Smoke drifted through the ruined clearing. Splintered bark and dust hung in the air, but Naruto's eyes never left Orochimaru.
He tried to find any trace of transmigrator-logic in Orochimaru's gaze.
But Orochimaru only sneered and withdrew in calm, controlled steps, looking like someone whose goal had already been reached.
"Naruto… we'll meet again." Orochimaru hissed softly and vanished.
Sakura rushed to Sasuke's curled body. She almost checked for… violations, then realized how wrong that was and waved Naruto over.
"Naruto, check him."
Naruto returned, eyes complicated.
Kid… please don't tell me he really got assaulted…
He carefully opened Sasuke's collar and looked inside.
Other than the obvious bite on his neck and the newly formed Curse Seal of Heaven, the rest were normal injuries.
No suspicious marks. No saliva.
"W-waaah!" Sasuke suddenly screamed and passed out again.
He sounded like he was in heat… Naruto complained internally. He signaled Sakura and together they hauled Sasuke away.
Not long after, in a hollow tree nearby—
"You stay with him here. I'll sweep the area." Naruto thought for a moment and told Sakura.
Sakura frowned. "Weren't we supposed to talk about the bait plan?"
They'd agreed earlier: if necessary, they could use Sasuke to lure the transmigrator out.
"But we still can't confirm if the transmigrator was Snake-guy." Naruto pulled out a towel, wiping Sasuke's sweat as he spoke. "I'll use Multi Shadow Clone tonight to comb the forest. My chakra's still full. If I can't find anything, then we discuss bait."
"And if you run into Orochimaru again, you won't fight him?"
"Absolutely not. That man can hard-ban me."
"Take care of Sasuke. I'll be back before morning."
He left under Sakura's worried gaze, scattering clones across the forest to search for Orochimaru.
What Naruto didn't say was: according to canon, Orochimaru would soon run into Anko and fight her.
Meaning if Naruto followed the biggest disturbances, his success rate would jump.
…
Elsewhere in the Forest of Death.
After discovering the real Grass team's bodies, Anko went in alone. Shock and urgency drove her at high speed, her chest rising and falling with each leap.
"The sun's going down. If night falls, tracking him gets harder."
"Even if he's an S-rank traitor now, I have to defeat him… even if it costs my life…"
She murmured, then stopped by a thick trunk, resolve hardening.
"As your former subordinate, it's my duty to bring you down before ANBU arrives, isn't it… Orochimaru?"
Behind her, Orochimaru was half-embedded in the tree, tongue out, laughing softly.
"You can't stop me—"
Before he finished, Anko flicked her wrist. Needles flashed, and she spun, throwing them.
Orochimaru didn't move. His tongue flicked and knocked them aside. Anko had already finished charging.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Large snakes erupted from her sleeves, binding Orochimaru's tongue and coiling him. She tightened her muscles and yanked him out of the trunk.
Orochimaru surged forward and slammed her into the tree.
Anko coughed, drew a kunai, and pinned her own hand and Orochimaru's hand together against the bark.
"Heh. Got you." Anko smiled tiredly, fingers interlocked with his as she began seals.
Orochimaru's brow lifted. "That hand sign is—"
"Yeah. We die together tonight." Anko grinned in victory. "Twin Snakes Mutual Death—"
"Hehe. You don't want to live anymore?"
Anko snapped her head around.
The "Orochimaru" beside her crumbled into clay. The real Orochimaru stood off to the side, eyes full of mockery.
Then his pupils shrank. He tilted his head aside—
Hummm—
A violently spinning chakra sphere swept past his face. Orochimaru glanced sideways and met the blank stare of a blond boy for one instant.
Found you.
Naruto had said he wouldn't fight Orochimaru—but he never said his shadow clones wouldn't.
Orochimaru moved faster than Naruto. He seized the clone's Rasengan hand—
but the clone remained expressionless and calmly tugged his sleeve back.
A hiss of paper.
The inside of his shirt was plastered with explosive tags.
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
The explosion erased everything nearby.
Naruto's real body instantly received the clone's memories.
Sure, I can be scary. But what if every clone I send out is strapped with tags? How do you deal with that?
Far from the blast, Naruto dispelled clones. The close ones rushed toward the detonation site together.
Orochimaru emerged from the smoke, sleeves lightly scorched. He no longer cared about Anko. One look from him sent her collapsing in pain.
Her Curse Seal still worked. Facing Orochimaru, she was helpless.
"W-what are you doing this time? Assassinating the Hokage…?" Anko forced out.
Orochimaru shook his head. "I'm not interested in you now. That Uzumaki Naruto, though… he keeps surprising me."
He fell into thought.
His goals were twofold: kill Hiruzen, and claim a perfect new body.
He'd targeted Sasuke early. But Naruto's performance kept exceeding expectations.
"Shame," Orochimaru clicked his tongue. "The boy has the Nine-Tails and no beautiful Sharingan… he still can't compare to an Uchiha."
He sounded almost approving, even admiring Naruto's nerve.
"You know, he's like you… but better. So I gave him the same curse seal I gave you." Orochimaru savored Anko's expression.
Anko gritted her teeth. "He'll die. Only ten percent survive."
"Who knows…" Orochimaru chuckled. "Anyway, someone's coming for you."
He vanished in a wisp of smoke.
A moment later, a blond boy stepped into the clearing, face cold.
He stopped in front of Anko. She pulled herself out of Orochimaru's pressure and looked him over.
A thought surfaced: Was he the one who caused that explosion?
So young, yet when faced with killing intent… he didn't run. He went straight in?
Then his words made her face darken.
"I heard everything." Naruto's expression was unreadable. "You were Orochimaru's student…"
He stared at her steadily.
"You don't want anyone to know that… right?"
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