As dusk settled over the Death Forest, Team Seven followed a river towards the central tower. With evening approaching, they stopped to prepare a meal.
While Naruto and Sakura cooked, Sasuke wandered off to scout the area.
"Hey Sasuke, where'd you disappear to?" Naruto asked as Sasuke returned, Sakura shooting him a curious glance.
"Just patrolling the perimeter for enemies," Sasuke replied coolly. He had merely sensed a red-haired girl nearly meeting her end in a bear's jaws and intervened to save her. According to her, she had become separated from her companions.
But Sasuke suspected Karin's companions hadn't merely gotten lost; Orochimaru had likely killed them all. Orochimaru had originally planned to eliminate all the Grass Village ninjas, but he recognized Karin's Uzumaki Clan heritage, allowing her to survive by sheer luck.
Back with Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke shared a quick meal with them.
"Sasuke, Naruto, someone's approaching!" Sakura suddenly sensed an anomaly, leaping to her feet and scanning the surrounding forest.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when three Rain Ninja suddenly emerged from the nearby forest.
"Rain Ninja?"
Sakura's expression hardened as she glanced at their headbands and attire, preparing for battle.
The Rain Ninja were old enemies, after all. Their very first mission outside Konoha had involved fighting Rain Ninja, and their last mission had also pitted them against the same foes.
Just as Sakura braced for a fight, the lead Rain Ninja's face changed when he spotted the trio. After a wary glance at them, he immediately retreated in the direction they'd come from.
During the retreat, the round-bodied Shigure glared at his captain, his resentment bubbling over. "Captain, they're just a few Konoha brats! Why are we—"
"Shut up!" the Rain Ninja captain snapped coldly, cutting him off. "If you want to die, go face them yourself! I won't stop you."
In truth, the captain wasn't a mere Genin; he was a Jonin from Rain Village, sent to infiltrate the Chūnin Exams and gather intelligence on Konoha. Unlike the two Genin beside him, he possessed far more crucial information—such as what he knew about Team Seven, whom they had just encountered.
Shigure opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately fell silent.
"Are they afraid of us?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking puzzled.
"Probably," Sakura nodded gravely. "After all, we've clashed with the Rain Ninja twice now. It's understandable they'd be wary."
"That makes sense," Naruto continued, "but we didn't really show much of our strength in our first fight. And the Rain Ninja who participated in the coup in Takigakure all committed suicide afterward. They shouldn't even know about that, right? Why would they be so afraid of us?"
'If only you were always this sharp.'
Sakura rolled her eyes. "There are countless secret techniques in the ninja world," she said dryly. "Those Rain Ninja might have committed suicide, but they could have transmitted information beforehand. And Naruto, don't forget—those guys aren't dead yet."
"Right!" Naruto nodded in sudden realization, then exclaimed, "As expected of Sakura-chan! You perfectly articulated what I was thinking!"
"Idiot! Something feels off!" Sakura's expression hardened. "It's too quiet!"
In an instant, all sound vanished, even the summer cicadas' buzzing. The oppressive silence filled Sakura with a palpable sense of dread.
"Be careful," Sasuke warned, his voice cutting through the stillness. "The enemy is about to strike."
As the lurking gaze intensified, becoming almost tangible, Sasuke, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
'Boom!'
No sooner had the words left his lips than the ground shook violently. A colossal serpent, its body several times thicker than a water barrel, erupted from the earth beneath their feet. Its gaping maw, reeking of bloodlust, snapped toward the trio.
'Whoosh!'
The moment the serpent appeared, Sakura and Naruto leaped back instantly, springing away from the danger. Sasuke, however, stood his ground without moving an inch.
A blinding white light erupted from Sasuke's hand, like thunder unleashed from its sheath. The Futsu-no-Mitama Sword flashed with icy brilliance, piercing straight through the serpent's massive head.
The serpent's remarkable vitality now became evident. Though impaled through the head, it didn't die instantly. Instead, it thrashed violently, its scales scraping against the ground.
Yet the struggle was short-lived. A blinding surge of lightning erupted from the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword, instantly obliterating what little life force remained in the serpent's body.
'Clap. Clap!'
A round of applause erupted as a female ninja in Grass Village attire suddenly appeared on a distant tree branch, looking down at the trio. "Impressive, impressive! Your reaction time is quite remarkable, Uchiha Sasuke!" she declared.
'A Grass Village ninja?'
'Impossible!'
'How could the Grass Village possibly have such a strong Genin?'
Sakura stared intently at the distant Grass Village ninja, even though the figure was merely standing there casually.
Sakura could sense an unfathomable aura and a chilling, twisted danger emanating from "her."
'This person is extremely dangerous!'
Sakura wasn't a sensory ninja and couldn't sense the newcomer's Chakra reserves, but the sheer menace radiating from her surpassed anything she had ever encountered.
"Tch! Sasuke just got the jump on you! Don't you dare ignore me, you jerk!" Naruto snapped before Sasuke could even respond, clearly irked that the newcomer had only praised Sasuke.
"If you're here alone to hand over that scroll, then I won't hold back! Just watch how Lord Naruto wipes the floor with you!"
'The Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki, huh?'
'Heh.'
Looking at Naruto's golden hair and blue eyes, Orochimaru couldn't help but recall the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Orochimaru harbored complex feelings toward Minato Namikaze. Though he had long since abandoned any desire to become the Hokage, the Third Hokage's decision to pass the title to another had still left Orochimaru feeling a sense of loss and unease.
"You want the Earth Scroll in my possession, don't you? Heh.." Orochimaru licked his lips, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he produced a scroll. "After all, you already have the Heaven Scroll!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru opened his serpentine maw and swallowed the Earth Scroll whole.
'This guy is disgusting!'
Sakura's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of disgust crossing her eyes.
"Now then, let's begin!" Orochimaru licked his lips again, his sinister killing intent gathering like a tidal wave, and he rasped in a chilling voice:
"Come and try to take it... with your lives!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a chilling, abyss-like killing aura erupted from Orochimaru.
The intensity of the killing intent was almost tangible, as if it had frozen the surrounding air into solid blocks of ice.
___
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