Anko Mitarashi looked solemn. Accompanied by Anbu ninjas, she came to a secluded place. There were three corpses on the ground, all Genin from Kusagakure Village. Their faces were unrecognizable, and their death was horrible and terrifying.
"This technique!" Anko Mitarashi was extremely shocked. The death of the three corpses in front of her made her think of a name - Orochimaru.
The faces of the corpses were smoothed out. She didn't know by what means the facial features of the corpses were erased, but Anko Mitarashi knew that only Orochimaru could do it.
"Go and report this to the Hokage at once," Anko Mitarashi said firmly. "I'm going into the Death Forest to find out what's going on."
"Yes!" The Anbu ninjas disappeared immediately.
After Anko Mitarashi entered the Death Forest, she sped along. At the same time, she murmured to herself: Orochimaru, why did you come back to Konoha? What on earth are you up to here?
"That's!" Anko Mitarashi suddenly noticed that there were two figures ahead. Moreover, she could tell that they were definitely not Genin here for the Chunin Exams.
Anko picked up her pace. But when she caught up, there was no one in sight.
"What incredible speed," Anko Mitarashi thought. She increasingly felt that things were not simple. Not only had Orochimaru entered Konoha, but she had also found unknown ninjas of considerable strength in the Death Forest.
Anko Mitarashi searched around but found nothing, so she continued on her way.
At this time, in a patch of grass, Zabuza Momochi took his hand off the Cleaver Sword. Seeing the Konoha examiner leave, he managed to avoid a fierce battle.
Zabuza Momochi remembered Naruto's face at this moment. It was two days ago when Naruto had told him, "If you meet a Jonin from Konoha, hide. You're known for your superb silent killing skills. Your silent hiding skills must be great too. Hahaha."
At that time, Zabuza Momochi had said discontentedly, "You want me to hide in Konoha like a dog."
"Then I'll increase your commission. Never kill anyone in Konoha. This is my requirement for your mission. If you kill someone in Konoha without my order, I can't protect you. Unless you want to be hunted by both Konoha Village and Kiri," Naruto's words were firmly engraved in Zabuza's heart.
At this moment, Haku beside him said, "Zabuza, there are marks left by Naruto here." Beside Haku, there was actually Sasuke. His head was stuck with steel needles and he was unconscious.
Zabuza Momochi cursed Naruto under his breath and said, "Follow the marks and take Sasuke there. Then this mission will be completed."
On the other side, after Sakura woke up and didn't see Sasuke, she looked worried. She quickly asked Naruto, "Naruto, where's Sasuke?"
"We got separated from Sasuke. Let's go look for him," Naruto lied.
Hearing that Sasuke was missing, Sakura became even more worried and immediately agreed to Naruto's suggestion. Then they separated to look for Sasuke.
Sakura went ahead to look for Sasuke, while Naruto quietly tailed Sakura, keeping an eye on her.
At this moment, Naruto was leaning behind a big tree, while Sakura was not far away, looking anxious and shouting Sasuke's name loudly.
Zabuza Momochi approached Naruto. Naruto asked, "How did it go?"
Zabuza Momochi reported, "According to your plan, I went to Tanzo Shimura to gather information. Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha this time has no collusion with Tanzo Shimura."
Hearing this information, Naruto fell into deep thought.
Naruto continued to ask, "Then what was Tanzo's reaction after knowing Orochimaru's return to Konoha?"
"He seemed to not care at all. He even voluntarily mentioned the name of The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. It seems that he wants to use Orochimaru to get rid of The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"I see. Continue with the rest of the plan and report any abnormalities to me."
Zabuza Momochi sneered and said, "Konoha Village is no different from Kiri. There has always been bloody internal strife."
"We're all ninjas, so it's really about the same." Naruto said with a determined look in his eyes, "I'll change all of this."
Zabuza Momochi left. Naruto stepped out and walked quickly towards Sakura. At the same time, he said, "Sakura, I've searched everywhere over there, but I didn't find Sasuke. So I came to look for you. Let's look together."
"Okay." Worry still lingered on Sakura's face.
Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, left a deep impression on Orochimaru. Moreover, Naruto made a very strange request. He actually asked Orochimaru to bring a girl named Karin to exchange for Sasuke.
Orochimaru in his human upper body and snake tail form slithered through the forest with extremely fast movement techniques, looking everywhere for a red-haired girl.
Not long after, Orochimaru really found her. There was a huge black bear chasing a red-haired girl. Once Orochimaru saw the girl, he recognized her as a descendant of the Uzumaki clan.
The red-haired girl was running for her life in a sorry plight, almost covered in wounds. She held a kunai in her left hand, endured the pain with difficulty, and gritted her teeth to persevere.
However, in the end, she couldn't hold on anymore. The severe injuries made her fall to the ground. The kunai, the only thing that gave her a sense of security, was flung aside, which instantly made her heart sink.
The red-haired girl turned her head, and her terrified eyes watched as the huge black bear approached step by step. At this moment, she could already hear the low growl from the black bear's throat, like the sound of pleasure when devouring prey.
"Ah—" The red-haired girl let out a scream. Just when she thought she was going to die, Orochimaru appeared.
"Wind Release! Great Breakthrough!" Orochimaru opened his big mouth, and his chin could stretch down to his chest. A strong gust of wind spat out from his mouth, blowing the huge black bear away directly.
Oh!
"Aaaaaah—" The red-haired girl was so frightened by what she saw that her eyes almost popped out. If the black bear only brought her the threat of death, then Orochimaru's Wind Release! Great Breakthrough blowing the black bear away brought her the suffocating feeling of having her life and death at the mercy of others.
If she fell into the jaws of the wild animal, it would be a dead end. Orochimaru was a powerful ninja. If she fell into his hands, whether she would live, die, or even suffer more, all depended on him.
"Come with me!"
Orochimaru dashed over, grabbed the red-haired girl, and used extremely fast footwork to return to the place where he fought Naruto.
At this moment, upon seeing the Kusagakure Village symbol on Orochimaru's forehead, the red-haired girl thought he was a ninja from her village and felt slightly more at ease.
Orochimaru brought the red-haired girl back to the same place. However, Naruto was gone, and they saw a fair-skinned young man and the unconscious Sasuke instead.
"Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" Orochimaru said. "Didn't he want to make a deal with me?"
The fair - skinned young man was Haku. Haku said, "I'll make the deal with you on Naruto's behalf. Sasuke is right here. Hand over that girl, and I'll give you Sasuke."
The red-haired girl was utterly confused. She had no idea why she suddenly became a bargaining chip in someone else's deal.
"Hey, I've changed my mind. If I kill you, I can still get Sasuke."
Ice Release! Ice Rock Hall of Nothingness! Haku activated his Kekkei Genkai ability, creating a wall like an ice cover around him to protect himself and Sasuke inside.
Orochimaru was extremely shocked. He never expected that in Konoha Village, there was not only Sasuke with the Sharingan, a red - haired girl from the Uzumaki clan, but also a young man with the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai ability right in front of him.
"Great!" Orochimaru said, his eyes filled with greed. "I want to take all three of you under my wing."
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