Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Naruto had expected the two Sound jōnin to escape.

He immediately used Phantom Step to pursue one of them. The Immortal-Binding Rope in his hand lashed out, following the fleeing ninja's movements.

It caught his thigh, then swiftly wound around the rest of his body.

An instant later, Naruto and his captive vanished.

The Flying Thunder God Technique carried them a kilometer away.

The second Sound ninja had been rushing over to help his companion. He reached Naruto's position just as both of them disappeared, leaving him staring at an empty patch of ground.

He didn't notice the Flying Thunder God mark left there.

Naruto's strategy was simple: combine the Flying Thunder God Technique, Kagura's Mind's Eye, and his unusual supernatural abilities to ambush his enemies and eliminate them one at a time.

He still couldn't be certain of winning a direct fight against a jōnin.

An assassin. That description suited him much better.

With the first Sound ninja restrained by the Immortal-Binding Rope, Naruto drew a kunai and slit his throat.

Then he vanished again, returning to the mark he had just left behind.

The entire sequence took only a second.

The other Sound ninja was still standing there, watching his surroundings, when Naruto abruptly reappeared in the same spot.

His eyes widened. He instinctively tried to get away.

Too late.

The second jōnin died as well.

Not far away, the badly injured ANBU watched in horror. He searched his memory, trying to work out who this masked, red-haired woman could be.

Then recognition struck.

“You're the killer behind those bombings in Konoha! You're an Uzumaki!”

Naruto gave him a cold glance without answering.

There was no point wasting words on an enemy he intended to kill. That was how fools and overconfident villains got themselves into trouble.

He stepped forward without hesitation and took the ANBU's head.

[Ding! You have killed three jōnin.]

[Base reward: 300 points.]

[Asura Field is active. Reward doubled.]

[Total reward: 600 points.]

“Six hundred points? That's enough for six Skill Upgrade Scrolls or Bloodline Upgrade Scrolls... or three Supernatural Ability Synthesis Scrolls!”

Naruto laughed.

“I really like Asura Field!”

Just then, the shadow clone accompanying Sasuke and Sakura was dispelled. Its memories flooded back into his mind.

Naruto's expression changed. He immediately headed toward his teammates.

While he had been occupied, Orochimaru had attacked the group.

He announced his arrival with a powerful blast of Wind Style.

The clone, Sasuke, and Sakura dodged in time, then exchanged their agreed password and regrouped.

But Orochimaru needed very little effort to overwhelm them.

He released his killing intent.

The murderous pressure was almost tangible. Sasuke and Sakura froze, terror written across their faces.

Naruto's shadow clone was caught in it too.

With a sharp pop, it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Orochimaru paused. Then interest flickered across his face, and his long tongue swept over his lips.

Sasuke and Sakura, however, felt a sudden surge of relief.

They assumed Naruto had substituted a shadow clone while avoiding the Wind Style attack. That meant the real Naruto was still out there, and help might be on its way.

The clone's disappearance had indeed alerted him, though neither of them knew how long it had been standing in for him.

Orochimaru drew two kunai, making a show of preparing to kill Sasuke and Sakura.

Before he could strike, Naruto returned to his own appearance and attacked from a distance.

“Wind Style: Hurricane!”

A whirlwind sprang into existence, rapidly swelling as it swept toward Orochimaru. Dirt and stones flew into the air, obscuring his vision.

Using that cover, Naruto reached Sasuke and Sakura and carried his immobilized teammates away.

Once they were clear of Orochimaru's overwhelming killing intent, both began to regain control of their bodies.

Orochimaru evaded the hurricane and watched the three retreat with interest.

“That jinchūriki is more interesting than I expected.”

He followed them at an unhurried pace.

Naruto had no intention of getting Sasuke safely out of Orochimaru's reach.

He didn't object to Orochimaru placing a curse mark on Sasuke, or to Sasuke eventually being tempted into leaving the village. As far as he was concerned, Sasuke had no future in Konoha.

But his own plans were the more important consideration.

He needed the Konoha Crush to proceed as planned. Over the next few years, he also needed Orochimaru and Sasuke to occupy the attention of a great many people.

Both could become useful allies or people he could work with in the future.

He was even considering whether to leave Konoha with Sasuke when the time came.

So, after helping Sasuke and Sakura recover their ability to move, Naruto deliberately slowed their escape.

Orochimaru soon caught up.

Faced with that terrifying, inhuman presence again, Sasuke lost the will to fight despite being able to move. He wanted to hand over their Earth Scroll and persuade Orochimaru to spare them.

Naruto sneered.

“Sasuke, what are you thinking? If you're that scared, take Sakura and get out of here! I'll deal with him!”

Sasuke's face tightened. The words forced him to confront his own fear and weakness, and he gathered the courage to prepare for a fight.

That was exactly what Naruto wanted.

His plan was to have Sasuke face Orochimaru as he had in the original story, while Naruto pretended to be out of the fight.

Trying to kill Orochimaru was out of the question.

Even with his supernatural abilities, Naruto couldn't beat him. All he would achieve was exposing his strength.

Those abilities were part of the masked woman's identity—the disguise he used to move through the shinobi world without revealing who he was.

Using them as Naruto would give Orochimaru a way to connect the two. He had no intention of handing over that information so early.

Naruto rushed at Orochimaru with a deliberately reckless attack.

Orochimaru's tongue shot out and coiled around his body.

Naruto twisted and struggled, making a convincing show of trying to escape. In truth, he was quietly judging the strength of Orochimaru's tongue against his own Immortal-Binding Rope.

Orochimaru drew him closer and studied him with interest.

But he was careful not to kill him.

He knew Naruto was a jinchūriki and one of Akatsuki's targets. Killing the boy would bring relentless pursuit from the organization.

Orochimaru had no desire to be hunted by Akatsuki. Creating a little trouble for them, however, suited him perfectly.

He pulled up Naruto's shirt. Dark flames ignited at the tips of all five fingers on his right hand.

Then he drove them against Naruto's abdomen.

“Five Elements Seal!”

A sharp pain tore through Naruto's stomach, and he cried out.

Orochimaru casually threw him aside.

Sakura hurried over and gathered Naruto into her arms.

He pretended to be unconscious, refusing to stir no matter how urgently she called to him.

The next part belonged to Sasuke and Orochimaru.

Believing Naruto was badly injured and unconscious, Sasuke knew he could only rely on himself now.

He activated his Sharingan and began to fight.

Lying on the ground with Sakura supporting him, Naruto secretly opened one eye to watch.

Sasuke put up an impressive fight. Unfortunately, no amount of effort could overcome an opponent as elusive as Orochimaru.

Orochimaru held back, enjoying himself as he tested Sasuke's abilities.

His gaze lingered greedily on those eyes. He seemed to be imagining the day he would claim Sasuke's body for himself.

“You're more gifted than your brother Itachi, Sasuke. Your eyes are even more powerful than his.”

His voice was low and raspy.

At the mention of Itachi, Sasuke's face hardened.

“Who are you?” he demanded between ragged breaths.

“My name is Orochimaru. If you want to see me again, show me what you're capable of in this exam. Defeat the three Sound ninja I sent here.”

With that, his neck suddenly stretched more than ten meters.

He sank his teeth into Sasuke's neck, leaving his parting gift: the Cursed Seal of Heaven.

From a distance, Naruto stared at that absurdly long neck and felt an urge to slice it off.

Then he remembered the Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique.

Orochimaru could abandon an injured body and emerge from it in a fresh one, much like a snake shedding its skin.

Naruto let the tempting but impractical idea go.