A World Where Only Sasuke Was Hurt Was Achieved

Sakura collapsed to the ground, still conscious, though she seemed to be badly injured.

Sasuke had been bitten on the neck and wore an expression of pain as well. Having noticed Naruto's arrival, Orochimaru swiftly retracted his long, snake-like neck.

This wave had turned into a mutual base raid.

"Naruto! Be careful! Sasuke was—" Sakura spotted Naruto returning and shouted a warning.

By then, Sasuke had already collapsed in pain, clutching the little strawberry mark on his neck. In an instant, the only people still standing were Orochimaru, disguised as an examinee, and Naruto.

"Sakura, calm down. Sasuke's fine." Naruto tried to reassure her, then shifted his gaze to Orochimaru. "I gathered some intel. This guy isn't an examinee—he's Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin."

"What?" Sakura was completely stunned.

Kakashi's generation knew relatively more about Konohagakure's Three Sannin, but by Sakura and Naruto's generation, information had become difficult to obtain because of certain unspeakable taboos surrounding them. Sakura only knew that Orochimaru was one of the Three Sannin.

What did it feel like when a name from a textbook suddenly appeared in front of you—and attacked you, no less?

So Sakura was stunned, and Sasuke, still struggling in pain, was stunned too.

Orochimaru gave Naruto an intrigued look, flicking out his long, snake-like tongue. Part of the skin on his face had begun to peel away, revealing skin even fairer than a woman's.

"Naruto? Are you the village's Jinchuriki?"

"That's me, all right," Naruto said to Orochimaru. "Anything else? If not, hurry up and leave, old man. Your body's about to fall apart."

Facing Orochimaru, whose strength was less than a tenth of what it had been in his prime, Naruto showed no fear whatsoever.

Besides, he knew full well that Orochimaru was a scientist who acted with absolute purpose. Since Sasuke was his target on this trip, there was no reason for him to meddle further.

Sure enough, Orochimaru did not get angry at Naruto's words. He merely gave a sinister smile.

"Naruto, we will meet again."

With that, Orochimaru left directly.

Naruto did not move. He simply watched Orochimaru's retreating back, his body remaining on guard the entire time. Only when Orochimaru's presence had completely vanished from the forest several minutes later did Naruto finally relax and quickly head toward the two of them.

"Sasuke, how are you?"

Though he said that, Naruto crouched down and checked Sakura first. Only after making sure none of her body parts were missing did he breathe a sigh of relief.

As for Sasuke, he genuinely was not worried. Orochimaru treasured that body even more than Sasuke did.

"Don't worry about me first." Sakura forced herself to speak. "Sasuke is badly hurt."

"Alright." Naruto agreed, getting up and walking over to the unconscious Sasuke.

After examining his neck, he indeed found the black Curse Mark of Heaven. It was a mark formed from three black comma shapes, each the size of a pinky finger, spiraling together. Once activated, the curse mark would immediately grant its enhanced power.

"He's fine. He just passed out." Naruto gave Sakura an OK sign.

After spending some effort, Naruto settled Sasuke onto a huge tree branch. Then he turned around, picked up the exhausted Sakura, and climbed the tree with ease.

"Naruto, thank you," Sakura said quietly. "If you hadn't arrived in time, Sasuke might have..."

Sakura Haruno had figured it out as well. Orochimaru's real target was Sasuke. Naruto knew Orochimaru's purpose, but Sakura thought Orochimaru had intended to slowly kill Sasuke.

"Well... we're teammates. It's what I should do." Naruto scratched his head, then asked, "Sakura, do we have any food left?"

At that, Sakura reached toward the back of her waist, only to grab empty air. She shook her head.

"No. During the fight, I don't know where the Ration Pills fell."

Just then, Naruto's stomach growled, making things slightly awkward. Sakura lowered her head and softly apologized.

"It's fine. Rest for now." Naruto stood on the tree branch. "I'll go up and check things out first."

With that, Naruto quickly climbed up into the canopy. He balanced lightly on a thin branch no thicker than a finger, his body swaying slightly as he gazed into the distance, seemingly searching for something.

"Naruto, it's dangerous up there! Be careful!" Sakura looked up at him and called out worriedly.

"Got it!" Naruto replied. He glanced down at Sakura. "There's a river to the west. It should run through the center of the entire Forest of Death. If we head straight west, we'll reach it soon!"

"A river?" Sakura did not understand what Naruto meant. "What are we going to the river for?"

"To find food." Naruto jumped down from the canopy with a smile. "Fishing."

"Fishing?"

"Yeah. Once we get to the river, we'll have food." Naruto reassured her. "Sakura, can you stand up now?"

Sakura tried, but failed every time.

"I'll carry you over later," Naruto suggested.

"What about Sasuke? It isn't safe to leave him unconscious here by himself." Sakura was worried.

"I'll carry him over too." Naruto sighed. "That brat Sasuke is getting off easy."

Sakura was first amused by Naruto's words, then asked worriedly, "Naruto, won't that be too heavy? Can you manage?"

With things having come to this, how could a man say he could not? Besides, there was no better option now. The three of them were supposed to advance and retreat together, so they could not just abandon Sasuke. Naruto was still very reasonable—aside from deliberately going to raid the Sound ninja trio's base at the start of the exam.

That was only because Naruto thought Sasuke would sooner or later follow Orochimaru anyway. Rather than stay put and clash with Orochimaru, it was better to deal with the Sound ninja right at the start of the exam. That was more worthwhile and would save them a lot of trouble.

Things had indeed gone as he expected. Orochimaru and he had both gotten what they wanted. A world where no one except Sasuke and the Sound ninja got hurt had been achieved.

"No problem."

Naruto said with a smile. He then crouched down and hoisted Sakura onto his back, before effortlessly picking up the unconscious Sasuke and quickly leaving.

Sakura was amazed by Naruto's incredible stamina. Somehow, he seemed to have grown stronger without her even noticing.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked from his back.

The slight softness pressed against his back felt somewhat strange, but Naruto did not lose his composure. He answered calmly.

"I'm fine. We're almost there."

The Forest of Death had a diameter of ten kilometers, and the three of them were only about a kilometer from the river. Naruto did not take long to reach the riverbank. After setting the two down, he went into a nearby Bamboo Forest and cut a suitably sized stalk of bamboo.

Seeing that Naruto genuinely intended to fish, Sakura, having regained some strength, volunteered to gather branches for fuel.

Sakura returned from the nearby woods carrying an armful of firewood, still somewhat worried as she murmured, "Can we really catch fish like this?"