Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~
Leaping through the trees, Sasuke was making swift progress. At the same time, he was searching for potential enemies.
Although the two of them had used finding enemies as an excuse to give Sakura space to perform, he really didn't want to lose to Naruto.
As for Sakura's safety? With Naruto there, there was absolutely no need to worry.
That guy's sensing range was truly terrifying. The entire Forest of Death was within Naruto's perception.
Thinking of this, he became even more eager. Naruto must have already locked onto a target, while he was still wandering aimlessly.
"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Sakura's urgent calls suddenly came from behind.
This... How did she catch up?
Turning his head, Sasuke saw Sakura catching up from behind.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph~"
Sakura leaped onto a tree branch beside Sasuke and stopped, hands on her knees, panting heavily.
"Sorry, Sasuke, after thinking about it, I might not be able to live up to what you and Naruto expect... Or maybe—"
Before she could finish, Sasuke interrupted, "Don't apologize yet. First, the code. What should you call me?"
Staring at the girl whose appearance and movements were almost identical to Sakura's, Sasuke took out a kunai, gripping it in his hand, his expression cold and ready for battle.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Swish~
A ruthless kunai shot out but was deftly dodged by 'Sakura.'
Sasuke wore an "I knew it" expression. He never expected that someone would disguise themselves as Sakura to find him in this exam.
Given the opponents he'd seen yesterday, Sasuke wasn't afraid of anyone except Naruto. Even the strongest ones, like Gaara, just seemed a bit troublesome.
How surprising.
"Speak. Who are you? What's your purpose? You can't be here just to deliver a scroll, can you?"
"I see. Heh, you're very confident, Sasuke-kun."
'Sakura' gave a wicked smile, extended her tongue, and bizarrely licked her lips like a snake, her gaze fixed directly on Sasuke, as if looking at prey in a cage.
The scene looked incredibly eerie.
Bang~
After a puff of smoke, a female Grass Village ninja wearing a straw hat appeared in her place.
"So, you had already agreed on a code before entering the Forest of Death?"
"Who did it? You? Or that Naruto Uzumaki?"
Sasuke seemed to recognize the person; this was an unremarkable Grass Village ninja. "I don't need to tell you any of that. Hey, do you have a scroll on you?"
Since he had been stopped, he had no intention of letting this prey escape.
The Grass Village ninja took out a scroll marked "Earth" from her pouch and dangled it in front of Sasuke.
"You really want my 'Scroll of Earth,' don't you? After all, you have the Scroll of Heaven."
This guy...
Hearing this, Sasuke finally realized that this person seemed to have been targeting them ever since the second exam began.
Who was the target?
Himself?
But why? He didn't even have a scroll on him.
Then, Sasuke watched as she opened her mouth and swallowed the entire Scroll of Earth. Just like that, swallowed it.
"Then let's begin."
The Grass Village ninja said emotionlessly after swallowing, "The scroll battle, a fight to the death!"
Her cold eyes were like sharp daggers piercing straight through Sasuke.
With just that one glance, Sasuke saw his own death, splattering blood staining the nearby tree branches.
When he snapped back, he was still standing there, his limbs surprisingly stiff.
Genjutsu? No, killing intent.
Terrifying killing intent.
This killing intent, almost solidified into a physical entity, was constantly eroding his mind, affecting his judgment and body.
This person... is very wrong.
This kind of murderous intent, as if having crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, capable of piercing one's mind, Sasuke had never faced directly before.
This pressure was simply terrifying.
This guy... just who is he?
However, Sasuke no longer had the luxury of wondering why.
He knew that if he couldn't overcome this obstacle, he would surely die here.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph~"
Sasuke's heart pounded furiously, seemingly trying to use this pressure to supply more energy to his entire body, making his whole body move.
"Sharingan!"
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared. With it, Sasuke felt more confident, and his body finally recovered. "You've got the wrong person. I don't have the 'Scroll of Heaven' on me."
His throat, parched from nervousness, produced a hoarse voice.
"You recovered that quickly? And this three-tomoe Sharingan, just as the intel stated, Sasuke-kun, you're truly promising," Orochimaru lightly licked his lips, looking satisfied.
To possess a three-tomoe Sharingan at such a young age, he was indeed an ideal vessel.
If that's the case, then I'll take it!
"Next, let me confirm your abilities."
Orochimaru's body moved like a snake, coiling around a branch and directly launching an attack!
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
The target, Sasuke, stood frozen in place, completely motionless, as if he had been frightened.
Heh, even with a three-tomoe, he's just a little brat who hasn't experienced the horrors of war. My killing intent has frozen him in place.
"You seem to really want my life?"
Sasuke's voice suddenly reached Orochimaru's ears.
This voice, was right next to him.
Yet the Sasuke in front of him was several meters away.
Fizzle, fizzle, fizzle~~~
A piercing, dense sound of electricity rang out.
"Chidori!"
Rip~
The sound of flesh being torn.
Orochimaru suddenly snapped awake. He had been caught in a genjutsu.
The scene before him gradually cleared. Sasuke was already in front of him, his lightning-clad right hand already piercing his chest.
He was beyond saving.
"Has genjutsu reached this level? The Sharingan truly shouldn't be underestimated."
Sasuke thought these were just the enemy's dying words.
But.
Then, the enemy in front of him turned directly into a puddle of mud.
It was a Mud Clone Jutsu.
'This guy... is very cautious. He even used a Mud Clone to probe.'
Battles between unfamiliar ninja were all about probing, probing, and more probing, followed by a single decisive strike.
Sasuke silently cursed his carelessness. The terrifying killing intent had made him somewhat hasty, forcing him to expose his 'Chidori' technique just to finish the opponent.
Fortunately, he still had a trump card.
Sasuke stood ready, his three-tomoe Sharingan continuously scanning his surroundings, wary of any possible attacks from any direction.
Hiss~
A giant snake emerged from beneath the tree, its gaping maw lunging, seemingly about to swallow him whole.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~
Sasuke leaped up, and turning, threw six shuriken, directly piercing the giant snake's head.
Hiss~
The giant snake whimpered, collapsed on the spot, utterly dead.
Whoosh~
Suddenly, an incredibly fierce gale struck. Sasuke, suspended in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, was directly swept away by the storm, smashing through countless trees in the process.
"Not dead yet?"
At the destination, Orochimaru appeared, searching for Sasuke's trace, only to see a wooden stump.
Substitution Jutsu?
Damn it.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~
Six shuriken flew from a distance, missing Orochimaru, but instead circling around him, curving towards his back.
Looking closely, one could see extremely thin threads hidden behind the shuriken.
"This is... Sharingan Windmill, Three Blades?"
Countless threads instantly tightened, binding Orochimaru firmly to the tree trunk.
At the other end of the thin threads, Sasuke appeared.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"