A Thunderous Boom from the Sky, and Kakashi Made His Dazzling Entrance

Meanwhile, Naruto's team had just entered the Forest of Death. Compared to Hinata and the others, Naruto was having a much worse time.

They had been attacked by an Amegakure Shinobi as soon as they entered. He had disguised himself as Naruto and tried to ambush them, but Sasuke had noticed something off about Naruto beforehand, saving them from being the first to be eliminated.

Something even more terrifying came afterward. What should have been a contest between Genin had turned into a chase, with a Shinobi from who knew where pursuing them relentlessly.

They had even thought about turning back to fight, until the man used a Wind Release technique that blasted out a massive crater several hundred meters long. Terrified, they fled.

"Speaking of which, has that snake guy caught up to us?" By now, they had run a long way, and they thought they had escaped Orochimaru's pursuit.

Little did they know, Orochimaru wanted to measure the strength of his vessel, Sasuke Uchiha. This time, he had placed his most perfect Cursed Seal on Sasuke, hoping to test how much of its power Sasuke could bring out.

The longer he watched, the more perfect he found Sasuke Uchiha to be. Orochimaru also realized he could not stay any longer, as the people of Konoha had noticed something was wrong. He then sent his Otogakure subordinates to pursue Sasuke.

This would give Sasuke a chance to use the power of the Cursed Seal, allowing it to fuse with him more effectively.

Dosu, Kin, and Zaku were the three Otogakure Genin Orochimaru had sent this time. They too had fused with Cursed Seals, though theirs were the lowest grade.

Their value lay in measuring how much of Sasuke's strength he could bring out for Orochimaru.

Sasuke had just received Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. He had no strength left in his body and looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Naruto was no better off. A blow from Orochimaru had long since knocked him unconscious, leaving Sakura as the only one still awake.

"This is bad. They're going to catch up." Sakura hurriedly hid the two of them inside a hollow tree, then placed some things around it for cover.

Just as Sakura was about to do something, the Otogakure trio caught up.

"So your teammates are unconscious," Dosu observed when he arrived.

Sakura was now surrounded by the three of them, with no hope of escape.

Sakura raised the Kunai in her hand, hoping to use it to protect Naruto and Sasuke.

As the only woman among the three Sound Ninja, Kin decided to deal with Sakura, who was in their way.

Kin moved behind Sakura in an instant, striking with her palm and knocking her back. Sakura was no match for her now and could only take blow after blow.

"Look at this beautiful hair," Kin said enviously, clutching Sakura's hair in one hand.

To be fair, Sakura was a fairly attractive girl in Naruto, and her pink hair had left a deep impression on everyone.

If this had been Sakura from the future, she would definitely have gone berserk and pounded the three of them flat. Unfortunately, the current Sakura was nothing more than a newly graduated Genin.

Compared to the people before her, who had received Orochimaru's Cursed Seals, Sakura was far weaker.

Naruto and Sasuke were still unconscious, and an Otogakure Shinobi had Sakura by the hair, leaving her unable to break free.

Just as they were about to strike, Kin suddenly seemed possessed. She let go of Sakura and attacked her own teammates.

Dosu and Zaku hurriedly dodged, unable to understand why Kin had attacked them for no reason.

"Hey, Kin, are you crazy? Why are you attacking us?" Zaku complained, drawing a weapon to fight back.

Dosu, meanwhile, carefully noticed a shadow moving toward them.

"Watch out, it's Konoha's Shadow Manipulation Technique."

Zaku immediately used Zankūha. He raised both hands to gather power, then swung them toward the source of the shadow, producing sound waves that detonated instantly.

When the blast cleared, they discovered that it was Ino Yamanaka's team.

"Hey, Billboard Brow, are you okay?" Ino called to Sakura.

Dosu also realized that Kin had been controlled by the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Body Switch Technique.

When Zaku saw that his attack had missed, he grew even more excited. "Let's see you dodge this one, then."

Zaku gathered power again, aiming straight at the unconscious Naruto and the others. Shikamaru and Choji were just about to help when Dosu blocked their path.

"Your opponent is me!"

"Resonating Echo Drill!"

Dosu used the porous armored gauntlet on his right arm to produce piercing sound waves and attack. The sound waves disrupted Shikamaru and Choji's hearing, leaving them unable to help for the moment.

"Got you!" Zaku watched as his sound waves were about to strike Naruto.

"Lightning Blade!"

Then, with a bang, they looked again and found that Zaku had already been sent flying by a Ninjutsu that had come from who knew where.

Zaku was left hanging from a tree, looking utterly disheveled.

"Don't just stand there. Hurry up and pull me down," Zaku called to his companions for help.

But Dosu and the others did not dare move an inch, because a Shinobi with long silver hair and a black mask had appeared behind them and placed a Kunai against Dosu's neck.

"When did he—how could he be so fast?!" Before Dosu could react, the Kunai was already at his throat.

"Whoa!" Ino cried in shock, for no other reason than that the Shinobi who had suddenly appeared was simply...

"So handsome!"

The newcomer was Kakashi, who had entered the instance. As soon as he arrived, he realized he was in Konoha's Forest of Death. Unlike the directionally challenged Obito, Kakashi quickly figured out his surroundings.

At the same time, a mission scroll appeared in Kakashi's hand.

[Mission: Rescue Team 7 from the three Sound Ninja and teach them to shine in the Chunin Ninja Exams.]

Although he did not know who was on Team 7, that did not stop Kakashi from gathering information, and he finally arrived at the critical moment.

"Handsome, may I ask your name?" Ino's lovestruck side suddenly emerged.

Without caring whether anyone else was around, she began asking Kakashi his name.

Shikamaru was somewhat speechless. Given the situation, they still knew nothing about the person who had suddenly appeared, yet she was already acting lovestruck.

Kakashi also recognized them as Konoha Ninja, though he did not know them personally.

"Which of you is on Team 7?" Kakashi asked them.

Sakura slowly raised her hand.

"I'm on Team 7. We were attacked by unidentified Shinobi." Sakura thought he was a member of the Anbu asking about the situation.

But Kakashi interrupted her. "I'll take care of it."

Kakashi did not explain where he had come from. After checking Naruto and Sasuke's condition, he spoke.

"Neither of them is seriously hurt, but you'd better find someone familiar with the Cursed Seal on this Uchiha Shinobi's back to take a look at it."

After all, Kakashi was only in his teens and did not know about the Cursed Seals Orochimaru had invented later. In his impression, Orochimaru was merely a little sinister.