Orochimaru: Time to Turn Up the Difficulty

"It's over."

Not far away, Orochimaru watched Sarutobi Enju and shook his head regretfully.

Sarutobi Enju had actually performed very well. Aside from his obvious lack of experience, his overall abilities had already surpassed most ordinary Genin. Still, he was far from good enough to stir any emotion in Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had graduated from the Ninja Academy at six and become a Jonin at fourteen. Compared to Orochimaru at the same age, Sarutobi Enju's performance showed a significant gap.

"Orochimaru-sensei, Enju obviously still has strength left. Are we really ending it like this?"

Utsuki Ruri had long since recovered from the disappointment of being the first eliminated. Holding several edible wild fruits she had just picked nearby, she looked curiously at Orochimaru.

"He's already used each of his moves more than once. His combat approach and awareness are merely passable as well. There's nothing new to see, so we can end it here. Besides... there isn't much time left. I still need to use what remains to see Uchiha Gen's performance with my own eyes."

For Orochimaru, the purpose of this test, aside from letting the students experience a simulated battlefield escape for the first time, was to assess each of their abilities.

This included their combat focus, fighting fundamentals, tactical ability, and every other aspect.

Sarutobi Enju had already displayed nearly everything he had to show. Naturally, it was time for it to end.

"Stop. You can take out the bell now, Enju."

Orochimaru's voice reached Sarutobi Enju from afar, and the snakes around him suddenly retreated.

"It's not over yet. I can keep fighting like this all day—"

Thud!

After a crisp knock on the head, Sarutobi Enju collapsed to the ground with a huge bump on his forehead.

For Orochimaru, instantly killing a Genin was absurdly easy, even a Genin like Sarutobi Enju, whose experience was lacking but whose actual combat strength was outstanding.

Even combatants below Jonin level would have little ability to resist when facing someone of Orochimaru's caliber. The only reason he had spent so long accompanying Uchiha Gen and the others was that this was merely a trial he had arranged. Its difficulty would not exceed the limits that newly promoted Genin could handle.

At least, the limits of newly promoted Genin whom Orochimaru considered qualified to become his students.

"Let's go. There are less than twenty minutes left, so we need to hurry."

Orochimaru signaled for the Two-headed Snake to carry Sarutobi Enju on its back. Then, after forming hand seals, he crouched down on the ground.

"Many-Headed Serpent Formation!"

Countless densely packed giant pythons surged outward from Orochimaru in all directions, moving at incredible speed—far beyond the ordinary snake swarms from before.

Uchiha Gen was certainly good at running. Even now, he was using Ninja Crows to carry objects bearing his scent around the forest, misleading Orochimaru's judgment.

If he continued searching at that slow pace, who knew when he would catch that crafty brat? He had to show some real skill.

"Now that Enju has been eliminated, the snake swarm has grown larger, and they're becoming more aggressive too."

A few minutes later, Uchiha Gen, weaving through the forest, quickly noticed this.

The Forest of Death was already home to many snakes, including giant serpents of enormous size.

But now, their numbers had clearly increased. Some of the snakes within his sensing range even gave off considerable Chakra signatures. Once they spotted him, they would attack.

Nurtured by the dense natural energy of Ryūchi Cave, these snakes were different from the ordinary snakes of the Forest of Death even if they could not use Sage Art.

Not only did they crawl at astonishing speeds, but they launched themselves like the wind, as if they could fly.

Their bodies were tough and hard as iron and stone, and they possessed immense vitality.

Uchiha Gen had to throw Kunai with all his strength to kill them. Some did not even die after being pinned to tree trunks or the ground, instead struggling wildly in place.

Even more alarming, the other snakes would help those pinned to the ground, clamping their fangs around the Kunai and pulling them out. The snakes followed established patterns of coordination as they moved, advancing and retreating in an orderly fashion. Some drew attention to lure in enemies, some attacked from other directions, and some remained behind as support.

Clearly, these snakes were highly intelligent. Perhaps some of the pythons had even been trained to command the other snakes using their pheromones.

Without question, Orochimaru was taking this far more seriously than before.

Going all out was unlikely, but he had definitely raised the difficulty.

At the very least, it would be difficult to keep roaming around, concealing his presence, and rapidly breaking through the encirclement as he had before.

There were simply too many snakes. They coordinated to some extent, were not weak, and were incredibly fast.

Uchiha Gen felt that, with his current strength, he would have a hard time shaking them off.

Orochimaru clearly had no intention of letting him hide any longer.

Uchiha Gen released the summoning of the Ninja Crows circling around him, sending them back to the forest the Uchiha Clan had prepared for raising Ninja Crows.

They were strong enough for scouting, but against Orochimaru's snakes, their opponents' launching speed in the terrain-constricted dense forest meant they could easily be killed before he had time to release their summoning.

Fortunately, after circling around for so long, Uchiha Gen had roughly memorized the route he had traveled. He was not entirely unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain and could quickly find a suitable escape route.

He threw several Shuriken, then formed hand seals and slammed his hands together, condensing wind pressure and pushing it forward.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Uchiha Gen had not yet fully mastered this ninjutsu. In actual combat, it was still only a rough prototype, incapable of truly being used against opponents of the same level.

However, while the wind pressure was not especially powerful, its direction was fixed and its range was fairly wide. It was perfect for accelerating the thrown ninja tools and increasing their power.

The enhanced Shuriken shot forward like bullets, instantly piercing through several pythons blocking the way ahead.

Uchiha Gen moved swiftly, charging out of the encirclement.

He still had to run.

He hadn't forgotten the reward Orochimaru had mentioned.

How bad could a ninjutsu that came from Uncle Snake possibly be?

Especially since this was Orochimaru as he was now—before he had severed his bonds, betrayed Konoha, and begun his descent into darkness.

There was no way Uchiha Gen could resist the temptation.

Uchiha Gen sprinted in the opposite direction from the line connecting the locations Orochimaru had sent back through the Ninja Crow on the previous two occasions.

Every extra second he could buy was a second gained.

Behind him, a dense mass of snakes surged after him like a moving natural disaster.

Before such a terrifying force, the beasts of the Forest of Death scattered, insects hid away, and birds took flight.