Chapter 50: A World Where Only Sasuke Gets Hurt Is Achieved
Sakura collapsed to the ground, still conscious, though she seemed badly injured.
At this moment, Sasuke had been bitten on the neck, his face twisted in pain. Orochimaru, noticing Naruto's arrival, quickly retracted his snake-like elongated neck.
This round… could be considered a mutual backdoor strike.
"Naruto! Be careful! Sasuke, he's been…!" Sakura spotted Naruto's return and shouted out a warning.
By then Sasuke, clutching the little "strawberry" mark on his neck in agony, had already collapsed. In an instant, the only ones still standing at the scene were the disguised examinee Orochimaru and Naruto.
"Sakura, calm down. Sasuke will be fine." Naruto reassured her, then shifted his gaze to Orochimaru. "I've gathered intel. This guy isn't an examinee. He's one of the Legendary Sannin—Orochimaru."
"What?" Sakura was completely dumbfounded.
Kakashi's generation was much more familiar with the story of Konoha's Sannin, but by the time it reached Naruto and Sakura's generation, certain forbidden matters surrounding them had made that knowledge harder to come by. Sakura only barely knew that Orochimaru was one of the Sannin.
What was it like when a name from the textbooks suddenly appeared in person—and even attacked you?
So Sakura was stunned. Sasuke, writhing in pain, was also stunned.
Orochimaru watched Naruto with great interest, flicking out his long snake-like tongue. His facial skin had already started peeling, revealing skin paler than that of a woman.
"Naruto? So you're the village's Jinchūriki?"
"That's right, it's me." Naruto replied to Orochimaru. "So? Got any business left here? If not, hurry up and get going, old man—your body looks about ready to fall apart."
Facing Orochimaru, whose current strength was less than a tenth of his prime, Naruto showed not the slightest hint of fear.
What's more, he knew full well Orochimaru was a scientist-type—someone who always acted with a methodical purpose. Since Sasuke was his target this time, he wouldn't bother meddling in anything else.
As expected, Orochimaru didn't grow angry at Naruto's words. He only let out a sinister smile.
"Naruto, we will meet again."
With that, Orochimaru turned and left.
Naruto didn't move, only keeping his eyes fixed on Orochimaru's retreating back, body still on guard. Only when several minutes had passed and Orochimaru's presence had completely vanished from the forest did Naruto relax and hurry over to his teammates.
"Sasuke, how are you holding up?"
He said this, but first crouched beside Sakura to check her condition. Confirming she hadn't lost any "parts," he finally let out a breath of relief.
As for Sasuke—Naruto truly wasn't worried. Orochimaru probably cherished that body even more than Sasuke himself.
"Don't worry about me." Sakura said with some effort. "Sasuke's injuries are much more serious."
"Alright." Naruto nodded and walked over to the unconscious Sasuke.
Examining his neck, Naruto indeed found the black Curse Mark of Heaven: three comma-shaped marks, each the size of a pinky nail, forming a circular pattern. Once activated, it would grant Sasuke the Curse Mark's power.
"He's fine, just passed out." Naruto gave Sakura an "OK" gesture.
After some effort, Naruto settled Sasuke against a massive tree trunk. Then he turned and carefully lifted the exhausted Sakura, swiftly carrying her up into the tree.
"Naruto, thank you." Sakura whispered. "If you hadn't come back in time, Sasuke might have…"
Sakura Haruno had figured it out: Orochimaru's true target was Sasuke. Naruto, however, already knew Orochimaru's purpose, while Sakura thought Orochimaru intended to slowly kill Sasuke.
"Well… we're teammates. It's only right." Naruto scratched his head, then asked, "Sakura, do we still have food?"
At his words, Sakura reached for her waist pouch, but found it empty. Shaking her head, she said, "No, during the fight the soldier pills must've fallen somewhere."
Right on cue, Naruto's stomach gave a loud growl. The moment turned slightly awkward. Sakura lowered her head and murmured a small "sorry."
"It's fine. You just rest." Naruto stood on the tree trunk. "I'll climb up and take a look around."
With that, he swiftly scrambled up to the canopy, balancing lightly on a twig no thicker than a finger. His body swayed slightly, but he stood firm, scanning the distance as though searching for something.
"Naruto, it's dangerous up there! Be careful!" Sakura tilted her head up and shouted in worry.
"Got it!" Naruto replied, glancing down at her. "To the west, there's a river—it should cut right through the center of the Forest of Death. If we head west, we'll get there quickly!"
"River?" Sakura didn't understand. "What for?"
"To find food, of course." Naruto leapt down from the canopy, grinning. "Fishing."
"Fishing?"
"Yeah. Once we reach the river, we'll have food." Naruto reassured her. "Sakura, can you walk right now?"
Sakura tried a few times, but couldn't manage.
"I'll carry you, then." Naruto suggested.
"And Sasuke? It's not safe to leave him here unconscious." Sakura worried aloud.
"We'll carry him too." Naruto sighed. "That lucky brat's getting a free ride."
Sakura couldn't help but giggle at that, though she quickly asked with concern, "Naruto, that's going to be really heavy. Can you handle it?"
At this point, how could a man say "no"? Besides, there was no better option. The three of them had to move together—leaving Sasuke behind wasn't possible. Naruto was clear-headed enough about that, aside from his earlier antics at the start of the exam.
Of course, that had been deliberate. Naruto figured Sasuke would end up following Orochimaru sooner or later. Rather than clash with Orochimaru in the middle of the exam, it was smarter to deal with the Sound ninja right away. That way, things would actually be simpler.
And as it turned out, things went exactly as he expected: both he and Orochimaru got what they wanted. A world where no one was hurt except Sasuke and the Sound ninja had been achieved.
"No problem."
Naruto smiled, then crouched down to let Sakura climb onto his back. After securing her, he easily scooped up the unconscious Sasuke as well and set off quickly.
Sakura was stunned at Naruto's sheer stamina—he seemed to have grown stronger without her even realizing it.
"Naruto, are you okay?" she asked from his back.
The small swell of her chest pressed against his back, soft and slightly distracting. Yet Naruto didn't lose composure, calmly replying, "I'm fine. We're almost there."
The Forest of Death had a diameter of 10 kilometers, and the river was barely one kilometer away. It didn't take Naruto long to reach it. After setting the two of them down, he headed to a nearby bamboo grove and cut a stalk of suitable size.
Seeing Naruto genuinely preparing to fish, Sakura, who had recovered some strength, volunteered to gather branches for firewood.
When she came back from the forest carrying wood, she still looked doubtful and murmured, "Can this really catch us fish?"
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