Orochimaru's Gift

The four of them stumbled through the dense forest in a sorry state, not daring to stop for even a moment.

Sasuke carried the unconscious Sakura on his back, his face pale and his breathing ragged. The curse mark on his neck writhed silently, sending waves of bone-deep pain and inexplicable irritation through him.

His Sharingan could no longer be maintained under the strain of exhaustion and the curse mark, flickering in and out of existence.

Naruto supported the unsteady Ling Yue as he kept muttering, "Who the hell was that masked freak just now? He felt even scarier than that snake guy! And Sasuke, what's that thing on your neck? It looks disgusting..."

"Shut up, dead last!" Sasuke growled, his voice hoarse with pain. "If you don't want to die, keep moving!"

Enduring the pain throughout her body, Ling Yue struggled to maintain [Zetsu] at its lowest consumption, reducing the team's presence while vigilantly sensing their surroundings.

[Resilient Body] was slowly healing her injuries, but its speed was nowhere near enough for their desperate escape.

They had to find an absolutely safe place to rest as soon as possible! Something was very wrong with Sasuke!

"There's a tree hollow over there!" Naruto spotted one and pointed at a hollow concealed by enormous vines.

Sasuke checked it with the last of his rationality, confirmed there was no danger, and immediately said, "Get in!"

The four squeezed into the narrow tree hollow. There was little space inside, but it was well hidden.

Sasuke carefully laid Sakura down, then slid down against the wall himself. He panted heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat as he clenched his teeth against the curse mark's erosion.

"Sasuke, how are you?" Ling Yue leaned closer, looking worriedly at the darkening mark on his neck.

"I'm... fine!" Sasuke shoved her away, his eyes somewhat manic. "Don't touch me!"

Ling Yue staggered from the push and slammed into the wall of the hollow, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain.

"Hey! Sasuke, what are you doing?!" Naruto shouted unhappily.

"I said don't touch me!" Sasuke suddenly raised his head. At some point, his eyes had become beastlike vertical pupils. Black runes faintly spread beneath his skin, and his aura turned cold and violent. "Get away! All of you, get away!"

The curse mark was starting to affect his mind!

"Sasuke-kun! Calm down!" Sakura had slowly awakened by then. Seeing Sasuke like this, her face turned white with fright.

"Calm down? Heh heh..." Sasuke let out a low laugh, filled with pain and distortion. "What do you know... this power... this feeling..."

He suddenly grabbed his own hair, his body trembling violently, as if resisting something—and yet yearning for it at the same time.

Ling Yue was frantic. In the original story, Sasuke had endured it through sheer willpower, but because of her butterfly effect, things seemed to be even worse now!

And powerful enemies surrounded them outside. This place was not safe at all!

"Naruto, Sakura, watch him!" Ling Yue struggled to her feet. "I'm going out to set up a few warning traps!"

"You're hurt so badly, I'll go!" Naruto volunteered.

"Do you even know how to set traps?" Ling Yue's single question left Naruto speechless.

She took out the few remaining lengths of wire and ordinary Kunai from her ninja tool pouch, endured the pain, and crawled out of the tree hollow. She quickly set up several simple tripwires and triggered Kunai traps around the area.

They were crude, but at least they could provide some warning.

Just as she finished setting the last one, she suddenly heard an extremely faint crack.

It was not one of her traps being triggered, but... the sound of a dead branch snapping farther away!

Someone was approaching!

Ling Yue's expression changed. She immediately retreated into the tree hollow, made a silencing gesture to the other three, and whispered, "Someone's coming!"

The atmosphere inside the hollow instantly became tense!

Even Sasuke's struggle seemed to pause as his beastlike vertical pupils warily fixed on the entrance.

Naruto and Sakura held their breath at once, gripping their Kunai tightly.

The footsteps drew closer. It sounded like there was more than one person.

"I clearly saw movement over here just now..."

"Be careful. It could be a trap."

They were unfamiliar voices! They sounded like the Hidden Rain Village ninja they had encountered before?

Ling Yue's heart rose to her throat. Had they followed their trail here, or was it just a coincidence?

The footsteps stopped not far outside the tree hollow.

"Strange. No one?"

"Search the area!"

The sounds of grass and branches being moved came from outside.

The four inside the hollow were tense to the extreme.

Sasuke's eyes flickered, as if weighing whether to rush out and fight for his life or continue hiding. Sweat formed on Naruto's forehead, while Sakura tightly covered her own mouth.

Ling Yue quietly reached for the last few Kunai with Explosive Tags tied to them. They were all she had left.

Just at that critical moment...

"Ah!" A short cry suddenly rang out from outside, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground!

"What happened?!"

"There's a trap! Retreat!"

A burst of commotion erupted outside. The footsteps turned frantic and quickly faded away.

They left?

The four exchanged looks inside the tree hollow. None of them dared lower their guard. They remained still, listening carefully to the sounds outside.

After quite a while, the outside fell completely silent.

"Looks like... they really left?" Naruto said softly.

Ling Yue cautiously peered through a gap. Only after confirming no one was there did she whisper, "I'll go take a look."

She crawled out of the tree hollow again and saw several shuriken scattered on the ground nearby, along with a... scroll?

She cautiously walked over, picked up the scroll, and opened it. Then she froze.

The Earth Scroll!

It was the exact Earth Scroll they needed!

Why was it here? Had those Hidden Rain ninja left it behind? Was it a trap? Or...

She recalled the cry and commotion from earlier. Could it be that those Hidden Rain ninja had accidentally triggered one of the crude traps she had set, then dropped it in their panic?

Was her luck really that good?!

She carefully inspected the scroll and the surrounding area. There really were no signs of a trap.

"What is it?" Sasuke's voice came from behind her. He had actually forced himself to walk out as well. His expression was still awful, but some clarity had returned to his eyes. It seemed he had temporarily suppressed the curse mark.

Naruto and Sakura followed him out.

"The Earth Scroll!" Ling Yue handed the scroll to Sasuke.

Sasuke took it and inspected it. After confirming it was genuine, disbelief flashed through his eyes as well. "They dropped it?"

"Seems like it." Ling Yue pointed at a triggered tripwire nearby. "It probably scared them, and they fled in a panic."

Naruto immediately puffed up with pride. "Hahaha! It must've been because my intimidation was too powerful! They were so scared they even threw away their scroll!"

Sakura sighed in relief. "No matter what, we have all the scrolls we need! That's great!"

Sasuke tightened his grip on the scroll, then looked at his trembling left hand and the place where the curse mark had spread. In a low voice, he said, "Getting the scroll is good, but my condition... We need to reach the central tower as soon as possible!"

With their goal clear, the four rested briefly before setting out again.

This time, they were even more careful. Ling Yue used [Zetsu] and her sensory abilities to scout ahead, avoiding other teams and dangerous areas.

The journey was strangely smooth. They encountered almost no real obstacles. Whenever they occasionally sensed the chakra of other teams, those teams seemed unwilling to fight and avoided them from afar.

It was as though... someone was clearing the way for them in secret.

This abnormal smoothness made Ling Yue increasingly uneasy. Was it Orochimaru? Or that masked man? What exactly did they want?

Finally, on the evening of the third day, the four saw the towering structure standing in the center of the forest from afar.

"We made it! We made it!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

Sakura also revealed a tired but joyful smile.

Sasuke clutched his neck. The curse mark had begun to ache faintly again, but his gaze was resolute. "Pick up the pace!"

Victory was within sight.

Just as they passed through the final stretch of dense shrubbery and were about to step onto the stone path leading to the tower—

An eerie chorus of hissing suddenly rose from all directions!

Countless venomous snakes of every color and size slithered out from the grass, treetops, and soil, surrounding them completely. Scarlet tongues flicked in and out as cold vertical pupils locked onto the four of them!

Amid the snakes, three especially enormous pythons with strange fleshy crests on their heads slowly raised their bodies, blocking every route forward.

"Snakes... so many snakes!" Sakura screamed in terror, tightly clutching Sasuke's arm.

Naruto's scalp went numb as well, and he stammered, "W-why are there so many more?!"

Sasuke's Sharingan activated instantly. He stepped in front of Sakura, his face turning grim. "This is Orochimaru's doing! He hasn't given up!"

Ling Yue's heart sank to the bottom. Of course it wouldn't be that simple!

These snakes were unlike the beasts they had encountered before. They moved in an orderly fashion and carried obvious chakra fluctuations. Someone was clearly controlling them!

Just as the four were forced to stop, trapped within the encirclement of snakes and unable to advance or retreat—

A cold, raspy voice, carrying a teasing laugh, suddenly rang out behind them:

"This 'gift' leading to victory doesn't come for free, Sasuke-kun..."