"Just one person!" Sakura showed confidence on her face. With only one enemy, she wasn't afraid at all.
In Naruto's eyes, that wasn't just a person; it was tens of thousands of snakes. Absolute power exuded an overwhelming aura.
The second time Naruto saw Orochimaru, he was still intimidated by him. However, compared to the first time, now he was facing Orochimaru head - on.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke and found that while the enemy had already come to them, Sasuke was still sitting there in a daze by the river. This was really strange; it was not like Sasuke at all.
The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village showed a strange smile, just like a venomous snake seeing its prey. She tore off her facial skin with her hand, her eyes bulging wide, and a terrifying aura was revealed.
Sakura finally noticed something was wrong. She felt her whole body become stiff, and her hands and feet wouldn't listen to her. At this moment, she couldn't even move half a step.
"Summoning Jutsu." The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village waved her hand contemptuously and easily summoned a snake dozens of meters long. Seeing this terrifying scene, Sakura turned pale with fright.
"Na... Na... Naruto... Who... on earth... is... that person..."
Naruto used all his strength to slowly regain control of his body. His hands and feet were moving bit by bit.
"Wow!" The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village was a little surprised. She didn't expect that this young kid in front of her could still move under her imposing manner. It was really quite unexpected.
Naruto clenched his fists tightly and successfully regained control of his body. He overcame his fear of Orochimaru in his heart and threw two kunai with two whooshing sounds.
The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village didn't even look at them. She simply raised her hand and easily caught the kunai thrown by Naruto. At the same time, she gave a look, commanding the dozens - meter - long snake to rush towards Naruto.
Naruto pushed Sakura away first and faced the snake alone. The rushing snake opened its huge mouth and swallowed Naruto in one gulp. The snake showed a contented look.
Sakura, who was pushed to one side, stood up again. Her face was full of despair. Suddenly, she remembered Sasuke and quickly looked in Sasuke's direction.
The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village was approaching Sasuke step by step, while Sasuke was still sitting there in a daze by the river. Sasuke seemed to be asleep.
"Sasuke!" Sakura was worried about Sasuke's safety. She picked up her kunai and rushed towards the kunoichi from Kusagakure Village without hesitation.
"Hehe..." The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village let out two strange laughs and spat out a nearly ten - meter - long tongue from her mouth. It made Sakura feel extremely disgusted. That nearly ten - meter - long tongue was as flexible as a snake and as fast as lightning. Without giving Sakura a chance to react, it whipped Sakura away, and she passed out cold.
"Sasuke! We finally meet!" The kunoichi from Kusagakure Village approached Sasuke step by step, but Sasuke didn't react at all.
In fact, the kunoichi from Kusagakure Village had noticed Sasuke's abnormality for a long time, but she couldn't figure out why Sasuke was so strange and had no normal reaction at all.
She thought highly of her own strength and wasn't afraid of Sasuke playing any tricks, so she walked straight towards Sasuke.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto's voice came from inside the snake's belly. After being swallowed by the snake, Naruto was trapped inside the snake's belly. He then used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating a large number of shadow clones inside the snake's belly and forcefully bursting the snake's body.
Naruto escaped from the snake's belly, panting as he glared at Orochimaru. At this moment, Orochimaru developed a slight interest in Naruto.
Meanwhile, in another secluded area of Konoha Village, where the lights were dim, a man with his head and right eye wrapped in bandages was lying in his quilt.
He slowly sat up and stared at the corner with a puzzled look for a while. At the same time, he thought to himself, "There's always this weird feeling. It seems like someone's hiding in that corner, but then again, maybe not. Is it just my imagination?"
"Tanzo Shimura! It's been a long time." Orochimaru's figure emerged from the shadows in the corner.
Whoosh! Two masked ninjas flashed out and stood in front of Orochimaru with their weapons, seemingly protecting Tanzo Shimura.
Seeing Tanzo Shimura's personal guards, Orochimaru let out a few cold laughs, "Hehe..."
"Orochimaru?" Tanzo Shimura squinted his eyes, sizing up Orochimaru carefully. This Orochimaru looked a bit strange. Maybe it had been too long since they last met, but he always felt that something was off about the Orochimaru in front of him.
"Tanzo, isn't there something you haven't returned to me?"
"..." Tanzo remained silent. After a long while, he said, "You're already a rogue ninja of Konoha. How dare you still come back?"
"I'm not as lucky as you." Orochimaru said in a strange tone, "The dirty things you've done aren't any less than mine. I became a rogue ninja and left Konoha, while you still stay in Konoha."
"What the hell are you here for?" Tanzo roared angrily.
"Of course, I'm here to find the only ninja in the world who can use Wood Release now." Orochimaru's face looked extremely eerie in the dim light as he faintly uttered two words, "Yamato!"
Tanzo Shimura frowned. He had previously felt that something was off about this Orochimaru, but now that feeling had disappeared. He was very sure that the person in front of him was the real Orochimaru.
Because very few people in this world knew about Yamato's existence.
Back then, to deal with the threat of the Nine - Tailed Fox, The Third Hokage led a secret research project with the cooperation of Tanzo Shimura and Orochimaru.
The research was to use the cells of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. They transplanted Hashirama Senju's cells into other people, hoping that others could use Wood Release because it was something that could restrain the Nine - Tailed Fox.
This research was extremely cruel. All the people involved in the experiment died. After sacrificing a large number of lives, The Third Hokage decided to halt the plan, stop the research, and permanently seal the files of this dark history.
However, Tanzo Shimura was not willing to give up. He believed that Wood Release was a very important weapon. If they could use Hashirama Senju's cells to revive Wood Release, it would be a great asset to Konoha Village.
So Tanzo Shimura secretly colluded with Orochimaru and continued the research privately, plundering many children from various villages to use as test subjects.
As the test subjects died one by one, Orochimaru saw that all his efforts had come to nothing. So he gave up the project and prepared to start a new research project.
Surprisingly, after Orochimaru gave up, a child survived and successfully fused the cells of Hashirama Senju, becoming a Wood Release ninja. He was Yamato.
However, Tanzo Shimura didn't tell Orochimaru about this and concealed Yamato's existence.
Pulling himself out of the memories, Tanzo Shimura asked, "How do you know about Yamato?"
"Because I'm Orochimaru. You can deceive me for a moment, but not a lifetime!"
"..." Tanzo Shimura fell silent.
"Now you know why I've returned to Konoha."
"Yamato isn't with me."
"Where is he?"
"He's with The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
<><><><><><><><>
~ 80+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
p-atreon.com/Tansnovel
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~ Every 50 Powerstones = 4 Bonus Chapters on the weekend!