In a restaurant in Konoha Village, Goku was currently devouring a feast.
Across from him, Might Guy stared angrily at the food on the table. Several times, he started to pick up his chopsticks, only to stop halfway.
Finally, he slammed his chopsticks onto the table and slumped back in his chair, dejected and exhausted.
But his depression didn't last long. He suddenly sat bolt upright, flames of determination erupting in his eyes as he looked at Goku.
"I may have lost this eating contest, but next time, I will definitely defeat you, Goku!"
His stomach was currently distended like a round ball, the result of him desperately stuffing his face to avoid losing to Goku in their eating contest.
Contests like this had happened many times recently, and each time, Guy was full of fighting spirit, determined to win.
But no matter how hard he tried, he could never keep up with Goku's eating speed, let alone his capacity.
However, after every failure, he would bounce back, passionately declaring that he would win the next time!
"Haha! In that case, Guy, I'll take the rest of your food!"
After polishing off his own meal, Goku didn't hesitate to grab the leftover food from Guy's side of the table and continue his feast.
Every time, Guy would order the same amount of food as Goku to directly compare their progress.
But every time, Guy failed to finish it. And so, the leftovers would always be claimed and completed by Goku.
"No problem, Goku!" Guy laughed heartily, having long since grown accustomed to this scene.
As Goku happily gorged himself, he glanced out the window, his gaze drifting to an unknown point in the distance.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Forest of Death, a neck nearly a hundred meters long was stretching through the trees.
If a faint-hearted person were to see this, they would likely scream and faint on the spot.
At the end of the neck, a head with a bloodthirsty, gaping maw shot towards Sasuke, aiming to bite his neck.
And the face on that head was none other than Orochimaru, who had vanished moments before!
"What?!"
Hearing the wind behind him, Naruto grabbed a dazed Sakura without thinking and leapt to the side. Only while he was in mid-air did he have time to turn and look back.
He saw that Orochimaru's head, upon realising Sasuke had dodged, abruptly changed direction and continued to lunge at Sasuke.
In this critical moment, Sasuke instantly powered up. Using the explosive strength from his ki, he leapt backwards while simultaneously forming a ki blast in his hand and hurling it straight at the pursuing head!
BOOM!!
After taking a ki blast directly to the face, Orochimaru was forced to stop his advance. His neck quickly retracted, and his head disappeared back into the forest.
"What the hell was that?!"
Witnessing this, Naruto's face went a little pale. He hadn't expected that after a series of logic-defying moves, Orochimaru would pull out something even more bizarre and challenging to human comprehension.
"This guy is too dangerous. We're on the defensive here!" Sasuke said, still shaken from his close call.
Orochimaru's attack had been so sudden that none of the three had been able to sense it with their ki in time.
Only Sasuke, the target, had reacted because of a sudden premonition of danger. If he hadn't reacted, he would have already fallen victim to Orochimaru's bizarre attack.
In the forest, Orochimaru retracted his head and extended his long, snake-like tongue to lick the minor wounds on his face.
Sasuke had prioritised speed over power for that ki blast, so the damage wasn't significant.
'They really do have some sensing abilities,' Orochimaru thought, narrowing his eyes.
Naruto's guess had been correct; the black snake was a summon Orochimaru had used to test their sensory range.
As soon as he encountered Naruto's team, he suspected they possessed some sensory capabilities.
When he was chasing them, he hadn't made a sound, yet they had discovered him in advance.
Later, during his skirmishes with Sasuke and Sakura, he noticed that every time he used a Substitution Jutsu, they immediately locked onto his real body's location, as if his movements were completely transparent to them.
So, after escaping Sasuke's large ki blast, he had retreated over a hundred meters away to observe if they could detect him. The result was clear: they couldn't sense him from that distance.
This gave him an idea. He sent the black snake to approach from another direction to determine their exact sensory range.
At the same time, he planned to launch a surprise attack while the snake distracted them, implanting a Paralysing Curse Mark on Sasuke to immobilise him!
'I didn't expect I'd have to change my plans so drastically.'
Originally, he had intended to give Sasuke the Cursed Seal of Heaven to ignite his desire for power and make him come willingly.
But Sasuke's strength far exceeded his expectations, which would significantly weaken the allure of the Cursed Seal.
More importantly, Sasuke had already been taught by the mysterious Son Goku and had gained considerable power.
Why would he seek power from Orochimaru when he had it right there?
'Now I have to find a way to implant a curse mark and take him by force!' A sharp glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.
Although the Paralysing Curse Mark attempt had failed, he didn't believe Sasuke could escape him again.
He wasn't worried that abducting Sasuke would affect the subsequent Konoha Crush plan, because he had ways to ensure the old man didn't cancel the Chunin Exams!
Just as he made up his mind and prepared to act, he suddenly felt a hand gently tap his shoulder.
!!!
Without a second thought, his head snapped around 180 degrees.
At the same time, he spat out the Sword of Kusanagi from his mouth, thrusting it violently at the unknown figure behind him!
Clang!
However, his pupils constricted in shock as he saw two fingers firmly clamp onto the Sword of Kusanagi, stopping it dead in its tracks.
Although shocked, he was a battle-hardened veteran. He recovered in an instant and commanded the Sword of Kusanagi to extend rapidly, attempting to catch the opponent off guard.
But to his surprise, once again, the figure tilted their head slightly, dodging the extending blade.
Then, the fingers holding the sword suddenly released their grip and flicked the flat of the blade.
Orochimaru felt an unimaginably immense force travel up the sword, snapping his head to the side. The Sword of Kusanagi flew uncontrollably from his mouth!
!!
Faced with this turn of events, he didn't have time to think. He raised his hand and unleashed a unique ninjutsu he had prepared beforehand—
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Multiple large snakes shot from his sleeve, instantly wrapping around the figure's body. They opened their mouths, ready to bite down!
But just then, the figure slightly flexed their bound arm.
The snakes immediately felt a sharp pain shoot through their bodies, as if they were about to be torn apart, and hurriedly released their grip, recoiling in fear.
Swoosh!!
Seeing his moves easily countered one after another, Orochimaru finally stopped trying to subdue the opponent. He leapt backwards, a rare look of gravity on his face.
"Who are you?!"