From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

While the two were preparing food, Sasuke walked around the area.

"Hey Sasuke, where have you been?"

After Sasuke returned, Naruto was the first to ask a question, and Sakura, who was standing next to him, also cast a curious glance at him.

"Just patrolling the area to see if there are any enemies."

Sasuke explained casually that he had just sensed that a red-haired girl was about to be devoured by a bear, so he went to save her.

According to her, she got separated from her companions.

However, Sasuke speculated that Karin's companions were not separated from her, but rather killed by Orochimaru.

Orochimaru originally intended to kill all the ninjas of Kusagakure, but he recognized Karin's Uzumaki clan identity.

That's why lin was able to survive by sheer luck.

Sasuke returned to Sakura and Naruto's side and ate a simple meal with them.

"Sasuke, Naruto, someone is approaching!"

Sakura suddenly sensed something was wrong and quickly got up to look in one direction.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when three ninjas suddenly emerged from the nearby jungle.

"People from Amegakure?"

After glancing at the three people's headbands and attire, Sakura's expression turned serious, and she prepared for battle.

Rain Ninja and them are old enemies.

The first time I went out of the village to carry out a mission and fight against ninjas was with Rain Ninjas, and the last mission was also with Rain Ninjas.

Sakura was ready for battle, but to her surprise, the leader of the three Rain Ninjas who suddenly appeared changed his expression when he saw them.

He glanced warily at the three of them, then left in the direction they had come from.

During the retreat, the round-faced Shigure looked at his captain and asked resentfully, "Captain, they're just a few Konoha brats, why...?"

"Shut up! If you want to die, go ahead and do it yourself. I won't stop you!"

The Rain Ninja Captain coldly interrupted Shigure.

In fact, he wasn't a genin at all, but a jonin from Amegakure. He was ordered to infiltrate the Chunin Exams to gather intelligence on Konoha.

He knew far more information than the two genin beside him.

For example, the seventh class we just encountered.

Shi Yu opened her mouth, but ultimately fell silent.

Are they afraid of us?

After the Rain Ninja left, Naruto scratched the back of his head, somewhat puzzled.

"Probably!" Sakura nodded and replied in a deep voice, "After all, we've fought against the Rain Ninja twice already, so it's understandable that they're wary."

“That’s true.” Naruto continued, “We didn’t show much strength in our first battle against the Rain Ninja. The Rain Ninja who participated in the Takigakure coup later committed suicide. They shouldn’t know anything about this, so they shouldn’t be so afraid of us, right?”

'If only you could stay this clever.'

Sakura rolled her eyes and said calmly, "There are countless secret techniques in the ninja world. Those Amegakure people did commit suicide, but it's possible they spread the news before they did. And Naruto, don't forget, those guys aren't dead yet."

"Inside the temple!"

Naruto nodded in realization and praised, "As expected of Sakura-chan, you perfectly expressed what I was thinking."

"Idiot! It's none of your business... Wait, something's not right!"

Sakura's expression hardened, and she said in a deep voice, "It's too quiet!"

In an instant, all was silent; even the chirping of summer insects vanished, and a deep unease permeated the still air.

"Be careful, the enemy is about to make a move."

Feeling the spying gaze growing stronger and stronger, almost tangible, Sasuke, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up with a reminder.

boom!

As soon as the words were spoken, the ground shook, and a huge snake, several times thicker than a water bucket, burst out of the ground beneath their feet, opening its mouth and biting at the three of them with a strong smell of blood.

Swish!

The moment the giant snake appeared, Sakura and Naruto leaped up and jumped far away, but Sasuke stood still.

A white light shot out from Sasuke's hand, like a thunderbolt drawn from its sheath. The Futsu-no-Mitama Sword flashed with a cold light and pierced straight through the giant serpent's head.

At this moment, the snake's vitality was demonstrated; the snake with its head pierced did not die immediately, but instead struggled violently.

However, the giant serpent struggled for only a moment before the Futsu-no-Mitama sword suddenly unleashed a dazzling bolt of lightning, completely destroying the serpent's remaining life force.

*Smack. Smack!*

A round of applause rang out, and a female ninja dressed in a grass-covered outfit suddenly appeared on a tree branch in the distance. Looking down at the three of them, she said, "Not bad, not bad, your reaction speed is quite fast, Uchiha Sasuke!"

The people of Kusagakure?

impossible!

How could Kusagakure have such strong genin?

Sakura stared intently at the Kusagakure ninja in the distance, even though the ninja was just standing there casually.

Sakura could also sense an unfathomable aura and a cold, twisted danger emanating from "her".

This guy is extremely dangerous!

Sakura isn't a sensory ninja and can't sense the amount of chakra a newcomer has, but the dangerous aura emanating from that ninja is the strongest she's ever seen!

"Tch, Sasuke just beat me to it. Don't you dare ignore my presence, you bastard!"

Upon hearing that the visitor had only praised Sasuke, before Sasuke could speak, Naruto spoke first, saying indignantly.

"You came here alone, intending to hand over the scroll you're carrying? Well then, I won't be polite. Let's see how Naruto defeats you!"

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

hehe....

Looking at Naruto's blond hair and blue eyes, Orochimaru couldn't help but think of the former Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze.

Orochimaru had mixed feelings about Minato Namikaze.

Although he had long since given up on being the so-called Hokage, the Third Hokage passed the position to someone else.

This still made Orochimaru somewhat anxious and uncertain.

"You want the Book of Earth in my possession, don't you? Heh..." Orochimaru licked his lips, revealing a strange smile, and pulled out a scroll.

"After all, what you possess is the Book of Heaven!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru opened his snake-like mouth and swallowed the Earth Scroll in his hand.

'This guy is disgusting!'

Sakura's expression changed slightly, and a look of disdain flashed in her eyes.

"Then, let's begin!" Orochimaru licked his lips, a raging, chilling killing intent rapidly gathering within him as he spoke in a sinister tone:

"Use your lives to steal it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru's abyss-like, icy killing intent suddenly erupted, so intense that it seemed to freeze the surrounding air into ice!

Chapter 129 A Second Blossom

This guy is amazing!

Sensing the pervasive, needle-like killing intent in the air, and with goosebumps rising on his skin, Naruto, usually so carefree, became serious.

"Oh?"

Sakura and Naruto, though their expressions were solemn, seemed unaffected by the killing intent. Sasuke, in particular, was expressionless, as if his killing intent had no effect whatsoever.

Seeing this, Orochimaru couldn't help but reveal an interested smile.

"How interesting! I didn't expect that besides Uchiha Sasuke, you two are also quite talented!"

Naruto Uzumaki was one thing, after all, he was the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, and Orochimaru was only slightly surprised.

Orochimaru was quite surprised that such a young girl from a commoner background possessed such a resilient spirit.

Sakura Haruno!

Orochimaru looked at the girl with amusement, recalling the information about Team 7 that he had seen earlier.

"Shut up, you self-righteous guy who's always acting like Sasuke!"

Naruto stomped his foot, and countless radial cracks appeared in the ground.

"You act all high and mighty, do you think you're so great?"

boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto launched himself forward, and an incomparably domineering force suddenly burst out from the ground, causing the ground to shake violently.

He charged straight toward Orochimaru with the deafening roar of a rocket launch!

Taijutsu ninjas!

Seeing Naruto launching an attack on him, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Just as Naruto's taijutsu attack rushed towards him like lightning, Orochimaru...

His entire body twisted like a snake, and with a slight dodge, he moved so fast that the naked eye could not catch it as he easily avoided Naruto's attack.

At the same time, a hissing sound, the sound of a snake flicking its tongue, came from under the sleeve.

Suddenly, a large group of ferocious venomous snakes emerged, opening their foul-smelling mouths and lunging at Naruto, about to bite him when he couldn't dodge in time.

Whoosh!

With a whooshing sound, a giant shuriken spun rapidly, carrying a high-speed airflow, and swiftly severed the heads of Orochimaru's large group of venomous snakes.

Even after losing their bodies, the snake heads still tried to struggle and jump up. Naruto snorted coldly and stomped down, crushing all the snake heads into bloody foam.

Shuriken?

Has Sasuke made a move?