"The second part of the Chunin Exams… begins!!"
With Mitarashi Anko's shout, all the teams rushed into the Forest of Death from their assigned entrances.
Naruto's team was no different.
"Naruto, where are we going?" Sakura asked, a bit worried.
Even though what Naruto said earlier sounded cool, now that they were really about to face half the teams in the exam, she couldn't help feeling nervous.
"Nowhere. We stay right here and wait," Naruto said calmly.
"Right here?"
Sakura looked around, confused.
They weren't far from the entrance—maybe just a few dozen meters in.
If they didn't move at all, other teams would definitely come here soon!
"Sasuke, when people show up later, do you want to warm up a bit first?" Naruto asked as he sat down on a comfy-looking rock.
"Yeah."
Sasuke stood next to Naruto, his massive sword on his back.
A nervous little Sakura also came over, wringing her hands.
After a short wait,
There were clear footsteps coming from the trees nearby!
Someone was coming!
Sakura tensed up when she sensed it. She was just about to pull out a kunai to defend herself, but Naruto grabbed her hand.
"Just stay here. Sasuke will take care of it."
With that, Naruto gave Sasuke a look, and Sasuke disappeared on the spot.
Not long after, they heard the sound of kunai clashing from the trees above.
Naruto could also faintly hear the sound of jutsu being used.
Three minutes later,
Sasuke came back with a few injuries and an extra Earth Scroll in his hand.
"Got the scroll. Should we go now?" Sasuke tossed the scroll to Naruto.
Naruto casually set it aside and shook his head. "No, not yet. Let's take out all the rats who are after us first. That way we'll have fewer opponents in the third part of the Chunin Exams."
"Maybe we can trap every other team in this second stage and be the only ones to move on!"
Sasuke stayed quiet for a moment, then went back to standing by, waiting for the next wave of enemies.
Sakura, on the other hand, seemed like she wanted to say something... but didn't.
To be honest, she was the one who least wanted to stay here among the three of them.
Why bother fighting so many people?
Wouldn't it be easier to just pass the exam now with both scrolls?
But... she didn't really have a say in the matter.
After all, she was the weakest one on the team.
Not long after, they heard more movement around them.
"Sasuke, don't hold back."
Sasuke, who was just about to make a move, nodded at Naruto's words and vanished again.
Earlier, when fighting the last group of three, Sasuke had held back—he didn't even use the Executioner's Blade at first.
Because of that, he took some hits and used up more chakra than needed.
Two minutes later,
Sasuke returned holding the Executioner's Blade and tossed another Earth Scroll to Naruto.
Naruto weighed the scroll in his hand and set it aside, then asked, "Did you kill them?"
"No."
Sasuke paused, then added, "But they're pretty much done."
"More are coming, so don't hold back next time. If you can finish them with one hit, don't waste time with a second." Naruto said calmly.
"Got it." Sasuke nodded in understanding.
No one knew how many more enemies they might run into. Saving chakra and energy wherever possible was the smart move.
Sakura looked at Sasuke, then Naruto, then the two Earth Scrolls sitting on a rock... Couldn't we just move on already?
*Sigh~*
Sakura let out a quiet sigh in her heart and continued waiting with the two of them, bored and restless.
This time they waited quite a while, around ten minutes,
Then suddenly, Sasuke sensed something underground!
This time, he didn't need Naruto to say anything. He disappeared instantly.
The Executioner's Blade came crashing down from the sky, stabbing into the dirt hard before being yanked out right away!
*Shhh!*
Dirt flew everywhere—but no blood.
Clearly, he missed.
After the failed strike, Sasuke looked sharply to both sides, but didn't notice the giant snake that had appeared behind him!
"Sasuke, behind you!!"
Sakura's shout made Sasuke instinctively teleport away, just in time to avoid the huge snake that lunged at him and bit into the ground instead.
"Oh? Nice reflexes. And that Executioner's Blade—while it's not quite up to par—if you've managed to get one of the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, then you must be more than just average, right?"
Sasuke dodged the attack and turned toward the source of the voice. He saw a ninja from the Grass Village riding on a giant snake.
The moment their eyes met, Sasuke suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
Something was off about this guy.
Why couldn't he move his body?
Was it a genjutsu?
No... it was killing intent.
How could that be?
Even Zabuza's killing intent didn't scare me like this. Could this guy really be stronger than a Jonin?
While Sasuke was frozen in shock, struggling to get his body to move, the Grass ninja charged at him on the snake!
At the very last second, just as Sasuke was about to bite his tongue to shake off the fear, a flash of golden light pierced through the snake and the Grass ninja!
The giant snake bled heavily and collapsed to the ground with a shriek.
But the Grass ninja turned into a lump of mud and disappeared!
"A body replacement jutsu?"
Freed from the killing intent, Sasuke was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't seen the hand signs at all!
That was a fast body switch!
"A golden jutsu?"
Orochimaru crawled out from the corpse of the snake, looking at Naruto with a mixture of admiration and curiosity. "You're even more surprising than I thought. I didn't expect Konoha to have such a great gift besides the Uchiha boy."
"Well? Want to come with me?"
Orochimaru reached out his hand toward Naruto, but Naruto ignored him. Instead, he turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you still planning to fight? I'll be honest with you—he's not someone you can beat right now."
He knew Sasuke wasn't a match for Orochimaru. He asked anyway, just to see if Sasuke still had that desire to test himself.
Just like when Sasuke wanted to take on Haku by himself before.
But this Grass ninja was on a totally different level.
Haku was strong, but Sasuke still thought he had a decent chance of winning.
This Grass ninja, on the other hand, made him feel completely powerless.
That feeling was even worse than when he fought Zabuza.
Seeing Sasuke still hesitating, Naruto flashed over to stand in front of him and said calmly, "Step back. Go protect Sakura."
Looking at Naruto's back, Sasuke felt his frustration and anger building up even more.
His face twisted with emotion, and finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Let me do it!"
Naruto turned around to face him.
He saw Sasuke's face filled with anger and frustration—and nothing else.
With emotions like that, there was no way he could win.
When someone lets anger cloud their thinking, their speed, reflexes, and battle sense all take a hit.
Sasuke wasn't a match for Orochimaru even at his best. Like this, he stood no chance.
Still, Naruto didn't stop him. This was Sasuke's own choice to make.
If Naruto tried to stop him, Sasuke wouldn't be grateful—he'd just hold a grudge.
"I'll step in three times. After that, you back off. Got it?" Naruto said as he stepped aside to give Sasuke space.
For the first time, Sasuke didn't answer. With a cold expression, he gripped the large cleaver and charged at Orochimaru!
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