Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 60: The Mysterious Woman
Naruto would have wanted to stay and examine the dead snake for a bit longer.
A swordsman novice like him should never have been able to create even a tiny amount of Sword Intent.
Only those who walked the path of the Sword Dao for a very long time should be able to perform such a feat.
But he had the feeling that if he waited too long, his two teammates would likely die.
He shouldn't care that much for them since he barely knows them. But abandoning them to die is a different matter.
"There!" He jumped over a large branch and spotted the clearing where he was attacked by the snake.
Sakura was standing back while Sasuke fought with that woman.
'So she finally showed up…' He decided to observe them for a few seconds before intervening.
'Things don't look good…' Everything that Sasuke threw at her was easily countered. And she wasn't even taking him seriously.
As he thought, this person was way beyond the level of a genin. She was just playing with Sasuke as Kakashi did during their genin test.
At the very least, she appeared to be as strong as Zabuza, if not more…
"How long are you planning on staying hidden, Uzumaki Naruto?" The face of the woman turned in his direction while her wide creepy eyes glared directly at him.
"I guess hiding to collect more information is pointless against you…" Naruto walked from behind a large branch.
"Naruto? You're alive!" Sakura appeared to be happy to see him now.
Not that there was much he could do, other than gain time.
'How long will they take to get here?...' He considered.
"Naruto…" Sasuke grumbled something before looking back at Sakura.
"Give me the scroll!." He commanded.
"Huh?… but… okay." Sakura was confused by the sudden change but still agreed to his order. She pulled the 'Heaven' scroll from her bag and handed it to Sasuke.
"Here, take it!" Sasuke showed it to the woman.
"Just take it and leave us!" He threw it at her.
Naruto moved from his spot and intercepted it halfway through before landing on another branch.
"Are you giving up?"
Sasuke frowned at the question.
"You don't understand the situation! This is not an opponent we can beat."
"You are the one who is missing something… do you really believe someone with the strength of a jonin will be interested in the Chunin Exams? Use your head for once." Naruto huffed.
"What did you say?!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"The strength of a jonin?!" Sakura was shocked to hear this.
"A jonin, you say?..." She did not seem to like his evaluation.
"I'm afraid you are falling a bit short…"
"Really?... my apologies then, Miss…" He waited to see if she would say her name, but she remained silent.
"What is it that you want? I'm sure it's not our lives or the scroll… who are you?"
She pulled her sleeve up, revealing some sort of symbol.
"You are right… I don't care for the scroll, and if I wanted you dead, you would be dead already. Speaking of…." She crossed a line over the symbol.
"Summoning jutsu…"
"Naruto! Get out of there!" Sasuke yelled.
A massive cloud of smoke formed beneath her, and the next instant, she was standing on the head of a snake that was even bigger than the one he just killed.
It was also much faster.
The tail of the snake appeared from behind him.
Naruto did his best to protect himself from the blow, but he was sent flying with tremendous force.
He heard his teammates call for him before his body collided against the side of a tree and almost broke an arm.
'Oi… Kyubi… are you paying attention?...we have a bit of a problem here.' He called inside his mind.
The demon fox said nothing, but the surge of yang chakra that he felt next gave him the answer… the Kyubi was at least somewhat aware of what was happening.
"Go ahead and eat him," the enemy ninja said with a cold tone.
Naruto stood up from his branch… his eyes turned red, and his facial marks became more notable.
"Eat… me?"
The face of the colossal snake was already in front of him. It opened its mouth with the intent to swallow him whole, along with the branch where he stood.
He moved a large amount of that cursed demon chakra to the palm of his right hand.
A small ball of fire manifested as the side of the temperature rose.
His hand and part of his arm began to burn… another side effect.
Since this was not a technique, there were no protections in place for him.
It was the same thing he used against the masked ninja from Wave Country.
He was taking a large amount of yang chakra and concentrating it in a single point until it created an explosion of pure heat.
This was the most basic and brutish way to use this chakra.
But at this moment, he was a bit lacking in options against an opponent such as this.
"What is that?!" The woman on top of the snake looked truly shocked.
The reason for this was simple. She could not recognize what fire jutsu this was. And how could she? No matter how much she knew… this was not something she could recognize. It was just something she needed to understand.
Naruto held his hand firm, despite the burns.
Just a moment later… a wave of heat exploded forward, engulfing the upper part of the snake.
There were no words or chants of any kind. Just a simple release of energy in the form of fire and heat that will turn everything into cinders.
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