Ch 31 : Snake in the forest

In the end Karin agreed to Sakura's proposal.

Since her mother's death, she no longer had any ties with the Hidden Grass Village (Kusagakure). After what happened, she instead resented the Kusagakure.

Now that she had the chance to leave the village, Karin decided to take the bet. She was especially curious about the "Sensei" that Sakura had mentioned.

After that, Karin followed Sakura and the rest of the team six.

Now the members of team six already had one Heaven and one Earth scroll. They didn't want to waste time lingering around and decided to just quickly go into the central tower.

---

After a few minutes of running and hopping around on trees, the trio plus Karin finally entered the deepest part of the forest.

It wouldn't take that long for the four to reach the central tower, but on their way they suddenly heard a scream.

"Naruto!!!"

The trio immediately recognized the voice. Maybe it was because they had been pretty close during the event of the land of wave mission.

"Hey, what should we do?" Asked Hibachi.

"Let's check what's happening," Ami said.

" But..."

At this moment, the trio looked in the same direction. Their only concern with going to see what was happening was Karin.

It wasn't like they were afraid that Karin would backstab them. After just a few minutes of traveling together, they already knew that Karin's level was far below them.

Then, Sakura, who usually assumed the leadership position in the team, made a decision.

"I'm sorry, Karin, but we might have some matters on hand now. Please stay here and quietly wait for us to return."

Along with those words, the Hibachi, Ami, and Sakura trio vanished, leaving Karin dumbfounded alone.

" Hey... wait... don't leave me alone!!!!!"

----

On the other side of the forest, Sasuke was currently battling Orochimaru, who had disguised himself as a Kusagakure Genin.

He had just awoken his Sharingan, but despite having the help of the Sharingan, the situation didn't seem that favorable to him.

Orochimaru was just way too strong, and he couldn't find any openings that he could attack.

The moment Sasuke got a bit distracted, Orochimaru was ready to bite him and give him the cursed seal mark. But then, a kunai with an explosion talisman tied on it was thrown at him.

"Katsu!"

BOOMMM!!!!!

The explosion occurred near Orochimaru's body, almost giving him no time to escape.

However, Orochimaru as a Sannin was worthy of his reputation. The moment the explosion was about to reach him, he used Substitution Jutsu to completely avoid the explosion.

But of course, this didn't come without any drawbacks. Orochimaru now missed the timing to implant the curse mark on Sasuke, and Sasuke was able to take a breather.

Behind Sasuke now stood three familiar people: Ami, Hibachi, and Sakura.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Asked Sakura with a pretty worried tone.

"I should be okay... but that guy, his actions are no small feats."

Even though he didn't want to admit it, Sasuke felt pretty relieved when team 6 arrived.

After all that bashing from Sanada, Sasuke's ego had toned down a bit and now he was not the same arrogant edgy brat from before anymore.

"Yeah... that guy, he gives me a feeling which is even stronger than Sanada-Sensei."

Hibachi said, which shocked everyone here.

Stronger than Sanada, then how strong is this guy here...

When the trio arrived to save Sasuke, they have realized that the current opponent of Sasuke was the one that Sanada had labeled as "Do not approach". But, they knew if they didn't come, Sasuke would be in mortal danger.

Nonetheless, it was too late for them to go back now.

"Sakura, I'll take the initiative. You guys support me from the back!" Hibachi said before he rushed towards Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was strong, but he believed that with Sanada's special training, he would be able to somehow hold Orochimaru for a bit.

"Huh, just an overconfident brat."

Orochimaru said, not caring much. The moment he saw Hibachi was rushing at him, he opened his sleeves, and countless snakes emerged to take down Hibachi.

But then, a poof sound appeared, and the figure of Hibachi was replaced by a log.

Hibachi reappeared once again behind Orochimaru, trying to touch Orochimaru's neck.

'Got you!' Hibachi thought in his mind.

But of course, Orochimaru was not that weak. He easily avoided Hibachi's hand by slightly tilting his body.

Hibachi fully missed his target and was now vulnerable to an attack. Orochimaru was just about to hit Hibachi on his stomach when Hibachi's figure disappeared once again and was replaced by another log of wood.

'Another Substitution Jutsu? Why is his Substitution so fast!' Orochimaru was a bit shocked by Hibachi's method.' Interesting, it seems that Konoha Genins are way stronger than what I had previously estimated.'

Orochimaru was doing his favorite pose, licking his own lips when Ami, Sakura, and Sasuke were ready to launch their attack.

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

" Karakusagawara Seiken!"

"Multiple explosion talismans!!"

Three waves of attacks were coming in Orochimaru's direction.

"Not bad, but not strong enough. Summoning Jutsu!"

Orochimaru summoned a giant snake to tank the attacks. The attacks from the three of them looked like child's play.

It was true that the giant snake had some slight injuries. However, they looked like some insignificant scratches compared to its giant body.

"Now, let's finish the annoying fly first," Orochimaru said as he blinked to chase Hibachi.

Orochimaru's figure appeared right next to Hibachi, and he was ready to kick him to the ground.

But once again, when Orochimaru's kick hit Hibachi's body, the body once again turned into a log.

' Againnn!!!???