Meanwhile, in the shadows atop the academy building.
A pair of snake-like vertical pupils greedily watched the dispersing crowd below.
The "Grass Ninja," Orochimaru, extended his long tongue and slowly licked his lips.
The smile on his face had briefly frozen a moment ago.
Because just minutes earlier, that blond brat—Naruto Uzumaki—had casually reached out and placed a hand on Sasuke Uchiha's shoulder in full view of everyone.
An utterly ordinary gesture.
Yet in that instant, Orochimaru had clearly sensed a wisp of nearly imperceptible, yet incomparably pure golden Yang Release energy silently branding itself into Sasuke's body.
That energy held no hostility.
Yet it carried an unquestionable, tyrannical declaration of sovereignty.
As if someone had marked their prey.
Then turned and walked away without looking back.
Without even sparing him a glance.
Orochimaru's smile had stiffened for a full three seconds.
Did he discover me?
No... he didn't look at me.
He hadn't even tried to find the source of that gaze.
He had merely made a gesture—one enough to drive Orochimaru mad with speculation.
Far more clever than any taunt or threat.
Far more chilling.
"Interesting... truly interesting..."
An even more twisted, more fanatical smile slowly bloomed across Orochimaru's face.
The greed in his snake eyes was more than ten times stronger than before.
"I originally only wanted Sasuke-kun... but it seems that you, Naruto Uzumaki, this perfect 'vessel,' are ten thousand times more interesting than I imagined..."
His forked tongue hissed through the air.
"Then... let us taste you both in the Forest of Death."
After parting ways with the other two members of Team 7, Naruto did not linger outside and headed straight back to his apartment.
The moment he pushed open the door, a graceful figure in a black-and-white maid uniform was already kneeling respectfully in the entryway, her soft black hair cascading over her shoulders.
"Welcome home, Lord Naruto."
Haku's voice was gentle as water. She lifted her head, her exquisitely beautiful and androgynous face filled with undisguised concern and affection.
"Mm."
Naruto casually shut the door, took off his coat and tossed it aside, then collapsed lazily with an air of exhaustion and deeper weariness. His head naturally came to rest upon Haku's soft, resilient thighs.
"Ah!"
Haku let out a soft cry, her cheeks flushing faintly. Then she reached out in concern and gently touched Naruto's forehead. "Lord Naruto... your body seems even more... feverish than usual."
She could feel that although the body resting on her lap appeared relaxed, every inch of muscle and meridian beneath his skin retained the tension and soreness of intense exertion. A written exam could never have caused such strain.
"Heh, I just loosened up a little."
Naruto closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace of the girl's lap pillow, but his thoughts drifted to what had happened at the deserted training ground before he came home.
The Perfect Sage Body was his greatest trump card, but the Eight Gates was the best way to efficiently convert that power into destructive force.
He had not idled away the hours before returning home.
With the Sage Body's terrifying capacity and recovery ability, he could already easily control the first three gates.
And today, he had successfully forced open the Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain.
The instant it opened, the tearing agony and berserk power were enough to move any jonin.
But he knew even more clearly that it was not enough.
Against a monster on Orochimaru's level, the Gate of Pain merely qualified him to wrestle with him.
He had tried to break through the barrier of the Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit. That barrier was unimaginably sturdy; even a tentative attempt had made his body cry out under the unbearable strain.
Just a little more...
Naruto thought to himself.
The Gate of Limit was the true threshold capable of threatening those at Shadow Level.
He had to use that snake's pressure in the Forest of Death to complete the final breakthrough.
But what he had not told Haku was—
At the moment his attempt to break through the Gate of Limit's barrier had failed, the Nine-Tails' chakra within that space deep in his consciousness, suppressed by multiple seals, had shown a trace of abnormal fluctuation.
Not a rampage.
More like... some kind of response.
As if something slumbered within him, waiting for him to touch a certain critical point.
What was it?
Naruto had no answer for now.
But his instincts told him that power was more dangerous than the Eight Gates—and even more... tempting.
"Do you need me to... eliminate those threats that have exhausted Lord Naruto?"
Haku's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
Her tone was gentle, but a glimmer of icy killing intent flashed through her eyes.
"No."
Naruto opened his eyes. His azure gaze was clear and deep. "Your battlefield isn't here. You only need to stay home and guard this 'home' for me."
As he spoke, he took a black bank card from his clothes and placed it in Haku's hand.
"There's enough money on it to buy the biggest residence in the best district of the Hidden Leaf."
"Go buy it, then decorate it however you like. When I return from the Chunin Ninja Exams, our Uzumaki Clan's home will be there."
Haku stared blankly at the card in her hand, then at Naruto, who seemed to have already fallen asleep on her lap. Her eyes instantly reddened.
Home...
For her, it was a word so extravagant that she had never even dared to dream of it. Yet Naruto had now placed it in her hands as casually as that.
She was not a tool, not a maid... she was one of the mistresses of this "home."
An unprecedented sense of belonging and happiness surged over her like raging tides, swallowing her whole in an instant.
"Yes... Lord Naruto."
Choking back tears, she used all the strength in her body to force out those few words.
She lowered her head and gently kissed Naruto's forehead. A warm tear quietly slid down her cheek.
The next morning.
Sunlight tore through the clouds, yet it brought not the slightest warmth.
Before the gates of Training Ground 44—the place commonly known as the "Forest of Death"—which was gloomy, damp, and filled with unknown dangers.
All examinees who had passed the first written test had gathered there.
The air was thick with tension, killing intent, and a faint, lingering scent of blood.
Naruto stood lazily among Team 7 with his hands in his pockets, receiving awed gazes from every direction.
Yet his senses had already spread like an invisible radar net, covering the entire perimeter of the training ground.
He could clearly feel that faint call of shared blood nearby, in an inconspicuous corner—the red-haired girl with glasses was being berated by several Grass Ninja, her shoulders hunched and her head lowered.
He could also feel that nearby, the blond girl holding a massive Iron Fan was secretly watching him with a complicated gaze mingled with embarrassment, curiosity, and unwillingness.
He could even feel that beyond the iron fence, the crazed beauty of an examiner whom he had frightened away last night was locking onto him with an equally complicated gaze.
And he could even sense a well-disguised, cold and clammy presence hidden somewhere, like a venomous snake waiting for its prey to take the bait.
Orochimaru.
Naruto did not look, nor did he search for the source of that gaze.
He merely slowly raised his head and swept his eyes across the battlefield before him. The curve of his lips grew ever more wanton, carrying the excitement and cruelty unique to a predator.
Before you continue