บท 22: Chapter Nineteen: Meeting the Snake
Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!
-The Forest of Death-
After the events of the first test, Naruto and the gang met up with their Sensei's and informed them that they had passed and was waiting to pass the next test.
The three Jonin-sensei were pleased to hear this, especially given who was doing the exam. Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato informed them that next exam would be held on training ground forty-four, which was better known as the Forest of Death, and that they would have to meet Anko there at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning.
The following morning the four Genin met up again and arrived at the rendezvous point a few minutes before eight.
When they arrived they found that all the other Genin had arrived and were waiting for Anko's arrival.
As they waited they looked at the Forest of Death, figuring that this would be where their next exam would be.
"This place is creepy" said Sakura nervously, as she looked at the dark forest.
Soon enough though, Anko appeared in front of everyone in a puff of smoke and then called them together to listen to what she had to say.
There Anko informed the group of Genin that they would be spending the next five days in the forest.
Upon hearing this many of the Genin became nervous over having to enter the creepy forest, Naruto of course was not intimidated by the forest and just scoffed. Since he had been terrified by the best, hence it would take a lot more than this to scare him.
Hearing Naruto scoff and seeing that he was unafraid of what she had said, Anko decided to have a little fun with the young Senju. Upon which a Kunai suddenly appeared out from her sleeve and into her hand, where she threw it at Naruto with frightening speed.
Seeing the glint of Anko's Kunai Naruto quickly moved his head slightly to avoid the Kunai, although was unable to do it fully, where he received a shallow cut on his cheeks, which bled a little.
When Naruto avoided the Kunai, Anko then suddenly appeared right behind him, "Ohhhhhh, I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Anko asked almost child like, where she pressed her ample chest onto Naruto's back and wrapped her arms around Naruto.
At this Naruto just smirked, "Sadly yes, as I find such intimidating tactics rather dull and would like to get on with the exam."
"Ohhh, confident are we? …well you need more than just confidence to survive this exam. Since overconfident ones like you are normally the first to die, and I do so love to see nice red blood being spill all over the place," Anko said as she leaned forward to lick the blood off Naruto's cheek, but before she could, she suddenly felt the sharp point of a Kunai blade poking into her left armpit.
"Well if you like blood so much, then I'm certain you like this!" Naruto stated with a smile and pressed his Kunai a little harder into her armpit.
"There's a vein just here that goes straight to the heart. If cut, it would bleed so fast that you wouldn't live long enough to decide how to curse me. So if you would…could you let go of me, as there are rules about examiners molesting the examinees."
Naruto was gratified with the sight of the former Saninn's apprentice eyes widen in surprise, before she grinned. She was impressed with Naruto.
"Hmph! not bad brat…but you only wish I was molesting you." Anko replied with a saucy smirk, when she let go of Naruto.
Although when she did, her Shinobi senses suddenly warned her of danger from behind, where she immediately let go of Naruto, and another Kunai appeared out of her sleeve into her hand. But before she could fully turn around she saw a Kusa Genin was behind her and that he was holding her Kunai with his long tongue, which Naruto found disgusting.
"I believe this is yours" the Kusa Genin said as he gave Anko. back her Kunai.
"Why thank you…but you shouldn't sneak up on me from behind like that" Anko said with a cheery grin. "That is, if you don't want to die young."
"I apologize" the Kusa Genin replied though she sound anything but sorry, as she retracted his tongue and smiled, after Anko took her Kunai. "It's just that I get excited when I see blood. Also, my precious hair was cut, so I got a little bit more excited."
"What's with that guy?" Naruto thought, as he got a bad feeling off the Kusa Genin.
"Well now, it seems that we have quite a few lively Genin today" Anko commented, as she walked back in front of the group of Genin.
"Now before we start the second test you need to sign all these" Anko explained as she held up a large bunch of forms in her hand.
"What are they?" a Genin from Suna asked.
"These are consent forms, which you must sign to participate in the second test" Anko replied.
"But why?" asked Ino.
"Simple, in this test people will die; therefore, we need your consent before we can continue, otherwise I'd be held responsible", Anko answered, where she then laughed, as if the whole thing was funny.
Naturally, no-one found it funny and many people became nervous at hearing how people would die in this exam.
Soon enough though, everyone signed the sheets and handed Anko back the forms, once the forms were signed, Anko went onto explain how the second test was going to work. She explained that they would be all be given a scroll, where one half would be given a scroll with Heaven on it and the other with Earth on it, extra scrolls would also be hidden in the forest. She also explained that to pass they would all have to make it to the tower in the centre of the forest, and could only enter it when they'd both have an Earth and Heaven scroll and were with their entire team.
Anko then went on to explain that the only way they could pass this exam, was to get an opposite scroll to the one they had in five days, which was the time limit to the exam. She even explained that if they fail to get the scroll in the time allowed, lost a team-mate or open the scrolls before entering the tower, they would automatically fail the exam.
After finishing explaining the rules of the exam, Anko then spoke up again, "Also there is one final thing, which is for the Genin of Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Kushina, Yamato and Killer Bee of Kumo."
Upon hearing this Yugito, her team, along with Naruto and team seven listened up.
"Due to the fact, that your two squads each have four members in it and in the interest of fairness to the other teams, who all only have three members. Your squads will have to gather twice the number of scrolls and in the same amount of time as everyone else."
"WHAT!" cried Karui, "But that's not fair!"
"Well tough, as the Hokage decided that it was the only fair thing to do, since you each have one extra member on your squad, and if we didn't do this. Then the other squads would be complaining that it was unfair to them", Anko explained.
After hearing this Naruto frowned, for although he understood why the Sandaime did this, he still didn't like it. As now regardless of what scroll they got, he and his team would have to gather three others scrolls.
Meaning they needed two Heaven and two Earth scrolls to pass the exam, while everyone, (minus Yugito's team), just needed one of each.
Once all explanations were done, the Genin teams were all secretly given their own scrolls; Naruto and team seven were given the Heaven scroll, (which was given to Sasuke to keep). After which they were assigned to gate twelve from which to enter the forest.
At exactly half two, the signal was given and the Genin teams entered the forest.
-Three Hours Later-
Currently a young Kusa Kunoichi with red hair and glasses was trapped with a large tree behind her and a large bear in front of her, which was ready to attack her.
Said girl had been separated from the rest of her team and had been chased by the large bear for several minutes before being cornered by it.
Seeing that she was trapped, the girl called out to her team-mates for help, but received no answer. As the bear readied to pounce on her, the young girl ducked underneath it and tried to run away. But as she ran, she tripped over a large root and fell to the ground and hit her head temporarily knocking her out.
The bear quickly turned around and right when it was about to kill the young girl, Sasuke suddenly appeared and delivered several powerful kicks to the bears head.
After which several Ink Snakes appeared and wrapped themselves around the bear and tied it up.
Once the bear was subdued Sasuke propped the girl up against a nearby tree and searched her for any scroll.
"So does she have any scrolls?" Sai asked as he walked up to the Uchiha.
"No" Sasuke replied.
"Too bad, let's head back to Senju and the Hag, maybe they had better luck" Sai responded, where Sasuke just nodded.
As the two boys walked away, the young girl slowly woke up and saw two blurry figures walking away from her. Grabbing her glasses quickly, (which Sasuke left next to her), the girl put them on, where just as she did, she saw the two boys jump up to the trees and jump away. But before they disappeared into the tree, the girl saw Sasuke turn back to her and smile for a brief moment, after which he and Sai left.
Soon after saving the young redheaded Kusa Kunoichi, Sai and Sasuke regrouped with Naruto and Sakura.
The group had broken up into pairs not long after entering the forest, after Naruto had used his Chakura no Parusu (Chakra Pulse) to locate some of other the teams.
"So did you guys have any luck?" Sasuke asked, after he and Sai re-joined with Naruto and Sakura.
"Yea, we found the two teams; they were fighting each other when we got there. So we waited until one of them defeated the other and then took care of the team that won, when they were worn out. Both of them had Earth scrolls, so now we only need one Heaven scroll, how about you?" Naruto replied.
"No luck, we only found one member of the team you located, but she didn't have a scroll on her", Sasuke answered.
At this Naruto only nodded, as it wasn't a big deal, since they already had gotten two scrolls and only needed one more to enter the tower.
Deciding to take a quick break, the team rested for about fifteen minutes, after which they decided to move on deeper into the forest, so increase their chances on meeting another team who would have a Heaven scroll.
Suddenly, a sudden massive gust of wind appeared out of no-where, scattering the team from one another.
-With Anko-
Currently happily munching on some dango and soda, the second examiner Anko was finishing off her lunch, where she then planned to head to the tower and wait for the Genin, who made it to the tower.
But just as she had finished eating, a Chunin examiner suddenly appeared in front of her, telling her that there was an emergency.
When Anko asked what the emergency was, the Chunin explained that they had found three bodies not too far away from the exam area and that there was something unusual about the bodies.
When Anko arrived at the scene with the Chunin, one of the two Chunin guarding the scene spoke.
"From their ID's that we found on them, we know that they were from Kusagakure (Hidden Grass) and they had signed up to be participating in the Chunin exam today. But as you can see…"
"Their faces are all gone!" Anko breated while reaching up to her neck to rub the curse seal. Possibilities running through her head.
"It's as if their faces were melted off" the Chunin replied.
"There's no doubt…This Technique is…his…But why is he at the Chunin exam?" Anko thought, as her fears solidified, knowing exactly who was responsible for this.
"Show me a picture of these Kusa-nins! As there should be one with their application" Anko demanded, with clear urgency in her voice.
Nodding quickly, the Chunin with the applications quickly handed her the photos of the Kusa-nins.
When Anko saw what the Genin look like before they loss their faces, she immediately recognized one of the dead Genin. As the Kusa Genin who snuck up on her earlier on, when she was explaining the rules of the second exam to the Genin.
Realizing the serious of the situation, Anko quickly turned around to the three Chunin.
"Quickly, you three inform the Hokage of what has happened here, and tell him we need as at least two ANBU squads mobilize and sent into the Forest of Death", said a concern Anko. After which she then stated that she would enter the forest and try and track the intruders herself.
Nodding in understanding the three Chunin disappeared, where they went to inform the Sandaime.
"He's…returned to the village" Anko thought with a serious look on her face, after she disappeared from the scene and headed for the Forest of Death.
-With Naruto-
After being blow away by the massive Wind, Naruto found himself alone in the small clearing in the forest.
"Uhhhhh, what the hell" Naruto groaned, as he woke up in the clearing and held his head in pain, as he guessed he hit his head when he had been blown away by the gust of Wind and it knocked him out for a short while.
After a little time, Naruto eventually regained himself, which was none too soon, for as soon as he did, his Shinobi senses kicked in and told him to move, where a massive Snake appeared right above him and tried to eat him.
"Shit! That was close!" Naruto thought, as he landed on the ground a few feet away from the Giant Snake.
Seeing that it had missed its prey the Giant Snake lifted its head and eyed Naruto with hungry eyes, where it hissed loudly and showed its long fork like tongue.
Seeing the Snake looking at him, Naruto quickly realized what the massive serpent was thinking and readied himself.
After a moment or two the Giant Snake struck and charged at Naruto.
Seeing the Snake coming at him, Naruto quickly raced forward and ducked under the Snake's mouth. After which he then jumped upward and used his enhance strength to punch the Snake right in the chin, sending its head flying upward.
Naruto then followed his punch, with a powerful kick, which sent the Giant Snake backwards into a nearby tree.
After hitting the tree, the Snake tried to hit the still mid-air Naruto with its tail from the side.
Seeing the Snake's tail coming at him from the side, Naruto immediately created a clone and had the clone throw him away, allowing him to avoid the incoming tail, which hit the clone and destroyed it.
After Naruto avoided its tail, the Snake then charged forward at him in another attempt to eat him.
Seeing this, Naruto decided that he had enough of the Giant Snake, where he took out his Katana from his sheath on his back, and then started to channel his Wind Chakra into the tip of his blade.
"I better get this right, as I won't get another shot", Naruto thought, as channelled a massive amount of Chakra into his sword and waited from the right moment to strike.
Right when the Snake was on top of him, Naruto swung his Katana and cried out "'Idaina Surasshu-fū (Great Wind Slash)!" (A)
After which a massive crescent shape blade of Wind easily twice the size of Naruto's standard Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash) erupted from his Katana and cut the Giant Snake in two with no trouble, just as it was about to eat him.
After cutting the Giant Snake in two, the blade of Wind continued on and cut about halfway through one of the massive tree trunks behind the Snake before finally dissipating.
At the same time after the blade of Wind cut the Giant Snake, the Snake's body puffed away revealing that it was a summons.
Once the Giant Snake's body puffed away, Naruto was left panting heavily. He was still not use to doing this technique, as it took a lot out of him.
Naruto had created the technique during his training sessions with Asuma. Who suggested that in the event of Naruto went up against something that required more power than a regular Surasshu-fū. He should have something to give him that extra boost.
After a few minutes Naruto regained himself, where he then sheathed his Katana.
"That was no ordinary Snake, it was a summon" the blonde thought, as he looked at the spot, where the two halves of the giant Snake were a moment ago.
"But what was one of them doing here? Could that Anko woman have summoned it? Since she was "his" student after all... No! There would be no point, since there are plenty of wild and dangerous creatures here already. So why is there a Snake summon here? Since the only other person that could summon the Snakes is…OH NO!" Naruto thought, upon realizing who had summoned the giant Snake. Along with who had created the large gust of Wind that blew him away from the rest of his team.
After realizing who might be here, Naruto quickly used his Chakura no Parusu to try and locate his team-mates before "he" showed up.
Unfortunately, Naruto's worst fears came to pass, where when he located Sai, Sasuke and Sakura. He also located a massive Chakra source, which was easily at the level of his Mother and Godfather and was currently battling his team-mates.
Knowing he didn't have much time, Naruto quickly started to head to where his team-mates were in an attempt to try and save them. But even as he raced towards them, Naruto had a gut feeling that told him that things weren't going to end well.
-With Sasuke, Sai and Sakura-
After the large gust of Wind scattered his team, Sasuke spent several minutes trying to find them. After a while Sasuke regrouped with both Sai and Sakura, but just when they were about to look for Naruto. They were intercepted by three Kusa Genin, two of whom left on the order of their leader, who faced Sasuke and the others, by himself.
For the first few minutes Sasuke and the others fought the Kusa Genin fiercely, but all their attacks were beaten back effortlessly, as if the Kusa Genin wasn't even trying. As the fight went on doubt and fear grew in Sasuke, it unnerved him at how easily the Kusa Genin was beating them back, as if he wasn't even trying.
As the fight went on, the Kusa Genin let lose a powerful burst of Killing Intent, which froze the three Genin. Thankfully though, Sai was able to break free of the paralyzing effects of the Killing Intent, thanks to his training from Danzo. At the same time Sasuke freed himself by stabbing himself in the leg with a Kunai; where together the two boys grabbed hold of Sakura, and pulled her away to avoid the Kusa Genin's attack.
Seeing how overwhelmed they were, Sasuke quickly offered up their three scrolls stating that Kusa Genin could have whatever one he wanted, as long as he just left them alone.
When the Kusa Genin heard this he had a disappointed look on his face, he then took all three scrolls, where to the surprise of the three Genin…he ate them. After which he stated how disappointed he was with them, and said he had no more use for them.
At hearing this Sasuke stated that they should runaway, since they stood no chance against the Kusa Genin. Sai on the other hand ignored Sasuke advice and used his ChōjūGiga (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) and created several Ink lions to attack the Kusa Genin.
The Kusa Genin of course easily dispatched, the Ink lions, where Sai then prepared to engage the Kusa Genin with his Tanto. But before he went to engage the Kusa Genin he turned to Sasuke and said, "I always thought you were useless and dickless Uchiha, but I never thought you were ball-less as well."
Sasuke of course tried deny what Sai had said, but the point was driven even further, when even Sakura, backed what Sai had said, saying that Sasuke was acting like a coward, upon which she then went to help Sai.
For the next few minutes Sasuke watched as Sakura and Sai fought the Kusa Genin, but like before they were no match for the Kusa Genin, who toyed with them for a short while.
Sakura was the first to be taken out, where the Kusa Genin sent her slamming into a nearby tree.
Sai on the other hand lasted a bit longer, and put up a good fight, but was eventually overpowered and sent flying into another tree. But not before receiving four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and several other bruises for his trouble.
After dealing with Sai and Sakura, the Kusa Genin jumped next to Sasuke and mocked him, where he asked him if he was going to abandon his team-mates and run like a coward and keep his precious life.
Upon hearing this, the young Uchiha had a flashback of the night that his Clan his was killed, where he met his brother and said, "Foolish little brother, run, run and cling to your precious life."
After remembering this, he then remembered what both Sai and Sakura said to him.
Upon remembering all of this Sasuke realized he had indeed been acting like a coward, where he then decided wasn't going to run anymore, he then activated his Sharingan and prepared to fight.
When the Kusa Genin saw this, he smiled and decided to have a little "fun" with Sasuke and test his abilities.
For a moment or two, the two of them just stared off at one another, but once the moment ended Sasuke charged head on and engaged the Kusa Genin. (1)
For several minutes the two fought fiercely, and despite putting up a fight worthy of praise from anyone. The fight came to an abrupt end for Sasuke, where after capturing the Kusa Genin with Ninja wire and pinning him against a tree. Sasuke used his Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique) in attempt to kill the Kusa Genin.
Sadly though when the fire died down the Kusa Genin broke free of Sasuke's Ninja wire, and used a strange technique to paralyze Sasuke, along with Sakura and Sai, so to make sure that they couldn't interfere. After which he walked forward a bit, revealing his face, showing it had all but melted from the flames, although a slight opening in his left eye, showing that there was another face underneath. As if the face on the surface was just a mask and the Kusa Genin true face was underneath.
When Sasuke looked into the opening in the melted face he saw amber eyes with slits as pupils and purple markings around the eyes. Also as well the Kusa Genin forehead protector changed from the symbol of Kusagakure to Otogakure (Hidden Sound).
"Such mastery of the Sharingan at so young an age, you're a true Uchiha after all!" the mysterious Genin stated, where his voice changed to a different and much older persons. "Yes…you may do nicely after all."
As the mysterious Oto Genin watched Sasuke try and break free of his paralyzing technique, he smirked in amusement. "You're indeed his brother, if anything your eyes are even keener than your brother Itachi's."
"Who the hell are you? How do you know Itachi? What do you want?" Sasuke asked angrily, as he glared at the mysterious Genin in anger.
"Who I am is unimportant…and as to what I want, well that'll have to wait until we met again, which won't happen unless you finish this exam with one of the top scores. But still you must first pass another test; you must defeat the Genin of Otogakure, who are under my command."
"I don't care what kind of twisted game you're playing, but I've no interest in being part of it!" Sasuke yelled angrily and he continued to try and break free.
"Oh you will eventually Sasuke-kun, I promise you that." the disguised Oto Genin replied. After which his neck extended to an inhuman length and flew towards Sasuke and bit him right on the left side of his neck.
"Sasuke-kun, No!" cried Sakura, as she saw the disguised Shinobi bite Sasuke like some kind of vampire, where she tried to go over to him and help, but couldn't move.
After a moment or two the mysterious Shinobi let go of Sasuke and retracted his neck, after which three tomoes appeared on Sasuke's neck, near where the mysterious Shinobi bit him. As soon as the Tomoes appeared on Sasuke's neck, the young Uchiha held his neck in pain.
"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, as she saw her team-mate fall to his knees in pain.
"Oh, I just gave him a little parting gift, as a reward for doing so well against me" the mysterious Genin replied. "Very soon Sasuke-kun will seek me out and desire my power…but for now I will take my leave, as I've another appointment with another member of your team."
"You mean Naruto!" Sai stated, where the mysterious Genin, just smiled and nodded.
"Correct, as like Sasuke-kun, I' am also interested in Naruto-kun, so if you do not mind I will…" the disguised Oto-nin said, but before he could finish, he heard the sound of something hard hitting wood.
When he looked down, he saw a Kunai stuck onto the large branch he was standing on. At the same time he also notice that there was an exploding note tied to the end of it, where it lit up and explode.
After the note exploded, there was a large cloud of smoke, where the mysterious Genin jumped out of, revealing that he was unharmed. But as soon as he did, he was suddenly sent flying down to the ground…hard, after a sudden kick to the face.
It was after this happened, that Sai and Sakura found that they could move again, where they then looked up to the person who had attacked their mysterious enemy.
When they looked, they saw that the person was standing on a large branch on another large tree, looking down at the bush covered area, which he sent the mysterious assailant into.
"Naruto!" Sakura thought when she saw him.
"Senju!" the injured Sai thought at the same time.
"If you want me so bad, then here I am and you better be ready for a major beat down, as I'm in a bad mood right now", Naruto said angrily, with a seriousness that neither Sai nor Sakura had seen or heard from him before.
"Sakura, Sai are you guys ok?" Naruto asked, as he turned to Sakura and then looked at the injured Sai and Sasuke who fell unconscious, after the mysterious Shinobi bit him.
"I'm fine but Sai is hurt and that guy did something to Sasuke-kun" Sakura answered, where she looked over to her injured crush.
Upon hearing this, Naruto looked at the unconscious Sasuke and frowned, not liking what he heard.
"Sakura, Sai, listen to me, you guys take Sasuke and get out of here, while I hold this guy off."
"Naruto you can't be serious! Look at what he did to us! You don't stand chance by yourself", spoke Sakura.
"Maybe not, but as of right now my chances of surviving alone are better than with you guys being here. Since you're both too injured to fight or defend yourselves, where that guy could use you as shields or as hostages", Naruto replied. Although when Naruto said this, he and the others suddenly heard the dark chuckling of the mysterious Shinobi echo throughout the forest. After which the mysterious Shinobi emerged out of the tree in front of Naruto.
"KuKuKuKuKu, so kind of you to come and meet me here Naruto-kun, you saved me the trouble of having to go look for you. Although I must say, I am surprised to see you; I thought my little pet would've kept you occupied for a little longer."
"I'm afraid he had to "split", not long after I met up with him" Naruto replied. "But still let's cut the charade and show your real face Orochimaru."
At hearing this, the mysterious Genin smiled, after which he pulled off the melted face, revealing his real face. "KuKuKuKuKu, very good Naruto-kun, but how did you know it me?"
"The Giant Snake was kind of a giveaway, since you're only one of two people, that have the ability to summon Snakes and you're clearly not the other", Naruto retorted.
At hearing this Orochimaru just smiled in amusement again, "Very good Naruto-kun, so I assume that your mother has told you all about me."
"Unfortunately so"
As Naruto and Orochimaru talked amongst themselves, both Sakura and Sai, were reeling from the shock that the mysterious Shinobi that they had been fighting, was the infamous Orochimaru. One of Konoha's most notorious and feared Nuke-nins and was formally of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's), just like Naruto's mother Tsunade and his Godfather Jiraiya.
"He's Orochimaru?" Sakura thought with fear, as she finally realized what they were up against and why they had been so easily defeated.
"This is not good, we stand no chance against someone like him, we need to leave and Danzo-sama needs to be informed of this" Sai thought, as he looked from Naruto and Orochimaru to the unconscious Sasuke. After which he then slammed his dislocated shoulder into the trunk of the tree, which pushed his arm back into its socket.
As soon as his arm was back in place, Sai grunted in pain from doing it and then jumped over to Sakura.
"KuKuKuKuKuKu, I must say Naruto-kun it so wonderful to meet you again, as you've no idea how long I've wanted to meet you, face to face" Orochimaru said, with sinister glee.
"What do you mean by again?" a confused Naruto asked, as he would obviously remember meeting Orochimaru.
It was then, as he tried to understand what Orochimaru was talking about, that it suddenly hit him.
"You were the master that Kajika was talking about! You were the one that sent him and his team after me, and took over his body after I defeated him!" Naruto accused. As he remembered the foul dark Chakra that he was sensing from Orochimaru, as well as his narrow yellow eyes.
Upon hearing this Sakura grew confused as she wondered what Naruto was talking about; Sai on the other hand frowned slightly. He knew what Naruto was talking about, since he had heard from Danzo about that mission, where Naruto was attacked, by a group of unknown Shinobi. Who were under the command of an unknown master, who was after Naruto.
"So it was Orochimaru who sent those Shinobi after Senju", the ROOT agent thought, as things were starting to make sense now.
"I'm pleased that you remember me Naruto-kun, kukuku" the chuckling Snake Sennin replied.
At this Naruto just narrowed his eyes further, he knew that he stood little to no chance in beating Orochimaru, but he knew that he had no choice but to fight him, seeing as he was after him, for some reason.
"Sakura, Sai, take Sasuke and get out of here!" Naruto shouted.
"Naruto you can't be serious, you can't beat him, he's one of the Sannin, he's too strong even for you!" cried Sakura.
"I know I can't beat him, but I can at least hold him off long enough to buy you guys some time to escape, now get out of here!" Naruto said forcefully. As he didn't know how long more it would be before Orochimaru decided to attack. Nor did he know whether Orochimaru would attack his team-mates or not. The only thing he knew for certain was that the Snake Sannin was after him and if tried to run with Sakura and the others, Orochimaru would chase after them.
"Haruno you heard what he said, we need to leave…Now!" spoke Sai.
"But what abou…" spoke Sakura, but was stopped by Sai.
"Senju should be fine, you know how strong he is, beside Orochimaru doesn't want us dead, since if he did, we would already be dead. He clearly wants Senju for something, but if we stay here, we'll distract him from focusing on the fight, which is something he can't afford when going against one of the Sannin. Also if we stay here, we'll just get caught in the crossfire" stated Sai.
When Sai finished Sakura could not think of any argument, as she knew what Sai was saying was true. But even still, that did not mean she liked it, for although Naruto and her did not get along, it didn't mean that she wanted him to die.
After a moment or two, Sakura then steeled herself, where together with Sai the two of them jumped over to where Sasuke lay and then quickly picked him up.
But before they jumped off, Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto and cried out to him. "Don't die Naruto! We still need you to pass the exam!"
At this Naruto just smirked, knowing what Sakura really meant, "Don't worry Sakura, I've no plans on dying anytime soon. Besides if I did die, Kaa-chan would never forgive me."
At this Sakura just nodded, after which she and Sai jumped away, while carrying Sasuke.
After seeing Sai and Sakura jump away with Sasuke, Orochimaru, smirked with amusement, "How noble, sacrificing yourself to save your comrades, it seems that Sarutobi-sensei's teaching have been passed on to you."
"Cut the crap Orochimaru, I am in no mood for chit chat, are you here to fight me or not?" Naruto retorted.
Orochimaru of course just smirked at this, "My, my, it seems that you're just as impatient as your mother…But still, you're correct, as I think it is indeed time that we get started and I suggest that you not hold back. For if you disappoint me, I'll have to kill you and that would indeed be a shame."
Naruto of course did not respond this, although he did frown slightly, as he knew that he couldn't hold back against Orochimaru and would have to give him everything he had, if he wanted to survive.
-Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents-
For a few moments Naruto and Orochimaru just stared at one another. Soon after though, Naruto drew his Katana from his back and took a Kenjutsu fighting stance.
Orochimaru of course responded by taking up his own fighting stance, all the while maintaining his smirk, as if this was nothing more than a game to him.
After staring at one another for another moment or two, Orochimaru spoke, "Come Naruto-kun; show me how much you've learned from my former team-mates."
"With pleasure" replied Naruto with a slight growl, after which he charged straight at Orochimaru, who in turn raced towards Naruto.
Within just a few seconds Orochimaru and Naruto crossed the distance between them, and began their battle.
For the first few minutes of the battle, Naruto tried to slash at Orochimaru with his Katana but each and every time he tried to cut him. Orochimaru would avoid the blonde's slashes by mere inches with such ease, that it was as if Naruto movements were slow to him.
"Come now, Naruto, I know that he can do much better than this" mocked Orochimaru, as he continued to avoid Naruto's attacks.
Upon hearing this, Naruto frowned slightly with anger, but quickly focused himself and decided to change tactics, where he jumped back a bit and then channelled his Wind Chakra into his Katana and swung it, as he cried out "Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash)!"
Seeing the crescent shape of Wind coming at him, Orochimaru quickly jumped out of the way of the fast moving attack, where it made a large and deep slash mark on the large tree behind him. But when Orochimaru jumped away to avoid Naruto's Surasshu-fū, he immediately found Naruto directly above, falling down towards him with his Katana, (which was enhanced with the Hien no jutsu (Flying Swallow technique) swinging downward and splitting Orochimaru's head in two.
But just when Naruto thought he had won, Orochimaru turned into mud, revealing that the elder man had replaced himself with a Doton Kage Bunshin (Earth Style: Shadow Clone).
"My, my, that was certainly close, I cannot afford to take you too lightly, now can I Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said from an unknown location, with a slight chuckle.
Upon hearing this Naruto silently cursed himself for thinking he could kill Orochimaru so easily.
"Although I must say, I' am surprised at how skilled you are at using your Wind affinity. Not many Shinobi your age can use an advanced Chakra flow technique like the Hien no Jutsu. Let alone use the Wind technique that you just used against me", continued Orochimaru from his hidden location.
"Well if you like that, I've got plenty more", Naruto replied, as he kept his guard up, waiting for Orochimaru's next attack.
"I would be disappointed with anything less, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said, where he suddenly appeared right behind Naruto, surprising the young Senju. Who quickly spun around to face the Snake Sennin, but was punched in the stomach just as he spun half way around, causing him to double over and drop his Katana, which fell to the ground below.
The punch was followed by a strong kick to Naruto's side, which sent the young blonde falling to the ground.
Naruto quickly recovered from his hit, where he took out a Kunai with some Ninja wire tied to it and threw it towards a thick tree branch nearby, where the Kunai and wire wrapped themselves around the branch and allowed Naruto to swing safely over to another tree nearby.
After landing on the branch of the tree that he swung to, Naruto did several quick hand seals and activated his Chakura no Mesu (Chakra Scalpels).
Seeing where Naruto had landed, Orochimaru quickly jumped over to the branch where Naruto was, who then charged towards the former Sannin, and tried to strike at him with his Chakura no Mesu.
Naturally Orochimaru avoided the strike, as well as the others that followed it. But after avoiding another one of Naruto's strikes with his Chakura no Mesu. Orochimaru found himself on the defensive, as Naruto did a mid-air spin kick and attempted to kick the Sannin in the side of the head, forcing the Sannin to raise his left arm up to block the kick.
This was of course what Naruto wanted, as the moment that Orochimaru raised his arm up, to block his kick. Naruto grabbed the arm and severed the tendons on it, making the arm worthless. After which Naruto brought his other leg up and this time kicked the former Konoha-nin on the side of the head, making him fall off the branch.
Orochimaru of course quickly recovered and he did a mid-air flip, where he landed on another nearby branch. But when he did, Naruto immediately fired his Wrist-Mounted Senbon Launcher on his left arm.
Seeing the Senbon needles coming at him, Orochimaru quickly sidestepped most of the needles, but just when the last was about to hit him straight in the head, he caught the needle. After which he then brought the needle up to his nose and smelled it.
"Ahhh, Poison...it seems that your mother has indeed trained you well", Orochimaru said with a sinister smile. "The boy is indeed skilled, I don't think I've seen anyone other than Kabuto use Chakura no Mesu in combat as well as he can. And given a few more years, I'm sure he could even rival Kabuto's skill. But still, I'm certain Naruto hasn't shown me everything that he can do."
After catching the needle, Orochimaru threw it away and then started to move his left arm, as thanks to the altercations that he had done to his body he could easily recover from such injuries.
After seeing Orochimaru avoid his needles and recover from his earlier attack. Naruto released the Fūinjutsu: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru (Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal) on his clothing.
When Orochimaru saw this, he got an interesting look, as he was intrigued that Naruto had weighing seals on his clothing.
Upon deactivating the seals on his clothing, Naruto got into a loose fighting stance and charged at the Snake Sennin intending to take on him on in a Taijutsu battle. Seeing what Naruto was doing, Orochimaru smirked again, as the idea of fighting Naruto with Taijutsu, interested him.
When Naruto charged at Orochimaru, he brought up his right arm in attempt deliver a sharp strike to the side of Orochimaru's head. Orochimaru of course quickly brought up his right hand and caught Naruto's elbow.
Not to be deterred, Naruto immediately brought up his left knee and delivered a sharp strike to Orochimaru's chin, which caught the Snake Sennin by surprise and caused him to fall backwards a bit. But he stayed on his feet and quickly regained his balance, and was just able to raise his right arm up in time to block a powerful spinning back kick from Naruto, who cried out "Uzuhandō (Whirling kick)!"
But what caught Orochimaru of guard was the speed and strength of the kick, as he had barely been able to block the kick and it had been so strong that it forced him off the tree branch and down to the ground. Even then when he landed back on the ground his arm was still a slightly numb from the strength of kick, but despite the numbness he quickly brushed it off and smiled, as if he was having the time of his life.
Naruto quickly followed after Orochimaru and re-engaged him, for the next few minutes Orochimaru remained of the defensive, blocking and avoiding Naruto's attack. This was not because Orochimaru was having a hard time with Naruto. But because he was intrigued with whatever fighting style Naruto was using and was interested in how well he could use it. As he had not seen a style like this before, since not only did it use speed and power and agility, but as used other parts of Naruto body, where he use not just kicks and punches, but also elbow strike and knee kicks.
Soon enough though, Orochimaru had seen enough and could tell that whatever style Naruto was using he was still developing it. He then blocked a left elbow strike and kicked Naruto in the side, which sent the young Senju heir back a bit.
Naruto of course recovered quickly and charged at Orochimaru and tried to deliver a left punch to the side, which Orochimaru easily avoided by moving his head. After which Orochimaru tried to deliver his own punch to Naruto with his right fist, which Naruto luckily ducked under, where he then tried a leg sweep and cause the former Sannin to fall on his back.
Sadly Orochimaru avoided the leg sweep by jumping up into the air and flipping over Naruto. Who spun around to face the Snake Sannin, only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying.
"Come now, Naruto-kun don't disappoint me, as I know you can do much more than just this" spoke Orochimaru, as he saw Naruto struggle to get up. But when Orochimaru started to walk over, he found it difficult to move his right leg (the leg he kicked Naruto with). When he looked down, he noticed a small sticky note on his foot and on the note was a weight seal, much like the ones Naruto had on his clothes for training. When he saw the seal, Orochimaru quickly realized that Naruto must have placed the note on his foot when he kicked him.
At the same time, when Orochimaru noticed the seal, Naruto quickly got back on his feet, and charged straight at Orochimaru, as he'd been faking having trouble getting up and was waiting for the right moment to strike.
Within seconds of getting back up on his feet, Naruto crossed the distance between him and the Snake Sennin and raised his fist, while at the same time channelling a large about of Chakra to his fist, which he slammed right into Orochimaru's face. Who could not avoid the punch in time, due to the weight seal on his leg slowing him down.
After being punched in the face by Naruto, Orochimaru was sent flying all the way across the large clearing that they were fighting in, and smashed right into a large tree, creating a large dent in it.
-End Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents-
"So how was that…bastard?" replied Naruto, as he panted slightly, as was certain he had done some major damage to Orochimaru, since he had put as much power as he could in the punch.
But before Naruto could enjoy his "victory" any longer he suddenly heard a familiar chuckle from the cloud of dust that formed after Orochimaru smashed into the large tree.
"Kukukukuku…very well done Naruto-kun, well done indeed, you're clearly your mother's son and she has obviously been teaching you not only her Medical Ninjutsu. But also how to use her monstrous strength" said Orochimaru, as he stepped out of the dust cloud, with two dislocated shoulders and his head bent sideways in a unnatural way.
When Naruto saw this, he was of course freaked out at the sight; he became even more freaked out when he saw Orochimaru fix his arms back into place and then fixed his head back into position.
"This guy isn't human…I hit him right in the face with everything I got and he doesn't have a mark on him!"
"Your strength is indeed impressive Naruto-kun, but you're not yet at the level of your mother", the former Sannin said, with his usual smirk, which greatly irritated Naruto, where he then charged again at the former Sannin.
For the next few minutes Orochimaru spent his time avoiding Naruto punches and kicks, as he knew that although Naruto's strength was great. It counted for nothing if he couldn't hit his target.
After several minutes of Orochimaru avoiding Naruto attacks, much of the clearing that they were fighting in was destroyed, where it was filled with small craters and large chunks of the nearby trees smashed to bits.
Seeing that he was getting no-where with this, Naruto decided to up the ante a bit, where he did a single hand seal, and cried out "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!" after which over a hundred Naruto clones appeared and surrounded Orochimaru.
Naturally the former Sannin was not the least bit worried when he saw all the clones and just smiled, as all this did was make the game more interesting.
After surrounding the Snake Sennin, Naruto and his clones unleashed a barrage of shuriken at Orochimaru from all sides, where in a feat of unbelievable skills and ability. Orochimaru dodged all the incoming Shuriken, but what Orochimaru didn't know was that several of the Shuriken had Ninja wire around them, which wrapped around the elder man. After which several of the Naruto clones attacked Orochimaru from multiple different directions.
But when the clones hit Orochimaru, he turned into a wooden log, revealing that Orochimaru had replaced himself with a wooden log that had an exploding note on it, which exploded and destroyed the clones when they hit it.
After seeing that Orochimaru had replaced himself, Naruto immediately used his Chakura no Parusu to locate his position.
Once he located his position, Naruto then had his clones fire a volley of Kunai towards the former Konoha-nin, who was hiding up in a nearby tree branch. Orochimaru was of course surprised that Naruto found him so fast. But quickly got over it and avoided the volley of Kunai by jumping away.
When he jumped away to avoid the Kunai and hung in mid-air, six Naruto clones jumped up into the air and did some quick hand-seals. Three of them cried out "Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Style: Gunshot)!" shooting out three large balls of water. While the other three cried out "Doton: Dodan (Earth Style: Mud Bomb)!" and shot out three large balls of mud.
Naturally after seeing Naruto's clones use an Earth Ninjutsu, Orochimaru was surprised that Naruto had three Elemental affinities. Knowing how exceedingly rare it was for someone without an elemental bloodline to have more than one affinity.
But as surprised as he was, Orochimaru quickly got over it and used his Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to eject several snakes from his wrist and intercept the attacks. After which the snakes then continued flying on towards the six clones and bite them in the necks causing the clones to poof away.
After destroying the clones, Orochimaru landed back on the ground, where he immediately came under attack by several of Naruto's clones, who were using their super human strength.
For the next few minutes the Naruto clones fought Orochimaru in a fierce hand to hand battle, but despite their great numbers and their immense strength. Orochimaru was decimating the small clone army without too much trouble, thanks to his superior skill and fighting abilities.
As the battled continued on, one of Naruto's clones did some hand seals and cried out "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō (Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm)!" Upon which the surrounding ground around Orochimaru and the remaining Naruto clones that he was fighting against, began to spiral inward on itself. Drawing Orochimaru and the clones he was fighting against underground in an attempt to crush Orochimaru under the earth.
Unfortunately Orochimaru was able to avoid being crushed by jumping up into the air, before he could be drawn underground along with the clones he had been fighting against, causing them to disappear after being crushed.
When Orochimaru landed back on the ground, he quickly engaged the remaining Naruto clones and dispatched them without much trouble.
But upon destroying the last of Naruto clones, Orochimaru lost sight of the real Naruto. Who had disappeared when he was fighting with the clones
After realizing that Naruto was no-where in sight Orochimaru began to look around for the Blonde Senju.
"Come out, come out wherever you are Naruto-kun" Orochimaru said in a childlike tone, as he slowly walked around the trees, knowing that Naruto couldn't have gotten very far.
Orochimaru of course did not have to wait long, as Naruto suddenly appeared out from one of the trees with a Kunai in hand and attempted to stab Orochimaru with it.
Seeing this, Orochimaru stretched his hand out and used his Sen'eijashu, where several snakes ejected from his wrist and wrapped themselves around Naruto and held him in mid-air. But as soon as this happened, "Naruto" exploded into a shower of flower petals which flew into the air and began to cover Orochimaru's entire body in an attempt to smoother him. (B)
Realizing what was happening Orochimaru slowly moved his hands in an attempt to form a hand seal. But due to his body being covered in the flower petals he found it difficult. But despite the difficulty he had he was able to form a hand seals and cried out "Kai!" where the flower petals around his body faded away, revealing they were a Genjutsu.
"An admirable attempt Naruto-kun, but sadly such things won't work on me" spoke Orochimaru out loud, knowing that he was watching from somewhere.
"How about this then?" Naruto replied from unknown location, where the next thing Orochimaru knew, a tree appeared out of the ground behind Orochimaru and coiled around Orochimaru body, binding him and preventing him from moving. After which Naruto emerged out of the tree with a Kunai in hand and went to stab the Snake Sannin, but before Naruto could deliver the final blow. Orochimaru let lose a strong surge of Chakra to overpower and broke Naruto's Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death). After which Orochimaru spun around and hit Naruto in the side of the head, who then puffed away revealing that he was a shadow clone.
Seeing that the Naruto he hit was just another shadow clone, the amused Orochimaru then jumped up to a large tree and continued his search for Naruto.
As he searched for Naruto, Orochimaru found himself being wrapped up in vines that appeared out of the tree branches.
Despite being wrapped up in the vines Orochimaru remained perfectly calm, as he knew that it was just another Genjutsu and broke out of it without much difficulty. (C)
"Come now Naruto-kun, these Genjutsu are getting rather dull, surely you're not at your limit" Orochimaru mocked, as if he was disappointed and board. But when he said this, he felt that something was wrong and realized he was still under a Genjutsu and used the Genjutsu: Kai (Illusion Technique: Release) to free himself of the Genjutsu.
As soon as he freed himself from the illusion, Orochimaru found himself standing in the middle of a small clearing. He then realized that Naruto had used Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique), where he used the binding vine Genjutsu as a distraction. While hiding Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique) underneath the first Genjustu, so to keep him discovering Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu until it was too late.
"Very clever Naruto-kun… you have indeed been trained well in using Genjutsu, but what exactly are you up to?" thought the Snake Sennin, as he looked around for Naruto. But when he tried to move his body, he could not, where when he looked around he saw several seals craved on the trees.
It was then that he realized that Naruto had placed him under the Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu not to confuse him. But to lure him into the spot that the blonde boy wanted him to be in and hide what he was doing around the elder man until he was ready, which was now.
Since Naruto had caught Orochimaru in Kekkai Kotei Fūin (Four Corner Immobilization Seal), which prevented him from moving for the moment, which was all the young Senju needed. For not only was Orochimaru in the centre of a Kekkai Kotei Fūin, but he was also in the centre of an Fūbaku Hōjin (Sealed Bomb Square Release). As Naruto had planted all his remaining exploding notes on four nearby trees that surrounded the clearing that Orochimaru was in and activated them. Causing them to blow up and bring down the four trees down on top of Orochimaru, crushing him underneath them.
After the trees came down, Naruto appeared out from behind a nearby tree that he had been hiding behind and went over to exam his work.
Although he wasn't entirely sure if he had really killed Orochimaru, since the man was a former Sannin like Jiraiya and his mother. The fact that he had four massive trees fall down on top of him, would at least slow the nuke-nin down enough for him to get away and get help.
But before Naruto could leave the area, he suddenly heard the dark chuckling of Orochimaru all around. After which Orochimaru suddenly appeared out of the ground right in front of Naruto, without so much as a scratch on him, much to the horror and disbelief of Naruto.
"Kukukuku…very good Naruto-kun, it seems that my former-mates have indeed trained you well" Orochimaru said, as he began to slowly walk towards Naruto. Who took several small steps back in fear, before steading himself. After which he redrew his Katana from his back, (which he had found while Orochimaru was busy fighting with his clones).
When Orochimaru saw Naruto draw his Katana out again, the Snake Sennin just smirked as he was eager to see if Naruto had anymore tricks left up his sleeves.
He of course soon got his answer, where Naruto charged straight at Orochimaru with his Katana, and attempted to slash the former Sannin.
But as Orochimaru stepped back to avoid Naruto's slash, he realized that the slash was a faint, as when Naruto swung his hand it was empty. Upon which Orochimaru then saw small glint of light, indicating that Naruto's Katana was in his other hand.
Orochimaru of course immediately recognized the technique Naruto was using, which was a technique of the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) fighting style, created by Uzumaki Kushina.
The technique itself was called Mizu no Atsuen (Rolling Water), which involved the user switching his or her Katana from one hand to the other in mid-swing when slashing at a target. Who would try an avoid the first attack, thinking it was a regular slash, where in actuality it was a faint and the target would then be left exposed and open to the real attack.
When Orochimaru realized what Naruto was doing he immediately knew he didn't have much time to avoid the slash and quickly fell backwards to avoid Naruto's real slash. But even after avoiding the lethal slash, the Snake Sennin did receive a large diagonal cut on his shirt.
At the same time, when Orochimaru avoided Naruto's attack, the former Konoha-nin struck back at Naruto, where as he fell backwards, he kicked the young Senju hard in the chest, sending him back a few feet.
Naruto quickly recovered and countered with his Surasshu-fū, which Orochimaru quickly avoided. Although when he did, he realized the attack was just a distraction, when he saw Naruto charging at him at high speed with his Katana thrust forward and coated with Water to enhance the density and length of the blade.
Recognizing the Tachioyogi (Treading Water) (2) technique of the Arasuijin no Mai, Orochimaru immediately sidestepped Naruto, just when he was about to impale him with his Katana. After which Orochimaru then delivered a roundhouse kick to the unguarded side of Naruto and sent the boy flying.
Despite being kicked away by Orochimaru, Naruto quickly regained his footing, where he then saw the elder man using Sen'eijashu and sending several snakes at him.
Seeing the snakes coming at him, Naruto quickly started to gather some the moisture from the air and the grass underneath him and swung his sword along the ground in horizontal line to create a large wall of water in front of him.
When Orochimaru saw the large wall of water appear in front of Naruto, he was naturally shocked at how Naruto created such a large mass of water without a large source of water nearby. Due to his shock, he barely registered that his snakes went through the wall of water and right pass "Naruto" revealing that the "Naruto" behind the wall of water was an illusion created by the water. After which the real Naruto appeared right above him and swung his Katana down towards him.
But when Naruto's Katana sliced through Orochimaru's head, instead of there being blood, Orochimaru reverted into mud, revealing that the Snake Sennin had replaced himself with a mud clone.
"Shit he replaced himself" Naruto thought, when he saw Orochimaru revert into mud, and the real Orochimaru appear behind him and kicked him, causing the blonde boy to drop his Katana again.
After skidding across the ground and landing in a small heap, Naruto slowly picked himself up, due to still being hurt from the kick from behind. When he did, he looked up and saw Orochimaru slowly walking towards him with a sadistic smirk on his face.
"Kukukuku…you certainly are full of surprises Naruto-kun, I had no idea that you had inherited the Nidaime's high affinity for water or that you could use it to such an impressive level. Even though you're not quite at the Nidaime Hokage's level yet, to be able to summon so much water from just the moister of the plants and the air at your age is truly a remarkable. Not to mention you have a talent for Genjutsu just like your mother and your ancestor Senju Tōka…Kukukuku, it seems that the Senju Clan lives up to their reputation at having the strongest Shinobi" Orochimaru said in amusement, as the longer he fought with Naruto the more fascinating he became.
Seeing that Orochimaru was coming towards him, Naruto decide that it was time to reveal his final ace in the whole, where he did a ram hand seal and began to channel his Chakra into the ground.
When Orochimaru saw this, he stopped walking towards Naruto and began to wonder what Naruto was planning to do next.
His question was of course quickly answered where much to his utter astonishment and disbelief a large medium size tree appeared out of the ground right in front of Naruto.
When Orochimaru saw the large tree appear in front of Naruto, he was stunned, where the only thing he could think of at the time was "Mokuton!"
After seeing Naruto use Mokuton, it took Orochimaru a few minutes to get over his shock, since he had belived until now that only the Shodai Hokage possessed the ability. (3)
Taking advantage of Orochimaru's surprise Naruto quickly did some hand-seals and then yelled "Konoha Kamisori (Razor Leaves)!"(D). After which all the leaves from the tree that Naruto grew, flew out from tree branches and started to spin around at high speed much like shuriken and then flew towards Orochimaru and high speed.
Within seconds, the massive wave of spinning leaves converged in on Orochimaru and shredded him into pieces. Or at least that was what Naruto thought, after his Konoha Kamisori hit Orochimaru. As when the attack ended, all Naruto saw was the cut up pieces of a wooden long, revealing that once again Orochimaru had replaced himself, just before the attack made contact with him.
After seeing that his attack failed, Naruto immediately began to look around for where Orochimaru went and as he looked he suddenly heard Orochimaru voice cry out "Sen'eijashu!" from above him.
Knowing he didn't have much time Naruto quickly did three high speed hand seals and then cried out "Mokuton: Mokujōheki (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)!" creating a large half dome around him, which protected him from Orochimaru's snakes, (which bit into the wooden barrier).
Seeing what Naruto had done, Orochimaru then quickly reeled himself in with his snakes, whom were still connected with him, where he then stood on the top edge of the barrier and kneeled down slightly to look down on Naruto, who stood behind the barrier, below Orochimaru.
"Magnificent, simply magnificent Naruto-kun…I would've never have guessed that you would inherit the Shodai Mokuton powers and reveal it as a true Bloodline, when everyone else in your clan, including your mother did not. It seems that the Senju blood runs true after all…" Orochimaru said, as he eyed Naruto with glee, like child who found his new favourite toy. "…Now show me what else you can do with your Bloodline."
"How about this then!" shouted Naruto as he charged his fist up with Chakra and jumped at Orochimaru, where he destroyed the top portion of the wood barrier with his fist.
Orochimaru of course quickly jumped off the wooden barrier, when Naruto smashed through it and landed a distance from the blonde. Who had jumped up on the remaining top part of the barrier and did several more hand seals. After which he then held out the palm of his hand and cried out "Mokuton: Hiki no Toga (Wood Release: Flying Wood Spikes)!" (E), where small sharp spikes ejected out of his hand and flew at the Snake Sannin at high speed. Who just dodged the wooden spikes, while smiling, as if he were having the time of his life.
Seeing how easily Orochimaru dodged his attack, Naruto quickly jumped onto the ground and did several more hand seals before yelling, "Mokuton: Moku no Toga (Wood Release: Wood Spikes)!" (F), and then slammed his hands onto the ground. After which, a wooden spike appeared out of the ground underneath Orochimaru, who narrowly avoided being impaled by the spike.
After Orochimaru avoided his wooden spike, Naruto began to create several more wooden spikes, which emerged from the ground wherever Orochimaru went, but each time Orochimaru avoided the spikes with ease.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this, Naruto decided to change tactics a little, where he created several different spikes around Orochimaru. This then forced Orochimaru to jump up into the air to avoid the spikes, which was of course what Naruto wanted.
As soon as Orochimaru was in mid-air, he held out his hand and cried out "Banmuchi (Vine Whip)!"(G). After which several vines sprung out from Naruto's arms and wrapped themselves around the elder man or at least what Naruto thought was him.
For as soon as Naruto forced Orochimaru into the air, the Snake Sennin realized what Naruto was attempting and immediately replaced himself with a log, as soon as Naruto created his vines.
Seeing that he failed to catch Orochimaru, Naruto let go of the wooden log and recalled the vines back into his arms, once he did this, Orochimaru fell from above and landed directly in front of Naruto.
"My, My Naruto-kun, I must say I'm very impressed with you…to be so skilled and yet be so young, you're an indeed a true Senju. You're proving to be far more entertaining than even Sasuke-kun. As you continue to surprise me with your unique skills, especially with that last attack you did…I dare say you may even surpass the Shodai Hokage one day. Clearly your Mokuton ability is more advanced than his", Orochimaru said with glee, as Naruto was surpassing even the Snake Sennin widest exceptions of him.
Naruto of course did not respond to Orochimaru praise, as he focused more on what he should do next, where when the former Sannin finished talking, he had come up with a new plan.
After coming up with his new strategy, Naruto immediately charged up his fist with a massive amount of Chakra and then released it all when he slammed his fist into the ground and cried out "Chikakuhendō (Earth Shaker Impact)!" Causing the ground to rise up all around him and scatter in to pieces causing massive damage all around the area.
The force of the punch was of course so strong that it forced Orochimaru to once again jump up into the air and land a distance away from Naruto.
This was of course what Naruto wanted, for when Orochimaru was forced up into the air. Naruto did several quick hand seals and cried "Mokuton: Mōkushōku (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)!" and slammed his hands onto the ground. After which several wooden tentacles appeared underneath the nuke-nin, just as he landed on the ground, and wrapped themselves around the Snake Sannin holding him tightly.
Seeing that he had gotten Orochimaru this time for sure, Naruto quickly created seven new Shadow clones of himself and the sent the first three of them to the far right of Orochimaru. He then sent two of them to Orochimaru's far left and kept the remaining other two with him.
Once his clones were in position, Naruto then began some hand seals and gathered all the water he could from the air and the nearby plants. After which he then shouted out "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!"Creating a massive Water Dragon, where his first clone channelled its Lightning Chakra into the Water Dragon to increase it destructive power, whiles the second clone blew out a large amount of Wind into the Water Dragon to increase its power and speed.
Once the two other elements were combined with the Water Dragon, Naruto and his clones cried out the name of their combination attack.
"Mizu-fū,Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki (Water, Wind, and Lightning Combo: Supreme Electric Water Dragon)!"
At the same time, Naruto's three clones that were on Orochimaru's far right began their own attacks, where the first clone did some hand seals and yelled "Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)!" and gushed out a large amount of water. As the first clone did this, the second clone, channelled his Wind Chakra and blew out a large burst of Wind into the water wave to increase its power and speed, while the third clone channelled his Lightning Chakra into the water wave to increase its power.
After the two clones combined their two elements, with the first clone's water attack, the three clones cried out the name of their new attack.
"Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai:Raisuiha (Water, Wind, and Lightning Combination: Electric Water Wave)!" (H)
Also at the same time the two Naruto clones on Orochimaru's far left began to do their own hands seals, where the first clone cried out "Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Style: Gunshot)!" After which second clone then channelled it's Lightning Chakra into the water bullets when the first Naruto clone fired.
After the two Naruto clones finished combining their attacks they then cried out the name of their new attack,"Raisui Renkei: Raisui Bakudan (Lightning Water Collaboration: Lightning Water Bombs)!"
As the three separate Combination attacks came towards him, the former Sannin was of course surprised to say the least. Not only because Naruto could do combination attacks, but also he revealed he had Lightning affinity, meaning that he had four nature affinities, something that Orochimaru thought would be impossible for a boy let alone anyone to have.
Within seconds of the three separate attacks being fired, they collided with their target, where a massive explosion of Wind, Water and Lightning erupted, forcing Naruto to cover his eyes with his arm from the shockwave of the explosion.
When the explosion ended, Naruto's clones puffed away, while Naruto fell to his knees, breathing heavily with some sweat failing from his forehead, as he was just about tapped out.
The battle itself had taken everything he had, he was just about out of Chakra, his body was aching from all the hits he took from Orochimaru and he was tried from fighting for so long and so hard.
When he looked over to where Orochimaru was, there was a small crater from the explosion and in the centre laid Orochimaru, face down in the ground unmoving.
Seeing this, a tired smile appeared on Naruto's face, he had done it, he had won, he'd beaten Orochimaru, the infamous Snake Sannin.
"Pah, Pah…you wanted to see what I could do Hebi-teme…Pah, Pah…well you got it…Pah, Pah… you made the mistake of underestimating me and you paid the price for it" said Naruto, as he looked at Orochimaru's body. After which he slowly picked himself up and was about to leave to regroup with his team-mates.
But before he could leave and re-join with his team, he suddenly heard a dark chuckle out of no-where.
"Kukukukuku…I would not be so sure of that Naruto-kun."
After Naruto heard this the next thing Naruto knew, Orochimaru sprung out of the ground from underneath him and wrapped his body around the blonde boy like a snake coiling around its caught prey.
Naruto of course tried to struggle free, but he was too tired from his long battle with the former Sannin to resist much and did not have enough Chakra to even try. Orochimaru had wrapped himself pretty tightly around the young Senju, squeezing him tightly and preventing him from moving.
"Kukuku…I afraid that you're the one who underestimated me Naruto-kun", the Snake Sennin said, as he looked Naruto directly in the face.
"B-B-But how?" Naruto hissed, as he struggled to breathe, where he looked to Orochimaru and then to the one that was lying on the ground.
"Tsk, Tsk… Naruto-kun you should know better" the former Sannin said, as if he was talking to an infant, where he then had Naruto look over at the "Orochimaru" in the small crater.
When Naruto turned around he saw that the "Orochimaru" in the crater was in fact a Shadow clone, which poof away in a puff of smoke.
When Naruto saw this he silently cursed himself for being duped so easily and falling for a trick that he himself would have played.
"If you're going to kill me, then get it over with, because there's not a chance in hell that I'm going beg for me life" Naruto said defiantly, as he glared angrily at the Snake Sennin, as he would rather die than give the man the pleasure of seeing him beg for his life.
When Orochimaru heard this, the elder man just smiled in amusement and said "Kill you? …Now why would I do such a foolish thing like that? It would be such a waste, to kill someone as skilled as you Naruto-kun. I dare say you've more potential than even Sasuke-kun has"
"Then what do you want with me? Why did you attack my team and me? And what the hell did you do to Sasuke?" Naruto demanded, as he glared at Orochimaru.
"To put it simply Naruto-kun, I came here to test Sasuke-kun and you and see how strong you both were, where if you passed, I would present you with a little gift, just like I did with Sasuke-kun. And given how well you fought me and what you showed me, I must confess you've surpassed even my wildest exceptions of you, which is why I will present you with my gift as well."
"You can keep your so-called gift, I want nothing from you!" Naruto spat out angrily.
"Oh come now Naruto-kun, I know you don't mean that, for I know what you truly crave deep down inside you", Orochimaru said.
"And what is that?" asked Naruto, not believing a word that the man said.
"I know that deep down you want to step out of your Mother's and your forefathers shadows. You want to be recognized for yourself and not as the son of Tsunade the Sannin or the descendant of the Nidaime and Shodai Hokages" Orochimaru answered.
"So what of it? That doesn't mean I will take anything from you" Naruto answered.
"Oh, but there is more, I also know that deep down, you fear that you can never live up to people's exceptions of you. Let alone match or surpass your mother and your ancestors and that the pressure of being their heir will break you. You fear that you'll always remain in their shadows and never step out of it. You fear that you will always be known as the son of Tsunade and nothing else, that is what I know, Naruto-kun" Orochimaru replied, where he was pleased to see Naruto's eyes widen in surprise, showing that he was indeed correct. At the same time Orochimaru silently planned to thank Kabuto, as thanks to him, he knew how to get to Naruto.
After seeing the surprise look on Naruto's face, Orochimaru knew he had hit his mark and decided to go in for the kill.
"But you need not worry Naruto-kun, for what I have to offer can help you finally achieve what you desire most and will help you to not only surpass your mother and your ancestors, but also become a Shinobi like none before. Then everyone will acknowledge your strength."
After hearing this for a moment, for one singular moment, Naruto was tempted in taking what Orochimaru had to offer. But then he remembered what Jiraiya once told him, that Orochimaru was a master manipulator. Who would promise you the sun, the sky and the world, if it meant getting you to do what he wanted you to do, or to get what he wanted.
"I told you before I don't want anything from you… as far as I care, you can take you gift and stuff it and go back to whatever hellhole you spawned from" Naruto answered.
Orochimaru of course of course was unaffected by Naruto insults and just smiled, "Ah so defiant, just like your mother, but I would expect nothing less from you. And regardless of your feelings Naruto-kun, I will give you it and you will eventually come looking for me and the power that I can give you, just like Sasuke-kun will" Orochimaru replied. After which he then bit down hard on the right side of Naruto's neck, just as he did with Sasuke earlier on.
When Orochimaru bit down on Naruto's neck, Naruto suddenly felt an intense amount of pain flood his entire body.
Naruto of course tried to resist screaming, but the pain became too much for him and he began to scream, which was music to the Snake Sennin. Soon after though Orochimaru released his teeth from Naruto and the let go of Naruto, who collapsed onto the ground and fought to keep from falling unconsciousness.
When Naruto fell to the ground Orochimaru saw his curse seal take form, where three slightly curved lines appeared on the side of Naruto's neck.
"Ah the Earth seal, how fitting, given your Mokuton ability and how Sasuke-kun now has the Heavens seal" Orochimaru commented, who was pleased with what happened, since in terms of power, the Earth seal was on even terms with Sasuke's Heaven seal.
"W-W-Wh-What are you planning t-t-t-to do to me now?" Naruto asked, as he struggled to stay awake.
"Nothing" Orochimaru replied, "I've already achieved what I planned out to do Naruto-kun, as I've tested both you and Sasuke-kun and given you both my seal. Now all that's left is for you and Sasuke-kun to survive and pass this exam. And I expect for you Naruto-kun, to achieve the highest score of all" Orochimaru said, and began to walk away. But after only taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back.
"Oh! Before I forget" the man said, where much to Naruto's disgust, Orochimaru regurgitated one of the Earth scrolls that he took from team seven earlier and placed it next to Naruto.
"Another gift from me, for providing a far more entertaining show than I ever expected" said Orochimaru, after which he began to sink into the ground. "We'll meet again very soon Naruto-kun… you will seek me out and join me, for what I can offer you."
After Orochimaru sank into the ground, Naruto finally lost his battle to stay awaken and fell into the sweet oblivion that was unconsciousness.
-With Tsunade and Shizune-
Currently in a small casino that was a few days away from Konoha, Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin was sitting down playing a slot machine, with her loyal apprentice Shizune and her pet pig Tonton standing next to her.
Although Tsunade had mainly given up on gambling after she gave birth to Naruto, she did play a little on the slot machines, with some spare change.
For the past six months Tsunade and Shizune had been Kiba no Kuni (Fang Country) treating a disease that had been spreading from a large town in the country. It had taken much longer than either women had expected, since the disease had been difficult to treat and was very contagious. But eventually, Tsunade once again proved why she was hailed as the world's greatest medic of her time and cured the people of the disease.
Once the disease was cured, Tsunade and Shizune began their journey to Konoha, seeing as Tsunade was eager to see her son again after so long. Even though Naruto had written to them once a week, she still wanted to see her son, especially since she had recently heard that Naruto would be entering the Chunin exam this year.
This was of course no big surprise to her, she knew that Naruto was more than ready to handle himself in the exam and was sort of eager he to see how well he would handle himself. She also knew that Konoha's Council most likely insisted that Naruto be part of the exam, since he was her son and was the new heir of the Senju Clan, which of course would bring about a lot of publicity for the village.
As she continued to play, she suddenly hit the casino jackpot where hundreds of coins started to spill out of the machine.
When Tsunade saw this she suddenly started to worry, as when it came to gambling she had the worst luck in the world and would always lose. That is unless something bad was going to happen, where Tsunade would win and the bigger the prize the worse the situation. Hence after winning the Casino big jackpot on just the slot machine, Tsunade knew something bad was going to happen or was happening now.
This fear of the worst only grew when she suddenly felt a pain in her chest, as if someone had stabbed her in the heart.
Tsunade only felt this pain once before in her life, which was during the incident of Oni no Kuni (Demon Country) when Naruto and Shion where being attacked by the Ame Shinobi.
After this pain appeared, Tsunade immediately knew something had happen to Naruto, whether it was mother's maternal instincts or something else. She didn't know or care, all she knew was something had happened to her son and he needed her.
At the same time, Shizune and Tonton became concerned at their mistress actions, like Tsunade they knew what would happen whenever Tsunade won at gambling. Their concerns only grew further when they saw Tsunade place her hand over her heart knowing that something was wrong.
"Tsunade-sensei, are you alright? Is something wrong?" the worried Shizune asked.
"No I'm not alright, something has happened to Naru-chan" the worried Tsunade replied.
"Naruto…but how?" asked Shizune, since she didn't understand how Tsunade knew such a thing.
"I don't know how, I just know that something has happened to him, I can feel it my heart" Tsunade answered, as she suddenly got up and told Shizune that they were leaving. After which, the two Kunoichi, start to race toward Konoha at top speed so to get to Naruto as soon as possible.
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