After getting the scroll, Meruem left the Forest of Death because there was no need to stay.
With the Golden Silkworm Gu watching by Naruto's side, that was enough. As for Orochimaru, Meruem believed that guy had the ability to escape and wouldn't be captured by Konoha's ninja.
After all, he hadn't even used his full power. Otherwise, even if Orochimaru could shed his skin, he would have long since become an unrecognizable lump of flesh.
Or been devoured by Gluttony and turned into nourishment for Meruem's recovery.
After Meruem left, Team Seven—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—was attacked by a few Sound ninja who didn't know their place.
Only Dosu, the bandage-wrapped one, was near-chunin level. The rest were small fry.
Worried about Sasuke's condition, Naruto dropped them all with a blow apiece and took their scroll in passing.
They also ran into the Ino–Shika–Cho squad, as well as the team with Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.
Since they were all Konoha ninja, there was no conflict. On the second day en route to the central tower, Sasuke finally woke from his coma.
A powerful ominous aura radiated from his whole body, but his strength had indeed increased greatly.
"Sasuke, that kind of thing is external power in the end. Don't get too attached. Rather than fixating on power gained from outside, you'd be better off developing those eyes of yours. And what exactly is this thing? It feels even more ominous than Kurama's chakra."
"Of course I know. You think I'm as stupid as you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto. He wasn't the "avenger" fixated solely on power like in the original.
After a few years with Naruto, Sasuke had personally seen what Naruto looked like when over-eroded by the Nine-Tails' chakra.
And that was when Nine-Tails wasn't even doing it intentionally. Let alone this unknown power in his own body—who knew what effect it would have on him?
"But what is this thing? And who exactly is that Orochimaru?"
"Orochimaru—one of the legendary Sannin. He became a Konoha S-rank rogue ninja for conducting forbidden human experiments. He's an extremely dangerous shinobi. He has the same rogue rank as Uchiha Itachi, but Itachi is stronger." A startling voice sounded from atop Naruto's head—the Golden Silkworm Gu.
"Kinsan, this is rare—you're actually talking in front of them." The Golden Silkworm Gu had spoken once during the Wave mission, but since it had never shown any power and no chakra could be felt from it, Kakashi had ultimately just treated it as a ninja pet or a summoning animal without power.
After all, talking animals weren't uncommon in the shinobi world; ninja pets and summons with massive chakra were the minority.
"Orochimaru!" Naruto. "Forbidden human experiments, Konoha S-rank rogue ninja!" Sakura. "Weaker than Itachi!" Sasuke. The three focused on completely different points.
"That thing on you is a transplantable kekkei genkai Orochimaru developed. It's also the strongest curse mark he's created to date—the Cursed Seal of Heaven. But like Naruto said, while it gives you some power, it's still external. Using it will not only subject you to Orochimaru's control, it will also affect your own growth. The curse mark isn't like the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails has nearly merged with Naruto now—in other words, the Nine-Tails' power can be considered Naruto's power. Rather than care about this, you'd be better off studying your own eyes—that's what will raise your strength the fastest. You know why Itachi is stronger than Orochimaru? Because of those eyes. Itachi personally hacked off one of Orochimaru's arms."
"And because of that, after personally experiencing the terror of those eyes, Orochimaru coveted the Uchiha clan's eyes. He's a shinobi who can reincarnate into another's body. Don't be fooled by how young he looked earlier—he's actually over fifty. That body was stolen. So kid, act accordingly." The Golden Silkworm Gu merely popped out to share some intel, and to influence Sasuke—so he'd understand Orochimaru wasn't unbeatably strong.
He wasn't strong to the point of being invincible.
"Is that so? While this thing did give me decent power, it'll never surpass the clan's eyes. As expected, the Uchiha are the strongest." Some things are simple once explained, and Sasuke wasn't stupid.
The three reached the central tower in the Forest of Death in under a day, beating up several other teams from other countries along the way and rescuing a young kunoichi from Grass.
The girl's name was Karin Uzumaki.
"Hey, hey, Naruto—this girl has the same surname as you. Is she a relative?"
"You know I'm an orphan and I took my mother's surname, so who knows—maybe!"
"Let's at least bring her somewhere safe."
An unexpected twenty-one genin reached the tower for the second exam.
But since there were too many qualified, a preliminary round had to be held to truly proceed with the chunin exam.
"Match One: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akadō Yoroi."
One of the tragic spies, Yoroi—he had decent ability among genin, but his opponent was Sasuke.
Even the original Sasuke swept Yoroi, let alone the current Sasuke. Even without chakra Sharingan, Sasuke's taijutsu far exceeded an ordinary chunin's.
So after ten moves, with—
"Leaf Whirlwind."
KO.
The rest of the match order was almost the same as the original.
Sakura vs. Ino—the two evenly matched fell together.
Next: "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba."
"Ah, why… The only two I didn't want to face—one is that gourd-carrying monster, and the other is Naruto." Kiba raked his hair. Knowing Naruto's strength, he knew he basically had no chance.
The gourd-carrier could be called a monster, but this Naruto wasn't much different.
At the academy, Naruto scored perfect marks on every practical exam except the written.
He was, without question, a genius shinobi.
In actual combat, even the Uchiha prodigy Sasuke—said to be the strongest of that class—admitted he couldn't beat Naruto.
What's more, Kiba had once picked a fight with Naruto because he didn't like him.
He got his butt kicked, of course, but their relationship improved afterward—men bond by fighting, strangely enough.
"Kiba, I'm really looking forward to fighting you."
"I'm not looking forward to it…"
"Woof." Akamaru: Me neither.
"No helping it—I'll just go all out. Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!"
Akamaru transformed into another Kiba.
This was the Inuzuka clan's special ninja-beast technique. It wasn't supremely powerful, but against ordinary ninja it was quite formidable.
"Naruto, I'm going all out!"
Secret Beast Taijutsu Art—
"Fang Over Fang!" The two spun toward Naruto like twin whirlwinds.
"Quite a good technique." Naruto praised, but didn't move his hands at all.
"Is he scared stiff?" Ninja from other villages thought privately.
"No, he's not that simple. Powerful presence—this guy is definitely strong, maybe not weaker than me." As a fellow jinchuriki, Gaara knew Naruto wasn't that weak, much less so scared by this level of attack.
But he did guess wrong on one point—Naruto was stronger than him.
Because Naruto housed the Nine-Tails.
"Shame, but I'm winning this one." Just as Fang Over Fang was about to land, Naruto finally moved.
He actually caught the high-speed spinning Fang Over Fang.
Left and right—completely blocking Kiba and Akamaru's strongest move.
"His taijutsu! How can it be this strong?!" Kurenai, Kiba's supervising jonin, knew exactly how strong Fang Over Fang was.
Head-on—not to mention genin—even an ordinary chunin couldn't withstand it.
But Naruto not only faced it head-on—he blocked it without a scratch.
"This guy is strong." Neji stared at Naruto from below, having thought only Uchiha Sasuke was worth his attention.
He hadn't expected another—Uzumaki Naruto. When Lee had said this Naruto blocked his attack, Neji thought it was a joke. Turns out it was real.
"Kiba, you've improved—nice. But I've decided to end this early. Sorry."
"Damn it—Naruto's actually getting serious. Whatever—if I'm going to lose, I'll lose with style! Akamaru! Fang Over Fang!"
"Woof!"
"Mind Like Still Water—Strike." One of Shingen-ryu's basic taijutsu—Mind Like Still Water. This was the simplest technique, unlike the big moves of Shingen-ryu.
Its secret lay in staying calm under attack to spot the opponent's opening, then striking that point with overwhelming speed and force to finish the fight instantly.
Earlier the Golden Silkworm Gu forbade Naruto from using the strongest moves it taught him, but basics were fine.
Against Zabuza, Kakuzu's clones, and Orochimaru, Naruto's taijutsu wasn't much—using it did nothing. But against an opponent like Kiba, it was very useful.
Because Naruto couldn't explain where he learned those strongest moves, but basic techniques were no problem.
Konoha's taijutsu schools all had similar basics.
"Inuzuka Kiba is unable to continue. Uzumaki Naruto wins."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]