Sakura lay on the ground, still conscious, but clearly badly injured.
Sasuke had just been bitten on the neck and was showing a pained expression. After sensing Naruto's arrival, Orochimaru quickly withdrew his long, snake-like neck.
This round could be considered a mutual "base raid."
"Naruto! Be careful! Sasuke was—" Sakura noticed Naruto had returned and shouted to warn him.
But by that moment Sasuke had already collapsed, clutching the small "strawberry mark" on his neck in agony. In an instant, the only ones still standing were Orochimaru—disguised as an examinee—and Naruto.
"Sakura, calm down. Sasuke will be fine," Naruto said reassuringly. Then he turned his gaze toward Orochimaru. "I gathered some intel. This guy isn't an examinee. He's one of the Legendary Sannin—Orochimaru."
"What?" Sakura was completely stunned.
Kakashi's generation was quite familiar with the story of the Three Sannin of Konoha. But by the time it reached Naruto and Sakura's generation, because of certain unspeakable taboos surrounding the Sannin, information about them had become difficult to obtain. Sakura only knew that Orochimaru was one of them.
What did it feel like when a name you had only read in books suddenly appeared in front of you—and attacked you?
Sakura was stunned. Even Sasuke, who was still struggling in pain, was stunned.
Orochimaru looked at Naruto with great interest. He flicked out his long tongue like a snake's, and part of his facial skin had begun peeling away, revealing skin even paler than a woman's.
"Naruto? So you're the village's Jinchūriki?"
"That's right, it's me," Naruto replied. "Got anything else to do? If not, hurry up and leave, old man. Your body's about to fall apart."
Facing Orochimaru, who was far from even one-tenth of his peak strength, Naruto showed no fear at all.
He also knew that Orochimaru was essentially a scientist—someone who followed his own strict logic. Since his goal today was Sasuke, there was no reason for him to cause unnecessary trouble.
Sure enough, Orochimaru didn't get angry at Naruto's words. He simply gave a sinister smile.
"Naruto… we will meet again."
With that, Orochimaru turned and left.
Naruto didn't move. He simply stared at Orochimaru's retreating figure, his body remaining on guard the whole time. Only after several minutes passed and Orochimaru's presence completely disappeared from the forest did Naruto finally relax and quickly walk toward the two of them.
"Sasuke, how are you?"
Although he said that, Naruto crouched down to check on Sakura first, making sure all her limbs were intact before letting out a sigh of relief.
As for Sasuke, he wasn't worried at all. Orochimaru probably cherished that body even more than Sasuke himself.
"Don't worry about me," Sakura said weakly to Naruto. "Sasuke is badly hurt."
"Alright," Naruto replied, then stood and walked over to the unconscious Sasuke.
After examining his neck, he indeed saw the black Heaven's Curse Mark. It looked like three small comma-shaped marks—about the size of little fingers—forming a rotating pattern. Once activated, the curse mark granted a significant boost in power.
"He's fine. Just unconscious," Naruto said, giving Sakura an OK gesture.
After some effort, Naruto placed Sasuke on a massive tree trunk. Then he turned back and lifted the exhausted Sakura into his arms before swiftly climbing up the tree.
"Naruto… thank you," Sakura said softly. "If you hadn't arrived in time, Sasuke might have—"
Sakura had realized that Orochimaru's real target was Sasuke. Naruto knew Orochimaru's purpose clearly, but Sakura believed Orochimaru had been slowly trying to kill Sasuke.
"Well… we're teammates, right? It's what I should do," Naruto scratched his head and said. Then he asked, "Sakura, do we still have any food?"
Sakura reached toward her waist pouch but came up empty. She shook her head.
"No. During the fight, I don't know where the soldier pills fell."
Right at that moment, Naruto's stomach growled loudly.
The scene became a bit awkward. Sakura lowered her head and quietly apologized.
"It's fine. You should rest," Naruto said while standing on the tree trunk. "I'll climb up and take a look around."
With that, Naruto quickly climbed up to the tree canopy. His entire body balanced lightly on a thin branch no thicker than a finger. The branch swayed slightly under his weight as he gazed into the distance, seemingly searching for something.
"Naruto, it's dangerous up there! Be careful!" Sakura called out worriedly from below.
"Got it!" Naruto replied. He glanced down at her and said, "There's a river to the west. It should run through the center of the entire Forest of Death. If we head straight west, we'll reach it soon!"
"A river?" Sakura didn't understand. "Why go to the river?"
"To find food," Naruto said as he jumped down from the canopy with a grin. "Fishing."
"Fishing?"
"Yeah. Once we reach the river, we'll have something to eat," Naruto reassured her. "Sakura, can you stand right now?"
Sakura tried a few times, but failed each attempt.
"Then I'll carry you there," Naruto suggested.
"What about Sasuke? It's not safe to leave him here alone while he's unconscious," Sakura said worriedly.
"I'll carry him too," Naruto sighed. "Lucky guy."
Sakura first laughed at Naruto's remark, but then asked with concern,
"Naruto… won't that be really heavy? Can you handle it?"
At a moment like this, how could a man say he couldn't?
Besides, there was no better option. The three of them were teammates—they advanced and retreated together. There was no way they could just leave Sasuke behind.
Naruto was actually very reasonable about things, except at the beginning of the exam when he intentionally went to raid the Sound ninja trio.
But that was because Naruto believed Sasuke would eventually go with Orochimaru anyway. Rather than staying behind and clashing with Orochimaru, it was better to deal with the Sound ninja first at the start of the exam. That way things were simpler and saved a lot of trouble.
Things had indeed turned out exactly as he expected. Both he and Orochimaru got what they wanted.
Aside from Sasuke and the Sound ninjas, a world where no one else was hurt had been achieved.
"No problem."
Naruto said with a smile. He crouched down and lifted Sakura onto his back, then easily picked up the unconscious Sasuke and quickly left the area.
Sakura was amazed by Naruto's stamina. Without her noticing, he seemed to have become much stronger.
"Naruto… are you okay?" Sakura asked while lying on his back.
The slight softness pressing against his back felt a little strange, but Naruto didn't lose his composure. He calmly replied,
"I'm fine. We're almost there."
The entire Forest of Death had a diameter of about 10 kilometers, and the three of them were only around one kilometer away from the river.
It didn't take Naruto long to reach the riverbank. After putting them down, he went to a nearby bamboo grove and cut a bamboo stick of suitable size.
Seeing that Naruto truly intended to fish, Sakura—who had regained some strength—volunteered to collect branches to use as firewood.
When she returned from the forest carrying some wood, she still looked a little doubtful and muttered,
"Can this really catch fish?"
(End of Chapter)
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