Chapter Twenty: Clash with Orochimaru

Chapter Twenty: The Encounter with Orochimaru

Three hours had passed since the start of the second exam, and everything was proceeding according to the planned schedule…

“Ding-dong, A-rank mission detected. Mission objective: rescue Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura; escape from Orochimaru without injury. Mission reward: Soul Crystal *70,000, Skill Scroll: Fully Refined Five-Element Seal.”

“Hm? Orochimaru has made his move?” Deep within the Forest of Death, Shuster suddenly sensed his scroll being activated.

“Move!” In an instant, countless Shuster clones rushed toward the scene of the incident.

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“Oh? Whose shadow-level item is this? It’s quite valuable for research!” A pale-skinned, sickly-looking man with purple eye shadow spoke. Any Konoha Jonin would cry out, “Konoha’s S-rank rogue ninja, Orochimaru?!”

“Is this the power of the scroll Teacher Hatake gave me?” Naruto stared at the three of them, wrapped in a thick, tangible barrier of lightning.

“Orochimaru! Release them, your opponent is me!” Shuster used Body Flicker to appear beside the trio.

“Teacher Hatake!” ×3

“Who are you? The brat from the Hatake clan? Heh, I never expected you to reach shadow-level strength already!” Orochimaru eyed Shuster, first puzzled, then recalling who he was.

“Orochimaru, I don’t know why you’re troubling them, but please let them go. They are my students!” Shuster formed hand seals, summoning a lightning armor around himself.

“No, though you are shadow-level, can a single clone of yours defeat me, the original?” Orochimaru closed in on Shuster, launching an attack.

“Bang!” The clone burst into a cloud of white smoke.

“Orochimaru, forgive me, but I must save my students. I’ve already notified the ANBU, and my true self is on the way. You have no chance.” At least two thousand Shuster clones appeared in the forest. “Besides… you won’t escape my pursuit.” Two shadow clones appeared behind Orochimaru, attacking simultaneously.

“Slash!” Orochimaru was split into three parts.

“Amazing!” ×3

“Hurry and escape! This isn’t a fight you can handle. He’s on par with the Third Hokage. My true self isn’t here, so go!” A Shuster clone at the rear shouted urgently.

“Strange, didn’t we just defeat him? Why is Teacher telling us to run?” Naruto said, baffled.

“Idiot, don’t question it. If Teacher says to run, we run!” Sasuke and Sakura each grabbed one of his arms and fled.

“You’ve ruined my plans, you know?” At the severed joints, snakes crawled out from Orochimaru’s body, reconnecting the three segments.

“Sorry, Orochimaru, but I can’t let you chase after them,” the leading Shuster clone replied.

“What a nuisance!” Orochimaru, surrounded by shadow clones, drew a sword from his mouth, annoyed.

“Hm? The Kusanagi Sword?” All the clones drew their Blood Dance Crescent Blades in the next moment.

“Hm? The clones’ swords aren’t as strong as the original, but they’re still eighty percent as effective. Your blade is impressive,” Orochimaru remarked, becoming serious.

A shadow clone used Body Flicker to appear behind Orochimaru, swinging his blade to slice him at the waist. Orochimaru turned just in time to counter, but another clone appeared beside him, blocking the Kusanagi Sword. The blade flashed, and Orochimaru was cut in two again. Another clone swiftly grabbed the fallen Kusanagi Sword and sped away at maximum velocity, using Lightning Flash. Orochimaru regenerated, but without his weapon, he began to fall behind.

“Are you three alright?” Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura reached the edge of the Forest of Death.

“We’re okay,” Sakura replied, still a bit shaken.

“It’s nothing serious,” said Sasuke, slightly injured—the focus of Orochimaru’s attention, as he was Orochimaru’s intended vessel.

A white streak flashed by, and Shuster, holding the Kusanagi Sword, appeared before them.

“Sasuke, take this. Hurry, follow me out of here; my clones won’t last much longer,” Shuster’s clone urged.

Without hesitation, Sasuke took the sword, and the three fled.

“Anko, quickly assemble the ANBU; Orochimaru is causing trouble during the exam,” Shuster called out to Anko, who was approaching.

“I’ve already summoned them. I’m heading straight to the scene!” Anko replied, leaping through the trees.

“No need, my true self will arrive soon. Escort the three children away. That’s your duty as a Jonin!” Shuster shouted.

“I… I understand!” Anko replied, frustrated.

“Alright, I’ll dispel the clones now. Bang!” Shuster mimicked Dante’s classic farewell gesture and vanished.

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“Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!” Orochimaru’s arm transformed into countless snakes, lunging at Shuster.

“Bang bang bang!” The clones fought desperately to fend off the snakes, but lost a third of their numbers.

“Damn!” ×N

“What a troublesome bunch. These are just clones—how powerful would the real one be?” Orochimaru panted, his chakra nearly depleted.

“Hang in there, everyone. The true self should arrive in five minutes,” said the leading clone, possessing eighty percent of the original’s strength, now acting as leader.

“In that case, Summoning Jutsu!” Realizing his chakra wouldn’t last, while his opponent’s seemed limitless, Orochimaru summoned a horde of poisonous snakes.

“Damn, I should have researched Reverse Summoning and brought the original here!” the leading clone gritted his teeth.

“Everyone, use Lightning Style: Ground Walk, electrify them!” “Lightning Style: Ground Walk!” ×N

“Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!” A vast electric web intertwined, and the snakes writhed within it.

“Damn, must I really retreat? Hm? This presence—no, that guy’s true self is coming!” Smelling the scent of flesh in the air, Orochimaru leapt onto a tree to avoid the electric net. He assessed their numbers—any shadow-level ninja would struggle against hundreds of coordinated Jonin, especially when they didn’t fear sacrifice, since they were clones and couldn’t die. Sensing the arrival of the original, he glared with hatred, then used Earth Style to escape.

“Whew…” ×N

“Ding-dong, objective complete: rescued Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura without injury. Reward: Soul Crystal *70,000, Skill Scroll: Fully Refined Five-Element Seal.”

“Good work, everyone!” Shuster finally arrived, glancing in the direction Orochimaru had fled.

“Phew, mission accomplished. You’re late, true self,” remarked the leading clone.

“Yeah, yeah!” ×N

“Alright, it’s my fault. But I got here as fast as I could, even using Pandora’s transforming motorcycle!” Shuster’s true self waved his hands with a sheepish grin.

“Forget it; the mission’s done. Everyone can release the jutsu now!” the leading clone announced.

“Okay!” ×N

“Bang bang bang…” After a cloud of smoke, only Shuster and the clone leader remained.

“You’ve worked hard these days,” Shuster said.

“Hey, you too—going alone to the Land of Wind and finding a way to resolve this crisis. The original story never mentioned where the Kazekage’s corpse was,” the clone replied.

“It’s alright, nothing much. I just wanted to keep the Third Hokage alive,” Shuster said, spreading his hands.

“Heh, I’m off. Bang!” The clone smiled and turned to white smoke.

“Sigh…” Shuster sighed, suddenly blacking out and falling from the tree.

“Smack! Honestly, with so many clones, do you want to exhaust yourself to death? Silly little brother.” A shadow caught Shuster—it was Kakashi. Looking at Shuster’s sleeping, handsome face, Kakashi spoke helplessly.

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