No Reason

When Naruto charged at him, Orochimaru found himself intrigued.

"That ominous chakra... It really is familiar."

Naruto had already lost most of his reason and wasn't thinking about tactics at all. He fought on pure instinct and hot-blooded courage, kicking, punching, even biting, but against the giant snake's thick hide, it was all completely ineffective.

Sasuke, who had been too terrified of Orochimaru to move, finally regained control of his body. Watching Naruto attack wildly to no effect, Sasuke understood the enormous gap between them and Orochimaru. This wasn't something they could make up for with numbers. Whether the three of them survived depended entirely on whether Orochimaru chose to show mercy.

"Even so, I'll never surrender without a fight." Fully aware of his predicament, Sasuke immediately sprang into action. Ignoring his exhausted body, he activated his Sharingan again and charged in alongside Naruto, engaging Orochimaru in close combat.

Orochimaru excelled at ninjutsu, but shinobi of his caliber had no obvious weaknesses. Combined with the Soft Physique Modification he had developed, he gave Sasuke and Naruto no openings at all. Sakura Haruno, who had only just recovered, wasn't even capable of getting close. All she could do was throw Kunai and shuriken in vain, without managing even the slightest distraction.

Seeing that enough time had passed, Orochimaru didn't want to waste any more. He had gauged Sasuke's current abilities, while Naruto was giving him an increasingly ominous feeling. Taking advantage of the moment Naruto came in close again, Orochimaru shot out his long, snake-like tongue and wrapped it around Naruto. With his left hand, he pulled open his shirt, exposing the seal on his stomach.

"As I suspected, you're the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. I can't believe you're still alive. That old Third Hokage is as naive as ever."

Orochimaru then focused chakra into his right hand and struck Naruto with all his strength.

"Five Elements Seal!"

As Orochimaru's Sealing Jutsu took effect, Naruto, who had been full of energy moments before, was overcome with pain and lost consciousness. The Nine-Tails Chakra surrounding him vanished as well.

Seeing this, Sasuke hurried over to help, only to be caught by Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.

"Don't be so impatient, Sasuke-kun. I have a gift that's perfect for you, and you'll soon understand what true power feels like." As he spoke, Orochimaru suddenly stretched his neck, opened his mouth, and bit down on Sasuke's shoulder.

Severe pain surged through Sasuke, and his screams rang out around them. Sakura had just finished settling the badly wounded, unconscious Naruto. All she could do was watch helplessly as Sasuke was treated cruelly. With her own strength, she could barely even attract Orochimaru's attention.

When everything was over, Sasuke knelt on the ground in agony, howling. Before long, the unbearable pain overwhelmed him and he passed out.

"Be grateful for my gift. If one day you feel that your power isn't enough, come find me. I'll give you the strength to take revenge." With that, Orochimaru sank into the tree trunk and disappeared, leaving behind a helpless Sakura Haruno and the unconscious Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.

Mitaraishi Anko stumbled through the Forest of Death. Using the Cursed Seal on her neck to sense Orochimaru, she had finally found him. She'd thought that after all these years, she'd grown strong enough to die alongside the man who had brought her so much pain. She hadn't expected that to be nothing but a delusion born of arrogance. Her despair felt almost exactly the same as it had all those years ago.

"I was spared only because he pitied me and couldn't be bothered with me. And now I still have to continue with the Chunin Ninja Exams?" Mitaraishi Anko couldn't help giving a bitter laugh.

In Konoha, no one came to tell Mizuki about any assignments, even by the time the moon had climbed high in the sky. In fact, Mizuki had misunderstood. He was seriously injured and had only just recovered from a major illness. Konoha wasn't so desperate that they would send him out to fight for his life while he was still sick. Since that was the case, Mizuki was happy to take it easy.

"This failed attempt at Space-Time Ninjutsu did provide some useful data. The theory works, but figuring out how to make the transfer stable and safe is a real headache. I can't exactly keep Sage Mode activated every time I teleport, can I? I've never heard that the Flying Raijin Jutsu or Kamui is particularly troublesome. Am I stuck in some kind of blind alley?"

In Mizuki's view, Space-Time Ninjutsu shouldn't be this difficult in this world. For someone like him, the complex spatial calculations were only part of the problem. The energy needed to break through space was already unbelievable, and the turbulence within it was incredibly dangerous. Never mind the advanced techniques with "god" in their names; even mid- and low-level techniques that, in some sense, achieved spatial transitions were quite common.

The Body Flicker Technique was considered a high-level technique, with the effect of short-range teleportation, though its principles were unknown. The Substitution Technique was a thoroughly basic technique, yet it could apparently replace its user through some kind of spatial effect. He couldn't make sense of how that worked, either. These were two of the more common techniques with spatial attributes. For all he knew, they might not even count as Space-Time Ninjutsu.

"What is going on in this messed-up world? Couldn't things make a little sense? How is an obsessive engineering nerd supposed to get by?"

On Kage Rock, the white-haired Jiraiya gazed down at Konoha beneath the night sky.

"Konoha's lost all its authority. Orochimaru is one thing, but now every Tom, Dick, and Harry dares to come to the village and start a fight." Jiraiya murmured to himself with a headache. "Even our allies are getting restless. It looks like this Chunin Ninja Exam won't end peacefully." Jiraiya, who bore the responsibility of guiding the Child of Prophecy, was also worried about the village's future.

At the Central Tower in the Forest of Death, the three Sand Shinobi finally reached their destination, much to the relief of Kankuro and Temari.

"We made it through without too much trouble. We should be safe here, right?" Temari said, still shaken.

"Who knows? We don't know whether we'll have to fight again. If Gaara draws blood one more time, I don't know what'll happen." Kankuro replied anxiously. "Still, we got here so fast that nobody else should show up for a while. We've got some time to catch our breath. Gaara should be able to calm down."

The three Sand Shinobi had escaped danger, but the other examinees weren't so lucky. Karin, in particular, had escaped thanks to her keen sense of danger, despite her limited abilities. But alone, she didn't even have the skills to survive in the dangerous Forest of Death.

By the time she used her superhuman perception to find her teammates, who had been buried under the rubble, they were barely clinging to life. Their hopes of passing the Chunin Ninja Exams were utterly dashed. Stubborn and decisive, the girl didn't hesitate. Following Mizuki's advice, she opened the Earth Scroll in her hands.