Haku's movements closely.
People who often use secret techniques tend to have unconscious habits. If Orochimaru could figure out Haku's pattern, he could break out of the trap.
Senbon didn't have much power on their own. The problem was that Orochimaru was fighting two people at once, and it was getting harder to keep up.
Luckily, that third guy had just turned into liquid. If he joined in too, Orochimaru wouldn't have enough hands to deal with them all.
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