Chapter 166

"My name is Orochimaru," he tells them. Sasuke and Sakura fight whatever paralyzed them and only then does the pinkette detect a slight sugary scent in the air, deducing he released a gas agent to immobilize them when his head extends horribly long from this monster's body. "Here is a gift. Come to me if you wish to have power!"

Neither Sakura or Sasuke can move for several moments when Orochimaru's fangs are nearly on Sasuke. Sakura knows he would've hurt him if not for a red chakra covered Naruto, with a red chakra tail, nearly striking him in the face.

"You're becoming quite the nuisance boy," Orochimaru states as his neck retracts to its proper length. Orochimaru vanishes in his absurd sprint, landing right next to her and smiling down at her evilly. Helpless to his immense strength, her stunned form could do nothing as he grabs hold of her uniform and hurls her high and far. Before Sakura's paralyzed body hits the tree, she's caught by Naruto.

With his red eyes but no red chakra shroud, Sakura doesn't believe the blond who caught her is the real Naruto, and assumes the red-chakra-tailed Naruto fighting against Orochimaru is the real one. Naruto moves faster than she can see with her own eyes and worse yet, Orochimaru seems to be able to move just as fast.

"…Naruto," Sakura gasps, unable to comprehend how her goofy, loud teammate can be this strong. Staring in awe of the real Naruto fight, she hears the one holding her ask, "are you okay?" Before she can answer, another Naruto holding Sasuke lands beside them. To her surprise, the clones carry them away.

"Wait," Sakura argues. "We have to help-"

"The Boss can take care of himself," the clone carrying her states while the other adds, "we need to get away before Orochimaru gets serious."

As they spring from branch to branch, Sasuke yells, "set me down!" At Sasuke's insistence, the Narutos land in a small clearing between the giant trees.

"Are you guys okay," Naruto asks as the other clone checks the perimeter, communicating, "we can't stay long."

Sakura starts to ask, "where-" when she's interrupted by Sasuke.

"I'm not running while the Dobe fights my battle," Sasuke hotly declares.

"Shh," Sakura shushes him, very much to her own surprise. She quickly adds, "I don't want to leave Naruto either, but we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

When their paralysis wears off Sasuke moves toward the direction they came from when both clones step in front of him.

"You can't go back," Naruto's clone tells him, stepping in front.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!" Sasuke yells. "Don't get so full of yourself you think you can order me around!"

"Hey, shut up will ya," the second clone calls when out of the bushes, three familiar genin trudge through. "Well, isn't this a complex situation," Ino voices, as her teammates walk up beside her. With Team 10's arrival, the Narutos look at each other with a little more apprehension. They both know the boss doesn't want more people for Orochimaru to hurt.

"We can't stay-" Naruto starts to tell the arrivals when Sasuke kicks him in the face at the same time he strikes the other clone with a kunai, dispelling both of them.

"Sasuke!" Sakura calls. "Why-"

"I won't abide by anyone holding me back," Sasuke hotly retorts.

"Doesn't look like you grasp the meaning of teamwork, Sasuke-kun," Shikamaru lazily points out.

"Where's Naruto," Ino asks looking around for the real one.

"We have to help him," Sakura declares to her former friend and rival.

"What? Did the leeches get him," Chōji jokes. "Or the bears?"

"He probably fell into a trap," Shikamaru ponders aloud. "He's definitely not the main character type."

"No," Sasuke orders Sakura with stern red eyes. He's so emphatic about his stance, Sakura wouldn't be surprised if he attacked her to keep anyone else from interfering. "They'd only get in the way," he adds.

However, Naruto's smiling face flashes in the forefront of her worried mind and she can't help but yell back, "he's our teammate and that monster is stronger than all of us. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"What monster," Ino startles, her heart starting to beat faster. "What happened to Naruto? Sakura, tell me," Ino demands.

"I- Naruto stayed behind to fight this unbelievably strong missing-nin so we could-"

"We don't have time for this," Sasuke calls out. He turns to Team 10 and tells them, "without our third member, our team is shot and Sakura will only get in my way. Watch out for her and I promise to help you get whichever scroll you need before the deadline ends." Sasuke doesn't wait for a response before he leaps into the trees and travels back to the fight.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru notes beside Chōji. Sakura is upset, offended, and unnerved by Sasuke's opinion of her and allows Ino's hand to squeeze her shoulder in comforting solidarity.

NARUTO'S CLONE

Naruto is aware of the fights going on and though he wants to join them to make sure everyone stays safe, he has his own job to do. Running through the treetops with his own clones spread out, but near enough, Naruto stops when he senses something. Hearing a mechanically muffled, "lucky," Naruto spots three genin from Amegakure wearing light yellow jumpsuits stitched up at the middle, with rebreathers fixed to their mouths. Feeling Kurama evaporate their mind-slip genjutsu every time they try to place it on him, Naruto smiles as he creates a clone that quickly dispels, alerting his nearby backup to power up and help take them out.

NARUTO

Four Narutos, each with one tail of Kurama's power, surround a crouched and amused Orochimaru. Though Naruto felt more powerful than ever before, he couldn't comprehend or apprehend the missing-nin. With all four chakra-covered Naruto's attacking him, the best he can manage is narrowly avoiding being struck in the stomach with some five-fingered seal and keep the missing-nin from chasing after Sasuke. Even taking the legendary shinobi four to one, Orochimaru's foresight in taijutsu was better, Naruto can barely avoid his devastating snake ninjutsu, and he had a strategy for every one of Naruto's surprises. After the snake sannin grossly slithered out the mouth of two bodies, it's now even more difficult to hit him with a Rasengan, or catch him with his red chakra despite his four to one advantage.

"Congratulations is in order, Naruto-kun. You've survived long enough for your reinforcements to arrive," Orochimaru calls before bitting his thumb and sliding his blood down his left forearm. Two of Naruto's clones disperse when the biggest snake Naruto has ever seen pops into existence, shrugging trees to the side from their rooted station like they were nothing more than blades of grass. "Have fun playing with my pet," Orochimaru tells him from the top of his summon.

"You had better prepare a hundred sacrifices for summoning me," the giant snake spoke.

"Of course, Manda-sama," Orochimaru states before leaping away. "A moment is all I require."

Staring up in sheer awe of the king of snakes, Naruto mumbles, "Nii-chan was right. That snake-bastard really is the worst." Naruto contemplates asking Kurama for a second tail when the large snake is attacked by the proctor of the second task, Mitarashi Anko.

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