Orochimaru stood in the thick fog, his dark-gold slit pupils slowly shifting.
"Shouting so loudly, Anko? Trying to draw every examinee in the forest here?" Orochimaru's voice was low and pleased, as though he were catching up with an old friend. "Too bad. The one who needed to leave is already gone."
Anko's pupils contracted. She caught the crucial words at once. "The one who needed to leave? Who? The person who forced you to summon Manda?"
Orochimaru chuckled, his shoulders trembling slightly.
He raised a hand. A trace of dark-red blood stained his fingertip. He held it to his nose and sniffed, his expression almost rapturous.
"His name is Sahiro Uchiha. Even more delicious than I imagined... But he paid a price, too."
Anko's heart sank.
Sahiro Uchiha—the boy who had stunned the Jōnin during the first exam.
He had fought Orochimaru and been wounded?
"Don't make that face." Orochimaru lowered his hand, showing no sign of attacking. "That boy is clever. He knew he couldn't beat me yet, so he withdrew. Though his wounds aren't light."
"Oh, right. He seems rather concerned about that younger brother of his in Team 7. Sasuke, was it?"
The Cursed Seal on the back of Anko's neck burned as if branded, making her gasp. Orochimaru had mentioned Sasuke. That could not be a good sign.
"What are you planning?"
"What do you think?" Orochimaru's slit pupils flashed in the fog, and his tone suddenly turned cold. "I came here to give Sasuke a gift. His brother got in my way and cost me some time. No matter. It won't be long now."
Anko understood at once.
Orochimaru had not come to fight Sahiro to the death. He had come for Sasuke.
Sahiro had merely been an unexpected obstacle.
"Not a chance, you Rogue Ninja!" Anko roared and kicked off the ground. Her blade drew a silver line through the dim light, aimed straight at Orochimaru's throat.
Orochimaru barely moved. He turned slightly, and the blade skimmed the brim of his hat, severing a few strands of black hair.
The next instant, Anko's wrist went numb. A supple force caught her blade and dragged her forward.
She reacted instantly, drawing a Kunai with her left hand and stabbing behind her, but Orochimaru was already gone.
"Too slow, Anko." Orochimaru's voice came from behind her.
Every hair on Anko's body stood on end. Before she could turn, the Cursed Seal on the back of her neck flared. Agony shot through her like electricity, and her knees buckled. She nearly collapsed.
But Orochimaru did not finish her off. Instead, he stepped backward, disappearing into the thick fog once more.
"Next time we meet, I'll reactivate that Cursed Seal for you. For now, I'm going to find Sasuke."
"Stop!" Anko gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her forehead, but she could barely stand.
The fog closed in, and Orochimaru's presence vanished completely.
The next day, in a hidden corner of the Forest of Death.
Sahiro had clearly caught Orochimaru in a Genjutsu for an instant, then detonated the Explosive Tags around them to create enough chaos to escape.
Yet that snake had pinpointed his real body through the Genjutsu and explosions. One strike from Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands had nearly pierced his side.
If Sahiro had not strengthened his body with Cursed Seal chakra in advance, a corpse would be lying here now.
At my current strength, I'm still a step short of taking Orochimaru head-on. Sahiro closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. But he didn't pursue me. Sasuke must still be his priority.
He opened his eyes sharply and looked toward the direction where Team 7 was most likely to be.
After a night's rest, Sahiro's Uzumaki Clan bloodline had helped his body recover completely.
"It's already the second day... Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura... Time to find you."
Suddenly, he sensed Orochimaru's chakra.
Then, farther away, a boy's scream tore through the dense forest, startling countless birds into flight.
"Sasuke!"
Sahiro's brow furrowed. He became a streak of black lightning and raced toward the sound at full speed.
Deep in the forest, the wind seemed to be torn apart.
Sasuke flew sideways, snapped two wrist-thick vines, and slammed into a raised tree root.
He grunted. The taste of blood surged up his throat, and half his face was stained red.
He struggled to roll over, but a long, pale hand pressed down on the back of his head. Its pressure was measured, yet he could not break free.
"Don't be in such a hurry to die, Sasuke." Orochimaru's voice came from above. "I haven't given you your gift yet."
"Sasuke!" Sakura's voice cracked into a shriek. Her eyes were wide, and all strength seemed to leave her as she fell to the ground.
She scrambled backward on her hands and feet, then froze when she bumped into a tree.
She wanted to move. She truly did.
But even the hint of killing intent Orochimaru gave off left her trembling from head to toe. Her body refused to obey.
"Don't look down on me!" Sasuke jerked his head up, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan fixed on Orochimaru.
"Good. That look in your eyes is just like your brother's." Orochimaru chuckled, nearly mad with excitement. "Unfortunately, you're still far too slow."
Sasuke's pupils shrank. Before he could react, an icy presence closed in on the back of his neck.
Pain struck like lightning, exploding from his neck and shoulder into his skull.
Orochimaru's fangs sank deep into his flesh. Scalding Cursed Seal chakra poured into his veins like molten rock.
Sasuke opened his mouth, but only half a broken scream came out. His body curled like a shrimp's, then crashed back to the ground.
"Sasuke!!!" Sakura tried to throw herself toward him, but her legs felt like cotton. She fell before taking a single step.
Naruto's eyes had gone red.
Or rather, his whole world had turned red.
When he saw that snake bite Sasuke's neck, heard Sasuke scream and Sakura cry, the last thread of reason in his mind snapped.
"You bastard!!!" Icy red chakra erupted from Naruto's abdomen, sending a gale sweeping outward.
His eyes became slitted, the marks on his cheeks thickened, and inhuman fangs showed at the corners of his mouth.
He lunged straight at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru released Sasuke and leaped back several steps. Looking at the storm raised by that red chakra, he laughed. "Even the Nine-Tails brat has gone berserk? Too bad. A brat is still a brat. You can't control that power."
Naruto's claws ripped through the air, only to shred the afterimage Orochimaru had left behind.
The next instant, Orochimaru appeared in front of him. He thrust out his right palm. Five different-colored formulas lit up at his fingertips before he slammed his hand against Naruto's abdomen.
"Five Elements Seal!"
Orochimaru used the Five Elements Seal to suppress Naruto's Eight Trigrams Seal.
"D-damn it... Why..." Naruto braced himself on his arms and tried to rise, but he could not even kneel steadily. It felt as if a block of ancient ice had been lodged in his abdomen, leaving him unable to summon even his own strength.
Sakura finally crawled to Sasuke's side and held his shoulders with trembling hands.
"Sasuke... Sasuke, how are you? Wake up... What should I do...?"
Sakura sobbed so hard she could barely breathe. The boy in her arms was frighteningly hot, yet his body would not stop shaking.
Sasuke's eyes were half-open, his vision blurred.
He saw Sakura's tears fall onto his face. He saw Naruto sprawled on the ground, his hands covered in blood. He saw Orochimaru standing ten paces away, as though admiring the remains of a feast.
"I'm... too weak..."
"That's it." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. "Do you want power, Sasuke? I'll be waiting for you."
He suddenly tilted his head toward the northern forest, his smile deepening. "Your brother got here quickly. But this round is already over."
Orochimaru's figure began to fade, his tongue leaving one last bloody scent in the air.
Deep in the forest, a black figure raced along the treetops, his Three Tomoe trailing crimson light through the darkness.
Sahiro could already see the devastated clearing ahead and the red haze drifting over it. His face darkened.
"Orochimaru, stop right there!"
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