(Second Exam, Forest of Death)
All of the genin who passed the first exam are now in front of the gate entrance or training ground 44.
"Listen up you maggots, right now you are going to be handed a paper that you will need to sign. This paper is proof that you know the risk of taking this stage of the exams will involve death. By signing it, Konoha will not be held responsible for whatever happens to you during the rest of the exams." Anko explained.
Some genin didn't like the sound of it. Regardless, they all signed the forms they were given. Once the forms were collected, Anko spoke again.
"Now that's out of the way. In case you haven't figured it out yet. The second exam is a survival test." Anko said.
"A survival test? How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered to himself.
Holding up a map of the forest. "You will spend 5 days in this forest. During this time, each team will be given either a heaven or earth scroll. To pass the test, you must capture the scroll opposite of the one you're given from the other teams. Then head to the tower and wait for further instructions. If you chose to open either of your scrolls before you reach the tower. You will be automatically disqualified. If you arrive at the tower without one of your teammates. Even if you have both scrolls, you will still be disqualified." Anko explained before showing both scrolls as a demonstration.
"Five days? But what about food?" Choji asked.
"You'll have to get it from the forest by hunting. Welcome to the Forest of death also known as training ground 44 maggots!" Anko smirked.
"This will be a cakewalk for us." Naruto said to his siblings. Who also agreed with his assessment.
Anko so happened to hear his comment. She tossed a kunai towards the blond. Naruto didn't even bother to move. He just let it graze his cheek. The blond watched her use shunshin to get behind him. "Cocky brats like you are the fastest to die." Anko said with a creepy smile on her face. The purplette touched his blood with her finger.
"Too bad I'm not cocky, I just so happen to be really confident in myself and my team. Nice throw by the way." Naruto smirked.
His smirk fell off when he sensed another chakra signature. Only this person has larger reserves than Kabuto and Anko. Naruto could feel an immense amount of hatred coming from this person. To make matters worse, he smells more like snakes than both Kabuto and Anko. Naruto could only think of one possible person who could fit this description. Because this person has chakra levels similar to his godmother Tsunade.
'Please tell me that's not who I think it is.' Naruto thought as he watched Anko swing her kunai around halfway.
The person was leaning over Anko's right shoulder a bit. They were wearing a straw hat. What caught Naruto's attention was the long snake-like tongue that was holding a kunai.
"Here is your kunai." He said.
"Thank you but next time don't get so close if you know what's good for you." Anko warned him with the same creepy smile.
The two stared off for a second before Anko took her kunai. Then the person pulled back their tongue inside their mouth.
"Well I get excited when I see blood." His eyes were shadowed by his straw hat. He walked away. Anko also walked away then told the others to go to the stand to grab their scroll and gate entrance number.
Naruto was talking to Sakura and Sasuke. "Ok what in the blue hell? That guy can't be a genin. It's no way he is, his chakra feels so disgusting and he reeks of snakes worse than Kabuto did. And that tongue, it's only one person I saw with a tongue like that. Mom showed him to us using her genjutsu. Both her and Tsunade told us about him in great detail." The blond explained.
"Yeah I felt his reserves too. They are higher than Kabuto's. And I thought Kabuto bathed in snake blood." Sakura shuddered.
"So, you think that was Orochimaru of the sannin in disguise?" Sasuke said seriously.
Naruto and Sakura nodded. "It's the only explanation, mom told us what his scent was like. Kurama just confirmed to me that it is him. He remembers what Orochimaru's chakra feels like back from when he was still sealed in my birth mother."
"Shit this isn't good, what purpose does he have here? I mean I can understand him wanting to destroy Konoha. But what's the purpose of him acting as a genin in this stage of the exams. He wasn't at the academy with us yesterday." Sakura wondered.
"It's possible that he's after something or someone. We should be on high alert. It's very likely he knows of Naruto's jinchuuriki status. He could be wanting to abduct Naruto so he could control him. Meaning he could use Kurama's power for himself. Giving Otogakure a brand new jinchuuriki." Sasuke told his siblings.
"Like hell that would happen. I wish that bastard would try to take Naruto from us. I'll make sure he'll regret it." Sakura nearly growled.
"I know Saku, trust me we aren't going to let that happen to Naruto. But we have to think this through carefully." Sasuke replied.
"Should we tell Anko?" Naruto questioned.
Sakura was the one who answered. "No, remember how kaa-san told us how Anko was Orochimaru's apprentice back in the day? If we tell her, she might do something reckless. We don't want to tip Orochimaru off. Especially when he could kill off a good amount of shinobi here before sufficient backup arrives. By the time they arrive, he would be long gone. Therefore causing the exams to be put on hold. If that happens, it won't be a good look for Konoha to the other villages. It would come off as us being weak. Giving our enemies the idea of possibly attacking us."
"Ok so telling Anko is off the table, what about mom? I'm positive she would want to know as soon as we found out." Naruto asked.
"We will tell her once we are in the forest. It might be better to wait until we can figure out what his motive is. She'll be mad yeah, but she'll understand. Just be ready to cut loose against Orochimaru if need be." Sakura answered.
Her brothers nodded in approval. The team went to go get their scroll and head to their gate entrance. A chunin unlocked the lock placed on the entrance way. Team 7 had an earth scroll, so they needed a heaven scroll.
Once Anko gave the signal, all teams took off into the forest. It was a race against time. Sadly for some of the participants, they won't end up living past this test. Not much time passed before the first scream was heard. It brought a smile to Anko's face.
For team 7, the objective for now was not to worry about getting a scroll. No, their objective is to wait it out. They were keeping track of Orochimaru's movements by sensing his chakra. Instead of going after him, they wanted to see if he was after Naruto. So they hid while waiting.
Not even a full two hours into the exams passed before Orochimaru's chakra signature started heading in their direction. He wasn't taking his time either.
"Guys, he's coming." Naruto voiced seriously.
"Fast too, so he is after Naruto then?" Sakura said.
"It seems that way, but we can't be too sure. You never know with guys like him. Anyways I think we should tell mom now." Sasuke spoke up.
"Good idea, which one of us is going to tell her the news?" Sakura wondered.
Naruto sighed. "I'll do it."
Sakura and Sasuke nodded, all of them connected their seals to their mother.
'Uh hey mom? Are you there?' Naruto asked telepathically.
He received a response only a few seconds later. 'Yes I am sweetie, what's going on? Shouldn't you guys be focused on the exam?' Mikoto asked in confusion.
'Yeah about that we have a problem. Long story short, Orochimaru is in the village. He disguised himself as one of the participating genin. As of right now as we speak, he's heading towards our location. He's coming fast too.' Naruto broke the news to his mother.
It was silent between their links for a solid minute.
'3...2...1..' Were the collective thoughts of Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto.
'WWWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT?!' Mikoto screamed through their links.
'The reaction we expected.' Sasuke acknowledged.
'Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uchiha, Sakura Uchiha, you three have 10 seconds to explain to me why you just are now telling me this. As a matter of fact, why haven't you alerted any higher rank shinobi?' Mikoto questioned in a stern tone.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all shuddered at her tone. It was her no nonsense tone she would use on them when she's very pissed off at them. When she's like this, she will call them by their full names to show how serious she is. She would call Naruto and Sakura by their Uchiha last names. None of the three liked facing or hearing their mother when she's like this. She can be very terrifying. Especially when she is using one of her glares.
Since Naruto delivered the news, Sakura felt that she should give the explanation. 'W-well mom, we thought it would be the best option to take. Anko most likely would have reacted badly if we told her. Seeing as you told us about her strained relationship with Orochimaru. We didn't want to risk Orochimaru being tipped off that we were onto him either. Especially when he could've potentially killed a good portion of the various shinobi that was gathered. Before either he escaped or any reliable backup arrived to fight against him. Not to mention, if the situation caused the exams to be put on hold. Konoha would look weak to the other villages. We figured he must have some reason he's acting as a genin in the exams. The only thing we could think of is him trying to take away Naruto. So we decided to wait until we were in the forest before we did anything. We tracked his movements for about two hours. As soon as he began heading towards us, we contacted you.'
Mikoto sighed, she calmed down after hearing her daughter's reasoning. It made sense, although she would have preferred if her kids had informed her as soon as they were inside the forest. Not nearly two hours after. The Uchiha Matriarch couldn't be too upset with them though. Most wouldn't have handled a situation like that the way her kids did. It proved that she taught them well. Unfortunately now her babies are going to have to fight off Orochimaru on their own. While it scared her to death at the thought of Orochimaru potentially killing any of her kids. Mikoto knew Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were strong enough to hold their own. If they worked together, Mikoto was positive they would come out on top or at least alive. It all depended on how much stronger Orochimaru is since the last time Mikoto saw him.
'Ok you three did good, you didn't engage him unnecessarily nor did you cause a scene that would let him know that you were on to him. And nobody ended up dying. Even I couldn't have handled it much better. I just wish you three didn't have to confront him. How far is he from you now?' Mikoto asked.
Sasuke was happy that their mother wasn't angry anymore. 'He's close, it should take him no more than 5 minutes if he goes at a slow place.' He answered her.
'That means he's 2 minutes away or 3 at max. Alright you guys be careful. Try to avoid a fight if possible. I know it's very unlikely you'll be able to, but just try. As much as I would love to use Kamui to come help you guys. I could end up getting you disqualified from the exams if someone who knows I'm your sensei sees me.' Mikoto said in an irritated tone.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all knew she wanted nothing more than to come back them up. If it wasn't for the risk of being disqualified. They would welcome her help with open arms as always.
'Don't worry mom, we will be fine. Sure Orochimaru is a sannin, but we aren't helpless genin. You've made sure of that. Working together, there's nobody who can stop the three of us except for you. Not even old man hokage could unless he knows the Shiki Fujin. Even then he has to have the willpower to pull out our souls.' Naruto's tone was filled with immense determination.
Sasuke felt similar to his brother. 'He's right, if it comes down to it. Either I'll burn him to nothing with my Amaterasu, Naruto will poison his chakra network with Kurama's chakra or Sakura will push her bloodline to the limits in order to crush his heart. But I doubt it'll even get to that point.'
'They are right mom. We can handle Orochimaru. Hopefully we can take him down here and now before he becomes an even greater threat. Plus I find it hard to believe that he's as dangerous as Tsunade when she's pissed.' Sakura added.
Mikoto sighed again. 'I believe in you three like always. I never have doubted you before. And I sure won't start doubting you now. I just hate that all of this shit is happening one after another. Listen, I'm going to get Tsunade and we'll head to the hokage's office to explain to him the situation if he already doesn't know. Make sure to watch each other's backs. Do not let your guard down around Orochimaru for a second unless he's dead or you're 100% sure he's no longer in the area. I love you three. None of you better die or I'll drag you back from the Shinigami himself. I doubt Orochimaru wants to draw out a big enough fight that will risk getting him caught. But if it starts to become too much for you three to handle. Do not hesitate to contact me. I will use Kamui to get to your location immediately. Again, be careful and keep me updated.'
'We love you too mom.' All three of her kids responded to her collectively.
'I'll see you whenever you arrive at the tower.' Mikoto said before cutting off her link to them.
She immediately stood up from her seat in the living room. "TSUNADE!" She yelled out.
The slug sannin ran from her room to the living room in an instant. "What? What happened?" Tsuande asked.
"Shit just got a lot worse. Orochimaru is in the village, he's disguised himself as a genin in the exams. Now he's heading towards my kids location and he's close. We have to go to Sarutobi now." Mikoto answered her sister in a serious tone.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes before nodding. Shizune was working her shift at the hospital. So it was only the two of them at their home. Once Mikoto got a lock on Hiruzen's chakra signature. She used Kamui to transport her and Tsunade to him.
Back in the forest, team 7 were each standing on a branch. Waiting for Orochimaru to arrive. However they sensed that he stopped moving. Then they felt his chakra pulse. Two seconds later, a huge gust of wind came in their direction. Most likely meant to separate them. To avoid it, they all used shunshin to get to a safe distance away from the blast.
Once the dust in the area cleared. Team 7 saw their attacker walk up to them slowly with an odd grin.
"Well I had expected one of you to be blasted away by my attack. It seems I was wrong." Orochimaru said.
"Cut the shit, we know that's not really what you look like. Isn't that right Orochimaru?" Sasuke said.
Orochimaru was a bit surprised that they knew it was him. He didn't think any Konoha genin of this generation would know of him. "Oh? What makes you think that I am him?" He was curious.
"Your chakra levels are around Tsunade's. But her reserves are larger than yours. You smell like rotten snakes and your chakra feels disgusting. Plus that little stunt you pulled with Anko earlier gave you away. My furry partner already confirmed it was you. He remembers what your chakra felt like." Naruto replied.
"Oh? Those are some astute sensing abilities you have there. I guess there is no point in hiding it." Orochimaru reached to grab his face. That's when he started pulling away his skin. It was disturbing to see. Eventually his true pale white skin was revealed. The purple marking around his eyes. Golden eyes with slitted pupils. Fang-like teeth. His long black locks blowing slightly with the wind.
"Is it just me or is he creepier in person?" Naruto asked his siblings.
"Not now Naruto." Sasuke voiced.
"I am interested, how do children as young as you three know about me?" Orochimaru asked while grinning.
"It's not like you becoming one of the greatest traitors to Konoha is a secret. We also had a teacher who taught us a lot about you." Sakura said.
"Looks like your teacher is very informative. Then again I expect no less from Mikoto-chan. She always had a keen mind. It's too bad she was never fond of me." Orochimaru said.
"Answer this, are you here for Naruto?" Sakura questioned.
"What a demanding little girl you are. Reminds me of my old teammate Tsunade. You three must know her well if you know her chakra levels are higher than mine. To answer your question, no I am not here for Naruto. As much as I would like to have a jinchuuriki under my wing. Obtaining one is not in my top priorities. I am here to test you Sasuke." Orochimaru looked over to the young Uchiha.
Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "What could you want with me?"
'It's pointless trying to offer him power to kill Itachi when he's being trained by Mikoto. Who as much as I hate to admit, vastly outclasses me. If it's anybody who can bring out the full potential of his Uchiha blood. It's definitely her. So I should be upfront with him.' Orochimaru thought to himself. "I'm here to test to see if you are a worthy vessel. Unfortunately I failed trying to get your brother Itachi. If you impress me enough, I have a reward for you."
"Yeah no thanks, I'm not your vessel. You're better off trying to get Itachi again. Tell me, is Kabuto also in league with you? His scent smells awfully familiar to yours. Even Anko's scent of snakes doesn't smell like yours do." Sasuke asked.
'Damn, I wasn't expecting them to catch onto Kabuto this quickly. I'll have to tell him to stay hidden the next time I see him. Or everything will be compromised.' "What can I say? Kabuto is a valuable assistant of mine." Orochimaru said.
"You seem more forthcoming than I thought you would be." Naruto pointed out.
"Sadly, it won't matter in the end." Orochimaru pulled the skin under his eyes and unleashed his killing intent upon the three in front of him. Intending to paralyzed them in fear.
However, he was brought to another surprise, his killing intent didn't seem to affect them in the slightest.
"Seriously that's the best you can do? Tsunade's intent is far scarier than yours. Let's not even mention sensei." Sakura scoffed.
"Well well it looks like you brats are better than I thought. Come Sasuke-kun, prove to me that you are a worthy vessel." Orochimaru voiced before charging towards Sakura. He assumed she would be the weakest and easiest of the three.
His assumption was dead wrong as the pinkette avoided his first blow. To only retaliate by kicking Orochimaru in the stomach with a chakra enhanced kick. The sannin never saw it coming, he was sent crashing into a couple trees.
"He's fast, but not that fast. We can keep up with him easily if that's his max speed." Sakura told her brothers.
"Right, Naruto!" Sasuke called out before dashing towards Orochimaru.
"Alright!" Naruto followed Sasuke's lead.
The snake sannin slowly stood up from his crash. "That girl..she has similar strength like Tsunade. Is it possible that Tsunade taught her?"
He didn't get much time to think about it as Sasuke came into his view faster than he expected. Orochimaru fended off Sasuke's first blow. He was very impressed with the strength behind it. What impressed him even more is that Sasuke's sharingan is already fully matured.
"A fully matured sharingan at this age? You really are his brother." Orochimaru stated as he had to cross his arms to block a roundhouse kick. He still skidded back a couple feet from the impact.
"Do not compare me to Itachi, if you want to compare me to someone. Compare me to my mother." Sasuke stated before channeling streams of lightning around his body. He held up his hand. "Chidori Sharp Spear! (Chidori EisÅ)"
Orochimaru's eyes widened as a spear of lightning impaled him in his chest faster than he could blink. He coughed up some blood. As soon as he was about to use Kawarimi to substitute himself. Naruto struck first, the young blond appeared behind Orochimaru using shunshin. With his katana covered in wind chakra. Naruto quickly cut straight through Orochimaru's body like a slice of butter.
They watched as Orochimaru's lower up had snakes come up out of it. And reattached his lower half to his upper half.
Sakura landed next to Naruto. "That's just weird." She told her baby brother.
"Enough to make you vomit?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.
"I would be a disgrace as a medic if that was enough to get me to lose my lunch." Sakura answered.
They watched Orochimaru slowly stand up. "I underestimated you three. To think you would actually be able to land more than one hit on me." He said.
'This is making me use more chakra than I intended to. I need to separate the other two from Sasuke.' Orochimaru thought as he rolled up his sleeve. He bit his thumb before swiping blood on the summoning tattoo on his arm.
"Shit! He's about to summon!" Naruto called out.
"How right you are Naruto." Orochimaru chuckled before placing his palm on a tree. He ended up summoning two decent sized brown snake summons.
The summons went after Sakura and Naruto. Orochimaru looked over towards the Uchiha. "Now we can continue without any distractions." He said.
Sasuke smirked. "You're a fool if you think those summons will last even a minute against my siblings."
Orochimaru didn't comment, he dashed towards Sasuke at high jounin level speeds. He was pleased to see that Sasuke was able to keep up with him. They engaged in a taijutsu bout.
Sakura and Naruto glanced at one another before nodding. Both used chakra to jump high into the air.
Naruto clenched his right fist together. Then started channeling regular chakra and wind chakra into his fist. The wind covering his fist so much that it looked like the wind was sky blue. "Iron Fist of the Wind Dragon!" Naruto soared down into the snake and smashed his fist right through it. Releasing a burst of strong wind after connecting with his target. The wind blew a hole through the snake's body. Which crashed hard into the ground, dead.
Sakura raised her left foot into the air. She channeled regular chakra as well as lightning chakra into her foot. Similar to Naruto's iron fist, Sakura's lightning covered her whole foot. The pinkette slammed it directly on top of the snake's head once it got close enough. "Raiton: Tsutenkyaku!" Her attack not only carried super strength behind it. But the lightning caused much pain for the snake who hissed in pain. A bolt of lightning was created once the attack brought the snake to the ground causing a massive crater to form. When the dust cleared, you could see that the snake was dead. It had burn marks from the lightning. Also had a gaping whole in the bottom of its mouth, that was leaking blood.
Sasuke and Orochimaru stopped fighting once the first summon was defeated. Orochimaru couldn't believe that each member of team 7 was this advanced in their elemental chakra. He was positive that either of those jutsus could injure him gravely if not outright kill him. Especially Sakura's jutsu, never would he have thought of seeing Tsunade's super strength combined with elemental chakra. Sasuke was smirking, Orochimaru didn't know what he was up against.
"You three would make perfect vessels, subordinates at the least. This type of talent only comes once in a generation. It's rare for one so young to come up with their own elemental ninjutsu. You've greatly impressed me so far Sasuke-kun kukukuku." Orochimaru smirked at the Uchiha.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I'm not trying to impress you, the goal is to kill you if possible." The Uchiha had streams of lightning around his body before he took off towards Orochimaru again.
This time Orochimaru couldn't keep track. Sasuke's speed was too great for him to keep up with. He once again engaged the boy in taijutsu. Only this time, he was not doing too well. It's like Sasuke was toying with him before.
If that wasn't bad enough for the snake sannin. It got worse when Naruto jumped into the fray. He was matching Sasuke's speed by using wind to enhance his own.
Orochimaru had no ways of keeping up. 'Their teamwork is astounding! I can't even block or dodge one of them without being hit by the other. I can't believe I'm being pressed by genin! Me! Orochimaru of the sannin!' He yelled mentally.
Suddenly Naruto and Sasuke stop attacking him together with taijutsu. Instead they both jumped back several feet. This action confused Orochimaru until he saw a shadow looming over him.
Sakura was in the tree's waiting for the perfect moment to strike. This is one of the tactics her team uses against their mother. While two of them have the enemy occupied. The last one waits for the perfect moment to strike. As soon as Sakura saw her brothers started to move out the way. The pinkette activated her bloodline. She could feel the power of warrior mode coursing through her. Next she released streams of lightning around her like Sasuke did earlier. Narrowing her glowing emerald eyes at Orochimaru. Sakura jumped off the tree branch and soared at high speeds down towards her target.
By the time Orochimaru noticed her presence, it was too late. Sakura slammed a chakra enhanced fists into his face. Forcing Orochimaru's body to slam hard into the ground. The sannin felt his facial bones being crushed under her strength. He cursed mentally. However Sakura didn't give him the chance to make any movements. The girl started to wail on Orochimaru brutally. Courtesy of her warrior mode. Her fists were moving so fast and precise.
After the first couple of punches, Orochimaru started to panic. 'Shit! Shit! Shit! Her power has increased dramatically! She'll kill me if I don't get out of her now!' He could feel two of his ribs shattered and his collarbone snapped.
Sakura saw her target start to sink into the ground. She knows he's injured, when she landed one of her blows to his ribs. The pinkette felt them shatter under her fist. And she felt his collarbone break.
She sensed Orochimaru's chakra signature to her left. He was rising out of the ground. It was blood dripping from one side of his mouth.
"I must say, if it wasn't for the fact that I experimented on my body. In order to increase my durability to be able handle physical attacks of Tsunade's level. You dear girl would have certainly killed me. To think that you were able to damage me this much at your age, is nothing short of astounding. Those blows were much more powerful than your first one earlier." Orochimaru complimented while holding his ribs. It was not a part of his plan to sustain injuries to this degree. He vastly underestimated this team.
"No wonder you're not dead. It's only two people I know who would be able to stand up from that." Sakura said.
A second later, Naruto and Sasuke were at her sides. "It's obvious you're holding back some of your stronger jutsus to avoid attracting too much attention. And none of us are going all out either. Now tell me, what are you plotting against Konoha? I know it's not only to test me. No someone like you wouldn't just risk coming here for something as small as that. You could've used other methods in order to test me." Sasuke spoke coolly to Orochimaru.
"Maybe I was homesick?" Orochimaru grinned.
"Get real, we're not stupid you bastard." Naruto growled.
"Hmm perhaps I do have something planned for Konoha. If Sarutobi-sensei ends up canceling these exams. Then you'll find out sooner than you think." Orochimaru said.
Sakura caught on, but decided to keep it to herself for now.
"I have students in this exam who I wish to test you, Sasuke-kun. However it seems pointless now that I know you are much better than I anticipated on you being. I've overstayed my welcome, but the four of us will meet again. Especially me and you Sasuke-kun. It's time I gave you my gift." Orochimaru raised both of his arms. "Sen'ei Tajashu."
He summoned multiple white snakes from his sleeves and sent them in the direction of Naruto and Sakura. This was done in order to separate them from Sasuke.
The blond and pinkette both jumped away to avoid the striking snakes. Orochimaru took this opportunity to give Sasuke the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Once he placed a binding genjutsu on Sasuke. Stretching out his neck, he bared his fangs making his way towards Sasuke's neck.
Immediately feeling the genjutsu being placed on him. Sasuke quickly broke it, before narrowly avoiding Orochimaru's attempt to bite him. Sensing a chakra pulse from Naruto, the raven haired Uchiha smirked then used a shunshin to get to higher ground.
Orochimaru cursed for missing his target. Looking ahead, his eyes widened seeing Naruto standing a few feet away from him. The blond smirked before taking a deep breath of air. "Wind Style: Roar of the Wind Dragon!" He roared a massive blast of wind from his mouth. It was unlike any wind jutsu Orochimaru has ever encountered. It blasted his entire body away. He soared through several trees. Sasuke and Sakura had to use their chakra to keep them grounded and they weren't even in the jutsu's direction. That's how strong it was. This was one of Naruto's first original A-rank jutsus. Depending on how much chakra he puts into it. The rank of the technique can rise to S-rank. That's what Mikoto told them.
When the attack ended. It was quite a few trees that were damaged. Sasuke and Sakura used shunshin to appear next to their younger brother.
"Your wind jutsus are too destructive. I will never understand how you can create so many of them." Sasuke said while checking out the damage.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like you're one to talk, do I need to remind you of your lightning techniques? Don't even get me started on yours and moms fire abilities."
"Kami imagine the damage if you would have used Kurama's chakra, Naruto. You and Sasuke sure are some powerhouses." Sakura voiced.
Both Sasuke and Naruto looked at their older sister with an 'are you fucking kidding me?' expression.
"Sakura, you can't even talk, it's shit you can do with your lightning that I can't even do. Let's not even think about you being able to pull water out the air like the fucking Second Hokage. Seriously that's not even including your taijutsu!" Sasuke voiced.
The pinkette couldn't help but laugh sheepishly at her brother's explanation. He wasn't lying about what he said at all.
"Anyways let's focus back on Orochimaru. He's still here." Naruto said.
He was right, Orochimaru was still around. The snake sannin is still laying on the ground under several tree branches. His body now was aching in pain. Also his chakra reserves were lesser than what he would like them to be.
Pushing the branches off of him, Orochimaru slowly stood up. Now he had cuts across a few parts of his body. Crashing into the trees worsened the condition of his ribs. Once again, this was not what he anticipated would happen.
'I've spent too much time fighting them. But what I learned about Sasuke's skills is valuable. It helps to know about the other two as well. I must retreat and find Kabuto quickly. Anbu could already know I'm within Konoha.' Orochimaru thought.
When team 7 was close enough to him. They watched as Orochimaru opened his mouth. Two arms stuck out of it. Next his skin started falling to the ground. Revealing an uninjured Orochimaru with a green substance over him. Even his clothes were repaired.
"Ok now that's really disgusting." Sakura voiced her opinion. Humans were not supposed to be able to do that. Animals maybe, but not humans.
"And I thought he was shedding his skin before. I wonder if that's the result of some of his body experiments?" Naruto said.
"Most likely, Mom and Tsunade were right. Orochimaru brings a new meaning to the word creepy." Sasuke muttered.
Orochimaru chuckled. "It seems I've failed to give you my gift Sasuke-kun, but don't worry you will receive my Cursed Seal of Heaven sooner or later. For now keep growing strong, my vessel. You are stronger than Itachi was at your age. As I said earlier, all of us will meet again soon." He began sinking into the ground with a smirk on his face.
"Damn he's escaping!" Naruto stretched his arm out. His Adamantine Sealing Chains shot out towards the sannin.
Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock. 'So he inherited Kushina's ability after all.' He thought to himself. As he sunked all the way into the ground a second faster than the chains could get him.
His voice was heard in the surrounding area. "If the hokage and Mikoto cancel the exams. It will be over for Konoha." Team 7 heard his voice echo. His chakra signature was leaving the area fast.
"Should we follow him?" Naruto asked.
Sakura shook her head. "No, we don't know if he has any shinobi in the village, that he could signal to cause problems around the village. If we try to chase after him."
Naruto and Sasuke nodded. Sakura is the smartest out of them. They'll always trust in her judgment.
"Think any of the other teams heard the sounds of our battle?" Sasuke wondered.
"Possibly, I'm sure they at least heard either my or Naruto's attacks if anything." Sakura answered.
"So now we know, Orochimaru doesn't stand a chance if we got all out against him." Naruto commented.
"Yep, but I got a feeling it's going to be tricky trying to kill him." Sakura said.
"We still need to train more, just because we can take down Orochimaru doesn't mean we can start becoming arrogant." Sasuke warned.
"Who the fuck are you telling? Do you not know what mom will do to us if she suspects any of us becoming arrogant?" Naruto asked his brother.
All three siblings shivered in fear for a brief second. The ass kicking Mikoto would dish out would be far from pretty. She would make sure to beat every single bit of arrogance out of them.
"Well I guess we should start looking for a heaven scroll after we let mom know that we're ok." Sakura voiced.
"Alright you take care of that. I need to go take a piss behind a bush. And I'll be sure to use the water in that stream to rinse off my hands when I'm done." Naruto said before his sister could say anything. He walked off.
Sasuke glanced toward the stream. "I'm gonna go use some water to wash off the sweat on my face." He told Sakura before walking to the stream.
The pinkette sighed. "Idiots, I love them, but they are idiots. You would think they would know mom would want to hear their voices to make sure we're all ok. Fuck it, we shouldn't have to spend an entire day in the forest anyways. Getting a scroll will be easy."
Sakura channeled chakra into her seal to connect to her mother's link. 'Mom?'