Chapter 433 - 118

Chapter 118: The Battle Between Master and DiscipleFaced with Gaara's harsh words, Naruto appeared indifferent on the surface, but in his heart, he was already beaming with joy, thinking to himself, 'This guy is quite the actor.'As the trio from the Hidden Sand Village departed, Temari couldn't help but ask, "Gaara, just how strong is that yellow-haired kid?"Gaara glanced at her and replied, "Very dangerous. I don't know the specifics, but if we had fought just now, the one who died might have been me!"Gaara's words shocked Temari and Kankuro. They could never have imagined that among those participating in the Chunin Exams, there was actually someone capable of killing Gaara.The two of them stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in disbelief. At that moment, the voice of Gaara, who was walking ahead, drifted back: "Hurry up! Don't hold me back."Moreover, what I said just now was under the premise of protecting you two from harm; only then would I possibly be killed."The two of them looked at each other upon hearing this. Although Gaara's tone wasn't very kind, they heard the concern within it. Suddenly, a feeling of being moved arose, and they quickly moved to catch up.Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata, who had stayed behind, hadn't even said a few words before Robinfound them and explained Sasuke's current situation to him.Helpless, Naruto had no choice but to leave first, though he left a clone behind to protect Hinata and prevent anything unexpected from happening to her.Kiba, who valued his pride, saw this and said defiantly, "Hey, hey, hey, Naruto, don't go meddling in other people's business here, okay! Hinata is my teammate, so I'll naturally protect her. I don't need you!"Naruto glanced at him, then curled his lip and retorted, "What are you barking about? I'm leaving this clone here, and it's not to protect you anyway."After saying that, he left with Robin, leaving his clone behind to continue bickering with Kiba.Naruto, having left, was in no hurry to return. He knew that Sasuke must be seriously injured by now, but not to the point of being completely defenseless.Naruto also felt that he had neglected Robin a bit lately. Taking advantage of this opportunity to be alone, he could have a good talk with her about life.So, he took Robin's hand and led her to a large tree, deciding that this would be where the two of them would stay tonight. He held Robin, intending to tell her stories of Pirate King all night long.The sky gradually darkened as the sun was about to set. Anko was still anxiously searching for Orochimaru; she knew that fighting him in the dark would be very disadvantageous for her.Yet she couldn't understand why he would appear in the Chunin Exams, or what his goal was. Regardless, she decided she must deal with Orochimaru, even having resolved herself to die.She was once Orochimaru's subordinate and his disciple, but this time she was determined to kill him at any cost, because he had betrayed the Village and was a wanted S-rank dangerous individual.Finally, as night fell, Anko found Orochimaruresting. Without a word of nonsense, she immediately threw two Kunai at him.Orochimaru didn't dodge; he stuck out his snake-like tongue, and using only the wind it generated, he caused the Kunai to veer off course.At the same time, he used his tongue to wrap around Anko's wrist, while the latter used Hidden Shadow Snake Hands to drag Orochimaru out from the tree.Anko pinned him against the tree and took out a Kunai. To prevent him from escaping, she actually pinned both her own hand and Orochimaru's to the tree together.Her other hand grabbed Orochimaru's hand to form seals. At this point, Orochimaru recognized the Ninjutsu and knew Anko intended to take him down with her.This was because it was the hand seal sequence for the Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique. However, when Anko performed the Ninjutsu, there was no reaction. It turned out that what Ankohad restrained was merely Orochimaru's Mud Clone.Orochimaru stepped out from behind her. Ankostill tried to struggle, pulling out the Kunai from her hand and throwing it at him, but Orochimarucaught it with great ease.He spoke, "All your Ninjutsu were taught to you by me. How could I possibly fall to my own techniques?"Then, he pressed two fingers together and began to form seals to activate the Cursed Seal. Ankoinstantly lost all strength, clutching her neck as she slumped to the ground, unable to move.But Anko still asked, unwilling to give up, "What... what is your purpose in coming back?"Orochimaru walked over to her, saying as he moved, "It's nothing, really. I just wanted to see if any excellent and promising young sprouts have appeared in the Village over these years, and incidentally leave a few marks on them."Anko was extremely weak now. She struggled to lift her head and said, "There is only a ten percent chance of surviving after being struck by your Cursed Seal. You are destroying the Village's future!"Orochimaru knelt down and gently stroked Anko's face, saying, "And what of it? Are you jealous? Or are you still harboring a grudge over the fact that I threw you away after I was done using you?I quite admire that child, Sasuke. He has a handsome face and the eyes of the Uchiha Clan. If he survives like you did, he will become my most ideal Vessel."With that, Orochimaru stood up and turned to leave, warning Anko at the same time, "Whatever you do, don't terminate the Chunin Exams! That would take away a lot of my fun. If you don't comply, Konoha Village will face its doomsday."After Orochimaru left, Anko gradually regained her ability to move. She silently sat up and took out a strip of white cloth to bandage the wound on her hand.Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and three tigers emerged from the depths of the forest. Having suffered a great loss of vitality, she was in a very dangerous situation.Fortunately, at this moment, members of the Anbuarrived just in time and knocked the tigers unconscious in a few moves. Anko quickly told them about the situation and requested immediate reinforcements from the Hokage.On the other side, three Sound Ninja had their eyes on Sasuke and had been lying in wait in the bushes for a long time. These three were naturally Orochimaru's subordinates.They were doing this under Orochimaru's orders; the mission they received was that they must kill Sasuke. Because they were jealous of Orochimaru's special favor toward Sasuke, they had long wanted to do so anyway.