Night. The moon was bright, the stars sparse.
Naruto was on night watch, his head bobbing up and down as he dozed off.
The campfire in front of him was nearly burned out, with only a small flame stubbornly clinging to life. One light gust of wind, and it would be gone.
"Eh~"
Suddenly, Naruto jerked upright, forcing himself awake.
"As much as I wanna sleep, if Shinju and Sasuke catch me, they'll definitely chew me out…"
He glanced at the dying fire, then tossed a few more dry sticks onto it.
As he finished, a faint rustling came from the grass ahead.
"Who's there?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes cautiously.
No reply.
After a moment, seeing the bushes still moving, he decided not to wake Sasuke or Shinju and went to check alone.
He crept forward and pushed the brush aside.
From the darkness, a massive shadow suddenly lunged out!!
"Wah!!!"
The enormous mass slammed into Naruto, sending him flying dozens of meters!!
At the same time, its huge body crushed the fire Naruto had just rekindled.
And just as the giant form was about to crash down on Sasuke and Shinju—
Shinju snapped awake!
He grabbed Sasuke and instantly warped them away with the Flying Thunder God Technique!
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he realized he was mid-air, being carried by the back of his collar.
The kunoichi from Kusagakure who had released the giant snake licked her lips with a long tongue, eyes glinting with a hint of appreciation.
"Flying Thunder God… quick reflexes."
Still holding Sasuke, Shinju teleported to Naruto's side.
Catching Naruto's battered body as it tumbled back, Shinju stabbed a Flying Thunder God kunai into the trunk of a nearby tree and warped there to make a quick regroup.
Naruto, just hit by the snake, coughed up blood and grimaced.
"Feels like my heart just got smashed to pieces…"
His expression twisted in pain.
Shinju looked up, using the moonlight to check Naruto's chest.
The kid wasn't exaggerating—his chest had actually caved inward from the impact.
The fact he could still talk was a miracle.
"Find somewhere to hide. Sasuke and I will handle this," Shinju said with concern.
"No way! My ninja way is to charge forward, never back down!" Naruto gritted his teeth.
"Yeah, right. Keep this up and you'll be dead in minutes." Shinju's tone was sharp.
Luckily, Naruto had insane recovery abilities—if it were any other shinobi, they'd already be down for the count.
...
Meanwhile, the kunoichi glanced at her two Kusagakure comrades.
"You two stand watch. I'll play with them myself."
The pair nodded and quickly moved off.
Shinju and Sasuke, having settled the wounded Naruto, landed to face the kunoichi and the massive snake behind her.
"Not running? You should realize the gap between your strength and mine," she said, extending her long tongue and eyeing them with amusement.
When her gaze lifted, both Shinju and Sasuke were hit with a crushing wave of killing intent.
Sasuke froze instantly—every cell in his body screamed in terror!
Shinju fared slightly better, but this was his first time experiencing killing intent like a tsunami crashing down. He too was stunned for two seconds.
Then he drove a kunai into his thigh, forcing himself to focus, and demanded,
"Who the hell are you?"
"Orochimaru," the kunoichi said.
Hearing the name, Shinju's breath caught.
He'd seen it on the notice board at the village gates—
Orochimaru, an S-Rank wanted criminal of Konohagakure!
Once a disciple of the Third Hokage…
One of the Legendary Three Ninja!
Shinju didn't speak further.
There was no point in talking—anyone who could make Konoha's S-Rank wanted list was a vicious criminal through and through.
As a shinobi of the Leaf, meeting such a person meant a fight to the death.
"Sasuke." Shinju's voice was cold.
"Hm?" Sasuke turned, expecting some rousing words.
Instead, Shinju continued, "Find a chance to run."
Sasuke: "…???"
"This person was once the Third Hokage's disciple—an S-Rank criminal of Konoha. There's no way you or I can handle him head-on. Survival comes first," Shinju said grimly.
He reached to pull Sasuke along.
Orochimaru noticed the subtle movement and opened his mouth wide.
Swish!
A slick tongue shot out like a spear toward them!
Shinju didn't give him the chance—he yanked Sasuke and warped to Naruto's side with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Then he grabbed the severely injured Naruto and teleported again.
Watching the team vanish, Orochimaru wasn't the least bit worried.
"No matter how far you run, you'll have to bring your scrolls to the center of the training field. I don't believe you haven't left a Flying Thunder God mark there."
...
On the other side of Training Ground 44—
Tenten and Neji were asleep. Tonight's watch was Rock Lee's responsibility.
Of course, being the hardworking genius he was, Lee wasn't wasting a single moment—he was doing push-ups beside the fire.
"996… 997… 998… Alright! Two more and I'll hit a thousand—one step closer to beating Shinju!"
The next moment—
Whoosh!
Shinju's team suddenly appeared on Lee's back, right in the middle of his push-up!
Fortunately, Lee's physique was strong enough to hold all three of them.
Feeling the sudden weight, Lee instinctively thought it was an enemy attack and kicked backward!
Swish!
His leg sliced through the air at high speed.
Smack!
Shinju caught the kick and said firmly, "Don't attack—it's me."
"Shinju? And Naruto, Sasuke? Why did you guys suddenly show up here?" Lee's eyes were full of confusion.
Not far away, the light sleepers Tenten and Neji woke from the commotion.
Tenten rubbed her eyes. "I must be having a recurring dream… why do I keep seeing that handsome red-haired guy?"
Neji: "…"
Even in your dreams? Yeah, that's a big reveal…
"You here to steal our scroll?" Neji asked, shifting into a battle stance.
Even though they were from the same village, in the Chunin Exams everyone was a rival—he had to be ready.
"No," Shinju waved him off. "We ran into a powerful enemy, so I used a Flying Thunder God marker I left on Lee earlier to warp to you."
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