They Said the Beginner Village Wouldn't Have a Boss?

"Listen up, the 26 teams that made it through! This Training Ground 44 isn't a place for children to play around. Sign your waivers before entering..."

Anko Mitarai, the chief examiner for the second test, was explaining the rules to the candidates. Behind her stood a massive ancient forest, filled with countless towering trees. The roars of wild beasts that occasionally echoed from within made the candidates' hearts tighten. The entire area was surrounded by iron fencing, one of Konoha's forbidden zones.

"Stealing scrolls... even in the best-case scenario, half of them will be enemies."

Sasuke gripped the Heaven scroll he had received from the examiner and thought it over. With only a fifty-percent passing rate and death waivers on top of that, it was practically encouraging them to slaughter one another. If they ran into someone completely unhinged, that person might kill them without even asking whether their scroll was Heaven or Earth. This exam was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

"Alright, next we make a battle plan."

Naruto sat down on the ground and said seriously.

"!?"

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto as though they had seen a ghost. If the exam had not yet begun, they would have suspected he had been replaced by someone else. Hearing the words "battle plan" come out of his mouth felt like a dream.

"This training ground is too dangerous. The first thing we do after entering is meet up with Hinata. I already talked to her about it. Their scouting abilities are strong, so as long as we leave some markers, they'll find us quickly."

Naruto had no interest in the rules, but the 26 teams would be entering the training ground through different gates and spending a long five days inside. He was deeply worried about Hinata's situation.

"Hey, what if their scroll is different from ours?"

"Then we steal an extra one!"

"That's it? What kind of battle plan is that?!"

"Trust me. Hinata and I are a terrifyingly strong combo."

"Fine. Having another team as allies wouldn't be bad. Let's do that."

"Only after getting in did I realize just how huge and creepy this forest is."

Sakura hid behind Sasuke and looked around. The dense vegetation blocked out even the sunlight, giving the entire forest a damp, gloomy feeling.

"Alright, no time to waste. Let's leave a marker first."

Naruto said this as he took off his pants.

"What are you doing?!"

"Taking a leak. Kiba's nose is really sharp. He should be able to smell it."

"If Kiba finds out, he'll definitely kill you."

Unable to bear the sight, Sasuke covered his face. This guy was as reckless as ever.

"Are you a dog?! You're a dog, aren't you?! You're human, damn it! Go over there!"

Sakura felt a profound sense of helplessness. What sin had she committed to end up with a teammate like this? She viciously kicked Naruto in the butt and pointed toward a patch of grass as she roared.

"Looks like there's no time. The enemy's already here."

Naruto and Sasuke both looked toward a tree branch more than ten meters above them. Three people were already standing there. Judging by their forehead protectors, they should have been ninja from the Land of Grass.

"What good luck. I didn't expect Naruto to be the first one I ran into."

Orochimaru, wearing the face of a Grass ninja, stuck out his tongue and licked his eye. That disgusting greeting nearly made Sakura throw up.

"Ma'am, do you know me?"

Naruto looked curiously at the female Grass ninja. She felt strangely familiar, yet he could not figure out why.

"Ma'am... heh heh heh. If you survive, I'll tell you."

Orochimaru released a trace of Killing Intent. Unlike Zabuza's, which continuously radiated terror, it shot into the three of their minds like an arrow and vanished in an instant. Yet that simple method nailed all three of them in place, unable to move. In that moment, they each hallucinated themselves being torn to pieces.

If Zabuza's Killing Intent was so intense that it made people want to kill themselves, Orochimaru's Killing Intent robbed them even of the courage to do that. All they could do was stand there stupidly and await slaughter. But Naruto and Sasuke were no longer the inexperienced brats they had once been.

"Hey... Dead Last... can you still move?"

Sasuke panted heavily as he recovered slightly. His Sharingan had long since opened, and he stepped in front of Sakura on instinct.

"Of course."

Naruto also moved in front of Sakura with sluggish steps, his hands forming the Hand Seals for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Oh? You can still move. As expected of an Uchiha descendant. Summoning Jutsu."

Orochimaru admired Sasuke's courage and strength. He bit his finger and formed the seals for the Summoning Jutsu. Three enormous pythons appeared before the trio, each over twenty meters long and three meters wide, their crimson tongues flickering as they awaited their master's command.

Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!

"A hundred Shadow Clones. You've improved quite a bit, but it's still not enough. As Itachi's little brother, this kid really has nothing distinctive about him."

Orochimaru observed the two's fighting styles. Naruto's growth had fallen far short of his expectations. Just as expected, he was an idiot. Then, as he looked at Sasuke spitting fireballs, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes. Sasuke's simple ninjutsu could not possibly do anything to the giant snakes.

Every sweep of a snake's tail scattered more than ten of Naruto's clones. Against creatures of such massive size, the Shadow Clones had no way to fight back and could only try their best to hold them off.

Hiss!

The snake facing Sasuke rolled across the ground several times to extinguish the flames on its body, then opened its huge mouth and lunged at him. Sasuke seemed frozen in fear, not moving at all. Suddenly, the animal's sixth sense warned it of danger, but it was too late.

Rasengan!

Chakra imbued with spiraling force slammed viciously into the snake's vital point, driving its entire body into the earth. With the most vulnerable part of its body struck like that, even such a massive snake could no longer move. Its eyes rolled white as it collapsed.

"Oh?"

As a bystander, Orochimaru saw what happened. Naruto's real body was grabbed by the leg by one of his Shadow Clones and hurled toward Sasuke. Sasuke had known that was coming, which was why he neither dodged nor moved aside.

"But the other one..."

Orochimaru shifted his gaze to the giant snake locked in a fierce battle with Naruto's Shadow Clone. Suddenly, he saw five flaming blossoms fly in from the snake's blind spot and pierce its vital point.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Talon Technique."

A jutsu derived from Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and enhanced for greater power. Sharp kunai were added to the flaming blossoms to increase their piercing force. The instant Sasuke expelled the Great Fireball, he rapidly formed Hand Seals and completed this killing blow under the fireball's cover.

"Is that all you've got, you damn snake?"

"Is that all you've got, you damn snake?"

Naruto and Sasuke stood side by side, cracking their knuckles as they taunted it.

"Not bad, not bad. You really are strong. But what about the other side?"

Orochimaru clapped in satisfaction. If they had fought separately, the two giant snakes could have drained at least half their Chakra. But these two had trusted each other unconditionally without even exchanging a glance, allowing them to complete those two kills so easily. That was something he had not expected.

"Sakura!"

Naruto and Sasuke reacted at once, turning and lunging toward where Sakura was crouched. A third giant snake had already used the trees for cover to get behind Sakura, opening its jaws as it pounced.

So scary... I want to run... I want to go home...

After being overwhelmed by Orochimaru's Killing Intent, Sakura could not move at all. It felt as though her arms and legs no longer belonged to her. Her eyes could see, her nose could breathe, but she simply could not move. Then she saw them—Naruto and Sasuke standing before her once more. Their backs seemed so magnificent to her, and their cooperation was so perfect.

If that was the case, what did they need a teammate like her for? The girl named Sakura could not help them at all. She could only hold them back. And now, in order to save her, those two teammates had exposed their backs to the enemy. It was just...

"I'm the worst!!!"

Her unwillingness finally overcame her fear. Sakura pulled a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and viciously stabbed it into her own leg. The pain jolted her nerves fully awake. She gathered Chakra beneath her feet and leaped up, narrowly avoiding the giant snake's jaws.

"Who the hell would die in some stinking snake's mouth?! What a joke!!!"

Her fist, filled with a girl's fury, smashed viciously into the giant snake's head. Its entire skull caved in from the blow, and the snake was knocked unconscious by sheer force.

"...I told you, didn't I? Sakura's strong."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. Naruto was the first to speak, while Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"I'm a member of Team Seven too. How could I keep letting you protect me?"

Sakura jumped down from the giant snake's head and raised her fist toward her teammates. Now, she finally had the right to do so.

"Sakura, is your leg okay?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura's bleeding thigh and asked. Even if Sakura had held them back, he would not have said much, but the Sakura before him now was far more dazzling than a girl who only knew how to cry.

"I'm fine. Watch this."

Green Chakra appeared in Sakura's hand. When she placed it over her injured thigh, the wound stopped bleeding. Once the bleeding had stopped, Sakura wrapped the wound with bandages. She did not treat it any further; after all, a powerful enemy stood before them.

"Sakura, when did you learn Medical Ninjutsu?"

"I worked myself to the bone learning it during the days before the exam. Though I'm still only half-trained..."

Sakura fully put her excellent Chakra control to use. She had spent those days before the exam at the hospital. Her treatment was still weak and slow, but she could use it!

"What a touching team."

Orochimaru's gloomy voice rang out. Sakura's earlier strike had reminded him of an unpleasant past. The fear of being dominated by a certain woman with Super Strength surfaced again, putting him in a very bad mood.

"Hey, Sasuke, we can't afford to hold back. Let's use that move right away."

Naruto held out his hand. The Chakra slowly gathering in it made Sasuke understand what he meant, but that move would put a huge burden on Naruto's body.

"If we use that, your hand..."

"Isn't Sakura here? Against an enemy who can summon giant snakes like that whenever he wants, we could die at any moment."

"Fine! Let's go for it. Sakura, cover us."

Sasuke began forming Hand Seals and fed fire-nature Chakra into Naruto's Rasengan. With their experience from the first time, they were much more familiar with it now. Before long, a crimson Rasengan began to take shape, radiating heat.

"Got it."

Sakura drew a kunai and stood ready. Her right hand trembled constantly. She knew that the bones were probably broken after that last strike. Forcing such power out of her frail body naturally came at a cost, but right now, she had to protect those two.

"So you can even use Combination Jutsu. You continue to surprise me."

Orochimaru had no intention of sitting still and waiting. He stretched his body several times longer and slithered down along the trees like a snake. He moved so quickly that he appeared before them before Sakura could even react.

"Too slow!"

Orochimaru twisted his body to evade Sakura's incoming kunai, then slapped her away and lunged straight at Naruto.

"It's not over yet!"

The remaining Shadow Clones from earlier appeared out of nowhere, each one standing in Orochimaru's path to delay him. After Orochimaru cleared away every last Shadow Clone, he felt a scorching heat.

"Naruto, can you hit him?"

"No. He's too fast..."

Orochimaru's speed in that instant had surpassed the limit of what the eye could track. Naruto shook his head, not daring to act rashly.

"Got it."

Without another word, Sasuke lunged at Orochimaru, closing the distance and engaging him in hand-to-hand combat. Orochimaru's movement speed was terrifying, but the Sharingan could still predict it.

"I'm finding myself more and more fond of you two brats."

Orochimaru sneered as he darted about erratically, pouncing on Sasuke whenever he found an opening, only for every attack to be predicted and blocked by the Sharingan.

"Now!"

Sasuke threw a kunai wrapped with an Explosive Tag into Orochimaru's path. The violent blast sent Orochimaru flying, and Sasuke immediately leaped up behind him, driving his kunai into his back.

But it wasn't that simple. The Orochimaru he struck was merely a substitute, turning into a pool of black mud and vanishing into the ground. The real Orochimaru appeared behind Sasuke, his neck stretching out like a thread as it extended all the way to Sasuke's back, where he bit down on Sasuke's neck.

"Argh!!!"

Sasuke cried out in agony as the power of the Cursed Seal invaded his body. Every cell in his body felt as though it were being torn apart by wild beasts.

"Sasuke!!!"

Orochimaru couldn't move while applying the Cursed Seal. Seizing that moment, Naruto pressed a scorching Rasengan into his body, driving him all the way into a massive tree trunk before pulling away.

Boom!

The power of fire within the Rasengan erupted completely. A vortex of flames shot into the sky, burning both the century-old tree and Orochimaru to ashes.

"Sasuke, are you okay? Why didn't you dodge?"

"Idiot, how could you have hit him if I hadn't acted as bait? We won, didn't we... urgh."

Sasuke gave a weak laugh, ignoring Naruto's complaints.

"What is this, poison?"

Naruto hurriedly lifted Sasuke up. The bite marks on his neck and the Three-Tomoe mark were especially conspicuous, so Naruto imitated Orochimaru and bit down on the wound, intending to suck the poison out.

"What are you doing... you Dead Last?"

Sasuke only felt a tongue licking back and forth over his wound, making it itch. Strangely, after being licked, the burning pain in his body eased a little, replaced by a faint blush creeping onto his face.

A strange sense of familiarity made him feel as though Naruto had licked his wounds before. He quickly shook his head, throwing that thought away.

"Ah! Naruto, what are you doing?!"

Sakura ran over from where she had been blasted away and screamed when she saw the two of them embracing.

"Sucking out the poison. Sasuke got bitten by that snake man."

Naruto spat out the blood in his mouth. Only when he saw that the wound had healed did he stop sucking.

"Th-then I should have been the one to do it..."

Sakura lowered her head. She had actually missed such a perfect opportunity. Naruto, that idiot, was always so lucky. It had been the same with the kiss last time—just how many of Sasuke's first times was he going to steal before he was satisfied?!

"Oh, it worked. But his face is a little red."

Seeing Sasuke's pained expression ease slightly, Naruto finally relaxed. Then he touched Sasuke's face again and said curiously.

"Don't touch me, you bastard Dead Last."

Sasuke flew into a rage, shoving Naruto away and cursing at him.

"What's with you? So you really wanted Sakura to suck it out for you?"

"The bodily fluids of the Uzumaki Clan can slightly alleviate the side effects caused by the Cursed Seal... heh heh, that's some useful information."

Orochimaru poked half his head out of the earth and watched everything unfold. After speaking, he vanished back into the ground with his injured body. That idiot Naruto always brought him useful information by accident. It was one of his few good points.

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PS: Sucking♂ poison.

PS: Thanks to readers Tian~~~~Ah~~~~ and Xiaoluo Yancheng for the 100 Ryo reward.