Just as he struggled to his feet, a figure flew towards him. Seeing the familiar face, Sasuke couldn't dodge.
Sasuke had no choice but to catch Sakura, which caused him to fall to the ground again, while Karin's somewhat teasing voice rang in his ears.
Just then, Naruto had already been beaten by Fu and was running away with his head in his hands, also came running over here, followed by a fire dragon, obviously he had been brought here.
"Sasuke, Sakura!"
Upon closer inspection, they discovered that Sasuke was seriously injured and Sakura was unconscious. They quickly went to check on Sakura's injuries.
Although it looked a bit terrible, with bruises all over his exposed skin, his heartbeat remained steady, and there were no broken bones or tendons.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief and then had a chance to glance at Sasuke, Sasuke in turn examined his injuries.
Although Naruto wasn't seriously injured, he was the most disheveled, looking like he had just stepped out of a furnace.
His face, hands, and feet were charred black, and his clothes were burned and torn to shreds. Anyone who didn't know better would have mistaken him for a beggar on the street.
"Hey, hey, hey, have you thought this through? If you still don't think it's enough, we'll keep playing with you!"
Kidomaru looked at the two below with some impatience. He hadn't had his fill of fighting yet, and if Karin hadn't spoken up, he wouldn't have stopped so easily.
"I advise you to be sensible. We held back just now, otherwise that ugly monster would have been killed by me long ago!"
Karin also stepped forward and said something, her gaze towards Naruto and Sasuke turning unfriendly.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, both falling silent. After a long while, Naruto finally spoke:
"Sasuke... why don't we just give the scroll to them..."
"No... I didn't lose!"
The proud Sasuke still retained a last bit of stubbornness and was unwilling to admit his defeat for a moment.
Seeing his strong reaction, Naruto's gaze dimmed. He looked at the unconscious Sakura, and the two fell silent again.
"Karin, it seems they're not appreciative! You shouldn't have held back earlier, but... it's not too late now!"
As he spoke, Kidomaru took out Kunai again, his gaze toward Naruto and Sasuke growing colder and colder, and Karin's brows furrowed as well.
The atmosphere in the arena became tense again, and Naruto unconsciously clenched his fists.
Just when both sides thought a battle was about to break out, Sasuke suddenly stood up, took a step forward, and then took out a scroll from his pocket.
Although he was unwilling, he still threw the scroll in his hand upwards.
Fu flapped her wings and easily caught the scroll that was thrown to her. When Kidomaru saw this, he put away his Kunai in a huff. It seemed that he had been entertaining himself for so long.
"Don't get cocky, you're lucky this time!"
Sasuke said something innocuous, but the others just thought he was being stubborn.
Having gotten what they wanted, Kidomaru and his companions didn't press their advantage by making sarcastic remarks, because they already knew that engaging in verbal sparring was pointless.
Without lingering any longer, Kidomaru turned and left first, with Fu following closely behind.
"Cousin, you still need to practice! I hope I'll have a chance to spar with you next time!"
Karin glanced at Naruto, called him "cousin," and then looked at Sasuke.
"Handsome guy, keep it up! Goodbye!"
After saying that, he turned and left, leaving the two people in the room with mixed feelings.
This battle made them truly realize how weak they were. They thought they were already among the best of their peers, but now it seems they were short-sighted.
I realized how vast the world is, and how insignificant I am.
"Sasuke..."
After a long silence, Naruto broke the silence first, and Sasuke had his back to Naruto, took a deep breath, his gaze becoming firm again.
It must be said that to become the protagonist, one must have a very strong ability to self-regulate.
Just as he turned around to say something to Naruto, he suddenly heard a voice again, and judging from the voice, the other person was still very close to them.
"Heh heh heh... What a disappointing battle!"
Naruto and Sasuke immediately looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a long-haired, snake-eyed young man standing about ten meters away from them.
Upon seeing the unexpected figure, Naruto and Sasuke assumed their fighting stances once again.
"Who are you?"
Who else could it be but Orochimaru? At this moment, he did not conceal his appearance, and the Forehead Protector he wore on his forehead was still from Konoha, except that it had a cut in the middle.
Orochimaru did not answer their questions and launched an attack directly.
He gently pried open his eyelids with his hand, and the next moment a powerful spiritual force swept towards Naruto and Sasuke —it was the Hell Viewing Technique!
In the Original Work, Sakura and Sasuke took the hit, but now it's the two of them who did it, but the result remains the same.
Naruto and Sasuke felt as if two Kunai been pierced into their foreheads, causing excruciating pain in their heads. When they came to their senses, they found that they could not move their bodies at all.
"That's terrible! Can't they even handle this much?"
As he spoke, Orochimaru pulled out two shuriken and threw them at Naruto and Sasuke.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan again, and under the threat of death, he stabbed his thigh with Kunai to regain control of his body.
Naruto went even further, unleashing a burst of pale red Chakra that deflected the shuriken that was aimed at him.
Orochimaru wasn't surprised to see the two panting heavily; he just hadn't expected that he would be the first villain they would team up to defeat.
"Naloo!"
What is coffee?
"They're about to go!"
The two charged toward Orochimaru in a crisscross pattern, their hands constantly forming hand seals.
Orochimaru neither dodged nor flinched, watching the two's teamwork with great interest, wondering if their combined strength would produce any miracles.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The whirlwind and flames instantly enveloped Orochimaru, and a small fire tornado pushed his figure back more than ten meters before dissipating.
The combination of two C-rank Ninjutsu is surprisingly powerful, comparable to some ordinary B-rank Ninjutsu, which is quite impressive.
The two who had landed successfully landed on the tree trunks on either side. As they were assessing Orochimaru's condition amidst the smoke and dust, a shuriken flew towards them.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The two only saw the shuriken in front of them increase from one to two, then from two to four... By the time they reached them, it was like a hail of bullets.
The two quickly dodged behind a tree trunk, but before they could even catch their breath, Orochimaru's voice rang out again.
Sensing the voice so close at hand, Sasuke knew he was in trouble, but it was too late.
Orochimaru kicked him in the abdomen, causing his already injured body to cough up another mouthful of blood.
Naruto wasn't having an easy time either. Before anyone knew it, Orochimaru summoned Manda. Just as Naruto dodged the shuriken, before he could even regain his footing, a gaping maw came hurtling towards him.