I Sold Sasuke and Got a Good Price

Orochimaru glanced at Naruto, then suddenly lowered his body and shot forward at incredible speed. His body had transformed into a human torso with a snake's tail, slithering rapidly along the ground until he reached Naruto in an instant.

"So fast!" Naruto had no time to react. It seemed that the 1,562 explosive tags had completely enraged Orochimaru, forcing him to use his true strength.

Orochimaru truly intended to kill him. Naruto hurriedly lifted his shirt, exposing the Nine-Tails seal on his abdomen, and Orochimaru was instantly startled.

"The Nine-Tails!" Orochimaru withdrew his killing blow, extended a long tongue from his mouth, and wrapped Naruto up with it.

Naruto was tightly bound by the huge tongue, his Nine-Tails seal fully exposed. As Orochimaru examined the seal, he discovered that it had loosened slightly, allowing a trace of the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out.

"You're actually 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 very good care of you. Otherwise, a mere Genin like you could never have obtained so many."

I had Zabuza Momochi use Kado's assets to buy these explosive tags... My purpose was to leave a deep impression on you, Orochimaru, so you wouldn't underestimate me. After all, I'll need to trade with you 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 chakra leaking from the Nine-Tails.

Once the seal was complete, Orochimaru lost interest in Naruto and slowly walked toward Sasuke. Sasuke was still sitting by the river in a daze. But when Orochimaru approached, white smoke rose from Sasuke's body, and he vanished into thin air.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Orochimaru realized that Sasuke had been a fake. But how could Sasuke be fake? He 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 fail to find him.

"Heh heh heh..." 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?"

"Let's make a deal," 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 the Hidden Grass Village, 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 the Hidden Grass Village. After killing her, I took her face and assumed the identity of a Hidden Grass Village ninja to participate in these exams. It seems the Nine-Tails has mistaken me for someone from the Hidden Grass Village and wants to trade Sasuke for this Karin...

Orochimaru's heart was filled with doubts. Who exactly was Karin? Why would the Nine-Tails trade Sasuke for her? What was this Genin plotting?

Orochimaru's strange smile tugged at the skin of 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 Sasuke!"

"Heh heh heh... Interesting..." Orochimaru was still doubtful. 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, Originally, Sasuke and Karin would both have gone with you. But because of what I did, you'll lose Karin outright. You're taking a huge loss.

"In half a day, 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."

"..."

Naruto had rendered Orochimaru completely speechless. He had encountered a truly remarkable Genin. Not only did Naruto possess a massive number of explosive tags, but he was using Sasuke as a bargaining chip—and now he even dared demand the exam scroll from him.

"To advance in the Chunin Ninja Exams, I need the scroll on you," Naruto said. "To show your sincerity, hand it over. Hmph." At the same time, he thought, You're Orochimaru. You're not even here to take the exams. 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!"

"Heh heh heh..." Orochimaru took a scroll from his robes. Judging from its appearance, it was an Earth Scroll, just enough to pair with the Heaven Scroll Naruto carried.

Orochimaru placed the Earth Scroll on the ground and left.

Watching Orochimaru depart, Naruto finally relaxed. Then he cheered, "With Karin's special ability to support me, I'll be able to create hundreds of Shadow Clones at once for training. My training speed will improve by leaps and bounds. And with Karin's special ability, I can eliminate fatigue and restore my chakra."

"With Karin, I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!"

Then Naruto remembered that Sakura had been knocked unconscious by Orochimaru, so he hurried over to check on her. Fortunately, Sakura had merely fainted and had not suffered any serious injuries, which put his mind at ease.

Bringing Sakura and a fake Sasuke to face Orochimaru had actually been extremely risky. Fortunately, it ended without disaster. Not only had Naruto obtained the Earth Scroll from Orochimaru, but he had also made Orochimaru help him find Karin. He had profited enormously.

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 had used 1,562 explosive tags, relying on an intimidating display built with money to deter Orochimaru. Combined with Orochimaru's extreme rationality—his need to consider the bigger picture with every move—Naruto had successfully played him in the palm of his hand.

Sakura slowly woke up. The first thing she saw was Naruto's face. Worried, she asked, "Where's Sasuke? Is Sasuke okay? Where's that terrifying person?"

"I drove that guy away." Naruto grinned and held up the Earth Scroll. "I even snatched the Earth Scroll from him."

"That's amazing!" Sakura's face lit up with uncontrollable joy. Then she looked around, failed to spot Sasuke, and asked, "Naruto, where's Sasuke?"