While Sasuke was fighting Orochimaru, several other ninja squads quietly gathered nearby, all with their own plans.
"Where did this ninja from the Hidden Grass come from? He's got Sasuke completely on the ropes!" Ino stared at Orochimaru, grinding her teeth.
"No matter where he's from, we shouldn't get involved. That guy is way beyond what we can handle," Shikamaru warned Ino, who looked like she was ready to jump in.
Shikamaru's original plan was to head toward the central tower while looking for a chance to steal a scroll.
But Ino couldn't stop worrying about Sasuke and insisted on finding him first, so he had no choice but to change their plans.
"This is all Naruto's fault! If he hadn't shown off the scroll, Sasuke wouldn't have gotten dragged into this!" Ino shot an annoyed glance at Naruto, who was standing nearby with Sakura, watching the fight.
"I don't think we need to worry about them,"
Shikamaru explained, "In that fight just now, Naruto only made two moves—and each one easily took down those scary giant snakes and even that Hidden Grass ninja. That shows Naruto definitely has what it takes to beat that guy."
"He didn't show the scroll because he was careless—it was because he was confident!"
Even though he couldn't figure out how Naruto had gotten so strong, the results were clear.
Ino turned away, still upset. She saw everything just like Shikamaru, but she was still mad that Sasuke got hurt!
Elsewhere, Hinata's team was also watching from nearby, worried about Naruto.
"That Grass ninja is way too strong! Even Sasuke couldn't beat him. And Naruto—what kind of jutsu was that golden light thing? Is that really Naruto?"
Inuzuka Kiba lay hidden in the bushes, mumbling nonstop. "Hinata, I think we should just leave soon. That Grass ninja's way out of our league, and it doesn't look like Naruto needs our help either."
"I... I want to keep watching..."
Seeing how stubborn Hinata looked, Kiba gave a helpless sigh.
What's so good about Naruto anyway?
He already knew Hinata liked Naruto. Actually, with how she acted, it'd be hard for anyone not to notice.
"Neji, should we jump in or not?" Tenten asked.
Neji's team had gotten the Heaven Scroll, and Naruto's team now had two Earth Scrolls!
If they count the scroll from the Grass Village ninja, that makes it the third Earth Scroll!
"Wait, someone's coming!" Neji raised his hand, signaling the others to hide.
The next moment, three people appeared not far from them.
"Neji, what should we do?" Rock Lee looked at the three unfamiliar ninjas watching Naruto's team and asked.
Neji thought for a moment and said, "Let's take them out."
Compared to stealing the scroll from Naruto's group, these three looked like an easier target.
Now let's just hope they're carrying an Earth Scroll!
While many people were heading toward Naruto's team, Gaara's team was already moving quickly toward the central tower.
"Gaara, aren't we going to check that out? It looks kinda fun," Temari asked curiously.
"No. The mission comes first."
Gaara said blankly, "I'm afraid if I go over there, I won't be able to stop myself from killing all of them. If they all die, there won't be a third round of the Chunin Exam."
Kankuro and Temari didn't expect Gaara to have this kind of awareness.
But what he said actually made sense. If he really killed everyone, the rest of the plan wouldn't work.
"Then let's hurry up and finish this stage. I'm really curious to see the faces of those Leaf ninjas when they find out how fast we cleared it~"
...
Whoosh!
In the middle of Sasuke's fight with Orochimaru, Naruto saved him again using his laser beam.
Then, without saying a word, Sasuke launched another attack on Orochimaru.
Sakura looked at Sasuke with worry in her eyes, and Naruto noticed something had changed in him.
Sasuke's eyes weren't full of anger like before—he looked like he had calmed down and was thinking clearly again.
Sasuke kept jumping between trees, dodging Orochimaru's attacks. Then he saw his chance and used thin wires to trap Orochimaru against a tree.
Sharingan Windmill Triple Blade!
After pinning Orochimaru down, Sasuke bit down on one of the wires and formed hand signs.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
He spat fire from his mouth, which traveled along the wires and exploded when it hit Orochimaru.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Hearing Orochimaru's scream finally made Sasuke feel a bit better.
It's done!
He looked at Naruto with a smug expression, like he was asking, "Didn't you say I couldn't handle it?"
He expected to see shock or surprise on Naruto's face—but saw nothing.
Naruto's expression stayed the same, still staring at where Orochimaru had just "died."
Wait a minute...
Sasuke turned to look at the spot too—and saw there was no body at all. Just a pile of goo!
"Damn it. When did he—?"
Sasuke looked furious and blamed himself for letting his guard down.
Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him!
He jumped back on instinct and barely dodged Orochimaru's sneak attack, but Orochimaru didn't stop—he kept going!
He moved so fast that Sasuke couldn't dodge in time and had to use a kunai to block.
After a bit of clashing—
Sasuke grabbed Orochimaru and slammed them both down from the air!
Boom!
Orochimaru's head slammed into the ground with a loud crash!
From the sound of it, that was a solid hit!
Sasuke was breathing heavily, hoping to see Orochimaru dead for real this time.
But Orochimaru's body once again turned into a pile of mud!
"That jutsu's basically broken..." Naruto muttered.
He had watched the whole fight between Sasuke and Orochimaru just now, but he couldn't tell when Orochimaru had used a substitution or a clone...
Still, if even Sasuke's Sharingan couldn't see through it, it wasn't surprising that Naruto's normal eyes couldn't either.
Besides, from Naruto's point of view, being able to see through a jutsu with your eyes wasn't all that important. Most people in this world didn't have Sharingan anyway.
For them, the best way to handle tricky jutsu was to lean into their own strengths.
Those born with special talents relied on their bloodline abilities. Taijutsu users relied on speed and strength... but in the end, what really mattered was raw power, smart tactics, and battle experience.
Same went for Naruto.
No matter how good Orochimaru's substitution or clone jutsu were, they were still just ways to run away. As long as Naruto made full use of his Light-Light Fruit powers, Orochimaru didn't stand a chance!
!
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