Orochimaru

Sakura pretended to go to the bathroom, leaving a Shadow Clone behind beneath the cover of a large tree. Her real body made her way to the spot Naruto had indicated, circled around behind the target, and finished him with a single punch.

"Nice work."

Sasuke hurried over to praise her. "See? You've gotten a lot stronger."

"Yeah."

Sakura clenched her fist, seeming to reminisce about how it had felt just a moment ago. "But he didn't come from one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, so he's not a very good measure of strength."

"He wasn't bad. At the very least, he was strong enough to take part in the Chunin Selection Exams, so he's definitely stronger than you were when you first graduated."

Naruto ambled over. "But he still couldn't take even one punch from you."

"Guess I really have gotten a little stronger."

Sakura smiled happily. "Let's see if he has a scroll on him."

She said that, but Sakura knew full well that someone operating alone like this was unlikely to be carrying a scroll.

Sure enough, they stripped him completely and turned out every bag and pocket, but still found no scroll.

"Let's keep moving toward the Tower."

Naruto glanced in several directions. "We've already wasted a lot of time. The other teams will be closing in."

"What do we do with him?"

Sasuke pointed at the Rain Genin they had stripped bare. "If we finish him off now, we can eliminate an entire team."

"I don't think we should."

Sakura reasoned, "We don't know which scroll they have. If it's the Scroll of Earth, then the competition we'll face later will be even fiercer."

"I agree."

Naruto said, "Keeping this team around might help us weaken the other teams."

Sasuke noticed Naruto's eyes were hinting at something as he spoke. After pretending to think for a few seconds, he agreed as usual. Then the three of them continued on, moving more slowly than before.

About two hours later, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stopped to rest for a while. From where they were, they could just make out the Tower in the distance.

"Has our journey been going a little too smoothly?"

Sakura looked around uneasily. "Aside from that first person, we haven't seen any other teams. We haven't even run into any of the dangerous insects or beasts in the forest."

"It's probably thanks to Naruto."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Recently, when I've been refining Qi, I can sometimes vaguely sense the Qi in the environment around me, beyond my own. If I'm not mistaken, you can sense not just other people and animals, but even the trees and the entire forest."

"It's not that impressive."

Naruto waved his hand with a smile. "This kind of sensory ability is just an application of understanding Qi. It's pretty simple. At your current rate of training, if you keep at it for another six months, you'll be able to do even better than I can now."

"Just six mon—"

Sasuke was speaking when, without warning, he turned and threw a kunai at a patch of empty ground behind them.

But no one appeared, and nothing happened.

A cold smile spread across Sasuke's face. An Explosive Tag attached to the kunai's handle burned up and detonated, sending dust billowing through the area.

A figure leaped out of the smoke. Before it could land or touch any nearby trees, three golden chains shot from Naruto and wrapped around it in midair.

But then the figure's mouth suddenly gaped open, stretching far beyond what was possible for a normal person, and spat out another "self." The body trapped by the chains instantly seemed to be hollowed out, leaving nothing but a layer of skin.

"Ugh, gross."

Naruto flicked his chains, flinging the skin away. "It's just like a snake shedding its skin."

"Adamantine Sealing Chains... Heh. So there are still members of the Uzumaki Clan in Konoha."

The person let out a strange laugh. The unknown fluid on his body dried rapidly as his eyes fixed on Naruto and Sasuke like a snake eyeing its prey. "And your hair isn't red."

"Plenty of people know the connection between the Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Uzumaki Clan, but not that many."

Naruto studied the person in front of him and noticed he wasn't wearing a Forehead Protector. "Who are you?"

"My name is Orochimaru. Right now, I'm definitely your enemy."

Orochimaru looked delighted, seemingly in high spirits. He took out a scroll marked with the character for "Earth." "You said you have the Scroll of Heaven, so I'm sure you'd like this Scroll of Earth."

Then, right in front of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, he swallowed the scroll whole.

"Now we can get started... the battle for the scrolls."

Orochimaru licked his lips, releasing a powerful killing intent. "I'll give it everything I've got!"

An ordinary Genin would surely be affected by that intense killing intent. Even if they weren't completely paralyzed, they would still stiffen for a few seconds—just like Sasuke and Sakura were now.

But Naruto seemed not to feel it at all. He met Orochimaru's gaze calmly, without a trace of fear. "Then I'll give it everything I've got, too."

As he spoke, Naruto pressed his hands together, and all the chains behind him retracted into his body. "Sealing Technique: One."

After he clearly spoke the name of the technique, large black spiral patterns appeared across Naruto's body. His presence dwindled until it vanished, and even his build became more slender.

"To completely ignore my killing intent and use some kind of sealing technique as a means of combat—you're an interesting little brat!"

Orochimaru remained confident. "Looks like you'll give me a good time!"

He quickly bit his right thumb, pressed it against his left arm, and dragged it across, leaving a streak of blood. "Summoning Technique!"

A giant snake appeared out of nowhere, lifting Orochimaru onto its head. Its powerful tail whipped toward Naruto, smashing every branch in its path to pieces.

As the snake's tail drew near, Naruto's expression remained unchanged. His figure blurred.

Orochimaru's eyes flew wide open—the giant snake he had summoned suddenly had a gaping hole in its body, as though some special force had simply erased part of it.

A moment later, a sharp boom sounded in the air. The air churned violently, turning into a gale.

Naruto had already crossed through the gale and arrived before Orochimaru, reaching out to grab him.

"What is that power?! The Uzumaki Clan of the past definitely didn't have a technique like this! Did this boy develop it himself, or has Konoha been secretly working on something all these years?"

Orochimaru was excited. He licked his lips again, opened his mouth toward Naruto, and spat out a small snake. The little snake opened its mouth too, spitting out a sword that stabbed toward Naruto's palm.

But Naruto didn't dodge. He let the sword pierce his palm, then curled his fingers around it and yanked it to the side. The blade scraped hard against his palm, but there was no blood—only sparks. Orochimaru's entire body was dragged toward him.

Naruto followed through with his other hand, landing an uppercut against Orochimaru's diaphragm.

The punch looked ordinary, but it carried astonishing force.

The skin, muscles, and even bones at the point of impact seemed to turn into soft, springy rubber. They vibrated violently, spreading and dissipating the force bit by bit. Even so, Orochimaru felt a sharp pain and the urge to vomit.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Suppressing the urge to throw up, Orochimaru sent several snakes flying from his right sleeve. Half wrapped around Naruto, while the others lunged to bite him.

Naruto kept his left hand on the sword blade. With his right hand, he struck rapidly, pulled back, then struck again... In less than a second, he had smashed and sent flying every snake Orochimaru had released. But Naruto didn't stop. He kept repeating the motion, striking and pulling back, pummeling Orochimaru without end!