Encountering Orochimaru Again

Ever since the attack by the Akatsuki duo, Jiraiya had been more cautious. He went to great lengths to avoid being tracked, sometimes having us blend into crowds to throw off any potential pursuers, and sometimes taking us along routes where few people ever ventured. Though I thought he was just wasting his time.

"Do we really have to go to all this trouble?" Several nights later, Jiraiya had us traveling through the night, and I complained to him along the way. "I don't think they'll come after us again!"

"Of course it's better to be cautious!" Jiraiya countered without hesitation. "Don't think that just because you beat Kisame, they'll be wary of you. Quite the opposite! You already showed a lot of your trump cards in that fight, especially Ninjutsu like the Water Gun Technique. It's most effective the first time you use it! Now that they've seen it, they'll very likely find ways to counter your Ninjutsu!"

"No matter how they counter me, Kisame's fighting style still can't do much against me, can it?"

"What about Itachi, then?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes at me. "He's seen so much of your Ninjutsu already, and you still don't know what he's good at!"

"Tch!" I bit my lip, unable to argue.

The Uchiha Clan were naturally good at Fire Style, which already countered me. Not to mention that Uchiha Itachi had the Mangekyō Sharingan, and his bizarre Sharingan Ninjutsu were impossible to guard against. I couldn't guarantee that Azure Water Release could defend against all his Ninjutsu. Amaterasu alone would be enough to give me a hard time. As a transmigrator, I should have had an advantage in terms of information, but unfortunately, I hadn't kept up with Naruto for a long time in my previous life. That had bothered me for ages since I transmigrated. How I regretted not listening carefully to my roommate's complaints and analyses, always brushing him off while playing DA and LL!

Besides, Itachi was extremely clever. How much had he figured out about my Azure Water Release during our two encounters? Of course, I was sure he could never have guessed its true nature, but had he figured out its characteristics? For example, it was extremely effective at defending against physical damage, but its resistance to elemental attacks was the same as ordinary Water Release.

Had he noticed, for instance, that the ultrapure water used for Azure Water Release was a consumable, made in advance and impossible to produce during battle, so every bit I used was gone?

Or take the Water Gun Technique series: once I finished the Hand Seals, I could control the direction of the water blade with my mind, without using my fingers to guide it. I'd deliberately made the water shoot in the direction my fingers pointed and had the stream move with them. Had I really succeeded in misleading him?

Kisame was different. My abilities naturally countered his Ninjutsu and fighting style, so even if he knew the secrets of my Ninjutsu, he couldn't hope to defeat me quickly. All he could do was keep attacking with Ninjutsu and water until I ran out of Chakra. Itachi's Fire Style, Genjutsu, and secret Sharingan techniques, on the other hand, countered me in every way. If he had been the one to attack last time, the outcome might have been different.

But as a transmigrator, I knew that Itachi, an undercover agent for the village, had little interest in capturing the Nine-Tails. In the original story, he had only been going through the motions, withdrawing after a single attack once he saw Jiraiya was there to protect Naruto. Now that I had injured Kisame too, I didn't think Itachi would remain determined to carry out Akatsuki's grand plan. He had only appeared to show certain people in Konoha that he was still alive and warn them not to lay a hand on Sasuke.

For those reasons, I was quite certain Itachi wouldn't show up again. But my information came from the manga I'd read in my previous life and my roommate's analyses, so I couldn't explain it clearly to Jiraiya. I didn't know how badly Orochimaru had been injured during the Chunin Ninja Exams, but he had faced the Third Hokage, a Shinobi Hero of his generation. There was no way Lord Hokage could have given his life only for Orochimaru to get away unscathed. Nine times out of ten, he would still need Tsunade to treat him, so we were actually racing against them. If we took too long, Orochimaru might beat us to her...

"I just have a bit of a bad feeling..." I gave Jiraiya the explanation I'd come up with. "Uncle Jiraiya, I heard Orochimaru was seriously injured, and Tsunade is the best medical-nin. Could Orochimaru go to her for treatment? After all, you used to be teammates!"

Jiraiya frowned and thought for a moment before declaring firmly, "Tsunade won't treat him!"

Tsunade wouldn't treat Orochimaru? Did he mean Tsunade wouldn't help Orochimaru, who had just attacked Konoha, or that Jiraiya himself would definitely be able to stop her and bring her back to the village...?

That moment of hesitation just now meant Jiraiya himself wasn't entirely confident about Tsunade either, right?

"Sakura! Did you just say Tsunade was going to treat Orochimaru?" Naruto suddenly broke into our conversation.

"I only said it was possible...!"

"How could she do that?! Orochimaru killed Grandpa Third! How could we let her treat him?" Naruto's gaze hardened. He leaped to the front of the group and shouted, "Let's hurry and catch up to them! We have to stop them!"

"Hey, hey, Naruto, don't get so worked up! I said it was only a possibility!"

"Even if it's only a possibility, we can't let it happen!" In the blink of an eye, Naruto was almost out of sight. Only his voice came back from ahead, carrying around the trees!

"Let's pick up the pace, Sakura!" Jiraiya sped up too, rushing ahead and leaving me behind!

I shouted, "You two bastards... wait for me!"

The two of them vanished in the blink of an eye... Those two stamina freaks still had so much energy traveling in the middle of the night!

My suggestion had come back to bite me!

I gritted my teeth and chased after them. I'd just treat it as stamina training!

The next morning.

At an inn in a town in the Land of Fire.

After traveling all night, we finally reached a town. After running that whole way, I was done for...! I lay spread-eagled on the inn bed, panting with my tongue hanging out like a dog. Image and dignity could all go out the window!

"Sakura! Uncle Jiraiya went out to gather information. Let's practice Ninjutsu!" Naruto said to me, looking refreshed!

"Enough already. Can't you see I'm lying here like a corpse? Let me rest..."

"Haha! Sakura, so even you have times when you can't keep up! Your stamina is terrible!"

"Your stamina is just too good!"

I grabbed a pillow and drove Naruto out of the room!

Nothing else happened that day.

I slept until the afternoon. When I woke up, the sun had already moved a little westward, and there was no one else in the room. It seemed Naruto had gone out to gather information with Jiraiya. There were no notes or coded messages left on the table either. Apparently, they hadn't obtained any useful information yet.

I went downstairs and ordered lunch to fill my stomach. I was only halfway through when Naruto came charging in, shouting, "Sakura, let's go! We've got news about Tsunade!"

"Hey! At least let me finish eating!"

"Eat on the way!"

Two days later, at noon.

Tanzaku Town.

We... seemed to be too late!

Signs of a massive battle were everywhere! Cracked earth and collapsed buildings formed a scar running straight through Tanzaku Town! But there were no traces of blood at the scene, and neither of the combatants, Orochimaru and Tsunade, was here...

It seemed Tsunade had chosen to move the battle outside town to avoid innocent casualties, but which direction had they gone?

"Sakura, Naruto, we'll search in two directions. I'll go left, and you two go right! Once you find them, send up a signal with these flares. Don't act rashly. Understood?" Jiraiya took out two signal flares and gave them to Naruto and me, speaking solemnly!

"Understood!"

Naruto and I hurried along one end of the trail left by the battle. After several kilometers, I could faintly hear something!

Boom! The sounds of battle came from the distance!

Naruto and I exchanged a glance and ran quickly in that direction. As we drew close, we carefully hid behind a rock and peeked out to check on the battle-

Orochimaru stood high atop a giant snake's head. Opposite him was a huge slug, with Tsunade kneeling on her back. Tsunade seemed to be in bad shape!

"It's them! Send the signal!" Naruto said excitedly. We pulled out our signal flares and threw them hard into the air-

Clink, clink! Two Kunai pierced the flares, shattering them in midair!

"Would you mind telling me who you're signaling?"

A man's voice came from above the rock! I looked up and saw a completely unremarkable-looking Sound Ninja wearing glasses!

"Kabuto, senpai! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Idiot, can't you tell yet...?" I narrowed my eyes at Kabuto. "He's a spy from Otogakure. He's our enemy!"

"What...?!"

"Genius Sakura and idiot Naruto..." Kabuto gave us a fake smile. "Could you tell me who you came with and what you're here for?"

"I'm not interested in answering your questions, Kabuto..." I said coldly. "As for our purpose, of course it's to stop Orochimaru! If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"

"Kids these days really are arrogant!" Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "If you think you can do it, come and try!"

Kabuto rapidly formed Hand Seals, and a dangerous surge of Chakra gathered in his palm. Crack! With a sharp bang, a hole burst open in the rock, and Kabuto vanished from atop it!

Whoosh! Two hands suddenly shot out of the dirt beneath my feet. Glowing with Chakra, they quickly grabbed for my ankles, only to be blocked by a thin film of water!

At the same time, Chakra surged throughout my body, and I rapidly formed Hand Seals-

"Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"

The mass of water beneath my feet turned into over a hundred ice Senbon and shot toward Kabuto, who easily blocked them with his palm!

"I don't have time to play with you!" Chakra water swiftly pulled Naruto and me onto the slug's head. I completely ignored the Kunai Kabuto threw at us. Kabuto hesitated for a moment, then jumped onto the giant snake's head to stand beside Orochimaru.

Looking at the haggard Orochimaru across from me, I spoke with a cold smile. "Long time no see, Orochimaru... You don't look so good!"

"Orochimaru! You're the one who killed Grandpa Third? I'm going to avenge him!" Naruto shouted excitedly and moved to use Shadow Clone, but I quickly stopped him-

"Don't be reckless! Naruto, go check on Tsunade first. Leave this to me!"

"To repay you for sparing my life last time..." I turned to look at Orochimaru. "If you turn around and run now, I won't kill you..."

"You're that brat from the Chunin Ninja Exams. Don't get too cocky..." Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice. "Even in this condition, I could crush you with one hand!"

The Chakra throughout my body was stirring restlessly, and the excitement of battle surged into my head. If Orochimaru had really turned and left just now, I absolutely wouldn't have stopped!

Suddenly, Orochimaru's neck stretched out like soft mud, and he opened his mouth wide, lunging to bite my neck!

Crack! Orochimaru bit into a tough film of water. The thin layer held firm against his teeth! Orochimaru's eyes met mine at close range-

"Looks like... you've chosen to die!" I stared coldly at Orochimaru!

"Water Release: Super Water Gun Jutsu!"

A thin stream of water sliced Orochimaru and the giant snake behind him in two as easily as cutting tofu. Orochimaru's lower half fell to the ground with a thud, while his upper half remained hanging from me.

"Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"

Over a hundred ice Senbon pierced Orochimaru's upper body into a mangled mess, which I casually tossed aside with Water Release.

On the ground, Kabuto stood beside a new Orochimaru.

"Looks like you crawled out of the lower half this time..." I raised the corners of my mouth slightly and mocked the even weaker Orochimaru. "But you look worse than before!"

"Your hands can't form Hand Seals to use Ninjutsu anymore, can they? And your body is extremely weak... You can't even use a clone to test me! As you are now, you can't block my technique at all! How are you supposed to defeat me like that?"

"Kabuto...!" Orochimaru ignored me, but I could sense that he was genuinely a little angry. Judging by the fluctuations of his Chakra, he was preparing a big move... But he couldn't form Hand Seals now, so his options were limited. It had to be that one, right-

"Understood, Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto helped Orochimaru form Hand Seals and used the Summoning Technique-

"Orochimaru, is this brat our enemy this time...? I want a hundred living people as sacrifices!" A gigantic purple-striped snake appeared before me!

"Orochimaru, you know perfectly well this is futile-"

"Water Release-"

I looked up at the towering giant snake and silently formed Hand Seals... So this was Manda? I could sense from his presence that he really was strong! I wondered whether he could withstand my Ninjutsu-

"-Super Water Cannon Technique!"

A stream of water swept across him.

Scales and blood sprayed everywhere!

"Aaaargh!" With a piercing scream, Manda vanished in a cloud of smoke, reverse-summoning himself back to Ryūchi Cave!

"-and yet you still struggle in vain!"

"Haah, haah! What kind of Ninjutsu is that...?" Orochimaru landed on the ground and stared fixedly at me. "Even Manda couldn't withstand it!"

"Who says he couldn't?" I smiled. "Didn't I fail to cut him all the way through just now? That snake sure got away fast. A little slower, and I really would have cut him in two! The way he looked at me, it was like he wanted to swallow me whole!"

My smile gradually faded as I looked down at Orochimaru and Kabuto. "How about you summon him again? I'll give him a chance to get his revenge!"

"Your name... is Sakura Haruno, right?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at me. "We lost this battle, but even without Tsunade, I have another way... to restore my hands."

"We'll meet again... and when we do, I'll pay you back for today's fight!"

"Orochimaru... don't kid yourself." I laughed softly. "Even if you restore your hands, you still won't stand a chance the next time we meet!"

"Hmph... We'll see about that! Farewell!"

Orochimaru slowly melted into the earth and slipped away. Kabuto vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Bang! The giant slug also reverse-summoned herself back to Shikkotsu Forest.

"Who are you?" With the danger over, Tsunade gradually recovered and asked us.

"We're ninja from Konoha. Uncle Jiraiya brought us here to find you!"

Boom! A thunderous crash interrupted our conversation as a gigantic toad descended from the sky!

"Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, has arrived!"

Jiraiya stood on the toad's head with a dark-haired woman and shouted at the top of his voice!

"Uncle Jiraiya, we've already finished fighting..." I looked helplessly at Jiraiya as he made a spectacle of himself.

"That's right! You always show up after the fighting's over!" Naruto shouted his complaint at Jiraiya too!

"And you've got the nerve to say that! What happened to your signal flares? If I hadn't run into Shizune, I wouldn't even have found this place!"

"Kabuto destroyed the signal flares... And I couldn't help in the fight either!" Naruto said dejectedly.

"Jiraiya, it's been a long time..." It was Tsunade who spoke.

"Long time no see, Tsunade...!" Jiraiya glanced around and at the blood on Tsunade, then said, "This isn't a good place to talk. Let's go somewhere else!"