"Is her target really Uchiha Sasuke?" Lee thought, hiding in the shadows.
As he watched, he began to wonder who this female ninja truly was. Her incredible strength and strange abilities reminded him of someone from Konoha who had defected long ago. But the rogue ninja he remembered was a man. Could someone so powerful even change their appearance at will, maybe even their gender? Lee quickly pushed the thought away and focused back on the scene, trying to figure out what this strange ninja wanted from Sasuke.
The female ninja's ominous words echoed in Sasuke and Sakura's minds, recalling the terror they felt just from her killing intent earlier. She hadn't even attacked them directly, yet they'd been frozen in fear. They knew this wasn't a fight they could win.
"You really think I need you to hand over the scroll?" she sneered, lifting her left sleeve to reveal a strange pattern etched into her skin. Without warning, she bit her thumb, drawing blood, and smeared it across the markings on her arm. Instantly, an eerie, powerful energy radiated from her.
"What... is this?" Lee muttered to himself, watching intently. He recognized a unique energy in her movements, something close to the powerful techniques from the martial arts world he knew in his past life. This was his chance to observe an advanced ninja technique up close.
Naruto, however, felt only one thing—rage. Without hesitation, he grabbed a kunai and charged at the female ninja. "I don't care what tricks you have; I'm taking you down!"
"Naruto, no! Get out of here!" Sasuke yelled, panic clear in his voice.
"Summoning Jutsu!" she declared coldly, her hands moving through complex hand signs. A sudden gust of wind erupted, blowing Naruto backward.
"Boom!"
The force of her summoning whipped through the forest, snapping branches and even some tree trunks. Lee, who was hidden nearby, had to quickly dodge to avoid the chaos stirred up by the blast of wind.
"What... was that?" Lee's eyes went wide as he saw a monstrous snake appear—a creature easily over thirty meters long and as thick as a tree. This was no ordinary jutsu; it was summoning, something Lee knew only the strongest ninjas could control.
Naruto stared up at the giant snake in horror. "What... what is that?"
With a smirk, the female ninja stood on top of the snake's head, commanding it forward. It moved with incredible speed, darting toward Naruto with its fangs bared.
"Ahhh!" Naruto screamed as the snake's head slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and leaving him bloodied. The creature then whipped its tail, sending him flying into a tree, where he crumpled to the ground, drenched in his own blood.
"Naruto!" Sasuke and Sakura yelled in horror, but they were frozen in place, unable to help him.
But Lee's eyes narrowed as he observed something strange. As Naruto lay battered, a powerful, ancient energy suddenly surged from within him, protecting him from the snake's second attack. Lee realized then that Naruto held something immensely powerful inside, something capable of fighting back against such a monstrous force.
"Is that... the power sealed inside him?" Lee murmured to himself. He could sense a half-dormant strength, something like the aura of a half-step martial emperor from his previous life. "So, in life-or-death situations, this hidden power rises to defend him?"
The female ninja seemed unaware of the energy shift. "Go on, little snake. Eat him up," she commanded with a cruel smile.
The giant snake opened its jaws wide, moving in for the kill.
"Eat dirt!" Just as the snake lunged, Naruto's eyes snapped open, revealing an intense, fiery red gaze that was far from human. In one swift motion, he punched the snake right in the head.
"Boom!"
To everyone's astonishment, the giant snake recoiled, letting out a screech as it retreated from Naruto, looking at him now as if it faced a true threat.
The female ninja, standing atop the snake's head, was visibly taken aback. She narrowed her eyes, staring at Naruto with newfound interest. "This kid... could he be…?" Her expression shifted to something serious, almost as if she'd stumbled upon a hidden secret.