The shelter beneath the roots of the giant tree resembled the den of a cornered beast—damp, cramped, saturated with the smell of mold and anxiety.
Naruto sat in the lotus position against the far wall. His eyes were closed, his face remained pale after the overload, but his breathing was even and deep. He wasn't sleeping. He was engaged in active Qi Circulation, wringing every drop of energy from the space to fill his emptied Dantian.
Beside him, clutching his shoulder, slept Karin—the stress of the trial and the Jinchūriki's "recharge" had exhausted her, and she had passed out.
In the center, curled up on a cloak, lay Sasuke. The black patterns of the Cursed Seal on his neck pulsed in time with his feverish heartbeat, like living parasites trying to hack the immune system.
Sakura sat by the entrance, nervously fingering a kunai.
"Naruto..." she whispered, peering into the darkness of the forest. "I'm scared. Sasuke is burning up, and we..."
"Quiet," the blonde's voice interrupted her. He didn't open his eyes, but his tone was collected and hard. "They are already here."
"Who?"
"Three of them. Strange chakra... vibrating. Sound-based." Uzumaki slowly opened his eyes. The blue iris flashed white in the semi-darkness. "They surrounded us three minutes ago. Waiting for us to relax."
He stood up. His movements were slightly stiff—his muscles still ached after the fight with Orochimaru, his Chakra reserves were at a critical minimum. But his foundation—Qi and physical power—was with him.
"Sakura," he commanded, adjusting his pouch. "Stay inside. Protect Sasuke and Karin. Do not come out until I say so."
"But you're exhausted!" Sakura exclaimed. "You can barely stand!"
The cultivator looked at her. There was no bravado in his gaze, only cold calculation.
"I am exhausted, Sakura. But I am not helpless. These three are trash compared to what we saw today. I'll handle it."
He stepped out of the shelter into the night forest.
Naruto stopped in a small clearing in front of the tree roots. Moonlight fell on his black jacket.
He didn't shout or call out the enemies. He simply tugged on a thin, invisible wire he had attached to a bush beforehand.
CLICK.
A mechanism triggered in the branches to the right. A volley of kunai flew into the darkness.
There was a clang of metal and a surprised curse.
"Come out," the youth said calmly. "Your ambush failed."
Three figures emerged from the shadows.
A hunchback bandaged from head to toe (Dosu), a smirking guy with tubes in his arms (Zaku), and a Kunoichi with long hair (Kin). Sound Genin.
"So you noticed us?" Dosu rasped, tilting his head. His single eye slid evaluatively over the blonde. "You look like a walking corpse, kid. Give us the Uchiha, and we'll grant you a quick death."
"You came for Sasuke?" Uzumaki settled into a relaxed stance. "Did Orochimaru send jackals to check his work?"
Dosu's eye narrowed.
"You talk too much. Zaku, kill him."
Zaku grinned and raised his hands, palms forward.
"I'll blow you away like dust!"
WHOOSH!
A wave of air mixed with sound erupted from the tubes in his palms. Impact force capable of crushing rocks.
Naruto didn't block. He simply fell forward, letting the wave pass over him, and using the inertia of the fall, kicked the tree trunk behind him.
Qi Control: Dash.
His body shot forward along the ground like a projectile, right under the air wave.
Zaku lost sight of him.
In the next instant, the Jinchūriki appeared right in front of him, from below.
A direct strike to the body.
No chakra. Only Body Tempering.
Knuckles, hard as steel, slammed into the Sound ninja's torso.
THUD.
Zaku had the wind knocked out of him instantly. He was tossed into the air and collapsed onto the grass like a sack, trying to cough.
"One," the blonde counted coldly, brushing invisible dust from his fist.
Kin shrieked and threw senbon with bells. Ringing filled the space, creating the illusion of an attack from all sides.
The cultivator didn't even flinch. His Qi Sensory saw the real needles, ignoring the phantom sounds. He caught two needles in mid-air, and dodged the third with a minimal movement of his head.
Dash. Distance closed to zero.
Kin jerked back, but the opponent's foot stepped on her instep, nailing her to the ground. A harsh open-palm strike to the diaphragm.
Kin doubled over, gasping for air, and slumped to the ground.
"Two."
Dosu was left alone. In his eye, contempt was replaced by animal terror. This guy... he didn't use ninjutsu. He simply broke them physically, moving much faster than an exhausted person should.
"You..." Dosu hissed. "You'll regret this!"
He struck his metal gauntlet.
Sound wave. Invisible, all-pervading. It doesn't break bones; it attacks the inner ear, destroying equilibrium. It cannot be dodged.
Naruto felt the impact.
The world around him swam. His ears rang as if a bell had been struck inside his head. Nausea rose to his throat. An ordinary person would have fallen, unable to distinguish up from down.
But Uzumaki remained standing.
Peak Body Tempering strengthened not just muscles. His internal organs, eardrums, and vestibular system were saturated with dense Qi, turning fragile tissues into elastic armor.
He grimaced, shook his head to clear the dizziness, and spat blood—his eardrums had suffered but held.
Dosu froze.
"Impossible..." the whisper bordered on hysteria. "Why aren't you falling?! That sound should have destroyed your brain!"
"Loud," the blonde stated calmly, taking a step toward him. "But not enough."
At that moment, the bushes parted with a crack.
"Konoha Reppū (Leaf Whirlwind)!"
A green vortex flew into the clearing. Rock Lee, seeing the fight, decided to intervene. He stood before Naruto in a heroic pose.
"I will help you, Naruto-kun! Let us protect the flowers of youth!"
The Jinchūriki stopped, catching his breath.
"Lee," his voice was steady. "Don't charge in blindly. This guy uses sound. Cover the rear, make sure no one gets to the roots. I'll finish him."
Lee blinked, seeing the defeated Zaku and Kin. He realized Uzumaki wasn't a victim needing rescue.
"Understood! The rear is mine!" Lee took a position at the shelter entrance.
Naruto turned to Dosu. A kunai appeared in his hand.
"Leave," he warned. "Drop the scroll, take your people, and get out. Or end up like them."
Dosu trembled. He was a strategist and understood: before him was a monster. Tired, wounded, but still a monster.
He was already reaching for his pouch to give the scroll when...
Cold emanated from the shelter.
So eerie and sticky that even Naruto, accustomed to the presence of the Nine-Tails, involuntarily flinched from the suddenness.
"Sasuke-kun?" came Sakura's frightened squeak from inside.
Sasuke Uchiha emerged from the darkness of the roots.
His skin was covered in the black flame pattern of the Seal. The left half of his face was distorted. The chakra emanating from him wasn't just dark—it was purple, viscous, and smelled of madness.
Sasuke surveyed the clearing. His gaze was empty and simultaneously manic.
"Naruto..." he drawled, intoxicated arrogance in his voice. "It seems you haven't finished taking out the trash."
The Uchiha vanished.
The speed of the Cursed Seal was transcendent.
He appeared above Zaku, who was just starting to come to.
"You..." Sasuke grabbed his arms, planting a foot in his back. "You tried to hurt us?!"
"Sasuke, stop!" Uzumaki shouted. "He's already neutralized!"
"I don't care," Sasuke's smile widened, becoming crazier.
JERK.
CRACK.
The sickening, wet sound of tearing ligaments and breaking bones rang out. Zaku screamed so loud it drowned out all the sounds of the forest. His arms hung limply, twisted at unnatural angles.
Sasuke tossed the cripple aside and turned to Dosu.
"You're next. I want to see... what color your insides are."
The cultivator saw it.
This was no longer a shinobi battle. This was pure sadism.
Sasuke wasn't protecting the team. He was reveling in the power Orochimaru had given him. He was losing himself. Losing his humanity.
"Enough!"
Naruto darted to intercept.
Sasuke had already raised a kunai for a killing blow on the terror-paralyzed Dosu.
Steel clashed with steel.
The blonde intercepted Sasuke's hand with his kunai. Sparks flew.
They stood face to face. The tired, exhausted Jinchūriki against Sasuke overflowing with cursed power.
"Back off, idiot," Sasuke hissed, his Sharingan spinning wildly, reflecting the purple glow. "Don't interrupt my fun."
"You're not yourself," Naruto answered harshly. "Look at you. You're not an avenger. You're Orochimaru's puppet."
The words struck the Uchiha's ego.
"Me?! A puppet?! I am stronger now than ever!" he roared and struck Uzumaki with his free hand, shrouded in purple chakra.
Naruto blocked the blow, but was knocked back a couple of meters. The power of the Seal, for all its "filth," was undeniable.
Sasuke charged at him, forgetting the enemies. He wanted to prove his superiority.
The cultivator exhaled. He couldn't prolong the fight. He had no strength for a long skirmish. One precise strike was needed.
He remembered his analysis of the Seal. Parasite. Entry point on the neck. Hub of the nervous system.
Sasuke wound up for a strike. He was open, intoxicated by his newfound might.
Naruto dove under the attack.
Qi Control: Needle.
He gathered the remnants of his Qi in the index and middle fingers of his right hand. Compressed them to extreme density.
And struck.
Precisely into the Cursed Seal on Sasuke's neck.
"Calm down," the blonde said quietly.
An impulse of pure, ordered Qi burst into the Cursed Seal. It was like a bucket of ice water into a furnace. Orochimaru's chakra structure destabilized for a second. Contact with the nervous system was severed.
Sasuke's eyes rolled back. The black patterns convulsively retracted back into the mark.
He went limp and collapsed into his teammate's arms.
Silence reigned in the clearing.
Uzumaki carefully lowered his unconscious partner onto the grass and straightened up heavily. He swayed.
He turned to Dosu again. The Sound ninja stood pressed against a tree, pale as a sheet. He had seen one monster break his comrade's arms, and a second monster knock out the first with one blow.
"The scroll," Naruto held out his hand. His voice was quiet, but Dosu heard a verdict in it. "And get out. While I'm feeling generous."
With trembling hands, Dosu pulled out the Earth Scroll and placed it on the grass. Picking up the wailing Zaku and the unconscious Kin, he vanished into the forest as fast as he could.
***
Naruto picked up the scroll.
His legs buckled, but he remained standing.
From the bushes, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji watched it all. They had seen everything.
"That guy... Naruto..." Ino whispered, staring at Uzumaki's back. "Did he just... subdue Sasuke?"
"So troublesome," Shikamaru said quietly, but there was respect in his eyes. "He's not just a protector. He's a leader."
The Jinchūriki looked at Sakura, who stared at Sasuke in horror, then at Lee standing aside.
"It's over," he said, hiding the scroll. "We recover a bit more, and we go to the Tower. Nothing left to do here."
He hoisted Sasuke onto his shoulder again. The weight had already become familiar.
***
A day and a half later. The Tower.
They made it.
Beaten, tired, with Sasuke still unconscious, but with two scrolls.
They opened the scrolls in the center of the hall.
Iruka-sensei appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Welcome, Team 7!" he began with his usual smile, but fell silent upon seeing their condition.
Sakura with tear-stained eyes and bags under them. Naruto, pale as death. Sasuke unconscious on the blonde's back. And an unfamiliar red-haired girl hiding behind Uzumaki.
"Iruka-sensei," Uzumaki stepped forward. He wasn't smiling. "We have a report. Of emergency importance. Orochimaru is here."
Iruka's face instantly turned to stone.
The second stage of the exam was nearing its end. But the real nightmare was just beginning.