The explosion rattled the forest floor, scattering leaves and smoke in every direction. When the dust cloud began to clear, only a crater was left of the bush where the explosion occured.
Two enemy genin lay sprawled and unconscious amidst the wreckage.
The third, an Inuzuka boy with widened eyes, was still standing, now scared out of his mind.
Orochimaru looked on, calm and calculating.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent a kunai whistling through the smoke.
*Swoosh* *Clank*
The boy reacted on instinct, raising a kunai to deflect it. Unfortunately for him, Tsunade, who was on the trees, realised this thrown kunai was the signal and immediately started to make hand seals.
Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat
[Water Release: Water Bullet Technique]
A blast of water left her mouth, heading straight for the Inuzuka. Forcing the genin to dodge to the left. Right where someone was waiting for him.
From somewhere unseen, the soft metallic click of wire echoed.
A kunai flashed from behind him, trailing silver strands that looped tightly around his arms and chest. In a blink, he was pinned against a tree, unable to move.
Jiraiya's transparent shadow clone materialized behind him, one hand gripping the taut wire. The real Jiraiya was still next to Tsunade, transparent.
"Looks like that's game over," he muttered.
The Inuzuka struggled briefly, then slumped to the ground. "Fine… fine! The scroll's in Kenta's vest pocket, the one with his ass facing up. Just take it!" he spat, glaring through the strands of hair matted to his face.
Orochimaru crouched beside one of the unconscious genin, searching methodically. He found the scroll.
"Another Earth scroll," he sighed.
Tsunade clicked her tongue, "Guess our luck ran out after that explosion."
Orochimaru knelt beside the bound Inazuka, pulling a small vial from his belt. "If they wake up too soon, they'll be a problem."
Without hesitation, he drove a senbon into the boy's forearm. A faint purple tinge spread under the skin. The genin stiffened, unable to move.
Jiraiya's expression was unreadable. He approved of this tactic to keep themselves safe from future ambushes from these guys. Especially since the Inazuka knew their scent and followed it.
"Let's just make sure no one else heard that blast," Tsunade mutters.
Tsunade crouched down, took a bottle of water from her pouch, and took a big sip. But as this happened, a sudden swoosh from a ranged weapon whistles through the air.
*Whizz* *Splat*
A kunai flew out from the shadows and into Tsunade's thigh.
She stumbled, hissing through her teeth as blood ran down her leg.
"Ambush!" Jiraiya's voice rang out, loud enough to echo through the trees.
The silence was shattered.
From three directions, figures burst out of the bush. Jiraiya, recognising them, realises it was the group that found his clone.
'Damn, did they track me using the Aburame's bugs. No wonder I felt itchy. This isn't the time to think about this, now!' Jiraiya, making a few hand seals, immediately put his hands on the ground.
Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram
The Aburame with insects already had them spilling from his sleeves. His teammate, the Kurama clan member forming seals facing Orochimaru. And an older, rougher genin with no clan symbol started to run forward.
His tall and sort of lanky frame made him look a bit ridiculous.
[Summoning Jutsu]
A massive cloud of smoke erupted beneath them. When it cleared, the hulking form of Gamabunta loomed overhead, his pipe clenched in his mouth.
"Oi, what's this about, kid?"
Jiraiya stood atop his head, keeping Tsunade safely balanced beside him. "It's an ambush, but don't kill them. Keep the girl on top of you safe," he said, not daring to take his eyes off the attackers. "Tsunade, can you handle you're leg? I need you to back me up. Take the time you need, alright."
"Thanks, I'll be fine," she gritted out, tearing the kunai from her leg. "Just listen for my voice."
"Good," Jiraiya answers with a serious look, making the senju take a second look at the boy.
'If I use a combination technique with Gamabunta, then I'll have no chakra if we miss.'
The older Genin, looking up at the huge toad, stopped right in his tracks. Jiraiya, though, didn't stay on top and jumped down directly to engage in a close-quarters battle. He didn't want to be a sitting duck with Tsunade.
Jiraiya lunged forward first, closing the gap before the older genin could react. Their fists met midair with a sharp crack, the impact reverberating through his arm.
The genin countered fast with an academy-style jab-cross. Jiraiya ducked under the cross, driving a kick into the boy's legs. The hit opponent dodged to the right and went for a haymaker.
Jiraiya caught it on his forearm, twisting his hips to throw a short elbow strike that grazed the side of the Genin's jaw. The boy stumbled back a step, surprised at the shift in rhythm.
He came again, faster now, trying to overpower Jiraiya with raw strength. Jiraiya sees this, teeps his leg, causing the kid's leg to buckle a second.
"Damn kid!" The kid shouts.
...
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, a bit away, moved like a shadow toward the Aburame.
A flicker, then a kunai from behind.
But the insects reacted first, forming a black, buzzing wall that intercepted the blade. The sound of thousands of wings filled the clearing.
Tsunade clenched her teeth after bandaging her wound.
Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat
[Water Release: Water Bullet Technique]
Firing a burst of pressurized water. The shot cut through the swarm, forcing the bugs to scatter, but the Aburame simply adjusted, sending another wave toward Orochimaru.
...
Jiraiya's focus wavered for only a moment, but that was all it took.
Mid-fight, the Kurama clan member had been left alone.
His vision warped.
The trees twisted, colors bleeding into one another.
'Genjutsu,' he realized.
He tried to dispel it, but pain exploded through his arm as his opponent's fist slammed into it. The bone cracked, bending unnaturally.
*Crack*
"ARGHHH!"
A scream tore from Jiraiya's throat as the illusion shattered.
He barely ducked the next blow aimed for his head, his instincts screaming at him to move. The man swung again, and Jiraiya caught his wrist with his only working arm, locking him in a clinch.
But the enemy still had one hand free. He raised his fist, ready to bring it down on Jiraiya's back.
A sharp voice cut through the chaos.
"Jiraiya, duck!"
Tsunade's voice.
Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat
[Water Release: Water Bullet Technique]
*SWOOSH!*
Jiraiya dropped instantly, and a surge of water blasted past him, striking his opponent full in the chest. The impact threw both of them apart, Jiraiya tumbling over the dirt, coughing, his vision still spinning.
The older genin tried to rise, groaning.
Unfortunately for him, Jiraiya was faster. And with gritted teeth wanted his get back for his broken arm.
He launched himself forward, slamming into the man and pinning him down.
Rage fueled the motion as he drove his knee into the Genin's face once, a second hit by his left arm to the head. Then, soon after, he grabbed the kid's arm and straight up using his leg and good arm to savagely cracked it.
*CRACK*
"UGHH!"
His breath came heavy, but the man beneath him didn't move again. The thought of whether this man could be dead didn't bother him.
The adrenaline was keeping him afloat.
Before he could catch his breath, a volley of kunai struck from the side. one grazing his left arm, slicing it open. Blood splattered across his sleeve.
"Damn it," he muttered, feeling the sting of the wound. "Need to end this quick."
Up above, Gamabunta shifted impatiently, smoke puffing from his pipe. "This is dragging on, brat," he rumbled. "I'm not staying here all day!"
Tsunade looked up at him, a small grin tugging at her lips despite the pain. "I like the way you think, toad."
"Hehe," Gamabunta chuckled.
The toad's massive form jumped forward with surprising force. The Kurama clan member barely had time to react before swapping himself with a log using the Body Replacement Technique.
The trick didn't save him for long.
"I've seen that move before." The moment he reappeared, Gamabunta's massive hand swung through the air and connected.
*Crash*
The ground trembled as the Kurama Genin slammed into a tree, his consciousness gone before he hit the dirt.
The battlefield had quieted for a moment.
Across the overarching battlefield was Orochimaru. Both boys moved lightly away from each other, not wanting frontal combat.
The Aburame's insects spread widely due to Tsunade's earlier actions, due to the water.
Orochimaru flickered forward, his body blurring into motion. Appearing just tens of meters away from the Aburame, he throws a kunai, which seemed a decent distance off the target.
The boy didn't flinch. He had seen the throw's angle, judged its path, and dismissed it instantly. But to his surprise, as it went through the air and behind him, the sight of an explosion seal whizzed past.
He couldn't react in time. Orochimaru's fingers were already forming a hand sign.
Rat
*BOOM!*
The explosion tore through the clearing.
Dirt erupted in a violent burst, shattering the Aburame's composure as the blast sent him stumbling forward, his cloak whipping in the shockwave. The insect swarm faltered instinctively scattering from the sudden impact.
Orochimaru was already moving. He surged through the smoke, eyes sharp and expression cold. His second kunai slashed out, grazing the Aburame's shoulder before the boy could recover.
For an instant, nothing happened.
The Aburame's arm trembled as he thrust out a hand, commanding his insects. They surged forward in a black wave, the air buzzing. Orochimaru's skin crawled at the sight and tensed up.
Trying to make hand seals, but it was too late. They caught up to him.
His chakra began to drain almost immediately. The world dimmed at the edges of his vision.
On the other side, his opponent wasn't doing too hot.
'Damn poison? Wait...' The Aburame had some antidotes in his pouch due to the last Chunin exams. But this wasn't exactly something he could get out of.
His eyes widened slightly behind his dark glasses. Then his entire body locked up, rigid. His hand twitched once before dropping uselessly to his side.
The insects, seeing their user faint, started to go away from their target to protect him.
The clearing went still again.
Orochimaru exhaled shakily, his knees giving out. He caught himself against a tree for half a second before sliding down its trunk, the kunai slipping from his grasp. His breath came shallow the chakra loss too steep.
'Those loud mouths better have won...' A grin tugged at his mouth before he stumbled to the dirt.
Fainting.
Orochimaru had full faith that his friends would win.
Hurried footsteps broke through the silence.
Jiraiya and Tsunade emerged through the bushes, both worn but alert. They stopped at the sight of Orochimaru slumped against the tree, the Aburame lying paralyzed several meters away, unable to move but still conscious.
Tsunade didn't speak. She simply formed a single seal and sent a concentrated burst of water that hit the Aburame square in the chest, knocking him out cold.
Jiraiya, who saw this, was sweating bullets.
'Just choke him out. Well, I can't talk the way I broke that guy's arm...' the feeling still gives him goosebumps thinking about it.
After gathering up all six genin who were now either paralyzed or knocked out. They now had two earth scrolls and one heaven scroll.
Now prepared to make their way the tower.