The Iron Body Technique ran at full power.
Naruto, now standing ten meters tall, looked down to see that Orochimaru barely reached his knee height.
Orochimaru's pupils trembled violently. He stared intently at the five-meter giant before him, his mind churning with turbulent thoughts.
Years of laboratory experience told Orochimaru that Naruto's current state represented a life form he'd never encountered before—something that had transcended the normal scope of human beings. More than that, he could sense the tremendous energy radiating from Naruto's transformed body.
Orochimaru trembled, though not from fear. This was excitement, pure and electric. He gazed at Naruto with burning eyes, shouting frantically in his mind: It's truly the perfect body! I must study it. I must obtain Naruto!
In that instant, Orochimaru made his decision with absolute certainty.
Every human specimen in his laboratory paled in comparison to Naruto's body. If he could obtain Naruto for research, he'd throw away all that other garbage without a second thought.
Beneath a tree not far away, Sakura's mouth hung open in shock. Naruto got even bigger!
As for Sasuke, he felt helpless resignation. He'd always thought his own progress was substantial, but now it seemed Naruto had grown more than twice as strong as before. The sheer size made that abundantly clear.
"Orochimaru, I'm going to use my full strength now." Naruto spoke slowly. As he did, his voice emerged like a hurricane, buzzing and magnified countless times over.
For a moment, the entire Forest of Death echoed with Naruto's words.
For Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Sakura standing nearby, it felt like thunder had exploded directly in their ears. Their eardrums trembled from the sheer volume.
Naruto's silence would have been fine, but the moment he spoke, he attracted the attention of every candidate scattered throughout the Forest of Death.
In the team led by Kurenai Yuhi, Shikamaru heard that familiar voice. He raised his head and could see a massive figure rising far in the distance, head and shoulders towering above the forest canopy so everyone could spot it.
"That's Naruto?" Shikamaru froze, obviously startled by Naruto's size.
Choji, who'd been eating snacks, also raised his head. For a moment, he forgot to chew the food in his mouth, staring dumbfounded.
Hinata looked up as well, her Byakugan flickering to life. "Naruto-kun is so... so big!" Her heart rippled with complicated thoughts. Suddenly she wondered, With Naruto-kun at that size, could I even... The thought made Hinata blush crimson as if drunk.
"Naruto? So when Naruto fought with me, he wasn't using his full strength at all!" Rock Lee leaped onto a tree branch, gazing at the distant giant with fierce excitement burning in his eyes. "He's so powerful! I truly want to fight against Naruto like this! This is youth!"
Neji nearby felt his mouth twitch. I never expected Naruto to be this terrifying. If he'd transformed like this when we became friends, I probably would have knelt and begged for mercy immediately. Tenten stood speechless beside him.
"Naruto is so huge..."
"Did something happen to Naruto? Who is this Orochimaru person he mentioned? From his words, it sounds like Orochimaru is fighting him."
After hearing the commotion, all of Naruto's friends began rushing toward that location.
"Orochimaru-sama has encountered Naruto?" Zaku raised his head, looking at the shocking sight of Naruto towering in the distance.
"Can Orochimaru-sama actually beat Naruto?" At that moment, the Oto trio began faintly worrying about their sensei.
But then relief flooded through them. When Naruto had stolen their scroll earlier, he hadn't fought in that transformed state. Otherwise, he probably would have trampled all three of them to death with a single step.
"Let's go. We need to get to Orochimaru-sama's location and assess the situation." After Dosu spoke, he leaped up and swept toward Naruto's position through the trees.
Throughout the forest, every candidate rushed toward where Naruto stood.
"This is Konoha's genin? Terrifying!" Gaara flew over the treetops, followed by Temari and Kankuro. His sentiment was shared by candidates from every hidden village.
Outside the examination area, Anko Mitarashi had been eating dango when Naruto's voice suddenly startled her so badly that the sweet dumpling fell from her hand to the ground.
That name—Orochimaru—seemed to possess infinite dark magic. Monstrous waves crashed through Anko's heart. As her former sensei, she knew intimately just how horrifying and twisted Orochimaru truly was.
Orochimaru's insane experiments during that period had caused many Konoha ninja to disappear without explanation. Later, the Third Hokage had discovered that Orochimaru had taken them for experimentation.
Out of shared trauma, everyone harbored inexplicable fear toward Orochimaru.
What does Orochimaru want by infiltrating the Chūnin Selection Exam? Anko's mind raced. Wait—when I was testing Naruto earlier, a ninja from Kusagakure also approached. I should have realized then! Besides Orochimaru-sensei, who else has such a freakishly long tongue?
She barked orders at her subordinates: "Immediately report to the Third Hokage that Orochimaru has infiltrated the Forest of Death!"
Without waiting for acknowledgment, Anko launched herself toward the forest. Wherever Orochimaru appeared meant extreme danger. As the examiner for the Chūnin Selection, if any candidates suffered casualties because of him, the responsibility would fall on her shoulders.
While flying through the trees, Anko looked toward the disturbance. She could see an enormous head poking above the forest canopy, the face vaguely resembling that boy named Uzumaki Naruto.
In the Hokage building, there was no need for any proctor to report. Hiruzen Sarutobi, who'd been working at his desk, had already heard Naruto's voice clearly. The volume made it impossible to miss.
"Orochimaru?" Hiruzen stood from his chair so abruptly it scraped backward. No longer in any mood to observe the bathhouse beauties through his crystal ball, he leaped directly from the Hokage building's window.
The moment he landed on a rooftop, several figures appeared at Hiruzen's side.
Danzo, accompanied by his Root subordinates.
As soon as he saw Hiruzen, Danzo spoke without preamble. "Hiruzen, you see? I told you your heart was too soft. You should have killed Orochimaru directly back then. Now he's appeared in Konoha again. If there are losses to the village, you'll regret it."
He snorted coldly after finishing.
"I'll handle this matter." Hiruzen glanced at Danzo, left that single sentence, and flew toward where the voice had originated.
That voice just now sounded very familiar. It seemed like Naruto's voice? While leaping across rooftops, Hiruzen wondered. What does Orochimaru want, coming to Konoha? Thinking of certain past events involving his former student, Hiruzen's expression grew increasingly grim.
Danzo followed behind with his Root ninja, his face dark and inscrutable, lost in private calculations.
Naruto didn't know that his single spoken sentence had attracted so much attention.
However, he didn't particularly care. When deciding to use his full strength, he'd anticipated that displaying his power would create some impact.
But he possessed the confidence that with his strength, he could resolve any resulting complications.
"Orochimaru, are you ready? I'm about to make my move." Naruto looked down at the comparatively tiny figure below and spoke seriously.
"Naruto, I must say—you've truly surprised me." Orochimaru licked his lips with that serpentine tongue.
But the moment he finished speaking, Orochimaru burst into motion. With a single step, he'd already reached Naruto's feet. Then, with a powerful leap, he thrust his Kusanagi sword ruthlessly toward Naruto's knee.
He wanted a quick resolution.
Naruto's earlier transformation had probably attracted that old man. Without his two coffins present, meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi face to face would be inconvenient.
"Oh? Orochimaru, are you trying to jump up and hit my knee?" Seeing Orochimaru leap upward to stab his right knee with the legendary blade, Naruto remained completely motionless, allowing the attack to land.
CLANG!
A crisp metallic ring echoed through the clearing. The result wasn't what Orochimaru had expected—the sword piercing Naruto's knee, forcing the giant to kneel so Orochimaru could do as he pleased.
Instead, disappointment struck. The Kusanagi sword stabbed into Naruto's knee with a sound like metal striking metal, sparks flying. It didn't even pierce the skin, leaving only a faint white mark.
"What?!" Orochimaru's pupils contracted in shock. His Kusanagi sword was sharp enough to pierce holes through solid iron. Yet it hadn't damaged Naruto's skin at all?
How could this not shock him to his core?
"Naruto, what kind of technique is this?" Orochimaru didn't sense any chakra coating on Naruto. This defense came purely from his physical body.
"Don't talk during battle." Naruto bent down, his massive palm descending to shroud Orochimaru entirely. "But I don't mind telling you—I practice Ultimate Taijutsu."
Orochimaru felt powerful wind blast against his face. His bamboo hat flew away, long black hair whipping wildly. Faced with such a fast, accurate, and ruthless blow, he raised the Kusanagi sword horizontally across his chest, blocking Naruto's descending palm.
In the next second, Naruto's hand slammed Orochimaru downward, creating a massive crater in the earth.
At the bottom of the pit, Orochimaru felt his body's bones had been jarred out of alignment. The pain coursing through him only increased his excitement. Even the legendary Kusanagi sword couldn't break through Naruto's defense! This made him even more valuable for research!
The excited Orochimaru used Body Flicker to appear behind Naruto in an instant. He leaped high, driving his blade directly toward Naruto's posterior—the anatomical weak point.
He refused to believe that even the most vulnerable part of the human body couldn't be pierced by the Kusanagi sword!
As long as he successfully stabbed that area and obtained even a small piece of Naruto's flesh and blood, he'd immediately flee. This trip would be worth it.
With even a single cell from Naruto, he could cultivate an identical body through his research. Then he too could possess such a perfect form—perhaps even achieve true immortality.
With this thought driving him, Orochimaru thrust the Kusanagi sword directly into Naruto's posterior, the blade sinking in until only the hilt remained visible.
"Success! I've succeeded!" Excitement surged through Orochimaru. But immediately, something felt wrong. "I can't pull it out?"
Orochimaru yanked hard, only to discover the Kusanagi sword was clamped tightly by Naruto's posterior muscles. No matter how much force he applied, he couldn't extract it.
How can I obtain Naruto's cells like this?
While he stood dazed, another enormous palm descended toward him with whistling wind.
Left with no choice, Orochimaru abandoned the Kusanagi sword, leaving it trapped in Naruto's rear. The moment he released it, he began his counterattack.
"Evil Winding Serpents!"
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
"Exploding Serpent Technique!"
Using three summoning techniques in rapid succession, even Orochimaru with his abundant chakra reserves couldn't help panting. He watched as the giant snakes summoned by his techniques rushed toward Naruto one after another.
First, a massive serpent emerged and slammed toward Naruto, tongue flicking. Naruto simply punched forward. The next moment, the snake's head exploded violently, blood and flesh spraying in all directions.
A single punch obliterated the rotting snake's head. Two more giant serpents lunged from the sides, jaws gaping to bite.
Naruto extended both hands, grasping each snake at its seven-inch weak point. With one serpent held in each hand, unable to move, Naruto brought his hands together. The two snakes' heads collided with tremendous force, bursting into red mist.
Naruto's abdomen expanded and contracted. He opened his mouth and blew, dispersing the blood mist with hurricane-force breath.
Casually discarding the two limp dead snakes, he shouted, "Thousand Buddhas Ascend to Heaven!"
Countless fist shadows enveloped the remaining serpents. Under that overwhelming barrage, every snake burst apart.
For a time, a horrifying smell of blood permeated the entire kilometer radius.
Orochimaru growled urgently. Before the snakes could properly restrain Naruto, he hastily controlled his chakra and detonated them. According to normal tactics, the Exploding Serpent Technique should detonate after restraining the target. But Naruto's attack speed was truly shocking—he'd destroyed the first three waves of summons in single breaths.
Therefore, when the snake swarm approached Naruto, Orochimaru detonated them prematurely.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions instantly engulfed Naruto's position, obscuring him in fire and smoke.
Standing at the center of the blast zone, Naruto remained unhurried. For him, these explosions were merely brief inconveniences, utterly irrelevant to his safety.
He simply stood there, quietly waiting for the explosions to subside.
Seeing no movement from within the flames, Orochimaru finally breathed with slight relief. This opponent is truly too difficult to deal with. But surely the explosion injured him, right?
With this thought, Orochimaru raised his foot, planning to collect some flesh and blood fragments blown off by the explosion, then flee immediately.
Even a wounded camel is larger than a horse. Orochimaru no longer wanted to continue fighting Naruto, even if he'd been injured.
"Orochimaru, is this all you're capable of? You truly disappoint me."
As the words fell, Naruto's footsteps sounded. In the next blink, he'd already walked out from the explosion's epicenter, standing before Orochimaru completely unharmed.
Orochimaru's expression changed dramatically with horror. After taking the full force of his Exploding Serpent Technique, Naruto remained completely unscathed. Even his pants weren't torn! With defense like that, what could possibly harm him?
Without hesitation, Orochimaru deployed a genjutsu. He wanted to use illusion to entangle Naruto long enough to escape.
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