Chapter 56: The Central Tower
Orochimaru grinned. He knew that because he had underestimated Naruto earlier, he was now seriously injured. For the time being, he was no match for Naruto.
Besides, he still had more important plans to carry out. He couldn't afford to waste too much of his strength here.
Orochimaru didn't mind Naruto's attack just now. After all, they were enemies to begin with.
Instead, Orochimaru said with a grin:
"In that case, I'll back off for now. Tsk. Someone's coming. I can't stay here much longer."
"Naruto-kun. We'll meet again soon."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, his body quickly sank into the ground, merging into the soil and gradually disappearing.
Watching Orochimaru's vanishing figure, Naruto didn't pursue him.
Because for his upcoming plans, he still needed Orochimaru's help to make things happen.
Not long after Orochimaru disappeared, sure enough, several figures flickered in the distance, approaching Naruto and the others.
Those figures moved very fast. They were clearly not weak. In the blink of an eye, they reached Naruto's team.
Naruto and the others turned their heads and saw at a glance that the person approaching was Mitarashi Anko, the head proctor of the Forest of Death.
Anko glanced at the chaotic battlefield. When she saw that the people here were actually the three genin—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—she paused for a moment in surprise.
"What happened here?" Anko asked, frowning.
Seeing Anko approaching, Naruto exhaled.
He knew that with all the commotion here—the fierce battle between him and Orochimaru—it would have been hard not to attract attention.
And Anko's arrival was within his expectations.
Soon, Naruto replied:
"We ran into other ninja teams and fought them."
After hearing Naruto's words, Anko glanced at him in surprise.
A fight?
Looking at the broken trees scattered across the site and the massive crater dozens of meters wide—this kind of battlefield didn't look like something a genin could create.
Anko took a deep look at Naruto. Just as she was about to say something—
Suddenly, a piece of human skin in the crater caught Anko's attention.
The pale human skin looked tattered, but when Anko saw it, she recognized it instantly. It felt very familiar.
Immediately, Anko cried out:
"Orochimaru?"
Naruto nodded.
He didn't want to hide anything. Anko probably already knew that Orochimaru had infiltrated the Forest of Death.
After confirming the traces of Orochimaru, Anko took a breath. She clenched her fists, her beautiful eyes flashing with anger, and shouted:
"After him! He can't have gotten far."
Anko turned and looked at Naruto and the others again, saying:
"Keep taking the exam. Don't worry about what happened here. If you encounter that enemy again, don't try to fight him. Come and report to me instead."
After speaking, Anko directed several Chunin examiners to continue tracking Orochimaru.
Anko's words were clearly out of concern. She was worried that if Naruto and the others ran into an opponent too strong for them—like Orochimaru—they would die for nothing.
But unfortunately, Anko didn't know.
Naruto and the others didn't need to run if they met Orochimaru.
In fact, Orochimaru had been the one beaten back by Naruto.
Still, Anko didn't know this. And she didn't fully understand Orochimaru's purpose in infiltrating Konoha.
If Anko found out that Naruto had just fought Orochimaru and that Orochimaru had suffered a major loss, she would be shocked to the core. She would probably pester Naruto endlessly for details.
After speaking, Anko glanced at Sasuke with thoughtful eyes, as if she had some inkling of something. Then Anko gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and followed the Chunin examiners as they left to track down Orochimaru.
After Anko left, Sasuke and Sakura finally recovered from the shock of the fierce battle between Naruto and Orochimaru.
Sasuke took a deep breath, looked in the direction Orochimaru had left, and asked with a frown:
"Who was that guy?"
Hearing this, Naruto replied to Sasuke:
"His name is Orochimaru. One of the Sannin. A veteran strongman. Don't lose heart, Sasuke. I believe you'll surpass him soon."
Sasuke nodded, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. His unwillingness to be blocked by Orochimaru just now was clear on his face.
"Next time, I'll defeat him with my own hands," Sasuke said firmly. His scarlet Sharingan spun wildly.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled.
After Anko left, Naruto and the others rested for a while and then set off again toward the central tower.
Before meeting Orochimaru, Naruto and his team had already collected both the Heaven and Earth scrolls. So Naruto and the others stopped delaying and headed straight for the central tower.
Along the way, Naruto and the others encountered no enemies.
It might have been that the other ninja teams had almost been dealt with by the victors. Or it might have been that some of those remaining had seen Naruto's powerful methods when he had defeated other genin teams, and they didn't dare to attack him.
Soon, Naruto and the others arrived at the central tower.
At the central tower.
When Naruto and the others arrived, they were surprised to find that they were the first group to reach the tower.
The Chunin at the reception desk in the tower also paused for a moment when they saw Naruto and the others. They were slightly surprised. Apparently, they hadn't expected genin to make it through the Forest of Death so quickly.
But soon, the reception Chunin snapped out of it and announced:
"First group—Konoha Class 7 genin—has passed the Forest of Death assessment. Members: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura…"
After the announcement, Naruto and the others went to the rest area to wait.
It took about another day or two before the other genin teams began arriving at the central tower one after another.
Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro arrived. The genin from Konoha—Ino, Hinata, Neji—also appeared one after another. Along with genin from other ninja villages, quite a few had made it through the Forest of Death.
Gaara's team was the second to clear the Forest of Death. Seeing Naruto and the others already waiting there, Gaara and Temari paused for a moment in surprise.
Kankuro wore an expression of disbelief.
After all, they had thought their team was fast enough. They had steamrolled through the forest with barely anyone able to stop them.
Some genin teams had been so terrified by Gaara's terrifying strength and methods that they hadn't dared to approach him.
And yet, Naruto had still arrived before them.
What Kankuro didn't know was that the battle Naruto had fought in the Forest of Death was several times more intense than theirs. After all, not everyone encountered a terrifying powerhouse like Orochimaru.