Chapter 37: Stolen Power
Sakura, finally shaken from her stupor by the ferocity of the battle, was still trembling. Seeing Naruto's situation growing increasingly dire as he danced away from Kabuto's lethal strikes, she could only watch in helpless, agonized worry.
I'm so useless! Sakura had never hated her own weakness more.
Just as that despair began to crest, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air from behind Orochimaru.
A kunai flew from a treacherous angle, aimed straight for the Sannin's back. Orochimaru didn't even move, only offering a slight, knowing smile. "After hiding for so long, you finally couldn't resist showing yourself. Little Anko."
As he spoke, a lithe figure dropped from the canopy above. Anko, her face a mask of cold fury, hands already weaving through a sequence of seals. "Orochimaru! What are you doing here?! Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
A swarm of snakes erupted from her sleeves, fangs bared as they struck at Orochimaru's vital points.
Orochimaru showed no panic, as if he'd anticipated this very move. A disdainful smirk touched his lips. With a casual wave of his free arm, several large snakes of his own shot from his sleeve, intercepting and tangling with Anko's assault. He knew the techniques of his former student inside and out; her attack was barely a distraction.
However, the distraction was all Naruto needed.
The blond genin, who had been evading Kabuto in a tense dance, suddenly erupted with a surge of palpable energy. A flash of gold. In that split second of disrupted focus, Kabuto instinctively took a half-step back.
That single step was the opening Naruto had been waiting for.
Channeling the unstable power of the Curse Mark, Naruto's body blurred into a streak of golden light. He didn't attack Kabuto. He changed direction instantly, his new target: Orochimaru.
The Sannin was momentarily occupied with Anko's snakes and holding Sasuke. He sensed Naruto's movement, but the speed was staggering. Even as he registered the threat, it was too late to fully evade. The other Grass ninja (a disposable puppet) moved to block, but Naruto didn't break stride—a single, empowered backhand blow sent the puppet flying through the trees. Unchecked, Naruto's fist, wreathed in the volatile chakra of the Curse Mark, hurtled toward Orochimaru's face.
Scene Four: The Curse's Might
It was a punch that could shatter stone. Orochimaru, for all his claims of immortality, had no desire to test it. With no other option, he released Sasuke from his tongue's grip, retracting the appendage to lash instead at Naruto's incoming arm.
But in that crucial moment of release, Sasuke—seething with bottled-up fury and humiliation—struck back. Her Sharingan whirled. She launched an illusion, the most disorienting genjutsu she could muster on the fly. Against a mind like Orochimaru's, it was a firefly against the sun, buying perhaps a tenth of a second of disorientation.
A tenth of a second was all Naruto needed.
His speed, already incredible, exploded further. He became pure light, slipping past the flailing tongue. In a low crouch, he appeared under Orochimaru's guard, his right palm pressed against the Sannin's midsection.
BOOM!
"Rasengan!"
Supercharged by the Curse Mark's volatile fusion with natural energy, the Rasengan roared with unprecedented fury. A blast of blue-white light seared the eyes of everyone present, followed by a concussive shockwave that hurled Orochimaru's body backward like a ragdoll. The force also threw Sasuke and Anko, who were too close, tumbling to the ground.
"Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto's shout was pure disbelief. The invincible Sannin, struck down by a genin? Uzumaki Naruto… the power of that Curse Mark on him is monstrous!
Naruto's Curse Mark was unique. He had purged Orochimaru's invasive consciousness, leaving behind a core of raw, untamed natural energy. This energy not only granted power but was awakening Naruto's own latent sensitivity to the natural forces around him—a sensation both similar to and distinct from the Curse Mark's own energy, something he couldn't yet fully grasp but whose potency was undeniable.
Naruto stood still, a faint, shimmering golden aura clinging to his form, making him look less like a boy and more like some avenging spirit. The sight left Sasuke, Anko, and Sakura momentarily breathless.
Sasuke's emotions were a turbulent storm. Saved by Naruto again. And the power he now displayed… it was a gulf she couldn't even see across. Just standing near him, she felt suffocated by the sheer pressure of his chakra. By comparison, Orochimaru's earlier killing intent felt almost mundane.
Anko was reeling. This unassuming kid had just knocked Orochimaru through the forest! She knew her former master's strength better than anyone—a true Kage-level monster. She, a Tokubetsu Jonin, was a mere insect to him. And this genin had done what a Jonin could not? A grudging, awe-struck respect warred with her shock. So this is the brat the old man's been betting on…
From the smoky crater and shattered trees, Orochimaru's form slowly straightened. His clothes were in tatters. The flesh of his abdomen was a gruesome, spiraling mess of torn muscle and blood, barely held together. Had the Rasengan struck directly, it would have been a kill.
He stared at Naruto, his expression unreadable. One hand pressed to his grievous wound, his gaze was a mixture of fury, pain, and intense, burning curiosity.
"Uzumaki Naruto…" Orochimaru's voice was a pained rasp. "How unexpected. My own Curse Mark has given you the power to wound me. You have become a significant obstacle. But Uchiha Sasuke… is a prize I will claim. Try and stop me if you can!" With that, his jaw distended hideously, and another, pristine version of Orochimaru slid wetly from his mouth—the Oral Rebirth technique.
The reborn Orochimaru moved with viper-like speed, ignoring Naruto entirely and shooting straight for the dazed Sasuke.
"Hmph!" Naruto's cold snort cut the air. The audacity to target Sasuke right in front of him was an insult. In a golden flash, he intercepted, another Rasengan already screaming to life in his palm, aimed to blast the Sannin apart.
But this time, Orochimaru didn't try to dodge. He took the hit head-on.
BOOM!
The impact sent Orochimaru's new body crashing through another line of trees, finally slamming into a boulder with a sickening crunch.
Yet, a fraction of a second later, Naruto's expression turned to alarm. When he tried to pull his arm back, he found it trapped. Orochimaru's two arms had coiled around his own with serpentine strength. And then, the Sannin's neck elongated impossibly, his head shooting past Naruto like a striking cobra.
Its target: Sasuke, who stood behind him.
"Damn it!" Naruto roared. "Anko! Protect Sasuke!"
But it was too late. A pained gasp came from behind. Orochimaru's fangs sank into the side of Sasuke's neck.
The Sannin released Naruto's arms, retracted his head with a wet sound, and licked his lips, a laugh bubbling in his throat—a sound of pure, triumphant malice.
Naruto flashed to Sasuke's side. She was on her knees, one hand clutching her neck, her face contorted in agony. On the other side, Anko was locked in a desperate struggle with Kabuto, unable to break free.
Looking at the scene, Naruto could only utter a bitter, frustrated sigh. "Old ginger is indeed spicier."
Orochimaru stood, still clutching his injured abdomen, his face pale but lit with the glow of success. He glanced at the moaning Sasuke. "Uzumaki Naruto, my gifts are truly something, aren't they? Without my Curse Mark, would you possess such power? And aren't you being selfish, keeping such strength to yourself? Don't you want to share it with your… precious comrade?"
The words were poison, meant to fester. Hearing them through her pain, Sasuke's pain-glazed eyes lifted to meet Naruto's for a moment, a flash of something dark and questioning in their depths, before she finally succumbed to the shock and slumped into unconsciousness.
Naruto's frown deepened into a scowl. Orochimaru's divisive barb had found its mark. With Sasuke's pride and single-minded drive, those seeds of doubt would take root.
"Orochimaru, you've won this round," Naruto said, his voice low and vibrating with a cold fury he'd never felt before. "But be ready. I, Uzumaki Naruto, will make you regret this."
The trio of Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the puppet vanished swiftly into the forest. Even with the Curse Mark's power, chasing them while protecting his incapacitated teammates and an exhausted Anko was impossible.
Anko, finally free from Kabuto's interference, rushed to Sasuke's side, calling her name. Sasuke groaned back to consciousness, her eyes heavy with exhaustion and pain. The Curse Mark's initial erosion was brutal; Naruto himself had nearly been broken by it, saved only by obliterating Orochimaru's consciousness within his own mind.
"Sasuke! How are you?" Sakura crouched beside her, her face a portrait of anxiety and crushing guilt.
"I…" Sasuke struggled to focus, her gaze finding Naruto. With a sudden, pained effort, she pushed herself to her feet.
"Sasuke, you should rest," Naruto said, concern etching his features. "This exam is over for you. We need to get you back to the village medics."
"Heh…" A strange, strained laugh escaped Sasuke's lips. One hand pressed over the fresh, three-tomoe mark on her neck. In the next instant, a surge of powerful, unmistakably foreign chakra—Orochimaru's chakra—erupted from her body. She looked at Naruto, her awe now twisted with a feverish, unstable intensity. "Naruto… this power… it's incredible. Is this what Orochimaru meant? So this is the power you've been hiding. No wonder you're so strong. But I can feel it… with this, I can definitely defeat you now!"
Feeling the vile, invasive chakra coursing through Sasuke, Naruto's heart clenched. "Sasuke, don't rely on that power! Suppress it! Now!"
Anko, her voice urgent, backed him up. "She's right, kid! Orochimaru is not giving you a gift! That Curse Mark will twist you, turn you into his puppet. You must never use it!"
But their warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears, drowned out by the seductive, corrosive whisper of new power now etched into Sasuke's very skin.