In Konoha, Naruto lies down

Naruto said this, but he squatted down and checked Sakura first, making sure that all the parts on her body were intact before he breathed a sigh of relief.

As for Sasuke, he was really not worried. Orochimaru even loved his body more than Sasuke did.

"Don't worry about me for now." Sakura said to Naruto with some reluctance, "Sasuke is seriously injured."

"Okay," Naruto agreed, standing up and walking towards the unconscious Sasuke.

After examining his neck, he indeed saw the black Heavenly Curse Seal. It was a symbol of three black commas the size of little fingers, arranged in a spiral pattern. Activating the seal instantly granted the amplified power it brought.

"He's fine, he just fainted." Naruto made an OK gesture to Sakura.

After some effort, Naruto placed Sasuke on the huge tree trunk. He turned around and picked up the exhausted Sakura and climbed up the tree smoothly.

"Naruto, thank you." Sakura whispered, "If you hadn't arrived in time, Sasuke might..."

Haruno Sakura also realized that Orochimaru's real target was Sasuke. However, Naruto knew Orochimaru's purpose, but Sakura thought that Orochimaru was planning to slowly kill Sasuke.

"Well... we are companions, this is what I should do." Naruto scratched his head and said, "Sakura, is there any food?"

Upon hearing this, Sakura reached for her lower back, but found nothing, so she shook her head and said.

"No, I don't know where the Bingliang Pill fell during the fight."

At that moment, Naruto's stomach growled, and the situation became a little awkward. Sakura couldn't help but lower her head and whispered an apology.

"It's okay, you take a rest first." Naruto stood on the tree trunk, "I'll go up and take a look at the situation first."

After saying that, Naruto quickly climbed up to the treetop. He stood lightly on a thin branch the size of a finger, his body swaying slightly as he gazed into the distance, as if searching for something.

"Naruto, it's dangerous up there! Be careful." Sakura looked up at Naruto and shouted with some concern.

"Okay!" Naruto responded, looking down at Sakura, "There's a river to the west. It should be the river that runs through the center of the Death Forest. We can get there quickly if we go straight west!"

"River?" Sakura didn't understand what Naruto meant. "Why go to the river?"

"Looking for food." Naruto jumped down from the treetops and said with a smile, "Fishing."

"fishing?"

"Yes, there's food as long as we get to the river." Naruto comforted, "Sakura, can you stand up now?"

Sakura tried, but failed every time.

"I'll carry you over later," Naruto suggested.

"What about Sasuke? It's not safe for him to be unconscious here alone." Sakura said worriedly.

"Carry him over there." Naruto sighed and said, "Sasuke is lucky."

Sakura was first amused by Naruto's words, and then asked worriedly.

"Naruto, this is heavy, right? Can you handle it?"

Now that things have come to this, how can a man say no? Besides, there is no better choice now. The three of them are in this together, and they can't just abandon Sasuke. Naruto is still very sensible, except for deliberately looking for the Sound Trio to steal their home at the beginning of the exam.

But that was because Naruto felt that Sasuke would follow Orochimaru sooner or later anyway, so instead of staying there and clashing with Orochimaru, it would be better to deal with the Sound Ninja as soon as the exams started. This would actually be more cost-effective and save a lot of trouble.

As he expected, both he and Orochimaru achieved their desired outcome. A world was achieved where no one was harmed except Sasuke and the Oto-nin.

"no problem."

Naruto said with a smile, then squatted down and picked up Sakura on his back, then easily carried the unconscious Sasuke away and left quickly.

Sakura was surprised at how strong Naruto's stamina was, as if he had grown stronger without even realizing it.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked, lying on Naruto's back.

The slightly raised bulge pressed against his back, feeling soft and strange. Naruto didn't lose his composure and responded calmly.

"It's okay, we'll be there soon."

The entire Death Forest was 10 kilometers in diameter, and the three of them were only about a kilometer away from the river. It didn't take Naruto long to reach the river. After dropping the two off, he took a bamboo of a suitable size from the nearby bamboo forest.

Seeing that Naruto really intended to fish, Sakura, who had regained some strength, volunteered to pick up some branches to use as fuel.

Sakura, who had just returned from the nearby woods with an armful of lumber, was still a little worried and murmured.

"Will you really catch fish this way?"

Chapter 51 Those who wish take the bait

When Sakura returned to the river, Naruto had already processed the fish, and the blood was floating down the river without any hesitation.

"Did you really catch it? So quickly?"

Sakura was a little stunned. She put the dead branch in her arms on the ground and walked towards Naruto.

"Yeah, I just caught a few." Naruto said without looking up, "We don't have enough salt, so we can't store meat, so..."

"Naruto, you are so awesome." Sakura said softly.

"It's not that great, practice makes perfect." Naruto stood up, "Don't sleep too deeply tonight, there are still fish on the hook."

"Evening? Fish?"

Even though Sakura didn't quite understand what Naruto meant, she instinctively got goosebumps when she saw the blood floating in the river. Blood would attract more predators, and no one knew what would happen after dark.

With a whoosh, Naruto reached out and released a small amount of molten jutsu into the pile of dry velvet, using the instantaneous high temperature to ignite the velvet with a whoosh.

The firelight dispelled Sakura's fear. She stood up and went to the river to get water. She wet the towel and put it on Sasuke's forehead. All that was left was to wait.

She looked at Naruto, who was skewering them with cleaned branches and then made a grill.

"Let me help."

Sakura stood up and took the branch that pierced the fish, and then carefully placed it over the fire to roast it, just like Naruto did.

The firelight flickered across Sakura's dusty face, her eyes slightly vacant. Fear and confusion etched in her eyes, as if she were thinking about what had happened during the day.

After a long moment, she lowered her head and asked.

"Naruto, why would Orochimaru attack Sasuke?"

"Who knows." Naruto answered casually, "Maybe Orochimaru has taken a fancy to Sasuke. He must have told you about strength or something like that, right?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded, "He did say that. He told Sasuke that if Sasuke needed strength, he would come to him again."

"Then there's nothing we can do." Naruto and Sakura were grilling fish next to each other, and said casually, "Sasuke cares so much about strength, and all he thinks about is revenge. Who knows, maybe Orochimaru will really come true."

"Ah? What should we do then?" Sakura panicked, "Will Sasuke really do that?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him." Naruto flipped the fish over to prevent it from getting burnt. "Wasn't he yelling about revenge earlier? Hatred, once it's engendered, is incurable. It will only drag you down into the abyss step by step."

"unless......."

"Unless what?" Sakura demanded.

"Nothing." Naruto smiled, "Unless you die, then the hatred will end."

What he actually meant was that unless Sasuke was also possessed by someone else, he would become like him. What did the past have to do with him? Whoever bullied him now would be given a knife!

However, Naruto has no intention of interfering in Sasuke's journey of revenge. Mind your own business and live a long and happy life.

As for what the world will be like in the future, we’ll talk about it later.

As the sky darkened, the light in the forest became almost non-existent.

By the campfire, Naruto handed a roasted and salted fish to Sakura and said.

"Taste it."

"Thank you." Sakura was also hungry all day. She took it from Naruto and took a bite. "Delicious."

Sasuke was still unconscious, but he looked much better, at least his breathing was even. Naruto glanced at Nijima lying beside him and thought to himself, this guy shouldn't be defeated by the curse seal, right?

Naruto and Sakura each ate two, leaving the remaining two for the unconscious Sasuke.

After eating and drinking, the two began to discuss their next plan.

"The Scroll of Heaven was taken away by Orochimaru." Sakura said with some annoyance, "Now we have to defeat two teams to advance, but Sasuke-kun is unconscious again."

"Well, don't worry about that." Naruto said, pulling out the two scrolls of Heaven and Earth from his arms and handing them to Sakura, "Here, I got them."

"Huh?" Sakura was stunned. "Naruto, how did you manage to grab two scrolls by yourself?"

"On the way to trouble the Sound Ninja, I happened to meet a group of Kusa Ninja. They happened to be holding the Scroll of Heaven." Naruto scratched his head and said, "I didn't want to take it with me at first, but after a little hesitation, I took it. Now it comes in handy."

"That's great! Naruto!" Sakura was so excited that she hugged Naruto directly!

far away.

The Ino, Deer, and Chou trio were leaning against a tree looking at the bonfire. Shikamaru curled his hands into the shape of a telescope and stared at that place while complaining.

"What are Naruto and his gang doing? They're going to be targeted if they dare to light a fire in the forest in the middle of the night."

"That's towards the river, right? Maybe they lost their food pills, so they're planning to roast the prey they hunted or something like that?" Ino said nonchalantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Sasuke seems to be asleep?" Shikamaru said lazily, "Why is Naruto being held by Sakura? That guy is so popular with girls, right?"

"What! Hugging!" Ino instantly lost her composure.

Looking towards the fire, there was nothing. Naruto and Sakura were talking beside the fire.

"Ino, what's wrong with you?" Shikamaru asked.

"No...nothing, I'm just curious." Ino said with a forced smile, "I remember that Sakura only liked Sasuke, so how could she hug Naruto? You must be seeing things."

"That seems to make sense." Shikamaru scratched his head, "Maybe I saw it wrong."

"But that would be a problem. If they keep the bonfire lit, it'll attract other teams." Choji interrupted with narrowed eyes, "Should we go and warn them?"

"It's too late." Shikamaru suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Hide quickly, someone is approaching!"

The trio's faces suddenly darkened and they hid themselves tacitly.

By the river, the bonfire was almost extinguished.

Sakura sat on the side, looking extremely nervous. But she didn't make a sound, and closed her eyes and pretended to sleep as Naruto said.

Soon, three figures appeared in the river.

Almost silently, the three people from Kusagakure slowly approached the bonfire by the river.

Naruto was still poking the fire with a stick, completely oblivious to the surroundings. This reassured the Kusagakure trio, who waved their hands and suddenly launched an attack.

At the critical moment, Naruto's figure beside the fire disappeared in an instant.

"How could this be!" The Kusagakure ninja thought to himself that something was wrong and suddenly realized that this was a trap.

But it was too late to escape. Naruto suddenly appeared behind one of them, a dazzling blue light flashing. Naruto then forced a large ball of lightning into the body of a Kusagakure ninja, causing a scream to ring out, startling the birds in the night forest.

Chapter 52 Sasuke: Are you cheating when fishing?

With a loud bang, screams were heard.

The three Sunagakure siblings stopped not far away. Temari suddenly turned her head to look in one direction and asked nervously.

"What is that sound?"

"Just go and take a look and you'll know." Kankuro said confidently.

"That's the Kyuubi." Gaara said coldly, "If you want to die, go ahead. If the mission fails, you will bear the consequences yourself."

As the moonlight streamed into the forest, a look of embarrassment washed over Kankuro's face.

"No... didn't Mr. Maki say that the nine-tailed brat was lying to us?"

Gaara didn't say anything, but just stared at Kankuro coldly, then turned and walked away without looking back. Temari and Kankuro looked at each other, and they could only see the helplessness in each other's eyes and hurried to follow.

riverside.

Naruto's elusive speed made it impossible for the three people from Kusagakure to cope with him, and their faces and bodies were covered with bruises.

Soon, all the Kusagakure ninjas were knocked unconscious by the electric shock. Naruto didn't want to kill anyone in the Chunin Exam, so he shocked them back four or five times. In fact, the second time, the Kusagakure ninjas had already taken out the scroll and begged for mercy.

But Naruto was afraid that they were cheating, so he shocked them twice again until the three of them were foaming at the mouth.

The battle was over, and Naruto looked a bit embarrassed when he bent down to pick up the kunai. But it was harmless. Flying Thunder God could increase the upper limit of ninja strength. In short, no matter how strong or weak, Obito would have to take a few hits.

Many teams have arrived from all directions, but no one dares to take action.

They have already seen the fate of the Kusagakure ninjas. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble if they went up there?

"Naruto is planning to clear the area." Among the three little ones, Ino, Deer, and Chou who were hiding in the distance, Shikamaru suddenly realized something and spoke.