(In Another Sector of the Forest of Death)
Hinata and her teammates were at the designated tower with the heaven and earth scrolls in hand when they suddenly felt a massive chakra spike.
"Do you guys feel that?" Kiba asked aloud.
"That chakra," Shino acknowledged.
"It's Naruto-kun's!" Hinata exclaimed in alert. Something terribly must have happened to force him to drop his seals to such a level!
Hinata ran out of the tower with her teammates following behind her. Running out of the building and past a few trees, Hinata stopped and focus her chakra into her eyes and activated her bloodline limit. She zoomed in on the area where Naruto's chakra was coming from. She took a good look at what was going on, and gasped when she saw what it was that Naruto and his team were up against, though she couldn't identify who the unknown girl with them was.
"What do you see, Hinata?" Kiba inquired.
"Naruto-kun is up a-against a powerful ninja standing…on top of the head of a gigantic viper of some sort!" Hinata explained.
"What about Sasuke and Sakura?" Shino asked.
"They're all right, but it looks like Naruto-kun is t-t-taking on the ninja…a-and that monster snake on his own!" Hinata continued.
"That's suicide! They ought to try to escape while they can!" Kiba stated.
"I think they would have done so if that option was available to them," Shino remarked in monotone, though he was just as concerned.
"We can't just stand by and let Naruto-kun face this threat alone!" Hinata said with urgency, then continued, "We have to head over there and-"
"Don't!" a voice warned.
Team 8 looked and saw a Naruto kage bunshin appear in front of them.
"This is not your everyday ninja that the boss is fighting against. It's the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru!" the clone warned.
"Well, that explains the giant snake," Shino remarked. "But why is Orochimaru in the forest, and why is he after Naruto and Team 7?"
"I don't know the details right now, but I've been sent here by the boss to make sure that none of you do anything reckless, like jumping into this battle to supposedly help him. For your own safety, he told me to tell you guys not to get involved," the clone said.
"You can't be serious!" Kiba argued. "Does he really think he could take on a Sannin on his own!?"
"Don't underestimate the boss, Kiba! By now I'm sure everyone, including you, suspects that he's more than he appears to be. He can't stop Orochimaru while worrying about the safety of you guys at the same time. Please, I understand that accepting what boss is asking of you three is difficult, but if you have confidence in him, then please do what I say."
Kiba was about to argue further when he felt a hand grab him lightly on his shoulder. He turned to see Hinata shake her head at him.
"Don't argue further, Kiba-kun," Hinata advised. "As hard as it is for us to submit to this, I'm confident that Naruto-kun knows what he's doing, and the last thing I want is for any of us is to be an additional burden to him."
"But Hinata-"
"Please Kiba-kun," Hinata insisted, "I know he's your friend and Shino-kun's, and my boyfriend, and none of us want anything bad to happen to him or the rest of his team. But we can't jump into a battle against an enemy who can easily kill us. Naruto-kun is protecting us in his own way, and if we want to help, then it would be best that we listen to him, even if it's difficult to do so."
Shino and Kiba looked at Hinata in amazement and wonder. The two boys saw that she wasn't the same shy, insecure girl they were used to. Instead, she was displaying a level of maturity and assurance that was almost on par with their sensei.
Reluctantly, Kiba complied. "All right. I'll listen."
"Thank you," the Naruto clone said. "I would have hated to have to knock you unconscious, even if it was to protect you."
"Don't get cocky!" Kiba snorted, while Shino simply shrugged. In the background, away from Team 8, Temari was in hiding behind one the trees, listening to their conversation. She heard every word of what they were talking about.
"So that was Naruto's chakra we felt just now, and he's taking on the Sannin, Orochimaru, on his own. I understand that he's the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi, but to go up against a Sannin…Then again, Kabuto did report the other day that Naruto singlehandedly defeated the Hokage and an entire platoon simultaneously when he was nine. There's no telling how strong Naruto has become since then," Temari deduced quietly. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Naruto's academy records and his true character didn't add up.
She heard from word of mouth about him, but that wasn't enough for her. She had to find a way to see Naruto in action against Orochimaru. As soon as she saw a chance, she headed off to watch the battle.
(Meanwhile)
Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino were facing off against the Genin team from Otogakure. This team consisted of the trio who attacked Kabuto a few days earlier at the ninja academy building before the start of the Chuunin Exams. They were Dosu, Kin, and Zaku. Both teams were about to continue fighting when they suddenly felt a huge spike of power appear out of nowhere. It wasn't like anything they felt before.
"Do you guys feel that?" Dosu asked his teammates.
"I do," Kin confirmed. "But who's it coming from?"
"I don't know but whoever is generating that potent chakra is someone dangerous," Dosu stated.
"I say we investigate and find out what's going on," Zaku suggested.
"You think that's a wise idea?" Kin asked.
"We've wasted enough time on these idiots as it is, and we have yet to find who we're looking for!" Zaku added.
"Agreed. Everyone pull out!" Dosu said as he and his two teammates took off and headed to where the source of the chakra was coming from. Team 10 was left alone after the Oto Genin left.
"Whoever it is that drew those Oto Genin from us has my gratitude," Ino remarked.
"It's Naruto," Shikamaru replied. "It's his chakra."
Chouji asked incredulously, "Are you serious? Sure, that Kabuto guy said how strong Naruto is, but to put out chakra of this scale…"
"I don't know how he's able to do it either. His clansmen were said to have massive chakra reserves, but I wouldn't have thought it would be on this level," Shikamaru commented. "My question is what could have happened to trigger this."
"Well, Naruto is a Jinchuuriki and all," Ino noted.
"I just said that it was Naruto's chakra we felt, not Kyuubi's. From what my father told me, Kyuubi's chakra carried a great deal of hatred and malice. I didn't feel any of that just now," Shikamaru remarked.
"No, you didn't," a voice said. The group looked and found a Naruto clone approaching them.
"Naruto?" Chouji asked.
"Not quite, but close," the clone remarked.
"A kage bunshin," Shikamaru realized.
"Mind telling us what's happening?" Ino asked getting straight the point.
"A deadly enemy just crossed our path, and we're being forced to take him on," the clone explained.
"Who is this enemy?" Chouji asked.
"The traitorous Snake Sannin," the clone replied. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji's eyes widened upon realizing who Team 7 was up against.
"Orochimaru is here in the forest!? And he's after you guys!?" Shikamaru asked, realizing the danger that Naruto and the others were in.
"What about Sasuke-kun and Sakura? Are they alright?" Ino inquired. Though Ino and Sakura were rivals for Sasuke's affection, Ino didn't want to win Sasuke over through Sakura's demise.
"They're fine. They're still alive," the clone replied.
"But clearly, the real you is the one battling against Orochimaru," Shikamaru deduced.
"That would depend on what you mean by the real me," Naruto remarked and continued, "Anyway, I have to request that none of you three get involved in this fight. Boss has everything under control."
"You expect us to turn a blind eye to the fact that Naruto and the others have to face Orochimaru alone!?" Chouji asked indignantly.
"That's crazy! What about Sasuke-kun and the rest there? You want us to do nothing about what's going on?!" Ino retorted.
"No! I want you three to take my advice. Survive this ordeal in this already deadly forest, and head over to the tower where Team 8 already is," the clone replied.
"How do you know Team 8 is already at the tower?" Shikamaru asked.
"I have eyes in many places. Just ask Ino," Naruto remarked, causing Ino to blush and lower her head.
Damn him! Ino mentally wailed.
"But that's beside the point. Head to the tower and wait there until boss and his team arrive there after he's through with Orochimaru," the clone replied.
"You sound so confident that you can actually defeat a Sannin," Ino shot back after calming herself down.
"Naruto can't honestly believe that he can easily beat Orochimaru by himself," Chouji added.
"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru remarked. "After everything we learned about Naruto the other day from Kabuto and from everything else we learned, do you both honestly expect Naruto to be beaten that easily? If anything, I say Orochimaru and Naruto will be battling on almost equal grounds. Naruto isn't someone we should take lightly after everything we found out recently."
"Be that as it may, there's no telling what Orochimaru is capable of now after he left Konoha years ago. There's a high possibility that he'll give the boss a difficult time," the clone remarked.
"Not to mention that those Oto Genin are heading to where Naruto and the others are," Chouji reminded.
"Never mind them. My fellow clones will intercept them and stop them from foolishly crossing paths with the boss. Anyway, did you guys find an earth scroll?" the clone asked.
"No and the Oto ninja almost stole our heaven scroll," Ino replied.
"In that case," the clone said and he took out an authentic earth scroll from inside his jacket, "I'll give you guys this extra earth scroll I came across and found the other day in exchange for your cooperation," the Naruto clone said as his threw the scroll for Shikamaru to catch. Shikamaru examined the scroll and saw it to be genuine.
"You stole this from who, exactly?" Shikamaru asked.
"From the hand of an Ame Genin, literally. His hand seemed to be all that was left. Anyway, take it and head to the tower now," the clone instructed and continued, "Boss and the others will catch up when they can."
The clone dispelled itself, leaving Team 10 where they were.
"We might as well follow Naruto's advice and make our way to the tower," Shikamaru suggested.
"Are you seriously going to listen to that kage bunshin?" Chouji asked.
"Naruto did us a huge favor finding and giving us this earth scroll, Chouji. It's clear he doesn't want anything to happen to us. As much as I hate doing this, it would be too troublesome to not follow his directions. Plus, there's an important fact you both are overlooking," Shikamaru pointed out.
"And what would that be?" Ino inquired.
"You ought to know, Ino," Shikamaru replied
"Know what, exactly?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru elaborated, "Naruto said he has eyes in many places. In other words, he has his clones spying and surveying everything in this forest. Naruto knows exactly what's going on in this forest and where everyone is and he'll know if we listened to him or not before we arrive. That's why it would be foolish to underestimate him now."
"By way, Ino," Chouji cut in. "I have to ask, how are you involved in what Naruto said?"
Ino growled with a blush of deep embarrassment and barked angrily, "That's none of your goddamn business!"
Chouji jumped back and exclaimed, "Sorry! Don't bite off my head!"
"Damn it! Let's just head to the tower like Shikamaru said," Ino grumbled as she stomped off.
Whatever dark secret it is that Naruto knows about Ino, it's clear she doesn't want us or anyone else for that matter to know. By telling us to ask Ino about having eyes in many places, Naruto was clearly blackmailing her and was using that to help ensure our cooperation. Mean, but effective and clever, Shikamaru thought as he and Chouji followed after Ino.
(Elsewhere)
Team 9 was trekking through the forest, making their way to the tower, when they felt a strong spike of chakra from a distance. The team stopped on a tree branch upon feeling that chakra.
"That chakra!" Neji said. "It can't be!"
"I never felt such a powerful chakra like this before," Tenten commented. "Who do you suppose is generating this chakra, Neji?"
Neji had a strong idea as to who it was, but he didn't want to believe it.
"Byakugan!" Neji said as he activated his bloodline limit. He zoomed in to see who was putting out that chakra. Upon seeing Naruto, Neji couldn't believe how massive a chakra Naruto was generating. His facial expression spoke volumes, especially after seeing what it was that Naruto and his team were up against.
"Neji what it is?" Tenten inquired.
"Naruto," Neji confirmed. "It's Naruto who's doing this…He and his teammates are up against a giant serpent with someone standing on top of it, but I can't identify who that person is as I've never seen him before."
"Our youthful comrade's zealous flames have led him to unleash a powerful burning force! Surely it would be in our best interests to go and provide assistance to them!" Lee suggested.
"No!" Neji countered, causing Tenten and Lee to look at him in disbelief. "This is their battle; let them handle it on their own. This is what fate has decreed for them."
"But Neji, they're comrades of ours!" Tenten reasoned.
Lee added, "We ought to be providing them with-"
"This is the second part of the Chuunin Exams, correct? And we were clearly told what fatal dangers we were to expect during this part of the test. I'm sure by now that many who took the first part of the exam with us have died in this forest. If Naruto and his team should meet their ends in this forest, then that was the future fate decided for them when they entered this forest," Neji countered.
There was another factor that Neji was holding back from telling them, and that was that he knew that neither his teammates nor himself would stand a chance against the enemy Naruto and his team were up against judging from the chakra he saw.
"Most of what you said is true, Neji, though I don't agree with you about fate," Lee said before his resolve became sure, "Still…it would be most unforgivably unyouthful on my part to just abandon Naruto-kun, who has proven to be a most youthful comrade and friend of mine!"
Lee didn't give Neji time to argue as he headed off in the direction where Naruto and his teammates were.
"Damn it!" Neji growled in frustration.
"We have to go after him!" Tenten stated.
"I know!" Neji said. "I just wish he'd listen for once."
Neji and Tenten followed after Lee. It didn't take long to catch up with the green-clad taijutsu user. After another three minutes of running, they were intercepted by one of Naruto's clones.
"Naruto-kun!" Lee greeted.
"No, but close," the clone replied "I know what you're trying to do, and I must request that you don't, and that you guys turn back now."
"What?! How can you ask such an unyouthful request of us?" Lee retorted indignantly, "You and Sakura-chan and Sasuke-san are up against a mighty foe with a giant snake of some sort from what Neji-san told us."
"It's the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru," the clone clarified. The three now saw how grave the situation was.
"I should have known from that giant snake alone," Neji said lowly.
"Trust me, you three will die if you challenge Orochimaru now," the clone warned.
"But if we come to provide assistance, we can surely tip the odds in our favor," Lee insisted. Before the clone could argue, Zaku, Dosu and Kin appeared.
"Great; more Konoha trash in our way," Zaku remarked. The Naruto clone and Team 9 turned to look at the Oto Genin that arrived on the scene.
"You four are in our way! Step aside!" Dosu ordered.
That was when an idea came to the clone's mind. "You wanna help, Lee? All right then, help me keep these Oto Genin from going beyond this point and adding to the problem the boss is dealing with while trying to protect your angel, Sakura. Your youthful assistance will add to her protection."
Those few words involving protecting Sakura were all that the clone needed to gain Lee's total cooperation.
"Yosh! I promised Sakura-chan that I'd protect her until I die! I will keep my promise by helping you, my burning comrade of youth!" Lee declared as he assumed a taijutsu stance.
"So it's a fight you want, huh?" Zaku remarked.
"We're wasting time, Zaku! Quit this nonsense! We'll deal with this Konoha trash later," Dosu said.
"There is no later; only the present!" the Naruto clone declared. "Ready Lee?"
"Yes, Naruto-kun! Let's show them the extent of our youth!"
Neji sighed in exasperation but knew that there was no escaping the situation now, as he and Tenten got ready to fight.
"Perhaps fate deemed this situation unavoidable. Nothing good will come out of this," Neji remarked.
"Get out of our way, and we might let you live," Kin said snidely.
"Enough talk!" Tenten shot back as she threw a smoke bomb, blanking the area and thus commencing the fight.
(Meanwhile, With Team 7)
Naruto was still powering up with a mighty aura of chakra that took on the form of a flame around him. Pebbles and rocks rose off the ground as dirt was blown away from him in dust clouds with his clothes and hair flowing with his chakra. His steel gaze was locked onto Orochimaru, not dropping his guard against him for a second.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Karin looked on in absolute awe at what was happening.
Where was Naruto hiding this power and strength? It's unlike anything I've ever felt and none of it is Kyuubi's! Sasuke wondered with a disbelieving expression.
Karin had an expression of amazement and admiration of Naruto. The sensations she was experiencing from the presence of his mighty chakra were overwhelming and intoxicating, considering how close in proximity she was.
"I can't believe how powerful a fighter Naruto-kun is! How exactly did he become your class's Dead Last with Sasuke as the Rookie of the Year? It doesn't make any sense!" Karin asked out loud.
Sakura had no answer for Karin but she had no argument for her either.
"Your quite the spectacle, Naruto! Do you honestly think that such a show of bravado will be enough to intimidate and stop me?" Orochimaru asked mockingly, "You're not the first person I've faced with such power."
"You're right. Tell me, what was it like when Hanzo the Salamander beat the crap out of you, Jiraiya, and Tsunade during the Shinobi War before naming you three the Sannin?" Naruto retorted, gaining the reaction he was seeking as Orochimaru snarled menacingly at him.
"I don't know how you know that, but I know this, I'll have you dead before the end of the day," Orochimaru declared.
Using wind manipulation, Naruto lifted himself off the ground and levitated up into the air with the same flaming chakra surrounding his body.
"Since when could Naruto fly?" Sakura asked in shock.
"How much more about the real Naruto-kun don't you two know?" Karin asked.
"The real Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"That's right, the real Naruto, who you both clearly don't know," Karin replied.
Sasuke stayed silent as he watched the events play out. The gigantic black viper hissed venomously at Naruto as it prepared to attack him.
"C'mon!" Naruto roared as he blasted off through the air using wind manipulation in Orochimaru's direction. The viper rushed at Naruto in an attempt to swallow him. Upon reaching Naruto, however, the orange clad Genin seemingly split into two and went in two different directions as the snake charged forward. While both Naruto and his clone were in the air…
"Deal with the snake. I'll handle Orochimaru," Naruto said as he activated a seal on the palm of his left hand. The kanji for "katana" appeared on his palm and focusing chakra into it, the hilt of his katana appeared from out of it. Grabbing it with his right hand, Naruto pulled out his custom made katana and focused wind chakra around the blade, intensifying its sharpness.
"So it's a sword fight you want, huh?" Orochimaru smirked before raising his head and opening his mouth. What came out of his mouth was a snake that opened its mouth and a sword appeared from out of it, the Kusanagi. The sword popped out of the snake's mouth, allowing Orochimaru to grab the sword as the snake was swallowed back into its summoner.
Naruto flew over to where Orochimaru was, while the clone headed for the snake. Orochimaru jumped down off the snake's head and over to one of the trees. The Sannin jumped from branch to branch until he landed down on the ground. Naruto followed and landed a couple of feet from Orochimaru. Both fighters looked at each other with their weapons of choice in their hands. As soon as the ground started shaking from the giant snake's rapid movements, both ninja raced forward and began their battle.
Once he was close enough, Naruto attempted a diagonal slash with his katana, but before it could cut the Sannin, Orochimaru raised his sword and blocked the slash. Undeterred, Naruto then spun around to the left and attempted to slash at him again, but like before, Orochimaru was able to block the slash by pushing Naruto's katana away. The snake user then went on the offensive, forcing the Genin to go on the defensive.
As the fight continued, Naruto found an opening in Orochimaru's attacks, allowing him to slash at his side. Seeing this, Orochimaru was forced to jump away, which allowed Naruto to go on the offensive.
Not wanting to give Naruto too much of an advantage, Orochimaru also went on the offensive, where for the next few minutes, both ninja clashed in a fury of blades.
After a little while, Naruto gained the upper hand and started forcing the Sannin back towards the large tree behind him. But before Naruto could push Orochimaru back into the tree, the Sannin ducked under one of Naruto's horizontal slashes and attempted to slash the young Genin's left leg.
Naruto was able to react swiftly and evade the slash by leaping into the air. But when he landed, Orochimaru was able to roll away from him and put some distance between himself and the Genin.
"I'm impressed, boy. You're more than I expected," Orochimaru said. "You survived longer than I thought you would."
"Living my life will do that to you," Naruto remarked.
"Perhaps, but I think I've wasted enough with you. I'll finish you now," Orochimaru said firmly as he suddenly moved and reappeared behind Naruto. Not wishing to give Naruto any time to react, Orochimaru quickly attempted a vertical slash down on Naruto's head with his Kusanagi. The blade of the sword struck Naruto's head dead center and as soon as it did, Naruto detonated in a large explosion, blowing off Orochimaru's sword arm while blasting Orochimaru himself into a nearly tree, hard, resulting in him sticking to it, with burns all over his body.
Naruto body flickered some distance from Orochimaru. Seconds later, the injured Sannin grinned as he opened his mouth wide. Naruto watched as another Orochimaru came from out of his mouth, fully healed and with his new arm in place. This time, Orochimaru was now in his true masculine appearance.
"Like shedding old skin. It'll take more than what you got to kill me," Orochimaru remarked with a sinister smile.
"Why Jiisan didn't kill you when he had the chance all those years ago is beyond me," Naruto retorted.
"Don't worry. You won't be around long enough to ponder about it," Orochimaru replied.
This guy is going to be a serious problem and I know he's capable of anything. If I miscalculate him I'm done for. I know some things about him and his skills but from the look of things I don't know enough about him. What I do know is that he's very skilled in kenjutsu, ninjutsu, and I'm sure he has knowledge in fūinjutsu, has the Snake Summoning contract…I wonder if I missed anything. Regardless, I'm going to require more than what I know and what I've seen since I'm sure Orochimaru has more than enough chakra to pose as more than just a mere threat, Naruto planned as his flaming chakra flared.
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto said before creating thirty clones of himself. Then forming different hand seal, he made ten more clones.
"Impressive boy, the fact that you can produce this many clones is proof of your Uzumaki heritage. But tell me something, what's zero times forty?" Orochimaru asked with a mocking tone. Neither Naruto nor his clones bothered to reply as the clones in pairs of two charged at Orochimaru, all having their respective katana in hand. Grinning, Orochimaru summoned his Kusanagi sword to him and engaged the clones in kenjutsu combat.
Meanwhile, the other kage bunshin that Naruto summoned earlier was doing what he could to inflict serious damage to the massive viper but found that task more of an annoyance than he'd anticipated. He managed to inflict some damage and wounds to the snake, but the resilient serpent just kept on coming.
"That damn snake is fast and it won't stand still long enough for me to inflict serious damage to it!" the clone said while he was still levitating in the air, "And his scales are like armor, slowing down whatever attacks I throw at him!"
The snake went on the offensive and charged at the clone. As it dashed, it spat a large stream of venom at the clone. The clone managed to evade the attack, and the venom missed him and splashed down on the trees and leaves. The result was that the trees and the leaves started dissolving fast from the acidic properties of the venom.
"I'm happy we weren't standing over there," Sakura remarked after seeing that result of the snake's attack.
"We have to do something about that monster," Karin said.
"Do what, exactly?" Sakura asked, "What weapon or plan do you have to stop that thing!?"
"Well, we can't just stand around and do nothing!" Sasuke retorted.
That was when a loud explosion was heard, followed by Orochimaru being seen flying backwards before regaining his bearings and flipping in time for his feet to meet the ground as he slid backwards from the force of the momentum. While holding his Kusanagi blade, Orochimaru looked in time to see Naruto's clones rush at him, katana in hand. They didn't give Orochimaru time to conjure up seals as they moved at the speed of the wind in his direction.
The Sannin again engaged the clones in pairs of two at a time in an intense sword fight as they clashed blades with each other. So far Orochimaru managed to dispel fourteen of the clones but as the number decreased the Sannin found that they were becoming increasingly difficult to defeat. It didn't help that hidden among the clones were exploding clones and the Snake Sannin couldn't distinguish between the regular clones and the exploding ones. At the same time though, the clones weren't having a pleasant time with the Sannin either as they found him more elusive and stronger than they were expecting. Every time they though they managed to hurt or wound him in some form or other, it turned out to be either a kawarimi of mud, wood, or some other escape jutsu.
"Damn he's fast and hard to pin down," one of the clones remarked.
"Well no one said he was going to be an easy-to-hit target," another clone added.
"No one did indeed," Orochimaru said as he appeared suddenly behind them. The first clone leaped away backwards as the Orochimaru's sword came down on the other clone. Before the sword could hit, the clone exploded, and blasted Orochimaru off the ground and away from where he was previously.
The same clone from before the leaped away shunshin'd over to Orochimaru and attempted to ram him katana straight into his skull. However, Orochimaru twisted his neck and shot out his elongated tongue and wrapped it around the clone's right leg, using him as leverage to regain his balance. Once that was done, he pulled his tongue and flipped the clone into the air before hurling him down to the ground with his tongue still wrapped out his leg. The clone used kawarimi and switched with a rock that brought the Sannin's tongue down into the dirt. After that happened, Orochimaru retracted and whipped the dirt off his tongue.
The next thing that happened was Sasuke jumping into the air and throwing two kunai and several shuriken at the Sannin. Karin leaped in with six senbon needles while Sakura had a kunai in hand. Karin threw two senbon at Orochimaru's arms while the six shuriken Sasuke threw from earlier struck Orochimaru in the back. Unaffected by the ambush, Orochimaru raced forward toward Karin and Sakura at a speed neither of the Genin could see. Orochimaru launched Karin backwards with a hard kick towards the river. Despite the attack, Karin still managed to throw her two other senbon straight into Orochimaru's thigh before she fell into the large running river. Sakura was about to react but she was suddenly punched in the face which was followed up with a roundhouse kick that flipped her to the ground facedown with Orochimaru standing over her.
Sasuke reappeared behind Orochimaru with three of Naruto clones racing at the Sannin. Orochimaru smiled as he saw the four of them hurrying over to fight him. Before they could reach him, the same giant viper came down and attempted a tail whip attack at them. Sasuke managed to flip away and dodge the attack while the clones, using wind element, flew off the ground and evading being dispelled. The clone fighting the viper drew its attention away from the others by crashing a Rasengan into the snake's side, blowing off several large scales off the snake's body. The massive reptile hissed loudly and angrily from the injury before charging at its attacker.
Orochimaru turned to Sasuke and pulled out one of the shuriken from his back that Sasuke impaled into him. He threw it back at the Uchiha and racing through a set of hand signs, Orochimaru said, "Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
The next thing Sasuke saw was one shuriken being multiplied into two hundred shuriken. Seeing the danger, Sasuke immediately hid behind a large tree just a second before the shuriken impaled into the trees around him.
The three clones from before reappeared and stabbed Orochimaru all at once, their katana being stabbed right through him.
"I'll ask the question again Naruto: What's zero times forty?" Orochimaru mocked before opening his mouth wide as another Orochimaru came forth from it slithered away fast from his old and wounded "skin" and now having a new and healed appearance with the bottom half of his body being like that of a snake.
"This is getting tiring!" one of the clones said as they removed their katana out of the body and made their way over to the Sannin. Orochimaru dodged their assaults one after another though several times they came close to landing hits on him. After another couple of minutes two of the clones were dispelled with Orochimaru managing to grab and stab the third clone with his own katana.
"Now that's just wrong!" the clone said before dispelling. The Sannin reverted the lower half of his body back to normal legs and stood upright. He was getting annoyed with the clones as more of them just kept coming. So far eighteen were gone and he had another twenty-two to go and he didn't know which among them were possibly walking bombs.
"Are your clones the only show of bravado you can dish out to me, Naruto?" Orochimaru sneered. He was given no answer as the clones again in pairs of two engaged him in combat. As he battled with the clones, the Sannin again found that they were becoming more difficult to fight as now they were starting to anticipate his next moves and keep from being destroyed.
Karin suddenly came leaping in with a flying kick at Orochimaru's head. The Sannin however bent backwards allowing the female Uzumaki to soar over him as she landed down on her feet. Sasuke appeared again behind him and performed a set of hand seals before shooting a stream of fire at the man. The next thing Sakura knew was that she was about to be on the receiving end of Sasuke's fire stream attack after Orochimaru used kawarimi and switched places with her. Sasuke was unable to stop the attack and before she was struck, Karin ran and tackled Sakura to the ground, saving her from being burned by accident.
"Thanks," Sakura thanked.
"Don't thank her yet," Orochimaru remarked with his Kusanagi sword in hand. The girls turned to see the Sannin ready to slice them in two as his sword came down at them. Two of Naruto's clones appeared and stopped the sword with their katana. A third clone came rushing in and roundhouse kicked Orochimaru hard and into the air as a fourth clone shunshin'd and delivered a swift flying kick to his chest. The timed attack sent the older ninja flying through the air away from the girls before hitting the ground.
As he got up, the four clones wasted no time going after the traitor Sannin.
"I'm started to get really tired of these clones," Orochimaru muttered as he charged and decapitated one of the clones, only for it to be replaced with a log that was cut in two. The same clone suddenly reappeared next to Orochimaru and detonated. The Sannin, learning from his previous ambush, shunshin'd and appeared behind the other three clones. With his sword in hand, he didn't give them time to calculate what happened as he hurriedly swung his sword at the sides of their necks, dispelling the three of them.
"That leaves eighteen of them left," Orochimaru acknowledged. With their remaining number, the clones evenly divided into six groups of threes. One of the clones, henge'd into Sandaime, only without the Hokage robe and hat but only his battle garb. Imitating Hiruzen's voice and character, the clone said, "Orochimaru, you were my prized student but also my most unforgivable failure. I was foolish to believe at one point in time you'd aspire to greatness for Konoha."
Orochimaru chuckled at the clone's attempt to mock and provoke him, "I admire your ingenuity. But it'll take more than copying Sarutobi-sensei's appearance and voice to hurt me in any shape or form."
Undeterred, "Hiruzen" continued, "Orochimaru, I couldn't choose you to become my successor because of your corrupt and twisted ideals and crimes in experimenting on the villagers and ninja you kidnapped! That was why I chose Naruto's father instead of you to become Yondaime!"
Hearing that, actually got the Sannin to snarl angrily and he replied, "I don't know how you know what you know, but you're really proving to be a thorn at my side."
The clone dropped the henge and stated, "We'll prove to be more than that!"
The clones all charged at Orochimaru forcing the Sannin to fight them. Sasuke and the others appeared and looked for an opportunity to jump in but they didn't find the right moment to do so as the clones and Orochimaru were moving too fast for them to keep up. After another eight minutes of sword fighting against the clones, Orochimaru managed to take out the first six, leaving twelve of them to go. The clones were fighting Orochimaru much more in a strategized formation than before, giving the older man a more difficult time in their battle as he found it harder to get rid of them. He resorted to using fire, water and earth jutsu to counter them and after destroying eight more clones, he was forced to shed "skin" again after two more clone bombs blew up on him, leaving two Narutos behind.
The two of them took on the Sannin in a fierce taijutsu fight which lasted for ten minutes. It looked like a stalemate until Orochimaru whipped his tongue out and wrapped it around the clone's leg lifted him up off the ground. With a strong force, he slammed the clone hard into the ground, dispelling it on contact, leaving one orange clad Genin with his teammates and Karin behind.
Smirking, Orochimaru asked mockingly, "I'll ask you a third time: What's zero times forty?"
Before Naruto could give his reply Orochimaru moved so fast behind him and slashed his sword down on the Genin's back. Naruto screamed from the assault before Orochimaru kicked him to the ground and stomped on his wounded bleeding back. The Sannin kicked Naruto hard enough to force the Genin to turn over on this injured back to face him.
"It's zero," Orochimaru said darkly. "In other words all you can do is multiply trash thus all that we're left with now is a pile of garbage."
"I'm sure you'd love to believe that," Naruto said bursting into a cloud of smoke.
"What? Another clone?" Orochimaru deduced as he looked around for the real Naruto. It dawned on the Sannin that he was fighting Naruto's clones and bombs the entire time. The next thing Orochimaru felt was a fist worthy of Tsunade impact on his face, effectively dislocating his jaw. The Snake Sannin was hurled to the ground and rolled couple of time before stopping. He stood back up and saw two Narutos standing in front of him.
Grabbing his jaw, Orochimaru snapped it back in place and remarked with an annoyed tone, "More clones?"
"No, only one this time," Naruto replied, "You played with my clones long enough. Now you can face the real thing."
"I wasted enough time on you and your clones! I'll kill you now!" Orochimaru declared as he summoned his Kusanagi sword and engaged Naruto and his clone in a fierce and deadly kenjutsu battle. Much to the Sannin's surprise however, he was forced to take Naruto seriously as they clashed blades with each other at blurring speeds for the next couple of minutes. The Sannin had to use his knowledge of kenjutsu to match and keep up with Naruto.
After some time had elapsed, the clone handed Naruto his katana before he dashed at Orochimaru and detonated, revealing himself to be an exploding clone and temporarily knocking the Sannin off balance. But Orochimaru used kawarimi and swapped himself with a pile of mud. Orochimaru reappeared at Naruto's side, swinging his sword at the boy's throat. Naruto, however, blocked the attack with one of his two katana, and pushed the sword away from him. Quickly, Naruto used his wind manipulation to push Orochimaru further from him, giving the Genin a few seconds to attempt a double slash attack at the Sannin.
Orochimaru avoided Naruto's double slash, but then Naruto moved forward and swung his right hand katana at Orochimaru. The Sannin narrowly blocked the swing with his own sword and was then forced to jump back again to avoid Naruto's second katana, which was coming towards him.
After Orochimaru had avoided Naruto's attack, the Sanke Sannin attempted to go on the offensive by slashing at Naruto's exposed left side. But before his attack could cut Naruto, the Jinchuuriki brought his left katana down and blocked the slash, after which he pushed Orochimaru's sword away and attempted a double horizontal slash with his two katana.
When Orochimaru saw what Naruto was doing, he swiftly took a step back to evade the double slash, exposing the blond Genin to an attack. Before the traitorous Sannin could exploit the opportunity that was present, Naruto leaped forward and attempted a double vertical slash. This forced Orochimaru to step back again to dodge it and open Naruto to another attack.
Seeing a golden opportunity to conclude the fight, the Sannin raised his Kusanagi sword to slash at Naruto. However, before he could swing his sword down on Naruto, the Genin fell backwards and preformed a chakra enhanced double kick into Orochimaru's exposed chest, sending the Sannin flying into the tree behind him. The Sannin was hit so hard into the unforgiving tree that his body embedded an impression of his figure into it as the crash knocked the breath out of him before he fell down onto the ground and dropped his sword.
Sasuke and Sakura watched the fight with stunned and stupefied expressions while Karin looked on dreamily at the blond haired Uzumaki.
"Naruto-kun is such a powerful fighter! And he's actually forcing Orochimaru back and really giving it to him this time around!" Karin said excitedly.
"The way they're fighting it's…It's unbelievable!" Sakura marveled. Sasuke silently watched as he tried to visually keep up with Naruto and Orochimaru.
Speaking of the Sannin, Orochimaru stood back, though he was clearly injured as he eyed Naruto carefully. From the look of things, Orochimaru was not happy with his current situation.
The way he's fighting…it's much different than before, Orochimaru thought. What also added to my problem is that Naruto's clones forced me to use a lot of chakra and more than once I had to change skin, which diminished more of my chakra.
Orochimaru was trying to figure out how Naruto's style of combat improved and upgraded so fast in the given time he had when from the beginning all Naruto did was send forty of his clones to battle him and aid Karin and his two teammates. The Snake Sannin however didn't have more time to debate about his situation as Naruto body flickered at a far faster speed than usual to him and attempted to drive the blade of his katana straight into his throat. Orochimaru clapped his two hands together, narrowly stopping the blade less than an inch away from his jugular. He grunted as he struggled with Naruto, who was pushing the katana closer to his throat while holding the second katana with his left hand. Orochimaru felt the sharp blade touch the skin of his throat.
What the hell is this? No Genin, hell, no ANBU could keep up with me like this! This is absolutely ridiculous! Orochimaru thought as Naruto stared back at him with narrowed, cold blue eyes. Snarling at the Genin, the Sannin finally managed to push the blade away from him. However, Naruto swiftly swung the second katana in an attempt to decapitate the Sannin. Orochimaru evaded the slash and retrieved his Kusanagi before he leaped high and landed on a tree branch. That was when he felt it: a warm, thick liquid seeping down his neck. He grasped the right side of his neck and found blood coming down from it. He realized that Naruto's attack actually managed to wound his neck.
I was sure I avoided his attack! How did he still manage to hurt me, Orochimaru contemplated while holding his bleeding wound. When a small breeze blew pass him, that was when he realized what happened, Wind chakra. He surrounded his blade with wind chakra. The blade never touched me, it was the wind chakra surrounding the blade of his katana. He'd have surely killed me had I moved a second too late.
Taking advantage of Orochimaru's distraction, Naruto body flickered and appeared upside down on a higher branch of the tree that the Sannin jumped to. Dispelling the second katana, Naruto extended his left hand and formed a concentrated orb of wind chakra in the center of his palm and aimed it at the Sannin directly below him.
"Fūjin Bakuhatsu (Wind God Explosion)!" Naruto yelled as the wind chakra concentrated in his palm exploded in a mighty blast. Orochimaru barely had enough time to use kawarimi before the deadly air pushed down on the branch he had been standing on. The tree branch seemed to implode in on itself before it collapsed to the earth at an alarming speed. When the dust cleared, the branch, which had been pretty thick, was mere splinters on the forest floor.
Naruto turned in time to see Orochimaru raise his interlaced hands and bring them down. Since Naruto was standing upside down on a tree branch the blow connected with his chin, sending him careening to ground below. Orochimaru landed on the ground just as Naruto exploded from the dust cloud he had created on impact. Wielding his katana, he again aimed to decapitate the Snake Sannin.
Orochimaru ducked under the blow, letting Naruto pass over him, he turned and threw two kunai, and each connected, digging deeply into Naruto's left shoulder and bicep. The missing nin capitalized on his new advantage and came up with a high kick, which connected, followed by an ax kick that sent the blond tumbling down a small hill. The Sannin reappeared above him and stomped down on his chest repeatedly, making his back scrape against the forest floor. The tearing of clothes and the clattering of the kunai that fell out of Naruto's shoulder and arm could be heard among the ruckus.
Orochimaru leapt up and formed hand seals in preparation for a fire attack. He finished the last seal and shouted, "Katon: Karyuu Endan!"
The jutsu sent the fire dragon straight down. When it hit, the floor beneath him was blanketed with flames. He smirked, but it died almost as soon as it appeared as he felt the air leave his lungs, followed by another solid fist to the face. His jaw had been cracked before, now it was just downright broken. It was then followed by a hit to the ribs and again to his throat, then finally, a backhand across the face sent him reeling.
His back hit a tree with a loud crack. He opened his eyes as Naruto appeared in front of him in a blur of movement.
"Fūjin Bakuhatsu!" Naruto yelled, his palm just a few inches from Orochimaru's face. The Sannin barely had enough time to put a haphazard defense in the form of a chakra barrier before the pressure hit him. It was intense, as if he had hundreds of pounds pushing entirely against his skull and the rest of his upper body. He felt his ribs snap. One, two, three, four; four ribs snapped before the tree behind him finally gave way and was broken in two like a massive twig.
Orochimaru's body hit the ground hard, skipping across it like a stone above a lake. Finally, after five skips he fell still. Orochimaru coughed up blood as he picked himself up. He looked and glared at the Genin with loathing as he saw that both his shoulder and bicep were fully healed after the two kunai thrown and embedded into him were unwittingly removed.
"Naruto-kun is so hot and kickass!" Karin marveled while looking at him dreamily.
"You are aware that he has a girlfriend, right?" Sakura remarked, though she was just as amazed at how the battle was going. Sasuke continued looking on in disbelieving silence as Orochimaru was pushed back by the Jinchuuriki.
Orochimaru thought fast about what he could do to leave Naruto vulnerable and open to an ambush. After a short moment of planning, an idea came to mind. Spitting blood out of his mouth and wiping the blood off his mouth while ignoring the pain from his ribs, a devious smile formed on his lips.
"Let's end this," Orochimaru suggested as he gripped his Kusanagi sword and dashed at Naruto. The blond gripped his katana and readied to meet the Sannin as he headed towards him. However, Orochimaru changed directions and charged at the Genin standing at the side. He thrust his arm out and shot a boa constrictor which rushed at Karin. The girl didn't have a chance to run as the snake appeared and wrapped around her tightly.
"Karin!" Naruto said before cursing himself for dropping his guard around them. Orochimaru pulled Karin over to him through the use of the boa while squeezing her further.
"Na-Naruto-k…kun," Karin choked between breaths while feeling the life being constricted out of her.
Holding her up in the air, the Sannin smiled darkly and asked, "How much do you value her life, Naruto?"
"An eternity in the belly of the Shinigami will pale in comparison for what I have in store for you if you don't release her, now!" Naruto threatened as his hardened blue eyes turned red with his pupils changing into cat-like slits. He started growing fangs and claws, and his whisker marks became more feral as a result of Kyuubi's influence feeding off his anger.
"We'll see about that, boy," Orochimaru retorted as he had the snake constrict Karin further, "Because from where it stands, stopping me will be the least of your worries."
Karin was in too much pain to scream. A second later, Orochimaru launched Karin high into the air above the trees. Before Naruto could react, the gigantic snake dashed at Karin with its mouth open, and swallowed her whole.
"NO!" screamed Naruto and the remaining clone that had been battling the snake yelled simultaneously. He went after the snake while the clone that was fighting the snake earlier did what it could to stop the snake. However, a surprise tail whip attack from the snake struck the clone, sending him flying hard into the ground, dispelling him. Naruto, in the meantime, ran as fast as he could after the snake. However, Orochimaru intercepted him and…
"Gogyo Fūin!" Orochimaru yelled with his fingertips glowing with a blue flame, each having a seal marking on them. He thrust his fingers into Naruto's gut. The clothing beneath the fingers burned away until they touched Naruto's hidden seal. Naruto gasped and shook, his blue chakra cloak twisted and stirred for an instant and then vanished, as did the effects of Kyuubi's influence. Naruto fell wordlessly to the ground on his knees. But rather than feeling weakened, something within Naruto exploded with power as a result of Orochimaru's attack.
"What is this?" Orochimaru asked, sensing something developing within the Jinchuuriki, only for lightning to suddenly shoot out of Naruto and blast him. Orochimaru was sent flying away from Naruto and into a boulder, with a burn on his left shoulder as a result of the unexpected burst of lightning.
Using his katana as a crutch, Naruto struggled to stand back up but Orochimaru's surprise attack with the Gogyo Fuin threw the blond Genin off balance and left him disoriented. Naruto lifted his shirt and saw the five seal markings that Orochimaru placed on his stomach, around the seal holding Kyuubi.
"Those seals, they're throwing my chakra and coordination off balance," Naruto realized as he tried to focus chakra into his right fingers to undo the effects of the foreign seals placed on him just moments ago. Before he could do that however the giant monster black viper abruptly came upon him and bit down on his extended right arm.
"SHIT!" Naruto cursed loudly in immense pain. The viper pulled Naruto high off the ground and tossed him into the air before swallowing both him and his katana.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed in horror after seeing what became of the two Uzumaki.
"Well, children, I wasted enough time with your friend, so now I can handle the business I originally came to take care of," Orochimaru said sinisterly as he made his way over to Sasuke and Sakura. Orochimaru didn't give Sakura time to react when he suddenly appeared and kicked her square in the gut, send her flying off the ground away from Sasuke before hitting the ground. The Uchiha retaliated with a fury of punches and kicks, all of which Orochimaru effectively blocked.
"This is just sad, Sasuke-kun. Your dead last teammate gave me a better fight, and actually got me to take him seriously. You're nowhere near Naruto's level of power and deep down, you know that's the truth," Orochimaru mocked coldly. Sasuke felt cold anger course through him as he focused chakra into his eyes.
Sakura slowly moved and stood back up off the ground. Shaking the dizziness out of her system, she looked over to see what was going on. Her eyes then fell on Sasuke and his opponent. She watched as Sasuke fought with the missing-nin, his movements even faster than before. Not only was he moving with greater speed, he seemed to anticipate his opponent's actions by a fraction of a second. Sakura then saw the gleam of red in his eyes which indicated that the proclaimed Rookie of the Year had managed to activate his bloodline, the Sharingan.
After flipping backwards to escape his opponent's counter, the Uchiha raced through a series of hand signs. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"
Sasuke shot a large ball of fire from his mouth at Orochimaru, enveloping the man in flames. However, Sasuke's victory was short lived as the Sannin burst into a cloud of smoke.
"Kage bunshin?" Sasuke realized.
"It shouldn't surprise you by now, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said as he appeared behind him and tried to grab Sasuke by the throat. Sasuke, at the last second, ducked and attempted a spin kick with his right leg. Orochimaru flexed his body backwards with inhuman flexibility and flipped away. Wasting no time, Sasuke raced through a set of hand signs and fired a series of fireballs from his mouth at Orochimaru. The Sannin managed to sidestep the worst of the fireballs as Sasuke ran and flipped overhead and shot another fireball at him, this one hitting his left hand. Sasuke landed to face his enemy.
Not deterred from what happened, Orochimaru rushed at him and threw several punches at the Uchiha. Sasuke noticed that the ninja's left hand was badly burned, with the skin falling off in places, but it didn't seem to slow the twisted man down at all.
"Good, good," the Sannin murmured as he watched Sasuke block another attack. "Your skills have progressed nicely, all things considered."
As soon as Sasuke hurriedly moved back to give himself some distance between himself and his opponent, Sakura appeared and threw a kunai at the Sannin's back. Orochimaru's neck extended in length, shot out his tongue and caught the kunai with it. The sight of Orochimaru's neck and tongue both shocked and horrified Sakura while Sasuke had a look of disgust while quickly preparing for his next attack. Orochimaru stared back at the female Genin with narrowed eyes.
"I don't need you interrupting my test on Sasuke," Orochimaru said darkly before he threw the kunai back at Sakura with his tongue. She screamed and dropped to the ground fast, just barely being missed being stabbed directly in her heart as the kunai was embedded into the tree trunk behind her.
His attack ready, Sasuke ran forward at the Sannin and flung a double-handful of shuriken. They arced out in a seemingly random pattern, none of them coming close to their target, however, nobody noticed the wires trailing behind them. Before Orochimaru knew what was happening, he'd been bound to an adjacent tree trunk and Sasuke fired off a massive stream of flames that raced down the wires to consume his enemy.
Sakura felt her eyebrows widen at the sight. The fire attack had actually burned a hole completely through the four meter thick trunk, leaving their enemy little more than a smoldering carcass. And then the carcass darkened and slumped into a pile of mud.
Sasuke didn't have to contemplate what happened as Orochimaru took advantage of the distraction to ambush him. A huge snake shot out of his right sleeve and wrapped around Sasuke's torso, trapping his arms.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out in horror. Then the snake flexed and constricted, forcing Sasuke to his knees as the air was forced out of his lungs. The Uchiha was getting red in the face as the serpent continued to squeeze.
"Sa-Sakura," Sasuke gasped. "Get…out of here. Just…go!" he said in a breathless voice.
Sakura's eyes widened. Did Sasuke think she'd just leave him like this? Who did he think she was? Did he think she was a coward? But his voice didn't appear angry or disillusioned, just…worried, afraid. Not of the snake, either, but perhaps…for her? On one hand, such a realization warmed her slightly as it gave her hopes for the future. On the other hand, inner-Sakura was outraged. Did he think she was that useless?
Seeing Sasuke in Orochimaru's grip, Sakura hurried over to Sasuke to provide whatever help she could as she pulled out another kunai. She aimed the weapon directly at the snake hoping it would force it to release Sasuke. Seeing her approaching them from the corner of his eye, Orochimaru thrust out his free left arm and…
"Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)!" Orochimaru called out before two constrictors came forth speedily and wrapped up Sakura. The girl screamed upon seeing the surprise attack as the snakes wrapped and constricted tightly around her before she fell to the ground.
"You need not worry, girl, I'll make your demise quite painless after I'm through with Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said menacingly, then turned his attention back to the Uchiha. Sakura felt worse than useless, as not only did she not last anywhere near as long as either Naruto or Sasuke, but she was unable to do anything else but watch helplessly as Orochimaru stalked closer to Sasuke.
Orochimaru smirked at the Uchiha's helpless glare. "Now, where were we?"
Sakura could only stare in horror at the Sannin's exposed his fangs. He extended his neck and reached down towards Sasuke, dipping down to bite at his neck like some creature from folktales. After his fangs pieced Sasuke's neck, the Sannin backed away, but then was surprised when he felt a mighty punch delivered to the side of his face. The attack forced him to not only release Sasuke but the heaven scroll which he still had in his possession which was taken by the clone and thrown to the ground next to Sasuke, who dropped and collapsed to the ground, twitching violently.
Orochimaru flew past the trees, and before being allowed to hit the ground, the Naruto clone body flickered into the Snake Sannin's path and drove his right fist into Orochimaru, sending him in the opposing direction, knocking him to the ground and cratering it effectively. While Orochimaru was down, the clone shouted, "I didn't know you were into giving boys hickeys! Freak!"
Wasting no time, the clone detonated, blowing himself up on the Sannin, adding more damage to the missing nin.
Meanwhile, the gigantic viper started expanding larger and larger. It hissed loudly, as it was unable to stop what was happening to it as it continued getting bigger and bigger. After a couple of seconds, its mouth burst wide open and out from it was Naruto, carrying the half unconscious Karin bridal style with what looked to be thousands of Naruto clones inside the gigantic black viper, just taking up space. The viper was neither able to move nor close its mouth with all of those clones inside its body, and it was clearly in pain. All of the clones inside the snake started gathering and concentrating massive amounts of chakra inside their bodies.
"Uzumaki Jutsu: Legion!" Naruto said before he body flickered to where Sakura and Sasuke were with Karin still in his arms. Setting her down carefully, he made a kage bunshin and had him retrieve the weakened Sasuke and the heaven scroll, while he used his katana to free Sakura of the snakes. Remembering the large running river close by, Naruto readied himself for his next attack after gathering his team and Karin together around him.
"Tajuu Kage Bunshin Daibakuhatsu (Mass Shadow Clone Great Explosion)!" the clones inside the gigantic snake chorused simultaneously. Suddenly, all of the clones glowed white causing the snake to glow white also before a massive, ground-shaking explosion occurred with a brilliant towering wall of white fire destroying the surrounding area. Though partly conscious, both Karin and Sasuke, along with Sakura, felt the tremendous heat coming at them with the intense white light racing very fast to consume them.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Sakura shrieked in a panic. Naruto quickly formed a few hand seals and…
"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Wall)," Naruto yelled out before blasting water out of his mouth which he was taking from the nearby river, creating a giant protective tornado of water around the five of them, countering and dousing the intense white flames blasting at them and neutralizing the extreme heat made from his exploding clones' attack.
"What the!?" was all Sakura could say while watching the spinning water cyclone completely countering Naruto's attack. The geyser tornado lasted for three minutes with his clone using wind element to strengthen the cold temperature of the spiraling water while at the same time pushing the towering spinning wall of water further out thus pushing the intense white flames back and away from them. The white flames were evaporating the outer barrier of the water tornado as soon as they made contact thus the wind chakra the clone was adding to the barrier aided in dropping the temperature of the spiraling water to near freezing.
When the attack ended, the clone pushed the waters all the way away from them and into the remaining flames around them, blanking the nearby vicinity in a mixed cloud of smoke and steam, denying visibility to everyone. Seeking to find safety for the others, Naruto, with Karin, his katana and the heaven scroll in hand, and the clone who was holding onto to Sakura and Sasuke body flickered to another location while the large region of the forest they were in was still completely engulfed in fire with black smoke reaching high into the skies.
(Meanwhile)
Amidst the blazing fire and burning rubble, Orochimaru appeared out of the burning debris and from the looks of things, he had seen better days. The ambush by the clone caught Orochimaru completely off guard and effectively wounded him further on top of the earlier external and internal injuries Naruto inflicted on him. That giant white fire bomb attack triggered by Naruto's army of clones from inside the giant viper didn't help either. That attack burned sections of Orochimaru's body and clothes just moments before his Rashomon summoning jutsu took effect. The intense heat that was still present in the forest only added to the pain the Sannin was feeling. A trickle of blood came down both ends of Orochimaru's mouth as he fell down to his left knee.
"That damn Naruto is more than I thought, and I would be lying if I didn't admit that he give me a real scare," the wounded Orochimaru said with hoarse voice while holding his bleeding, broken left arm. His right arm was only faring slightly better though his right eye was closed from the burn half of his face suffered from the white fire attack. "I made a costly error not keeping careful tabs on that Jinchuuriki, and he killed two of my favorite pets, and almost me in the process. I'll learn from this mistake."
Standing back up, Orochimaru flinched from the pain of his injuries. After it passed, he formed a twisted smile and remarked, "Regardless, I still managed to give Sasuke a little goodbye present, thus the loss of my pets and my current condition wasn't a waste in the end. Sasuke will seek me out someday. He will come to me for power."
He smirked as he began to sink down into the ground. "I haven't fought a battle this hard in a long time. I won't forget this…Naruto."
With that, Orochimaru disappeared from sight, leaving the burning forest behind.
The fierce and deadly battle with the Snake Sannin is over, though Orochimaru claimed some kind of victory despite the brutal injuries Naruto inflicted on him. But what's the issue behind that lightning that burst out of Naruto's body after Orochimaru's Gogyo Fūin attack? Find out what happens next time as the Preliminaries begin!