A fierce wind swept out of the depths of the forest without warning.
It carried rotting leaves and a bloody stench, engulfing the trio still standing there.
The old trees bowed in rows in the same direction, as though pressed down by an invisible hand, groaning under the unbearable strain.
Sakura and Sasuke instinctively raised their arms to shield themselves.
"Th-this wind..." Sakura's voice tightened.
Sasuke said nothing. He lowered his arm, his hand already resting on his Ninja Tool Pouch.
Hayashi did not shield himself. He did not even blink, staring straight toward the source of the gale.
Someone stepped out of the eye of the storm.
A Grass Ninja Forehead Protector, hair reaching his waist, skin without a trace of color.
The unfamiliar face of a woman.
Only those eyes-
Golden, vertical pupils, like a snake's.
So he really had changed bodies, but his soul couldn't change?
-Orochimaru had arrived in all his glory!
The clone he had just used to impersonate Naruto had barely fallen apart before his true body came chasing after them.
Apparently, he really could not sit still any longer.
Hayashi's gaze remained fixed on those snake pupils, unwavering.
The man from the alley had finally come in person today.
"So perceptive, and so tireless."
Orochimaru looked at Hayashi, his smile deepening.
"You've even made me see you in a different light."
As he walked, he reached down and drew a scroll from his waist.
The Earth Scroll.
"The one you have is the Heaven Scroll, isn't it?"
Orochimaru raised the scroll and gave it a shake.
"Come take it."
The next second.
Before all three of them, he tipped back his head and swallowed the entire Earth Scroll in one gulp.
A rectangular bulge rose in his throat, the outline of the scroll