Sasuke's light blade finally faded. He braced himself against a tree trunk, gasping for breath, his chest heaving. Blood still flowed from his wrist, staining the trunk red, but his gaze remained cold and hard. "The next time we meet, I'll kill you."
"Oh?" The clone raised an eyebrow. His figure began to blur, like evaporating mist. "I'll be waiting. Remember—only by following me can you grow stronger and personally... avenge the Uchiha."
He deliberately slowed his disappearance to erode Sasuke's will to fight and make him lower his guard.
What he hadn't expected was that Naruto's eyes had already turned red behind him.
"See ya."
As the words fell, the Orochimaru Clone appeared to vanish completely, leaving only a faint, snake-like stench in the air.
Thud. Sasuke could no longer hold himself up. He slumped to the ground, his arms hanging limply.
Naruto immediately struggled to crawl over. He supported Sasuke's arm with one hand and pressed the other against his wrist to stop the bleeding. His voice was hoarse. "Sasuke! Are you okay? How are you feeling?! Are you hurt?!"
"Sasuke, hang in there!" Sakura ran over too, took out some bandages, and crouched down. She fumbled to dress his wound, but the moment she touched it, Sasuke's brows tightened in pain.
Still, he endured the pain and shoved several Soldier Pills and blood-replenishing pills into his mouth. "Hmph. Don't worry. I won't die."
Sasuke remained secretly on guard.
Guang had taught him to preserve some fighting strength at all times and never lower his guard. That was why he had seized the moment to take Soldier Pills to restore his stamina and chakra.
Just then,
The snake-like stench in the air suddenly thickened again—that cold, sinister chakra had locked onto them once more!
"You damn bastard! You