"To be able to use the Sharingan like that at your age... as expected of someone from the Uchiha clan. I really do want you..."
Orochimaru slithered out of a tree, a strange smile on his face.
After testing Sasuke just now, he was already convinced of his strength and talent.
Clap!
Orochimaru quickly formed a hand sign.
In that moment—
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all felt their bodies freeze, as if something had taken control of them!
The Hell-Seeing Jutsu!
Naruto hadn't expected Orochimaru to suddenly target him, but this kind of weak genjutsu...
"Heh, I've been watching you for a while now. Can't let you keep interrupting me!"
Orochimaru looked at Naruto with the same smile. "Besides, I'm also very interested in your body~"
With that, Orochimaru's neck stretched out, and his head shot toward Naruto's neck.
"Naruto!"
Seeing Naruto in danger, Hinata couldn't help but shout. But she was too far away, and it was too late to reach him now.
Just as Orochimaru's fangs were about to bite Naruto's neck—Naruto suddenly grabbed his head.
"What?!"
Orochimaru's face twisted in shock.
Naruto looked calm. "You didn't really think this kind of weak genjutsu would work on me, did you?"
Back when he got caught in Kakashi's genjutsu, Naruto had no way to break out. Since then, he'd been thinking about how to deal with situations like that.
Now that he had full control over his chakra, breaking genjutsu was no problem at all!
One of the basic ways for a ninja to break genjutsu was to mess up their own chakra flow. Since Naruto had perfect control over his chakra, of course he could do that easily!
"This your real body?"
Naruto looked at Orochimaru's head in his hand. With a squeeze, a flash of golden light burst out!
Orochimaru's head turned to mush and splashed onto the ground.
"Another substitution? Or a clone?"
Naruto frowned slightly.
Then, from the mud beneath his feet, Orochimaru suddenly shot up and grabbed his leg, trying to drag him underground.
But Naruto instantly transformed into light and broke free, then aimed at the ground under Orochimaru and fired a laser blast!
Boom!
The beam tore through the ground, causing a loud explosion and kicking up a cloud of dust.
But when the smoke cleared, Orochimaru was gone.
"Interesting... what a strange power. I'm starting to like you more and more. A rare bloodline limit, maybe?"
Orochimaru had reappeared on a distant tree, licking his lips with a long tongue.
Then he quickly formed a hand sign and slammed his palm onto the trunk.
"Summoning Jutsu!!"
Boom!
More than ten huge snakes, even bigger than the ones from before, burst into the area. Their forked tongues flickered as they lunged toward Naruto and the others.
Seeing these giant snakes—each as tall as a building—Sasuke and Sakura were frozen in shock, unable to move because of the Hell-Seeing Jutsu.
At that moment, Naruto leapt high into the air, pressing his thumb against his index finger and calmly said, "Yasakani Tomo Beads!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless glowing projectiles shot out from his hands, raining down on the snakes and Orochimaru!
The giant snakes were pierced like tofu, collapsing one after another with loud cries, their blood soaking the entire forest!
Orochimaru's face changed when he saw how easily his summoned beasts were taken down. Without saying a word, he quickly vanished into the ground.
Once all the giant snakes were dead, Naruto landed from the air. He looked around and saw the bloody snake corpses lying everywhere—but Orochimaru was nowhere to be found.
Did he hide?
Or did he run?
Naruto's sensing ability wasn't very strong, and in a place like this, it was almost impossible for him to find someone like Orochimaru, who was good at hiding.
"Sky Mirror!"
A large mirror of light formed in Naruto's hands and floated into the air. Using its high view, he scanned the area again—but still didn't find Orochimaru.
Did he really run away?
Naruto frowned a little but quickly relaxed.
If he ran, he ran. I'll just find another chance to kill him next time.
After this fight, Naruto had a much better idea of Orochimaru's strength.
Or rather, he now understood the level of someone called a Kage-level fighter more clearly.
So that's all it is...
He then went to Sakura and Sasuke to release them from the genjutsu.
"Phew, I'm saved!" Sakura, finally able to move again, collapsed onto the ground, still shaken by fear.
Sasuke leaned weakly against a tree. His eyes were locked on the giant snake corpses, and his mind was spinning with thoughts.
This wasn't the first time he saw Naruto use that technique, but it still shook him every time… and made him feel deeply frustrated.
They were both twelve years old. So why was Naruto so much stronger?
If I had that kind of power… could I already have taken revenge on Itachi?
Could I already have started rebuilding the Uchiha clan?
Sasuke silently asked himself, his fists tightening without him even noticing.
Not far away, Hinata's team, Ino's team, and Neji's team had been watching the whole time—and they were completely stunned.
They knew Naruto was strong, but they didn't expect *this* kind of strength.
"He's really going to take the same Chunin Exam as us?" Tenten gulped, unable to hold back her voice.
Neji was completely silent. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Even Rock Lee, who was always full of energy and confidence, now stood frozen, unable to believe what he'd seen.
Guy-sensei, can I really beat someone like this?
"Sasuke! Are you okay?"
Ino, finally snapping out of it, was the first to rush out of the bushes and run toward Sasuke.
"Ino!"
Shikamaru gave her an exhausted look but still followed with Chouji.
Hinata's group came out of hiding too after seeing them walk out.
"Ino? Shikamaru? Chouji? Hinata? Kiba? Shino? Why are all of you here?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised.
Shikamaru shrugged and gave Ino a helpless look.
It was like he was saying: "Isn't it obvious? Because of this crazy girl."
"We were worried about you guys, so we came to check things out," Kiba said, Akamaru sitting on his shoulder as he stared at Naruto. "But I didn't expect Naruto to be *this* strong!"
To be honest, he never believed Naruto was just a regular person. And now, after seeing what Naruto could really do, he believed it even less.
This Naruto has to be fake!
I'll definitely find proof and expose him one day!
Kiba thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Chouji kept munching on his chips, and Shino stayed silent as usual.
"Naruto, are you okay…? I have some medicine for wounds…" Hinata rushed over to Naruto, looking at him nervously, trying to see if he was hurt.
"I'm fine."
Naruto shook his head and turned down Hinata's offer.
But when he looked at the medicine in Hinata's hand, he paused for a second and asked, "Can I have it?"
"Y-yes, of course!"
Hinata was really happy to feel like Naruto needed her.
She quickly handed it to him—but Naruto took it and tossed it to Sasuke.
"Put it on," Naruto said plainly.
Even though Sasuke had just been a pain and caused trouble like an idiot, they were still in the middle of a mission.
As the team leader, Naruto couldn't let personal feelings get in the way.
Sasuke caught the medicine and glanced at Naruto, his feelings all mixed up.
On one hand, he was really jealous of Naruto, saw him as a rival, and had even disobeyed his orders during the mission.
But on the other hand, he also respected Naruto's strength and the way people were drawn to him…
"…Thanks," Sasuke said quietly.
"You don't need to thank me. Thank Hinata instead," Naruto said with a blank expression.
"Thank you," Sasuke turned to Hinata and said again.
"You're welcome," Hinata replied softly and politely.
Sasuke nodded and was about to apply the medicine himself, but Ino suddenly grabbed it and said, "Let me help you, Sasuke-kun!"
"Back off, Ino-pig! Stay away from Sasuke! I'll help him myself!" Sakura couldn't hold back when she saw Ino trying to take over.
"What did you say, Forehead Girl?!"
Seeing the two start another loud fight, everyone around them looked tired and helpless.
When are these two ever going to stop?
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