Sasuke Uchiha was in agony from his curse mark.
With no other choice, Naruto Uzumaki decided to trust the Nine-Tails. He extended his palm, pressed it onto the curse mark, and called out in a low voice, "Sealing Art: Devour!"
The pitch-black symbol dissolved into a familiar yet cold energy that flowed into Naruto's body. This was what the Nine-Tails called... natural energy.
The physical and spiritual energy in Naruto's body involuntarily began to merge with it. Inside the seal, the Nine-Tails remained silent, integrating its own Yang Power and chakra into the mix.
His body was changing, bit by bit...
A golden chakra cloak materialized around Naruto, with magatama-shaped marks appearing within it. Two strands of his hair slowly lengthened, looking as if two horns were growing from his head.
Naruto's eyes instantly transformed into a cross shape. At that moment, his sensory ability was enhanced beyond anything he had ever experienced. He felt as if everything around him was within his grasp.
He could sense the ninja teams wandering the Forest of Death and the aura of every single ninja in Konoha village, pinpointing their positions one by one.
This power... was immense.
When his transformation was complete, a majestic aura swept out, startling the entire Forest of Death. Even the proctors outside the forest were horrified.
The proctor for the second exam, Anko Mitarashi, was happily biting into a dango skewer when the wave of power hit. She froze. "This chakra... who is that? How can someone like that exist..."
As a special jōnin, she couldn't grasp the true scale of the power, but it didn't matter. To her, it felt like an existence that brought only despair.
It wasn't just Anko. Everyone in the exam felt the same way, including the three ninjas from the Hidden Sand Village.
Gaara had just finished dealing with a team of genin. He looked up, surprised and uncertain. "This chakra... I feel like it's even stronger than Shukaku..."
This was likely a result of the Sand Village's education. To Gaara, Shukaku was the strongest being in existence. If he ever had the chance to see how others viewed the Tailed Beasts, he would find that Shukaku was widely considered the weakest.
Temari was terrified. She whispered to him, "Gaara, we have all the scrolls. Let's hurry to the central tower!"
"She's right," Kankuro added, tightly gripping his chakra threads. "We can't handle an enemy like that! Compared to Gaara's power... this is even more despairing!"
"Shut up." Gaara turned and walked toward the central tower. "Let's go. We'll finish this boring Chunin Exam first."
The ever-cautious Team 8 was even more rattled.
Kiba Inuzuka was trembling from head to toe, though he was still trying to comfort a frightened Akamaru. "Don't be afraid... don't be afraid... the enemy is still far from us..."
"..." Hinata reached out and gently rubbed Akamaru's head. "Kiba, Shino, let's go to the central tower first. The enemy probably won't follow us in there."
"Agreed." Shino Aburame stood by and nodded.
The central tower was guarded by Konoha ninja. It had some defensive power, which at least gave them a little peace of mind.
Besides them, others felt the power even more directly.
Team 3, for instance, happened to be near the battlefield.
Neji Hyuga activated his Byakugan and watched the entire transformation. Sweat dripped down his forehead. "Naruto... that guy's chakra..."
"It's unimaginably strong!" Rock Lee suddenly clenched his fists.
In his opinion, the feeling Naruto gave off after transforming was even more terrifying than Might Guy-sensei opening the sixth gate.
Tenten stared at the brilliant golden figure and muttered to herself, "Guy-sensei was right... he's the beast among the rookies... no... he's a monster among the rookies!"
Team 3 was only watching from a distance. The pressure was nowhere near as great as it was for the two people right next to Naruto.
Sasuke Uchiha felt the pain from his curse mark recede. Just as he was about to thank his teammate, he saw Naruto's aura continue to rise, to the point that it was hard to even look directly at him.
Sakura Haruno stumbled back and fell to the ground in surprise. "Naruto, this is..."
"Sage of Six Paths Mode."
Naruto felt his transformation stabilize. The Nine-Tails was still chattering inside his mind, "There's too little natural energy in that curse mark, and the Yang Power I gathered isn't enough. We'll be lucky to maintain Sage of Six Paths Mode for ten seconds... Brat, hurry up and undo my seal. As long as I can help you absorb natural energy and provide Yang Power, I can let you maintain this combat state for a long time!"
"No need. Ten seconds is enough!"
The golden figure vanished in a flash of light and reappeared beside the Grass ninja—no, beside Orochimaru.
Naruto had sensed his chakra in an instant.
The surprise in Orochimaru's heart had not yet faded. The Curse Mark of Heaven... was dispelled... That brat named Naruto, what's going on with him? This chakra... the feeling it gives me is even stronger than the leader of that organization!
While Orochimaru was still lost in thought, his body was struck with incredible force. He was kicked so hard he went flying like a kite with a broken string, shattering countless trees along the way. His body felt like a pile of rags. In a daze, all he could register was pain searing through him.
And yet, that was just an ordinary kick.
The next moment, the golden figure appeared beside Orochimaru again. The speed was so immense that it was impossible to react. Orochimaru felt as if he had encountered a user of the Flying Thunder God Technique; he had no chance of dodging.
An elbow strike landed squarely on his chest.
Orochimaru felt as if every bone in his body had shattered. The pain exploded through him, leaving him completely powerless to move.
"What a terrifying brat..."
Even now, completely powerless, Orochimaru's lips still curved into a smile. "It seems I might die here!"
"Naruto, spare his life..." the Nine-Tails advised, before growling to itself. "Forget it, it doesn't matter. Who knows if that guy would really be dead anyway..."
The difficulty of killing Orochimaru was on par with the difficulty of killing Kaguya. With his array of life-saving techniques and cautious methods, he could probably live until the entire ninja profession went extinct.
"I wasn't going to kill him, either."
The golden cloak around Naruto faded away as the Sage of Six Paths Mode was canceled due to a lack of energy. He simply extended his hand toward Orochimaru. "You were right, we want the Earth Scroll. Hand it over."
"..."
The human skin mask on Orochimaru's face had melted away. He looked at Naruto's outstretched hand and suddenly chuckled, even as intense pain reminded him that his current body was finished.
Orochimaru's mouth opened wide, and he spat out the Earth Scroll. He even wiped the liquid off of it before placing it neatly on the ground.
And besides the scroll, he spat out another Orochimaru.
Naruto watched as the new Orochimaru appeared. Is this the Great Snake-Style Substitution Technique Pervy Sage mentioned? The one that consumes a huge amount of chakra to completely repair the body.
"What an interesting child..."
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Bonus:
Naruto: Are we really not killing him?
Nine-Tails: You can't. That person is extremely hard to kill.
Naruto: But I feel like I'm very strong right now!
Nine-Tails: Even if you're stronger, you still can't kill him.
Naruto: Can't you let me try?
Nine-Tails: Remember the source when you drink the water.
Naruto: What do you mean?
Nine-Tails: It means don't kill Orochimaru. He'll be very useful for unifying the ninja world.
Orochimaru: I went out for a trip and came back with only one feeling: it's good to be alive.