Chapter 49: Naruto's Progress, Orochimaru's Attack  

"Alright, then we'll finish the match first. The rest is up to you. Be careful," Neji said helplessly.

Sasuke nodded slightly, indicating that he understood, and then responded solemnly, "Leave it to me, no problem. And remember what you promised me."

"Don't worry, I remember," Neji replied.

After saying that, Neji turned around and left with Lee and Tenten.

Sasuke stood there, quietly staring at their receding backs, secretly contemplating his next plan. He knew that a fierce battle awaited him, but he was unafraid, confident in his own strength.

After a short rest, Sasuke took a deep breath and began to focus, preparing to face Orochimaru.

At that moment, a slight noise caught his attention. He looked closely and saw three figures approaching from different directions. The leader was Zaku Abumi, who jumped down from a tree and said coldly, "Uchiha Sasuke, you really made it easy for us to find you!"

"Yeah, I didn't expect you'd hide in this place. Are you choosing a good burial spot for yourself?" Kin Tsuchi added, with a sly gleam in her eyes.

"This time, I'll definitely repay the humiliation you brought upon me!" Dosu Kinuta snarled, his voice filled with hatred.

Facing the Sound Trio's provocation, Sasuke remained calm. He didn't even look at them, as if they weren't worth his attention at all.

However, Naruto couldn't hold back his anger. He yelled, "You bunch of idiots! All of you are focusing on Sasuke. Today, I'll show you how powerful Uzumaki Naruto is!"

"Uzumaki Naruto? Who's that?" Zaku asked, scratching his head in confusion.

Kin also shook her head, indicating she had never heard the name.

"He must be an unknown Genin. Well, since our goal is to kill Uchiha Sasuke, let's kill him along the way," Dosu said nonchalantly, his eyes still full of murderous intent towards Sasuke.

Hearing this, Naruto was immediately furious, pointing at Dosu and shouting, "You jerks! You dare look down on me? I'll show you how powerful I am—Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, more than a dozen identical shadow clones appeared around Naruto, surrounding the Sound Trio.

"Hmph, you scared?" Naruto laughed, a smug look on his face.

However, Dosu wasn't intimidated and sneered, "It's just more chakra. What's there to be afraid of? But okay, consider it an appetizer!"

With that, he immediately raised his left hand, preparing to release his powerful sound wave attack: "Decapitating Airwave!"

A small vortex began to form on Dosu's left hand. As he continued to inject chakra, the vortex started to spin rapidly, emitting a sharp whistling sound. In an instant, countless ultrasonic waves and intense air pressure shot out of the vortex, sweeping towards Naruto like a surging torrent.

It's unfortunate for Dosu, though. If he had used this technique against Naruto right after he graduated from the Academy, it might have had some effect. But the Naruto standing before him had been personally trained by Sasuke! For an attack of this level, Naruto easily dodged.

"Why? Why do you come to assassinate Sasuke when your strength isn't even one-tenth of his?" Naruto asked seriously.

But Dosu took the question as mockery and shouted, "Shut up! I'll show you my true power next!"

After Dosu spoke, he continuously launched multiple Decapitating Airwaves, trying to compensate for the lack of accuracy with quantity. Unfortunately for him, this approach was a complete waste of chakra because the speed of his attacks couldn't keep up with Naruto's movements.

Seeing Naruto always dodging without fighting back, Sasuke said, "Hey, Naruto, stop playing around. You've mastered that move, haven't you?"

Although Sasuke's words were phrased as a question, they carried a certainty.

"Oh, I can't hide anything from you!" Naruto scratched his head and replied.

"What? You dare look down on me?" Dosu's face instantly darkened. He felt deeply insulted, and his composure shattered.

"Hehe, now I'll use my full strength, so brace yourself!" Naruto shouted excitedly, a confident light in his eyes. Each of Naruto's clones began gathering chakra in their hands, preparing to launch a powerful attack.

"Take this! Naruto Uzumaki Barrage!" At Naruto's command, more than a dozen of his clones, each wielding a Rasengan, charged at Dosu like a pack of ferocious beasts.

Dosu was shocked and tried to defend himself with the Decapitating Airwave, but it was futile. All his attacks only hit Naruto's shadow clones. When the real Naruto closed in, Dosu had no time to react.

The Rasengans came from all directions, too fast and too powerful to evade. Under Naruto's relentless barrage, Dosu was finally overwhelmed and defeated.

Zaku and Kin stood by, completely stunned, at a loss for what to do. The sight of so many Rasengans being unleashed at once was too overwhelming—a massive visual impact that left them paralyzed.

"How about it, Sasuke? My Naruto Uzumaki Barrage is pretty awesome, right?" Naruto turned to Sasuke proudly, hoping for praise. He longed for Sasuke's approval, hoping his efforts would be recognized. After all, compared to Sasuke, even a powerful jutsu like Rasengan seemed mediocre.

However, Sasuke merely chuckled, "It's pretty good, but it'll take 20,000 years before you surpass me!"

Hearing this, Naruto fumed, "Damn it!"

At that moment, Sasuke suddenly turned his gaze to Zaku and Kin, who were trying to sneak away. He smirked and said, "Hey, where do you two think you're going?"

To Zaku and Kin, Sasuke's seemingly gentle smile was as terrifying as death itself.

"Um… We never attacked you. Maybe you could spare us?" Zaku forced a smile, though the expression was hard to read due to his bandages. Kin quickly nodded in agreement, "Yes, please!"

"It might be difficult for me to let you go!" Sasuke began, but then his tone turned cold, and his eyes grew icy. "After all, I don't have a habit of letting enemies go."

Hearing this, Zaku and Kin exchanged glances, their eyes communicating their mutual understanding—strike first! They quickly prepared to attack.

But suddenly, the air was filled with the strong scent of snakes.

"Sasuke, nice to meet you!"