Orochimaru's Attack

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

After leaving the classroom, Naruto created a shadow clone. The clone left with a wicked grin, leaving Sasuke and Sakura completely baffled.

Sakura asked suspiciously, "What are you doing, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned mischievously. "Nothing much. I'm just having my shadow clone set up some insurance. I've actually learned another jutsu too. I can't fully control it yet, but it's enough to disgust people."

"Like the Sexy Jutsu?" Sakura took several steps back, looking at Naruto with disgust.

"No!" Naruto hurriedly retorted. "It's another jutsu. Didn't that female Jonin who suddenly came in, Mitaraishi Anko, say that more than half the people would be eliminated next?"

With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke said coldly, "Hmph. I didn't expect you to be scared, dead last. That doesn't sound like you at all."

"Heh... Isn't it because I'm afraid we'll run into an enemy we can't defeat?" Naruto muttered, though he couldn't say too much.

The three members of Team 7 arrived at Training Ground 44, a place called the Forest of Death. This was the second round of the Chunin Exams.

The towering trees were so dense that they could block out even the sunlight, giving the place an eerie and terrifying atmosphere. Before entering the Forest of Death for the exam, they had to sign a consent form first, since their lives could be in danger.

The second exam was an extreme survival challenge. Training Ground 44 was surrounded by more than forty-four locked entrances. Inside were rivers and forests, while a tall tower stood at the very center. The distance from the entrances to the tower was roughly ten kilometers.

There were no restrictions on methods in this exam. Their goal was to gather both the Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll and reach the central tower within five days. Half the teams had Heaven Scrolls, while the other half carried Earth Scrolls.

After signing the consent form, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura arrived at Iron Gate No. 12. They had received a Heaven Scroll, and Team 7 needed to obtain an Earth Scroll before they could reach the central tower.

The three members of Team 7 entered the Forest of Death. Not long after entering, they heard a series of agonized screams, making Sakura tense up uneasily.

"Th-that scream just now...?"

"Sakura, don't worry. Sasuke and I are both strong. We'll definitely make it safely to the tower."

Naruto was even more guarded than Sasuke and Sakura. Kurama really was refusing to help him now, and he could no longer even enter his inner space. The Orochimaru they would face next was even more terrifying than Zabuza and Haku. Orochimaru would not show him mercy like Haku had.

The forest was lush, so dense that even sunlight could not penetrate it. The three members of Team 7 sat beneath the roots of a tree.

Sasuke said, "Over the next few days, if we get separated or run into each other, one of us might be someone else transformed into us. We need a password. Whoever says it wrong is the enemy!"

Naruto noticed movement beside him. He glanced at a thin, hollow bamboo tube growing from the soil nearby, then gathered a Rasengan in his hand. "Sasuke, I'm afraid we can't discuss that for now. Rasengan!"

Boom...

Naruto blasted open the ground with a Rasengan, causing a massive explosion.

Sasuke was startled and activated his Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Sakura took out a kunai and went on guard.

The ground split apart. Naruto's sudden attack had clearly caught them off guard. Two Kusagakure ninja had their breaths cut short by Naruto's strike and died on the spot.

"One more!" Naruto watched the surroundings vigilantly.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a foul wind swept through. A Kusagakure ninja stood atop a tree, looking down at the three members of Team 7. His tongue was extremely long, and he held an Earth Scroll in his hand.

"What sharp senses. I can't believe you noticed!" This person was Orochimaru, disguised as a Kusagakure ninja, radiating astonishing killing intent.

Naruto stood firm among them, completely ignoring it. Having spent so much time with the Nine-Tails Kurama, this was nothing more than a light drizzle to him. He said in a low voice, "It's only natural. How could a hollow bamboo tube grow out of the ground in an environment like this?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and quickly adjusted himself. Because of Naruto, Sasuke had improved a great deal as well, and Orochimaru's killing intent did not overwhelm him.

Sakura froze in place, her scalp prickling. She was the most affected. Her entire body shook as she trembled nervously. The feeling was like facing a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. She would die. This killing intent made her feel as if even the courage to kill herself had been taken away, leaving her only able to be slaughtered at someone else's whim.

"Is this really a Genin?" Sasuke shielded Sakura behind him and spoke with a grave expression.

Orochimaru raised the Earth Scroll in his hand. "You have a Heaven Scroll, right? So you really want the Earth Scroll in my hand, don't you?"

Seeing Orochimaru about to swallow the Earth Scroll, Naruto quickly formed hand seals. His chakra erupted as he went all out.

Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!

As the dust cleared, hundreds of Narutos charged toward Orochimaru in a dense swarm, each holding a Rasengan.

"This brat actually made so many shadow clones!" Orochimaru failed to swallow the Earth Scroll and casually tucked it into his clothes. He easily caught an attacking shadow clone by the wrist, crushed it with a squeeze, and moved through Naruto's swarm of shadow clones with nothing but taijutsu.

Naruto's real body came to Sasuke's side and said in a low voice, "Sasuke, you saw it too. This enemy is incredibly strong. Let's join forces. I have a jutsu that only needs me, or one of my shadow clones, to touch him."

"If you touch him, can you defeat him?" Sasuke asked in surprise.

Naruto hurriedly shook his head. "Of course not. But I can make this guy stay away from us!"

Naruto's last shadow clone was strangled to death by a large snake that emerged from Orochimaru's wrist and coiled around it.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Three giant pythons, each over thirty meters long, appeared beneath Orochimaru's feet, flicking their tongues. Two of them charged separately at Sasuke and Naruto.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Big Ball Rasengan!"

Sasuke's fireball was five or six meters wide, while the Big Ball Rasengan was the strongest Naruto could currently use. Together, they destroyed the attacking giant pythons.

The instant Sakura saw this, she stopped trembling like before. For some reason, Naruto and Sasuke now seemed impossibly distant from her. All she could do was remain silently behind them.

Naruto dispersed the Big Ball Rasengan in his hand and charged toward Orochimaru.

Behind him, Sasuke kept his Two-Tomoe Sharingan fixed on Orochimaru. He drew four kunai and one shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, then forcefully hurled the four kunai at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's body was incredibly agile. Like an afterimage, he swiftly dodged Sasuke's kunai.

"I see you!" Sasuke forcefully threw the shuriken, intercepting Orochimaru's path forward.