The Manda didn't swallow him, but instead slammed his head into the ground and sent him flying.
Naruto was hit head-on, smashed a large crater in the tree trunk, and his body slid down the trunk like a kite with a broken string.
With a thud, his body crashed to the ground and rolled twice; it seemed he wouldn't recover anytime soon.
At that moment, Orochimaru arrived in front of him, grabbed his collar, and jumped onto Manda's head.
Sasuke, who had just stood up, looked up and saw Manda's enormous head, and Orochimaru carrying Naruto on it.
When he met Orochimaru's eyes again, a tremendous sense of fear enveloped him.
Having barely ever left the village, he had never faced such a situation before. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and at that moment, all he wanted to do was turn around and run away.
But fear had rendered his body immobile, and just when he was in despair, something even more despairing happened.
Orochimaru grabbed Naruto by the neck and lifted him up.
Naruto was still conscious, but he hadn't recovered from the impact of the collision.
"The quickest way to break free from a negative emotion is to replace it with another emotion, like... this!"
At this moment, Sasuke and Orochimaru were only ten meters apart, and Sasuke could hear everything Orochimaru said clearly.
Orochimaru then placed his other hand on Naruto's stomach, and the next moment Naruto's eyes became glazed over, as if he had seen something terrifying.
His body stopped struggling and he was being held by the neck by Orochimaru like a puppet on a string.
Orochimaru tossed Naruto was rolling his eyes, aside and looked at Sasuke with a mocking gaze.
Seeing Naruto's life hanging in the balance, Sasuke, though unaware of what Orochimaru had done, was immediately filled with an inexplicable rage.
This anger temporarily suppressed his fear, and he stared venomously at Orochimaru, the single Tomoe in his pupils beginning to spin.
However, after a few breaths, Orochimaru found that nothing had changed.
"Still not enough? How about adding this?"
"Manda!"
No sooner had she finished speaking Manda's tail slammed down heavily on Sakura, who was not far away.
This is no ordinary Summoning Beast; ordinary people are no bigger than ants in front of the enormous body of the Manda.
Sasuke also noticed Manda's actions, and watched as the massive snake tail was about to mercilessly smash down on Sakura.
"No... stop... stop!"
But his actions and shouts were all in vain. Before he could even reach Sakura, everything had already been settled.
When the smoke and dust cleared, only a huge crater remained on the ground, and there was no sign of Sakura.
"Hahaha... They've probably been smashed into mincemeat by now!"
These words struck Sasuke like a thunderbolt. He had no doubt about Manda's terrifying strength, because the spot where Sakura had been lying had been covered in Daishi, which had now been crushed into dust.
Seeing Sasuke standing there in a daze, his body trembling more and more violently, Orochimaru's heart skipped a beat.
"Wasn't this too much? Won't the child be scared out of his wits?"
Thinking of this, he immediately dispelled the summoning, letting the Manda return first, and then spoke again:
"Is this all the Uchiha is capable of? No wonder they were wiped out. I wonder why Itachi would leave a piece of trash like you alive!"
As soon as he finished speaking, it was unclear whether it was the words about annihilating his clan or the name Itachi that triggered his stress response.
His body, which had been trembling just a moment ago, stopped immediately the next moment. When he turned to look at Orochimaru, the single Tomoe in his eye began to spin again.
After the rotation stops, a new Tomoe appears, and the single Tomoe has successfully evolved into Futatsudomoe.
Orochimaru witnessed the process of opening his eyes and exclaimed that it was still more effective to rub salt into the wound!
"You deserve to die! I'll definitely kill you!"
The sky cleared, the rain stopped, Uchiha Sasuke felt he was back to his old self!
It's unclear where he got the strength and Chakra, but he charged towards Orochimaru with incredible speed.
Because he had just been kicked by Orochimaru, he did not choose to fight in close combat this time, but instead kept throwing shuriken out of his hand.
The shuriken was wrapped with transparent silk threads, blocking his path in a triangular formation.
The shuriken spun behind him, and after bypassing the thick tree trunk, Orochimaru's body was pulled backward by the threads as Sasuke exerted his strength.
Orochimaru knew what he wanted to do and was happy to cooperate. After all, the kid had been toyed with like this, and if he didn't let him vent his anger, he might really go crazy.
Transparent threads bound Orochimaru to a thick tree trunk, and then a fire dragon, pulled by the threads, instantly engulfed the bound Orochimaru.
This was Sasuke's last trump card: the Sharingan's Sharingan Technique combined with the Fire Style Release: Dragon Fire Technique.
This shows that Sasuke indeed possesses top-tier battle intelligence.
"That was a brilliant move!"
Just as Sasuke was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking he had succeeded, he saw Orochimaru break the threads as if nothing had happened and walk out of the tree trunk.
Seeing Sasuke panting and looking dazed, Orochimaru appeared in front of him in a flash.
The suppressed fear resurfaced. Whether he was stunned or had given up resisting, Sasuke didn't dare to move and let Orochimaru walk up to him.
"Your play was indeed impressive, but your performance was far inferior to your brother's!"
After being worn down by the Jirobo squad and then tortured by himself, he reached his physical and mental limits.
Despite Orochimaru's deliberate attempt to let them escape, it's already quite impressive that they've managed to hold out this long.
When his brother was mentioned, Sasuke's gaze returned slightly, and then Orochimaru continued:
"Do you want power? Do you want to become stronger? Do you want to seek revenge on a certain man?"
Orochimaru's voice was like a spell, gradually pulling Sasuke back to reality, a series of questions constantly stimulating his mind.
Looking into the depths of his eyes, where there was a bewildered fear mixed with a profound hidden desire, Orochimaru patted him on the shoulder.
He had seen that look in his eyes far too many times. It was the same when Itachi first came to him, and now it was his brother's turn.
"Show your full strength in this Chunin Ninja Exams. If you perform well, I'll come back to you! Then, I'll guide you just like I guided your brother!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru produced a syringe filled with an unknown liquid in his hand and plunged it into Orochimaru's neck without hesitation.
"Consider this a small gift since it's our first meeting!"
As soon as the medicine was injected, Sasuke felt his eyelids become heavy, the sounds around him gradually faded away, and he felt a wave of weakness wash over him... In the end, all that remained was Orochimaru's somewhat sinister smile.