Qingwu hid in the shadows of a spatial rift. As his gaze swept over the battlefield below, his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the kunai in his hand.
Even though he never used the thing.
"Too slow, too slow. Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, you're far too lax."
Kusa Ninja Jia, "Orochimaru," lashed out with his barbed tongue-sword again and again, driving the trio steadily back. Even if he was only a replica that had inherited the original's memories, a snake was still a snake—a predator.
So strong. His attacks are so sharp. Even with my Sharingan activated, I can barely keep up. This Kusagakure Genin is incredibly powerful, almost unfathomable.
Sasuke's Sharingan glowed scarlet through the bloody mist. He felt increasingly certain that this snakelike man was the source of the lethal danger he had sensed.
"Bastard! I won't let you hurt Sasuke and Sakura!" A beastlike growl rolled from Naruto's throat.
Even the veins on the back of Sakura's kunai-gripping hand bulged. Struggling on the brink of death, they truly resembled seeds seared by a raging fire, forced to bring out the potential buried deep within them.
Then "Orochimaru" leaned down to lick away the droplets of Sasuke's blood that had splashed onto his face. The instant that scarlet tongue swept over the corner of his mouth—
"Stop! I won't let you hurt Sasuke!"
Naruto's brows drew together slightly. Even he found that cruelty, laced with sick pleasure, disturbing.
Even Qingwu thought Orochimaru's combat instincts were damn impressive, for a replica to perform this well.
Still, this was excellent. The chakra fluctuations of Indra and Ashura were growing stronger, which meant Naruto and Sasuke's fortune was flourishing.
It would provide the perfect cover for what he was about to do.
Just then, his Small World suddenly shuddered. He flashed inside. "So the time