Orochimaru glanced at Naruto, then suddenly lowered his body and shot forward at incredible speed. In his mutated form of a human body with a snake's tail, he slithered swiftly along the ground and reached Naruto in an instant.
"So fast!" Naruto had no time to react. It seemed that the 1,562 Explosive Tags had thoroughly enraged Orochimaru, forcing him to use his true strength.
Orochimaru truly had murderous intent. Naruto hurriedly lifted his shirt, revealing the Nine-Tails seal on his abdomen. Orochimaru was instantly shocked.
"The Nine-Tails!" Orochimaru withdrew his killing move, spat out a long tongue, and bound Naruto with it.
Naruto was tightly tied up by the huge tongue, his Nine-Tails seal fully exposed. Orochimaru looked at the seal and found that it had begun to loosen slightly; a trace of the Nine-Tails' chakra had already leaked out.
"So you're the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki. I thought you were already dead," Orochimaru said. "No wonder you have so many Explosive Tags. The Third Hokage must have taken good care of you. Otherwise, a mere Genin like you couldn't have gotten so many Explosive Tags."
I had Zabuza Momochi use Gato's assets to buy these Explosive Tags... My goal was to give Orochimaru a lasting lesson, so he wouldn't dare underestimate me. I'll still need to trade with him in the future...
"Five Elements Seal!" Orochimaru gathered chakra in his five fingers and pressed them against Naruto's abdomen, adding another seal to completely suppress the Nine-Tails' leaking chakra.
After completing the seal, Orochimaru lost interest in Naruto and slowly walked toward Sasuke. Sasuke was still sitting by the river in a daze. When Orochimaru drew near, white smoke rose from Sasuke's entire body, and he vanished into thin air.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Orochimaru realized that Sasuke was fake. But how could Sasuke have been fake? Orochimaru had turned the entire Forest of Death upside down. As long as Sasuke had entered the Forest of Death, there was no way Orochimaru could have failed to find him.
"Hehehe..." Naruto laughed a few times, then struggled to his feet. "You won't find Sasuke."
Orochimaru was shocked. His pupils contracted as he flashed before Naruto. His gloomy face was filled with sinister energy as he calmly asked, "Where is Sasuke?"
"Make a deal with me," Naruto said. "I'll give Sasuke to you, and you give Karin to me."
Orochimaru revealed a strange smile, because he had no idea who Karin was. At this point, he had not yet encountered her.
"Karin is a female ninja from Kusagakure, just like you," Naruto continued. "She's participating in these Chunin Ninja Exams. She has red hair. Bring her before me, and I'll tell you where Sasuke is."
I only happened to run into someone from Kusagakure. After killing her, I put on her face and took her place to participate in this exam. It seems the Nine-Tails mistook me for someone from Kusagakure and wants to trade Sasuke for that Karin...
Orochimaru was filled with doubts. Who exactly was Karin? Why did the Nine-Tails want to trade Sasuke for her? What was this Genin plotting?
Orochimaru's strange smile tugged at his face as he said coldly, "Why shouldn't I torture you, force you to tell me Sasuke's whereabouts, and then kill you?"
"If you wanted to kill me, I'd already be dead." Naruto showed no fear. He stepped forward and said, "Either bring Karin before me, or forget about ever getting Sasuke. Even if you turn all of Konoha upside down, I guarantee you'll never find him!"
"Hehehe... Interesting..." Orochimaru still had doubts. He could not understand why this Genin was so certain that he absolutely had to find Sasuke.
"This deal won't cost you anything," Naruto said aloud, while thinking, Sasuke and Karin were both supposed to go with you anyway. After my interference, you'll lose Karin outright. You're getting ripped off big time.
"Half a day from now, I'll bring her here. You'd better let me see Sasuke." Orochimaru turned to leave.
"Wait," Naruto said. "Hand over the scroll on you first."
"..." Orochimaru was completely speechless. He had encountered an extraordinary Genin. Not only did Naruto have a massive number of Explosive Tags, he was using Sasuke as a bargaining chip, and now he even dared demand the scroll used for the exam.
"To advance in the Chunin Ninja Exams, I need the scroll on you," Naruto said. "As a show of good faith, hand it over. Hmph." You're Orochimaru, not someone actually taking the exam. That scroll is useless to you, so you might as well give it to me...
"..." Orochimaru stared deeply at Naruto and asked, "What is your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Hehehe..." Orochimaru took out a scroll from his robes. Judging by its appearance, it was the Earth Scroll, which happened to make a complete pair with the Heaven Scroll Naruto carried.
Orochimaru placed the Earth Scroll on the ground and left.
Watching Orochimaru leave, Naruto finally relaxed. Then he cheered excitedly, "With Karin's special ability to assist me, I can create hundreds of shadow clones at once to train. My training speed will improve by leaps and bounds. And with Karin's special ability, I can eliminate fatigue and restore chakra."
"With Karin, I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!"
Naruto suddenly remembered that Sakura had been knocked unconscious by Orochimaru, so he hurried to check on her. Fortunately, Sakura had only fainted and was not seriously injured, which put his mind at ease.
Taking Sakura and a fake Sasuke against Orochimaru had actually been very risky. Fortunately, it had ended without disaster. Not only had Naruto obtained the Earth Scroll from Orochimaru, he had even made Orochimaru help him find Karin. He had made a huge profit.
Naruto knew that Orochimaru had two objectives on this trip. One was Sasuke, and the other was assassinating the Third Hokage. The Third Hokage was immensely powerful, and Orochimaru did not want to waste too much effort on irrelevant people. He needed to devote all his energy to the final battle.
So Naruto used 1,562 Explosive Tags and the imposing pressure built with money to intimidate Orochimaru. On top of that, Orochimaru was an extremely rational person who had to consider the bigger picture with every move. That was how Naruto successfully played Orochimaru in the palm of his hand.
Sakura slowly woke up. The first thing she saw was Naruto's face, and she anxiously asked, "Where's Sasuke? Is Sasuke okay? Where's that terrifying person?"
"I drove him away." Naruto grinned as he held up the Earth Scroll. "I even snatched the Earth Scroll from him."
"That's amazing!" Sakura's face lit up with irrepressible joy. Then she looked around and did not see Sasuke anywhere. "Naruto, where's Sasuke?"
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