The forest air seemed to freeze, the gigantic serpent head reeking of raw fish.
Orochimaru stood on a high branch, golden snake pupils narrowing as he sized up the boy below.
Moments earlier, his right-hand man Yakushi Kabuto had briefed him on this Kyuubi no Jinchuriki.
In Kabuto's account, Naruto was their kindred spirit—a prodigy who hungered for truth and shared their ambition.
Orochimaru had scoffed at the notion.
He'd seen too many so-called geniuses in his life; he himself had once been one.
In his eyes, Naruto was merely a vessel housing the Kyuubi; the beast might grant a few anomalies, but nothing more.
His interest in Naruto paled beside his fascination with Sasuke.
Thus, he'd simply turned a blind eye whenever Kabuto took it upon himself to court the boy—neither hindering nor helping.
But now, gazing at the lifeless summoning serpent below, Orochimaru felt curiosity stir.
"To fell a summoned serpent with a single high-level Ninjutsu... quite beyond Genin standards."
"Is it the Tailed Beast's doing, or..."
Orochimaru's slick tongue flicked out, licking a trickle of blood from a stone-cut cheek.
Cold eyes ignited with interest.
"Let's test him... just a little."
"If he proves valuable..."
Without warning, Orochimaru vanished from the branch.
Fast—faster than the human eye could track.
He reappeared like a ghost in mid-air behind Naruto, driving a kunai toward the boy's heart at a vicious angle.
For an ordinary shinobi, it would have been fatal.
Yet Naruto, without even turning, seemed to see with the back of his head.
The instant the kunai was about to connect, he clamped Orochimaru's wrist, used the man's downward momentum, and executed a textbook shoulder-throw.
"Hmm?"
Surprise flickered in Orochimaru's eyes.
"Sensory perception?"
Boom!
Orochimaru was slammed toward the ground, but at the moment of impact, his body softened like a mollusk, dispersing the force, and he landed steadily.
"Not finished yet."
Naruto said flatly.
Crackle—
Orochimaru looked down, pupils shrinking.
During the brief contact, three Kibaku Fuda had been stuck to his chest, already burning their last inch.
"When—"
Boom!!
A violent bloom of fire swallowed him, shockwaves scattering stones and dust.
When the smoke cleared, only a crater remained.
A few meters away, the earth wriggled and Orochimaru rose unharmed from the soil beside a tree root.
Though unscathed, his gaze had turned serious.
"No wasted motion, every strike lethal..."
He brushed dirt from his clothes, grin widening.
"Naruto-kun, who taught you such precise killing arts? This isn't on the Ninja Academy curriculum."
Naruto offered no answer.
He removed the obstructive glasses, stowed them in a pocket dimension, and swept back his fringe.
In an instant, his gentle air vanished, replaced by a razor-sharp edge that set the nerves on edge.
Naruto lifted his head, voice cold:
"Senpai, is the warm-up over?"
"Heh-heh-heh... ha-ha-ha!"
Orochimaru threw his head back in wild laughter, his Chakra no longer restrained, murderous intent bursting forth like a physical force.
"Good! Excellent!"
"Then I suppose I'll get... a little serious."
Five hundred meters from the battlefield, three pairs of eyes watched in horror from dense undergrowth.
Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji.
They'd been hunting for a scroll nearby when the first explosion drew them, hoping to fish in troubled waters.
Now they didn't dare breathe, let alone profit.
"That's... Naruto?!"
Ino lay in the grass, sweat-soaked, face white.
The "dead last" of six months ago was trading blows with a monster whose very aura made their skin sting.
"That Kusagakure ninja is a nightmare; his leaking pressure alone chokes us..."
Choji's hands trembled.
"And Naruto-kun is fighting him..."
"When did he grow this strong?"
Shikamaru's mind reeled as the duel turned white-hot.
"Sen'eijashu!"
"Futon: Daitoppa!"
Naruto shredded the onrushing serpents with his favorite jutsu.
He held back.
If he used that technique—Gofuku Kekkai—even Orochimaru would be flayed alive.
But... Naruto-kun's glance flicked to the ruined clearing behind him.
Sasuke and Sakura lay slumped beneath a tree.
At this range, the explosions would flatten everything, and while Orochimaru might survive, his teammates would be ash.
Sacrificing comrades for victory was the mark of the incompetent, and victory still wouldn't be certain.
"Ban'eishū!"
Orochimaru spat a tide of vipers the instant Naruto focus lapsed.
"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Dozens of Kage Bunshin grappled with the swarm, puffs of smoke and dying hisses filling the air.
As the two locked in stalemate, a thousand birds seemed to cry.
A clone charged, lightning in hand, racing straight for Orochimaru.
"Chidori? The same move that slew the summoning serpent?"
Orochimaru swatted the sprinting clone aside.
As the smoke cleared, a scroll dropped.
Inside it, a thousand Kibaku Fuda were layered wall-to-wall.
"What—"
"Detonate!"
Boom!!!
A point-blank blast no one had foreseen swallowed Orochimaru in fire.
When the smoke drifted away, the battlefield lay deathly still, a deep crater scoured into the earth.
Orochimaru's mangled body lay twisted at the bottom, unmoving.
Naruto stood at the rim, breathing hard.
Even for him, the high-intensity fight had pushed limits.
He instinctively pushed non-existent glasses up his nose.
"Is it over?"
One step, two... he advanced cautiously, stopping twenty meters short.
Hands formed seals, ready to finish the job and erase the corpse.
Orochimaru still didn't stir, apparently lifeless.
As Naruto final seal neared completion something changed.