Chapter 214: Orochimaru's Attack
"What... what kind of jutsu is this?!"
The Kirigakure shinobi pressed firmly to the ground twisted his head with difficulty, his face written with shock and disbelief. Instant teleportation? He'd never seen or even heard of such a bizarre technique!
"Answer my question," The kunai Naruto held at the opponent's neck pressed closer, "Is your squad's scroll on you?"
"..."
Seeing the opponent's face instantly turn deathly pale with sweat pouring down, Naruto understood—this guy didn't have the scroll at all, just a disposable pawn sent out to probe.
At this moment, the terror of death had completely gripped him, leaving him unable to speak a complete sentence.
Expect his companions to save him? Current Kirigakure hadn't completely shed the remnants of the 'Bloody Mist' policy. Though Obito had already rolled away, how could that cruel tradition of mutual killing be so easily eliminated? In an environment where even graduation exams required killing comrades, how could one possibly expect teammates to risk rescue?
Just then, Satsuki slowly stepped forward, her expression terrifyingly dark. The kunai in her hand was already raised, cold killing intent surging in her eyes—this reckless fool had dared ambush Naruto, nearly injuring him! For this alone, in Satsuki's heart, he was already dead.
However, just as Satsuki's kunai was about to fall, Naruto extended his hand, stopping her.
"Naruto...?"
Satsuki looked at him questioningly. Naruto didn't explain, only lowering his voice to speak quickly.
"Satsuki, Sakura, stay alert immediately. Someone's coming."
"People? Enemies?" Sakura nervously looked around.
"Mm," Naruto responded briefly, his tone grave, "Protect yourselves."
His words had barely finished—
BOOM!
A massive explosion suddenly erupted! Violent air currents wrapped in dust and broken leaves swept in like a storm. Sakura and Satsuki's expressions changed dramatically. Sakura's heart groaned in distress.
How could their squad's luck be this bad?! Encountering two consecutive attacks right after entering the exam grounds? And the commotion from this attack... wasn't it far too large?!
Naruto instantly judged this violent air current was a powerful Wind Release jutsu! Its impact even left clear furrows in the ground.
Naruto immediately flung the subdued Kiri-nin aside, simultaneously pulling a Flying Thunder God kunai from his tool pouch and throwing it to the side, his hands swiftly landing on Satsuki and Sakura's shoulders.
Swish!
Flying Thunder God Technique activated again. The three figures vanished instantly like being erased, appearing the next moment behind a concealed thicket in the distance. Even that Kiri-nin was thrown along with them.
Satsuki felt this nearly spatial leap experience, profoundly shocked inside. What exactly... was this jutsu? Actually able to instantly teleport multiple people—incredible!
"Since you don't have the scroll, leave here immediately." Naruto told the still-shocked Kiri-nin. "You probably don't want to be caught up in the upcoming battle, right?"
"You... you're not killing me?" The Kiri-nin raised his head in disbelief.
"Mm," Naruto responded flatly, "But if your initial target had been to kill directly rather than hostage-taking, the outcome might have been completely different."
His reason for releasing the opponent was simple. This Kiri-nin had clearly held back during the ambush, aiming only to subdue rather than kill. Naruto wasn't a killer. This was just a Chunin Exam—if he exterminated all competitors, how would Konoha differ from the bloody "Village of the Bloody Mist"?
The Kiri-nin fell silent, looking deeply at Naruto—to some extent, this Konoha youth had just even saved his life. Without another word, he quickly turned and disappeared into the dense forest.
"Ugh... urgh..."
Just after the Kiri-nin fled, suppressed retching sounds suddenly came from behind. Naruto whipped around to see Sakura's face deathly pale, her entire body collapsed on the ground, trembling violently out of control.
This was...? Seeing her display symptoms resembling severe motion sickness, Naruto was first shocked. Could it be side effects from Flying Thunder God's spatial movement?
But he immediately negated this thought. No, if performed by a novice just grasping space-time ninjutsu there might be such side effects, but when performed by someone like himself who'd completely mastered Flying Thunder God, transporting people wouldn't produce such severe physiological discomfort.
At the same time, Satsuki beside him also began sweating profusely, her body weakening uncontrollably as she knelt on one knee. She gritted her teeth, trying to force herself to stand, yet felt her limbs impossibly heavy.
Naruto didn't know that just moments ago, Satsuki and Sakura had been forced to experience an extremely realistic "death hallucination"—not a physical attack, but pure mental oppression triggered by massive killing intent, making them briefly "experience" the terrifying sensation of being cruelly killed at the subconscious level.
And what created all this was merely the condensed, nearly tangible killing intent released by their opponent.
"Hehe... what a special brat." A hoarse voice carrying an amused tone came from above. "Could it be... you're already accustomed to killing?"
Naruto raised his head to see the culprit had already appeared—the disguised Orochimaru stood atop a giant serpent's head, looking down condescendingly at the three. A trace of surprise flickered through those snake-like eyes, clearly not expecting this blonde genin to be completely immune to his killing intent.
"As prey facing a predator, shouldn't you display appropriate panic and fear?"
Orochimaru's hoarse magnetic voice echoed through the forest, containing mental oppression. However, what responded to him wasn't trembling or retreat, but crisp and swift seal-forming sounds!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto's seals completed instantly.
POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF!
Continuous white smoke explosion sounds rang out like sudden rain! In the next moment, the surrounding forest, clearing, even tree branches were instantly filled with hundreds of Naruto shadow clones. Densely packed golden figures completely surrounded Orochimaru.
This wasn't finished! All shadow clones moved in perfect unison, forming seals simultaneously again. Chakra fluctuations surged violently like a tsunami's eve!
"Hundred Shadow Chaotic Dance: Sea Dragon Raging Waves Heaven's Weeping Water Annihilation Array!"
With Naruto's main body's clear shout, every shadow clone released Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu! In an instant, over a hundred ferocious water dragons roared into form from all directions. They tore through the air, stirring up billowing water vapor. The massive water volume nearly drained moisture from the surrounding environment! Countless water dragons interwove and coiled, forming an inescapable net of death covering the sky!
Looking at this sky-covering, earth-concealing combined Water Style containing astonishing chakra and destructive power, the mocking playful expression on Orochimaru's face instantly froze.
Wait a minute, something's wrong here. Wasn't he fighting a genin?
Just as the sky full of water dragons was about to swallow him, a voice penetrated the deafening roar of water currents, reaching his ears.
"You seem to have misunderstood something. You're the challenger!"
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