Smoke hung thick in the air. Tree trunks lay shattered, and dust floated everywhere—but none of it obstructed Naruto's vision.
He stared straight at Orochimaru, searching his eyes for even the faintest trace that might indicate a time traveler.
But Orochimaru merely sneered and withdrew methodically, calm and unhurried, as if his objective had already been accomplished.
"Naruto… we'll meet again," Orochimaru hissed with a raspy laugh before vanishing from their sight.
Sakura hurried over to Sasuke, who was curled up on the ground. Instinctively, she wanted to check whether his body had been violated—but she immediately sensed something was wrong and waved Naruto over.
"Naruto, take a look at him."
Seeing that pursuit was hopeless, Naruto returned to Sasuke's side and examined him with a complicated expression.
"Hey, little bro… he didn't actually stab you in the butt, did he?"
He carefully loosened Sasuke's collar and peeked inside. Aside from the clear bite mark on his neck and the Curse Mark forming there, the rest were just ordinary external injuries.
No traces of saliva.
Aaaahhh…That scream sounded way too much like a sexual moan… Naruto complained inwardly, then gestured for Sakura to help him move Sasuke.
A short while later, inside a nearby hollow tree—
"You stay here and keep watch. I'll sweep the surrounding area," Naruto said thoughtfully.
Sakura frowned slightly. "Didn't we agree we'd discuss the 'fishing' plan?"
They had previously talked about using the name "Sasuke" as bait to lure out the time traveler if necessary.
"But we still don't know whether that traveler is Orochimaru," Naruto said as he pulled a towel from his ninja pouch and wiped the sweat off Sasuke's face."Tonight, I'm going to use multiple shadow clones to search the area. I still have plenty of chakra. If I can't find him, we'll revisit the plan afterward."
"And if you run into Orochimaru?" Sakura asked.
"Absolutely not. He's the one who gets to ban me," Naruto replied matter-of-factly.
"Sasuke, I'm heading out. Don't worry—I'll be back before morning."
With that, Naruto left under Sakura's worried gaze, releasing numerous shadow clones to search for Orochimaru.
What Naruto didn't say was that, according to the original story, Orochimaru should soon encounter Anko and fight her.
That meant as long as he followed the direction of the noise, his chances of success would increase significantly.
On the other side of the Forest of Death—
After discovering the real Grass Ninja identity, Anko ventured deep into the forest alone. She was visibly shaken. As she moved at high speed, the markings on her chest rose and fell with the wind, tracing an astonishing curve.
"The sun's about to set. If we wait until nightfall, it'll be even harder to find him…"
"Even if he's an S-rank rogue ninja now, I'll stop him—even if it costs me my life…"
Anko muttered to herself. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat. She stopped before a massive tree trunk, her eyes sharpening with resolve.
"As your former subordinate, it's my duty to punish you before ANBU arrives… right, Orochimaru?"
Behind her, Orochimaru seemed embedded in the tree, his long snake tongue flicking as he chuckled softly."You can't stop me…"
Before he could finish speaking, Anko flicked her wrist. Several sharp senbon needles appeared in her hand, and she hurled them with all her strength!
Orochimaru didn't move. With a casual flick of his tongue, he knocked them aside. At the same time, Anko finished charging chakra and shouted:
"Shadow Snake Hands!"
Several thick pythons burst from her sleeves, wrapping tightly around Orochimaru's tongue. She tensed every muscle in her body and dragged him out with all her strength. Seizing the opening, Orochimaru surged forward and slammed her into the tree.
Anko coughed, drew a kunai from her sleeve, and pinned both herself and Orochimaru's hand to the trunk!
"Heh… got you," she said tiredly, fingers interlocked with his as she began forming hand seals.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "That seal is…"
"That's right. Tonight, we die together," Anko said with a triumphant grin."Ninjutsu: Twin Snakes Mutual Death!"
"Heh… you don't want to live anymore?"
Anko suddenly turned her head—only to see that the "Orochimaru" beside her had turned into clay. His real body stood nearby, eyes filled with mockery.
The next instant, his pupils shrank sharply as he turned his head.
"Om—"
A violently fluctuating chakra vortex swept past Orochimaru's head. He glanced toward it and saw a blond boy with an expressionless face staring at him briefly.
Got you.
Naruto had indeed said he wouldn't fight Orochimaru—but he never said his shadow clones wouldn't.
Orochimaru was faster. He suddenly attacked, grabbing the shadow clone Naruto's Rasengan-forming right hand. The clone's expression didn't change at all—he merely tugged his sleeve back slightly.
A faint hiss sounded.
Looking closely, Orochimaru saw that the clone's undershirt was covered in explosive tags.
"BOOM!!!""BAAANG!!!"
The massive explosion annihilated everything nearby. At the same time, Naruto's true body instantly received the information transmitted by the clone.
Your combo attacks might be terrifying—but what if every shadow clone is packed with explosive tags?
Far from Orochimaru, Naruto began releasing shadow clones one after another, while the closer ones all charged straight toward him.
At the blast site, Orochimaru leapt out of the black smoke, faint burn marks visible on his sleeves. He was no longer interested in Anko's body. With a single glance, she collapsed to the ground in pain.
The Curse Mark on Anko's pale neck was still active—she posed no threat to him.
"You… what are you planning this time? Assassinating the Hokage?" Anko demanded, ignoring the cause of the explosion entirely.
Surprisingly, Orochimaru shook his head lightly.
"I'm not interested in you right now. But Uzumaki Naruto… he surprises me again and again."
After saying that, he seemed lost in thought.
Orochimaru's objectives were clear: first, assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi; second, find the perfect body.
He had originally set his sights on Sasuke—but Naruto's performance kept exceeding expectations.
"What a pity…" Orochimaru clicked his tongue."He has the Nine-Tails, but lacks those beautiful Sharingan eyes… He still can't compare to a true Uchiha."
Yet Orochimaru clearly admired Naruto's courage and performance.
"When I think about it, that boy is very much like you—but stronger. That's why I gave him the same Curse Mark," Orochimaru said with a grin, enjoying Anko's reaction.
Anko clenched her teeth. "That child will die… He has only a ten-percent chance of survival."
"Who knows… hahaha. Let's stop talking about this. It seems someone's looking for you."
Orochimaru vanished in a puff of white smoke. Moments later, a blond boy with a serious expression appeared.
He calmly approached Anko—who was gradually shaking off Orochimaru's influence—and looked her up and down.
A thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Was he the one who caused that explosion?So young, yet instead of running from someone radiating such evil, he chose to confront him head-on?
But the boy's next words made her expression turn cold.
"I heard everything. You're Orochimaru's student…"
Naruto's face was completely blank, impossible to read.
"You don't want other people to know that… right?"
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