Chapter 98: Ambush
The rain had almost stopped, leaving only cold dampness and the smell of wet earth.
Naruto, with Sasuke on his back, walked away from the Valley of the End. Sasuke felt terrible hanging like dead weight on his partner, but he didn't complain—he simply had no strength.
"You certainly surprised us with that night sortie," Naruto broke the silence, looking ahead. "Don't do that again. We were all very worried."
"If your words before weren't empty talk... fine," Sasuke rasped. There was no poison left in his voice, only fatigue. "But don't think I'll change. I still need power."
"You'll get it," Naruto nodded. "But without leashes."
They almost reached the agreed edge of the forest where Shikamaru and Kiba were supposed to be waiting.
The world seemed calm.
Suddenly, Naruto's Qi Sensory howled.
There was a feeling that the space ahead had compressed into a point, ready to explode.
"Damn!" Naruto barked.
He didn't drop Sasuke. He extended his left hand forward, forming a small plane of condensed Qi in front of them.
Qi Control: Shield.
In that same instant, a hurricane burst from the dense forest.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The shockwave slammed into the barrier. The white energy rang, taking on monstrous pressure. The defense held for a second, softening the blow, but then shattered.
Naruto and Sasuke were thrown back. They were scattered in different directions like dry leaves.
Sasuke slammed back-first into an oak trunk and slid down, clutching his head. The Uzumaki tucked into a roll mid-flight, driving kunai into the ground to brake.
On the path where they had just walked stood a figure.
Orochimaru.
He looked frighteningly fresh. The sickly aura of decay Naruto felt at their last meeting in Tanzaku was gone. His skin was unnaturally pale, and his eyes burned with golden fire.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. Qi Sensory instantly scanned the enemy.
It's him. Same cold, sticky will. But... the shell is different.
Naruto felt dissonance. The Sannin's chakra was immense, but the body containing it felt alien. The flesh vibrations didn't match what he remembered. It was younger but already starting to radiate slight rejection under the pressure of the soul's monstrous power.
The Snake changed bodies, the Uzumaki realized with disgust. Shed the old skin and put on a new one. That's why he's so fast and full of strength.
"So we meet, Uzumaki," the Sannin hissed. There was no anger in his voice, only the cold curiosity of a vivisectionist. "You continue to wreck my plans with tireless persistence. First the war in Konoha. Then my deal with Tsunade. And now my vessel."
Sasuke tried to stand, leaning on his healthy arm.
"Orochimaru, stop..."
The Sannin didn't even look at him. He made a short gesture with his fingers.
"Sit quietly."
The Cursed Seal on Sasuke's neck flared with orange light. It wasn't to activate power, but to cause pain shock. The Uchiha arched his back; his muscles paralyzed. He collapsed face down in the grass, unable to move.
"Let him go!" Naruto took a stance.
His brain worked at the limit.
I'm exhausted after the night run and series of fights. My reserves are half empty. Orochimaru is in a new body; he's at his peak. A direct fight is certain death. I need distance, traps, and support. But I can't call for support—he'll kill them before they can do anything.
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Twenty clones appeared around the original. They didn't rush into attack. They fanned out, taking positions on tree branches around the clearing.
"Fire!"
The clones threw dozens of kunai.
Orochimaru lazily raised his hand, intending to deflect the iron with wind.
But Naruto formed a seal.
"Activation."
Invisible symbols engraved with Qi flared on the kunai handles.
KA-BOOM!
A series of explosions covered the Sannin. These weren't paper explosive tags that could be blown away. This was the detonation of the metal structure itself.
Orochimaru was forced to react seriously. The hands of his new body blurred.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A thick wall of earth rose before him, absorbing the shrapnel and blast wave.
When the dust settled, the crumbled wall was revealed. Orochimaru stood unharmed, dusting off his clothes.
"Clever," he admitted. "Jiraiya's Fūinjutsu masked as simple kunai? You grow at an enviable pace, boy. But against me, these are just toys."
He slapped his palms on the ground.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes."
Hundreds of snakes erupted from underground. They didn't attack blindly. They crawled on the ground and trees, finding clones by heat and smell.
Clones began to pop. Snakes strangled them, bit them, threw them down.
The real Naruto fought back, but the ring tightened.
He's pressing me. Normal techniques don't work. I need power to break the encirclement.
There was no choice.
Fox! Cloak!
Use it wisely; you're still no match for him, the Kyūbi growled.
Red chakra burst out. Two tails formed behind Naruto's back, burning the encroaching snakes.
He crouched, preparing for a dash to take Orochimaru's head off.
The Sannin smirked.
"I expected this. Think the same trick will keep working?"
He stuck the Kusanagi sword into the ground in front of him and began forming seals with lightning speed.
The blade glowed purple. Complex symbols ran from it along the ground like cracks, forming a circle tens of meters in radius.
"Fūinjutsu: Chakra Absorption Barrier!"
The effect was instantaneous.
The ground beneath Naruto's feet glowed. He felt as if an invisible pump began sucking the heavy, saturated Bijū chakra out of the air.
The Cloak flickered. The tails began to dissolve, being pulled into the symbols on the ground.
The Jinchūriki fell to one knee, feeling overwhelming weakness.
"What the..." he exhaled. The Fox's chakra simply vanished, absorbed by the barrier.
"I had to work hard to adapt this technique," Orochimaru explained, walking closer. He walked through the field without discomfort—it was tuned only to Tailed Beast chakra. "It sucks out Bijū chakra within its radius. You can no longer use the Nine-Tails Cloak against me, Naruto-kun. Your main trump card is now useless."
Naruto staggered, trying to get up, but a shadow reached him sooner.
BAM!
A heavy, lazy kick from Orochimaru to the chest sent the Uzumaki flying tens of meters back.
Naruto landed heavily, plowing his back through the mud and hitting a massive boulder. Ribs responded with a crunch; breath was knocked out.
The Sannin casually dusted off his sandal as if he had touched trash.
Naruto was left alone.
No Fox Chakra. No clone support. With dwindling reserves of his own chakra and Qi.
Orochimaru stopped a few meters away. He took out a kunai and began to toy with it.
"Have you realized this is your end? Jiraiya isn't here. Tsunade neither. You are alone."
He nodded toward the forest.
"You can try to run, of course. And then I'll find your friends. Nara? Inuzuka? Hyuga? They are there; I sense them. I will kill them all. Slowly. I will cut out their eyes."
Snake pupils narrowed.
"But even if you stay here and die like a hero... the result won't change. I'll take Sasuke. And then go and kill your friends anyway. Just for fun."
Naruto's breathing was heavy. Muscles trembled.
He was cornered. Normal methods exhausted. Strategy failed. Power suppressed.
I can't do anything... NO! There must be a way! Think, dammit! Analyze the situation, and find a way out.
Orochimaru took a step forward, raising the kunai for the final blow.
Naruto lifted his head. There was no resignation in his blue eyes. There burned a desperate, mad fire of searching for a solution to an impossible task.
***
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