Orochimaru

Sakura pretended to head for the restroom, using a large tree as cover to leave a Shadow Clone in her place. Her true self crept toward the position Naruto had described, circled behind the target, and finished the job with a single punch.

"Well done."

Sasuke rushed over immediately to praise her: "See? You've already become much stronger."

"Yeah."

Sakura clenched her fist, seemingly nostalgic for the sensation of that strike: "Still, this guy wasn't from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, so his strength isn't really a reliable benchmark."

"His strength was decent enough. At the very least, he managed to enter the Chunin Selection Exams, so he's definitely stronger than you were right after graduation."

Naruto walked over at a leisurely pace: "But he couldn't even take one punch from you."

"It seems I really have gotten a little stronger."

Sakura smiled happily: "Quick, check if this guy has a scroll on him."

Though she said that, Sakura knew full well that a guy acting alone like this was unlikely to be carrying a scroll.

Sure enough, after stripping him clean and turning every bag and pocket inside out, they still found no scroll.

"Let's keep moving toward the tower."

Naruto's gaze swept across several directions: "We've already wasted quite a bit of time; other teams are bound to be closing in soon."

"What about this guy?"

Sasuke pointed at the stripped Amegakure Genin on the ground: "If we finish him off now, we can eliminate an entire team right here."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Sakura analyzed: "We don't know what kind of scroll they're holding. If it happens to be the Scroll of Earth, the competition we face later will only become more intense."

"Agreed."

Naruto said: "Keeping this team in play will at least help us whittle down the combat strength of other teams."

Sasuke noticed that when Naruto said this, his eyes were hinting at something. After pretending to think for a few seconds, he agreed normally, and the three continued moving, though their pace was not as fast as before.

About two hours later, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stopped to rest. From their current position, they could vaguely see the tower in the distance.

"Has our journey been a bit too smooth?"

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

"That's likely thanks to Naruto."

Sasuke looked at Naruto: "Recently, while I've been practicing Qi Refining, I can occasionally sense the Qi existing in the environment around me, outside of my own body. If I'm not mistaken, you can sense not just other people, but animals, trees, and even the entire forest within your range."

"It's not that impressive."

Naruto waved his hand with a smile: "This sensory ability is just an application based on the understanding of Qi; it's quite simple. Following your current training progress, if you keep at it for another half a year, you'll be able to do even better than I can now."

"Only half a—"

Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, he turned around without warning and threw a Kunai at a patch of empty ground behind them.

But no one appeared; nothing happened.

A cold sneer appeared on Sasuke's face. An Explosive Tag on the handle of the Kunai burned out and detonated, instantly filling the surroundings with dust and debris.

A figure leaped out from the smoke. Before the person could land or touch any nearby trees, three golden chains shot out from Naruto's body, binding the figure in mid-air.

Unexpectedly, the person's mouth suddenly opened to an impossible size, spitting out a "self." The original body bound by the chains instantly seemed to be hollowed out, leaving behind only a layer of skin.

"Ugh, how disgusting."

Naruto flicked the chains, discarding the skin, and muttered: "It's just like a snake shedding its skin."

"Adamantine Sealing Chains... Heh, to think there is still someone from the Uzumaki Clan in Konoha."

The man let out a strange laugh. The unknown liquid on his body dried rapidly, and his eyes locked onto Naruto and Sasuke like a venomous snake eyeing its prey: "And your hair isn't even red."

"There are quite a few people who know the connection between the Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Uzumaki Clan, but not that many."

Naruto looked at the person before him and noticed he wasn't wearing a forehead protector: "Who are you?"

"My name is Orochimaru, and as of now, there is no doubt that I am your enemy."

Orochimaru's expression was extremely delighted, and he seemed to be in a very good mood. He took out a scroll marked with "Earth": "You said earlier that you hold the Scroll of Heaven, so you should really want this Scroll of Earth, right?"

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

"Now we can begin... the scroll battle."

Orochimaru licked his lips, releasing a powerful killing intent: "I'm going to give it my all!"

If they were ordinary Genin, they would certainly have been affected by this intense killing intent. Even if they weren't completely paralyzed, they would have been frozen for a few seconds—like Sasuke and Sakura were at this very moment.

However, Naruto seemed not to feel this killing intent at all. He met Orochimaru's gaze, his eyes calm and devoid of any fear: "In that case, I shall give it my all as well."

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

After clearly stating the technique, large black spiral patterns emerged on Naruto's body. His aura weakened until it vanished, and even his physique became slightly more slender.

"To completely ignore my killing intent and use a sealing technique as a combat method... what an interesting little brat!"

Orochimaru remained confident: "It seems you should be able to let me enjoy myself quite a bit!"

Quickly biting his right thumb, he pressed it against his left arm and drew a bloody streak: "Summoning Jutsu!"

A giant snake appeared out of thin air, hoisting Orochimaru onto its head. Its powerful, muscular tail whipped toward Naruto, shattering every tree branch in its path.

Watching the approaching tail, Naruto remained expressionless as his figure blurred.

Orochimaru's eyes widened—a massive hole had suddenly been torn through the body of his summoned snake, as if a portion of it had been erased by some peculiar power.

Immediately after, a sonic boom erupted in the air, causing the atmosphere to churn violently into a gale.

Naruto had already bypassed the wind, arriving before Orochimaru and reaching out to grab him.

This power?! The Uzumaki Clan of the past certainly possessed no such technique! Did this boy develop it himself, or has Konoha been tinkering with something in the shadows all these years?

Orochimaru felt a surge of excitement and licked his lips once more. He opened his mouth toward Naruto, spitting out a small snake that in turn opened its mouth to launch a sword, stabbing at Naruto's palm.

But Naruto did not dodge or parry. He allowed the blade to pierce his palm, then tightened his fingers to grip the edge and yanked it to the side. The blade ground harshly against his palm; instead of drawing blood, it sparked, dragging Orochimaru's entire body along with it.

Naruto followed through with an uppercut, landing a direct hit on Orochimaru's diaphragm.

The punch appeared ordinary, yet the force contained within was staggering.

The skin, muscle, and even bone at the point of impact on Orochimaru's body seemed to turn into soft, elastic rubber, vibrating violently to disperse, transmit, and gradually diminish the force. Even so, Orochimaru felt a sharp pain and a sudden urge to retch.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Orochimaru unleashed several snakes from his right sleeve; half coiled around Naruto, while the others lunged to bite him.

Naruto did not move his left hand, which still gripped the blade. With his right hand, he struck out, retracted, and struck again in rapid succession—in less than a second, he had pulverized and blown away every snake Orochimaru had released. Yet, Naruto did not stop; he continued the repetitive motion of striking and retracting, raining down blow after blow!