Orochimaru didn't have time to see if his jutsu connected, as soon as his feet touched ground he was surrounded by more exploding tags. A swift replacement saved him as the explosion shook the trees down to their roots. His genius mind was occupied with dissecting the jutsu. Every technique had a flaw or a limitation, something that could be exploited. As more explosive tags appeared around him he devised a test while avoiding the next volley of explosions.
A mud clone was sent in an opposite direction and just as he expected, tags appeared around the both of them. The tags could track him by chakra signature he concluded as he replaced himself with a log, the bombs rendering it to splinters. The Sannin kept moving. The blasts were powerful but avoidable as well, the blast radius of three and a half to four meters.
Those were some of the strengths but he knew he'd have to press things to discover a weakness, though he suspected there was an obvious one to exploit. He found Naruto and made a beeline for his future student at a moderate, for him, pace. The tags continued to attempt to surround him but he out sped them. 'Good,' he thought, he had the timing down. He noticed they stopped once he was within the blast radius of Naruto. The tags lazily surrounded the two ninja and it was as he suspected, the Uzumaki left a safe zone for himself. It was smart but exploitable.
Orochimaru would soon discover he was wrong as only a brief glow alerted him, prompting an instinctual shunshin away as the tags detonated, the radius twice what it was previously. The Sannin could smell the scorched earth and feel the heat of the explosion but didn't see Naruto. He had no time to ponder his whereabouts as he ably dodged a staff strike.
'Shadow clone,' Orochimaru suspected. Not just the one he was fighting but the one in the explosion and Orochimaru reasoned the barrier had a way to distinguish between the real him and clones. With practiced ease, he dodged the attacks of the clone, keeping an eye out for any tags. When none appeared he rethought his earlier assumption about this being a clone. He smiled at the confidence of the boy, thinking he could attack a shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber with a neat trick and a stick.
He moved right as he felt the ground tremor, not missing a step as it broke apart leaving deep crevices in its wake. The barrage of subterranean wind bullets was child's play to evade. Decent attempts, good enough to get a Chunin but the tactics were a mere trifle for the Sannin. At a speed he assumed the Uzumaki couldn't track, Orochimaru appeared before his target, fist barreling toward him. But even as he attacked he noticed the paper tags, further away than they had been, glowing. His fist connected and a puff of smoke was the result. Not a moment later a significantly larger explosion occurred, destroying even more of the notorious forest.
When the smoke cleared the Sannin rose from the ground, having had just enough time to sink beneath it for shelter. He now had even more information as it appeared the proximity of the tags affected the area of effect or blast radius. He still assumed the tags would not detonate near the real Naruto but the boy was clearly proficient with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, so over committing to an attack would be foolish and detrimental to his health.
'Kukuku,' he laughed internally. The barrier was not just destructive but an effective method of psychological warfare. Move wrong and you get blown up, pursue the wrong Naruto and get blown up but stay still and you get blown up. It encouraged paralysis by analysis, by appearing to have no good options the victim would be stuck. It was very snake-like and Orochimaru could appreciate it but he needed to find the real Naruto.
Before another trap could appear, Orochimaru got prone and opened his mouth wide, unleashing thousands upon thousands of snake summons. The Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes was true to its name as the serpents flooded the area. Orochimaru moved as well, not wanting more tags to appear but he kept his senses sharp. It didn't take long for the tags to encircle the snakes in sections, dealing death by the hundreds. But Orochimaru noticed that some were managing to avoid their demise in one particular place. He sped over, performing the hand signs for the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, sending the concentrated gust of wind to the area he smiled when his target's cloaking jutsu dropped as he was hurled through the air.
The downside was, as Naruto was moving the barrier targeted the rest of his snakes, incinerating them but the summons had fulfilled their purpose. Unwilling to allow him to hide again, Orochimaru extended his tongue, it wrapped around Naruto's ankle and slammed the boy down on the ground, hard enough to crack the forest floor. Giving him no chance to recover, Orochimaru lifted the Uzumaki with a kick to the ribs, mercilessly punching the midair genin in the face hard enough to fling him back.
He whipped his tongue out again, planning to give Naruto no respite and no distance, his technique backfired when Naruto's Chakra Scalpel sliced through his tongue, causing his hold to drop and for the Uzumaki to charge toward him, staff in hand. Orochimaru dipped and dodged as the two engaged in acrobatics, the younger combatant unable to match the more experienced man.
'There is promise here, Sensei trained him well,' Orochimaru thought. He had no love for the staff but could see how the boy could, even for a brief period, match Kimimaro. Flipping over a leg strike, transitioning into a duck and corkscrewing over a third attack, Orochimaru called forth the Kusanagi. Pulling it from his mouth and performing a slash in a single motion, Naruto blocked the attack but was nearly taken off his feet due to the power of the blow.
It was Orochimaru's turn to be on the offensive, gradually increasing the speed with each strike he forced Naruto to go from blocks to evasions but he was receiving cuts in the process. The Sannin was picking the Uzumaki apart as more and more cuts started to emerge. Not satisfied with mere nicks, Orochimaru thrust his blade at Naruto's left clavicle but was shocked when the Uzumaki's protective vest didn't allow the sword to penetrate.
Taking advantage of his small window, Naruto hit the sword upward, splitting the staff into escrima sticks as he did. He quickly hit Orochimaru's wrist, the shock of the chakra disruption seal causing the Sannin to drop his legendary weapon but Naruto was not done. Two hits; one to the knee and the other to the ribs kept the Sannin stunned. Naruto flowed into a jab, activating the high powered shock seal at the end of the stick.
Orochimaru was treated to thousands of volts of electricity before being impaled by a Rasengan, or that had been the plan. Defying modern medicine, the Sannin powered through the electric shock and grabbed Naruto's wrist before the pinnacle of shape manipulation could hit him. Tossing the jutsu wielding arm to the side, Orochimaru hit Naruto with a back fist, drawing blood from his nose. With the same hand, he nailed the genin with a cross that sent him skidding across the ground, only being stopped by a tree, but even it groaned at the force of the contact.
Orochimaru was on top of the boy as soon as he saw him pull out two of the same type of bead that froze Suigetsu. He had a wrist in each hand, squeezing hard enough to crack bone. Soon, the pain became too much as the Uzumaki tossed each bead to either side of the two but not content to have his arms pulverized, he jumped and performed a dropkick, forcing Orochimaru to release him. The Sannin was set on attacking once more but stopped when he saw the Uzumaki close his hand in a similar fashion to when he first created the barrier and instantly a line of tags appeared between them. Orochimaru had no time to react as both absorbed the blast.
By any objective viewing, Naruto's last attack netted him, at best, a pyrrhic victory. His flak vest had been pushed past its limit, giving into the blast. Naruto had burns across his chest and soft tissue damage. Some tree shards got him as well, a large one in his right arm. His ears were ringing and he could hear nothing over it. Not only was moving near impossible due to the explosion but, he figured, Orochimaru's sword was coated with a poison that his natural healing factor must have delayed the effects until now.
As he catalogued his injuries, Naruto activated his projection seal. '50% complete, nothing can stop it now. Primary objectives: Rescue Anko; complete. Neutralize Orochimaru; complete. Secondary objectives: Suppress Spread of Heritage; still in process.' Just as Naruto activated his communicator seal, he felt a foot press into him. The pressure was tremendous, the Sannin nearly breaking his ribs with just a step.
"Kukuku, that was an excellent display, Naruto-kun. Your potential is vast and together we will do great things," Orochimaru said. He was shocked the Uzumaki had forced him to use his special kind of replacement to heal from the damage of the explosion but there were no more tricks, no more tactics or stratagems. This was it. He leaned down to grab his new student but couldn't know he was incorrect. Naruto had one last trick as the boy disappeared without a trace.
Orochimaru didn't have time to yell in frustration, the glow of every tag of the barrier simultaneously alerting him to danger. Quickly he summoned the largest, non-Manda, snake he could and hopped inside. But not even the massive snake could absorb the bomb. The impact was so great, it gave off a brilliant white light, shook the entire forest and destroyed everything in its wake. Even Orochimaru was missing his lower body and an arm. Maimed and grotesque, Orochimaru pulled himself from the charred remains of his summons, appearing to be on death's door. Unfortunately, he was able to perform his replacement jutsu and as he slithered once more, the Snake Sannin was perfectly healed again.
He was, however, livid. It was one thing to have a willful prey but to be deprived of what he wanted, almost nothing angered the Sannin more. Worst still, if Naruto hadn't alerted any that blast certainly had to. The Sannin was left with a decision, none of them good. He could retreat now but making a future attempt to grab Naruto would be extremely difficult. The Akatsuki were already moving on his bases so he'd have to go underground to avoid them. There was also no way his sensei would let Naruto out of the village with anyone other than Jiraiya and for how very little respect he had for toad, his former teammate was powerful. Naruto-kun and him working together would be too much for the snake summoner. His best bet was to make another attempt in the forest.
Decision made, Orochimaru was set to track the Uzumaki but was stalled by a new sensation. A burning in his chakra core. Like blades of lava that had impaled him. He couldn't move. While his core was molten, the rest of him felt so cold. His muscles were cramping, his chakra was running haywire. The lava blades seem to increase in heat, creating an unbearable pressure in his torso. He felt like he was going to explode. Instead, he was lifted off the ground as the pressure was alleviated by the emergence of several black chakra chains, each attached to a midair seal.
The Sannin was in agony and confused as to what, when and how. What was this seal? When had it been placed upon him? How did it work? He may not have ever gotten to know what it was or when it was placed on him but he soon got an inkling of how it worked and for the first time in years, the Sannin was afraid.
As each black chain dissolved, Orochimaru felt different, The pain subsided but he was too smart to take that as a good sign. Not until he got vague memories not of Tayuya and Kimmimaro, but from them did he realize what was happening. The pieces of himself he left in the cursed seals, they were being pulled back into him. He only got memories from two as they were the only active users, the rest kept in reserve and sedated just in case.
It meant that for the first time in a long time, he was mortal. He watched in silent horror as the last chain dissolved and felt a twisting of chakra on his neck. He fell to the ground in a heap. He still couldn't move, his chakra flow was too erratic to even attempt to control. He could only sit seiza, head bowed. To complete his humiliation, this submissive position was how Hiruzen and Danzo found him. He couldn't see them but he could sense them.
"Where is Naruto-kun?" his sensei asked, doing a poor attempt at hiding his fury.
"I gobbled him up, Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru joked. He could not have been in a more vulnerable position but he'd never cower to a Leaf Ninja. If possible, Hiruzen felt his anger spike. Not seeing Naruto amongst the devastation was too inconclusive to be comforting or worrying. He needed to find his grandson and even with several ANBU on the case it was near impossible to not panic.
"That means you don't know so I have no use for you," Hiruzen said and then started a sequence of hand signs, only to be stopped by Danzo. Not even his murderous glare backed off the former head of Root.
"Your former student is a treasure trove of useful information. He is worth more alive, HIruzen."
"I made the mistake of sparing him once, I won't do it again." He thought Danzo had lost the best part of his mind. Sparing Orochimaru was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, he wouldn't do it again.
"Then you weaken the village once more," Danzo growled. He had no time to hold HIruzen's hand over the matter. There was no one more entrenched in the true darkness of the shinobi nations like Orochimaru and the man had much needed intel. "Act like the Hokage and not a grandfather." The two aged shinobi stared at each other, a lengthy discussion happening with just a look but Danzo would win the day.
"Fine," Hiruzen relented. "You have one change to prolong your life, Orochimaru. Stall, misdirect, or lie and I will burn you alive." Hiruzen warned then nodded to the bird masked ANBU and the man knocked the Sannin out with the handle on his tanto. He along with Boar shunshin'd away as Neko approached the Hokage.
"No Naruto, Hokage-sama but I did retrieve this," she said holding the Kusanagi. "What would you like me to do with it?"
"Well, Neko-chan, you wanted something to teach Naruto and it appears he has quite the spoil. When we find him he goes into protective custody which you will head," Hiruzen answered. The purple haired ANBU nodded and was set to depart before she heard a voice over the communicator seal.
"Tiger found him, Hokage-sama. He's with Anko and two summons."
"Lead the way, Neko," Hiruzen ordered and the trio departed with due haste.
"What the shit?" Anko exclaimed and then winced. Her sensei had worked her over pretty thoroughly and even with the gaki healing her, she was still experiencing some discomfort. Her shout could be understood, though, as she'd just watched a dome of paper tags appear from nowhere.
"You must remain still, Anko-chan," Clone gaki lightly admonished as he tended to the slight fracture in her leg.
"Yea, yea, but can you tell me what that is?" she asked as she pointed to the barrier.
"A sign that all is going according to plan," was all the clone would say even as she gave him her best pout. Anko got increasingly worried as she heard the sound of explosions, it reached a new level once the explosions ceased. However, it was the sight of a badly burned, bleeding and beaten Naruto suddenly appearing by the clone that made her heart stop.
The clone stopped working on her, having already seen to the most significant injuries, and turned the real Naruto away from her. She heard more than saw the blond vomit briefly. And if that weren't enough, felt the forest floor shake and felt a wave of heat from a massive explosion.
The clone, ignoring the final effects of the paper barrier, retrieved a water bottle and cleaned off the original while another clone, one that had been guarding the perimeter, used an earth jutsu to bury the sick. The two clones then got to work on healing the original, which left Anko confused. If the original was unconscious, as he appeared to be, then why hadn't they dispelled? She didn't ask, however, as she didn't want to distract them.
She winced as she got to her feet, pulling a kunai. The two toads, also weapons ready, joined her. All three had felt someone approaching and none dropped their guard when they saw it was an ANBU, especially not after Anko had been tricked before. The agent signed a secret code to Anko but even that didn't allow her to drop her guard. The ANBU didn't move any closer and simply waited. Moments later, the Sandaime arrived and Anko felt the deepest sense of relief at having her leader present.
"Stand down, Anko-chan," the Hokage ordered in a light tone, it was decidedly unrepresentative of his current emotional state. "And you two may dispel, please give my regards to Gamabunta," the Hokage said, acknowledging the summons.
"Sorry, we leave when we run out of chakra or our summoner requests it," Gamashiro said. He meant no disrespect but the Hokage had no authority over them. The Hokage nodded.
"You two can return home. Thank you for your aid," one of the clones said but never took his eyes off his work, repairing the damage of his duel with Orochimaru.
"Of course kid, just remember that Gamabunta-sama is going to want a word," Gamashira said before she and her brother departed.
"Naruto-kun, is the original ok to move?" Hiruzen asked. It hurt seeing his grandson in such a state. His turmoil was multiplied by it being due to the traitor Hiruzen had allowed to flee, having been soft hearted when he should have been firm.
"I can place some stability seals on him so nothing will jostle during transport and then he can be carried," the clone answered.
"Do that and then send a message to the rest of your clones to dispel. I'm sorry to say but your participation in the exams ends now."
"It would be inadvisable for my clones to dispel now," the clone cautioned as he applied the stability seals via chakra.
"While this is necessary, why do you think it is inadvisable, Naruto-kun?"
"Orochimaru gave every team a scroll that stated I am the son of Minato Namikaze. The clones are preventing the intel from leaving the forest."
Hiruzen was dismayed. Not only at the long buried secret getting out but the burden his grandson took upon himself. "It's fine, Naruto-kun. It is long past time for you to be openly acknowledged for who you are. Dispel them and get ready to travel." The clone obeyed and while in pain, it was Anko who picked the blond up. Tiger shunshin'd away with the shadow clones.
"He's so small, Hokage-sama," Anko said. She knew he was short but after the removal of the cursed seal and the few times they got to hang out it's like she forgot. Forgot he was twelve, a boy. A boy that saved her. Freed her. She was as thankful as she was guilty that a boy half her age came to her rescue because she could do nothing against her traitorous sensei.
The Hokage could understand her response as it was hard to not see the small boy he met over a campfire and regalled with legends about the stars as they ate grilled fish. "We must leave for the tower, Anko-chan. There is much to be done."
"When you go after my sensei, I want in. I don't care what it takes, I'll kill him," she promised but felt deflated when the Hokage shook his head.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, my dear. The boy you hold in your very arms did something this old man could not. Orochimaru is in custody, defeated by a genin. Now, to the tower," he said and she obeyed, even in shock at the news it couldn't overwhelm her discipline. Besides, there would be time to process everything later.
When Hiruzen arrived at the tower, all alerted Konoha ninja were at the ready as they understood their leader would suffer no fools. Anko was right behind him, heading toward the medical center. Danzo had arrived before Hiruzen and was waiting with Kakashi, the Copy Ninja having not been told anything but his presence was needed. Standing at attention in the makeshift office when Hiruzen entered, Kakashi was quickly becoming concerned about what could have prompted Danzo to summon him on behalf of the Hokage.
"Kakashi, I won't mince words with you; Orochimaru infiltrated the exam and revealed Naruto-kun's heritage to each participating team."
"All foreign Jounin will be dead within the hour, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said with an eye smile and then turned to leave.
"Stop, Kakashi. The order I gave you on October 11, nearly thirteen years ago is rescinded. The world will know of Minato and Kushina's son. I did not summon you for that."
"Forgive my presumption, Hokage-sama," Kakashi apologized. Hiruzen waved him off.
"It's fine. The reason I brought you here is that Orochimaru was not just content with spreading the information about Naruto, he abducted Anko and challenged Naruto to retrieve her."
"No," Kakashi said. He knew his chibi, knew he'd march right into a trap because Hatake-sensei told him to not do so would make him less than trash. "Is.. is he ok?"
"He is injured, I will not lie to you. It was bad but he will survive. More importantly; Kakashi, he won."
"I'm sorry?" Kakashi said, not understanding the Hokage.
"He defeated my student. I haven't debriefed him yet, he's in the medical center but Orochimaru is heavily sedated in ANBU lockup thanks to your student. I want you guarding him until your other students arrive but mention nothing of what has happened."
"You believe Orochimaru had help?"
"Yes. Now, I believe much will be revealed in short order but for now, watch over Naruto-kun and if anything arouses your suspicion, kill whoever has done so. Type I errors are permitted," the Hokage advised grimly and Kakashi departed without a word, recalling the last time the Hokage said those words. It was in protection of Naruto that time, as well.
A few hours passed and Hiruzen's belief proved true, much was revealed. The Chunin proctors, according to the several Yamanaka that scanned them, all had several hours missing. Inoichi said it was not a defensive measure but a sign of a deep hypnosis. While Hiruzen wouldn't discount the possibility of Orochimaru having such a technique, it was also possible he'd had aid from a third party as a pair of gate guards had similar symptoms.
When Hiruzen finally debriefed the shadow clone of Naruto-kun, he was both proud and dismayed at the boy's trial within the forest. He praised the clone for managing to save Anko and subdue Orochimaru but criticised him for not waiting, especially as the clone admitted the original thought it was a trap and Anko was already dead. Still, the pride won out and he couldn't be too hard on his grandson. Minato had left the village without permission, tracked and defeated three Kumo Jounin to save Kushina. The son took after the father in more ways than one.
He was now sitting across from Baki. The Suna Jounin's team had arrived much earlier than any other team, the next closest was Team 8 and that was only recently. Hiruzen had a neutral look on his face and could see Baki was attempting to appear neutral himself but the Hokage's aged eyes could see the stress and trepidation in the man's body language. Normally, he'd be the cat to the outmatched Jounin's mouse but he was in no mood.
His chakra was unsettled, mimicking his true feelings. It felt that even his very blood demanded a sacrifice to his rage, for someone or ones to be fed to his righteous fire for daring to harm his grandson. But he'd remain calm for now. Calm is what his position demanded of him. Calm would get results.
"So, Baki-san," the Hokage started before taking a pause. "Tell me why I shouldn't murder your team and you before throwing your corpses in a mass grave?" Danzo, who was in the room, just facepalmed knowing his former teammate likely thought he was being calm and collected. He resigned himself to his new position of trying his best to keep Hiruzen from convincing himself all of Suna needed to burn for daring to harm his grandson. He realized that this was likely karmic retribution for all the times he hadn't listened to Hiruzen and had been wrong not to. It was going to be a long night.
Yo, been awhile, I know. I have reasons but eh, whatever. I'm not abandoning this story but is the hardest one for me to write so sometimes I get stuck and things are delayed. Not too much to be done about it. But I hope the wait was worth it. And as you can see, I'm diverting from my own challenge criteria cuz… it just be like that sometimes.