The Terrified Sasuke

When Sasuke asked for the password, Naruto recited it fluently at once, without getting a single word wrong.

The moment he finished, Sasuke threw a kunai without hesitation.

"Sasuke! How could you do that? That's Naruto, not our enemy!"

Sakura watched the kunai fly toward Naruto, eyes wide as she shouted.

"He's not Naruto!"

Sasuke furrowed his brow and activated his Sharingan.

"What?"

Sakura could hardly believe it. She couldn't see anything unusual about him.

Naruto dodged the kunai, and a puff of white smoke revealed his true appearance.

The one standing there was Orochimaru, who had taken over the body of a Kusagakure Genin!

"Not bad. You spotted something was wrong after just one glance. No wonder you're a genius who inherited the Uchiha bloodline, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Orochimaru licked his lips and stared greedily at Sasuke's body.

Sasuke's expression was grave. The man before him radiated an overwhelming pressure.

Orochimaru simply stood there without moving, yet Sasuke didn't dare make a single rash move.

"Sakura, he's extremely dangerous. Go find Naruto!"

Sasuke's hand trembled as he gripped his kunai.

He could clearly sense that this man was the strongest opponent he had ever faced.

He didn't know why someone this powerful had appeared during the Chunin Ninja Exams, but he knew that if things went badly, he wouldn't make it out of here alive!

"Trying to leave?"

Orochimaru gave a sinister smile, brought his hands together, and formed a hand seal.

The moment he formed it, an intensely oppressive presence flooded the air.

Sasuke and Sakura suddenly found themselves unable to move!

Their bodies had been paralyzed by the terrifying presence!

"What do we do? What do we do? I can't move!" Tears welled in Sakura's eyes. "Naruto, where are you? Hurry back!"

"Move! Move!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, fighting against the immense pressure as he forced his body to obey.

The hand holding his kunai trembled uncontrollably. He struggled to direct the blade toward his thigh.

Squish!

The kunai plunged into his thigh, and blood spattered across the ground.

The sharp pain restored Sasuke's control over his body.

In two quick bounds, he leaped onto a tree branch, putting some distance between himself and Orochimaru.

At the same time, he performed the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

A blazing ball of fire surged toward Orochimaru, trailing waves of heat.

Orochimaru calmly stepped back, dodging the flames with ease.

"Damn, so close!"

As Sasuke lamented his miss, a huge snake appeared silently behind him.

At first, Sasuke didn't notice it at all. He only spun around when he felt the snake's breath.

The instant he turned, a giant snake filled his vision. Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.

"Ah!!"

Sasuke screamed in fright and frantically hurled several shuriken.

The shuriken sank deep into the snake's body, and it went still at once.

Before Sasuke could catch his breath, Orochimaru burst out of the snake's body.

Watching this, Sasuke was consumed by fear. He couldn't imagine what he could possibly do to defeat the man before him.

Orochimaru opened his palm, licked the blood that had landed on it, and smiled.

"The Uchiha Clan's blood really is delicious!"

Feeling death's presence hanging over him, Sasuke kept backing away, terror written all over his face.

By now, Sasuke had completely lost the will to fight.

From afar, Ye Fan watched the scene with interest from among the tree branches and gave a rueful chuckle.

"Sasuke's performance in this fight is really disappointing. Looks like he's scared witless."

"If Sasuke at his peak saw this fight, would he think he'd been a total coward back then?"

"Still, Orochimaru sure has an imposing presence at this point."

"Maybe even he can't imagine that one day he'll become Snake Auntie, giving birth to children..."

Ye Fan smiled faintly. Who needed a girlfriend? When it came to having children, Snake Auntie was the real authority!

After glancing over at Sasuke, Ye Fan turned his gaze toward the giant snake on the other side.

Naruto had been inside the snake's stomach for more than thirty seconds.

Ye Fan didn't intend to rescue Naruto. No one could grow without facing hardship.

A flower raised in a hothouse was bound to wither in the wind and rain.

Inside the snake's stomach, Naruto stared at the bento that had almost completely dissolved in the stomach acid and frantically stabbed at the snake's belly with his kunai.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pierce it.

"How can I die in a place like this? I'm going to be Hokage! I can't end up as snake droppings!"

Naruto forced himself to calm down. "There has to be a way. I'll find a way out!"

Naruto shut his eyes tight. Memories of the past played through his mind like frames of a film.

Iruka's smile, Team Seven trying to snatch the bells, training to control Chakra—all those happy memories came flooding back.

Memories from long ago slowly surfaced like the tide.

Back then, everyone in the village had treated him with disdain, and he often sat alone on a swing.

At the time, he couldn't understand why the villagers hated him so much.

Then one day, a boy a little older than him appeared.

"Hey, Naruto. My name is Steel-Piercing Ye Fan."

In his memory, Ye Fan had reached out to him when they were children.

That was the first time anyone had ever started a conversation with him...

"If it were Ye Fan, he'd never die in a place like this!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, determination filling his eyes as Chakra churned through his body.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto roared. In an instant, he created dozens of clones, bursting the snake's belly open!

Now free of danger, Naruto didn't stop to rest. He immediately raced toward Sasuke and the others.

He knew that danger couldn't have struck only him!

Watching Naruto sprint away, Ye Fan sighed. "Maybe that's just your unique charm!"

Ye Fan had spent some time with Naruto when they were children, and he had experienced that pain firsthand.

Thinking about what would happen in the future, Ye Fan felt that Naruto was the one who should have turned evil in the Naruto world!

Watching Naruto charge ahead without fear, Ye Fan thought of his own cheap master, Jiraiya.

"Maybe if you and Iruka hadn't been there, Pain wouldn't have been the one to destroy Konoha in the future."

Naruto had just found Sasuke and the others when he saw Orochimaru racing along a tree trunk toward Sasuke. Sasuke was so terrified that he couldn't move at all.

Just as Orochimaru was about to reach Sasuke, seven or eight shuriken suddenly appeared, blocking his path!

"Naruto! You're finally back!" Seeing Naruto, Sakura—who had been despairing—watched two streams of tears roll down her cheeks.

"Sasuke, Sakura, I forgot the password!" Naruto laughed. Then he fearlessly pointed at Orochimaru and shouted:

"Snake Demon, I'm your opponent!"