With a sharp tug, Orochimaru tore away the false skin crafted by his disguise technique, revealing his true face. From his perch high above, he gazed down at Naruto, his serpentine tongue flicking across his lips with a disturbing hunger.
"Another genius on par with Itachi, huh?" he murmured, a mixture of admiration and greed flickering in his eyes.
The sheer strength Naruto displayed had stirred something within him. Yet his gaze soon slid toward Sasuke.
The sight of the three-tomoe Sharingan spinning in Sasuke's eyes ignited Orochimaru's desire.
What beautiful eyes… If I had those, Itachi would never have defeated me so easily!
From below, Naruto cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, his voice brimming with challenge.
"By the looks of you, there's no way you're just some random Grass ninja. Who are you really?"
Orochimaru's lips twisted into a smile, his tone smooth and mocking. "I am Orochimaru. That scroll you hold must be the Heaven Scroll, yes? Conveniently enough, I possess the Earth Scroll. Defeat me, and it's yours!"
He drew out a scroll and, with a grotesque display, swallowed it whole.
"Come now, it's simple," Orochimaru sneered. "Defeat me, slice me open, and claim your prize."
His words carried venom. He knew the compassion Konoha's genin usually held. Killing was one thing but disemboweling a man to retrieve a scroll? That kind of cruelty was another test entirely.
Words could be weapons, and Orochimaru wielded them as effectively as any jutsu. Combined with his suffocating killing intent, they could crush a weaker opponent's spirit.
As expected, both Sasuke and Hinata frowned, visibly disturbed. Neither was soft-hearted, but Orochimaru's suggestion unsettled them all the same. Murder was one thing. Mutilation, quite another.
Naruto, however, answered with a cold grin. "Sorry, Orochimaru, but we don't need the scroll in your belly. We already have one. All we need is to kill you."
His voice was sharp, but his eyes burned with wariness. This man was one of the Legendary Sannin experienced, cunning, and dangerous. Not an opponent who could be handled carelessly.
Naruto's fists clenched. If I'm going to end this, I'll have to strike fast and hard.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Without hesitation, Naruto launched his attack. Compressed wind bullets screamed through the air, piercing faster than sound. Orochimaru twisted and slipped past them with unnerving ease.
He clapped his hands, and from his mouth spewed a writhing mass of venomous snakes, their fanged maws revealing hidden blades. They slithered toward Naruto, poised to strike.
Naruto swept his leg in a wide arc, wind chakra flaring. The gust formed a spinning wheel that shredded the snakes into pieces, their bodies scattering across the ground.
But before the fragments hit the dirt, Orochimaru's neck elongated like a serpent, his head shooting forward like a living cannonball toward Naruto's face.
Naruto's grin sharpened. "That's perfect!"
In an instant, he formed a Rasengan in his palm and thrust it at the incoming head.
Orochimaru didn't flinch. Instead, he opened his mouth wider, revealing the Kusanagi Sword, gleaming with a lethal aura. The blade lunged forward, aiming straight for Naruto's skull.
It was a gamble: a strike meant to exchange injury for Naruto's life.
The Rasengan collided with the Kusanagi, energy grinding against steel. The clash forced Naruto back, buying Orochimaru enough time to form hand signs. Spikes of stone erupted beneath Naruto's feet, forcing him to leap away. At the same time, Orochimaru's body melted into the ground like mud.
Hinata's pale eyes widened, her voice urgent. "Sasuke, he's coming for you!"
Sasuke's Sharingan spun as he turned, but Orochimaru had already burst from the earth, his body coiling around Sasuke like a serpent. His jaws opened wide, fangs glistening, aiming for Sasuke's neck.
So that's it. His real goal is Sasuke all along!
Naruto's battle had been nothing but a distraction.
But Sasuke did not panic. His voice was cold, his movements precise. "Chidori Stream!"
Crackling lightning erupted from his body, surging through Orochimaru's coils. The current wasn't enough to kill him outright, but it stunned his body, halting his strike.
Sasuke's hand flashed, shaping another jutsu. "Chidori Sharp Spear!"
A blade of lightning extended from his palm, and with one decisive swing, he severed Orochimaru's outstretched head.
The head tumbled to the forest floor. Orochimaru's coils loosened. Sasuke leapt free, not wasting the chance. He formed seals midair and expelled a massive Fireball Jutsu, engulfing Orochimaru's corpse in flames.
Naruto smirked faintly from the sidelines. This wasn't the reckless Sasuke of old. His friend had learned caution, honed by countless battles at Naruto's side. Against an enemy like Orochimaru, nothing could be taken for granted.
The flames consumed the body, turning it black until it suddenly burst apart, releasing a cloud of crimson smoke. The poisonous miasma spread quickly, rotting leaves and trees wherever it touched.
From within the red haze, three more Orochimaru appeared, striking in unison.
One launched a barrage of stone spears at Naruto.
Another unleashed a storm of senbon needles at Sasuke.
The third summoned serpents toward Hinata.
But they were mere clones. Together, the three genin dismantled them with ease, shattering the illusions to nothing.
When the smoke cleared, only a hollow snake-skin remained, flayed and empty.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "A substitution… again."
Hidden beneath the ground, the true Orochimaru slithered away. Layering his body in chakra to mimic rock, he even slipped past Hinata's Byakugan.
Sasuke pressed a hand to his neck, grim. "He tried to mark me with something…"
Naruto crushed the shed skin beneath his heel. His voice was low and dangerous. "Next time we meet, I'll tear that snake apart bone by bone."
Far away, five kilometers from the battlefield, Orochimaru emerged from the mouth of a small snake. His golden eyes gleamed with both irritation and fascination.
Their strength… it far exceeds what I expected. If not for his countless survival techniques, he would have been killed.
"To think that mere genin already possess the power to threaten Kage-level opponents…" He clicked his tongue, though his obsession with Sasuke's eyes only deepened.
"The son of the Fourth Hokage… his talent is no less than his father's. No… it might even be greater."
For in his genin days, Minato Namikaze had not possessed this level of raw power.
As his body sank back into the earth, Orochimaru whispered one final vow, his words cold and unyielding.
"The Sharingan… will be mine."
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