Orochimaru stared in shock as Sasuke left the area. What he had been expecting to be an amusing glimpse of genin pretending to fight had instead revealed a jutsu that he thought vanished in time.
A Dragon Slayer. Sarutobi had actually scraped together enough lore to train a Dragon Slayer. Not only that, but he'd managed to train the heir to Houton, which suggested that he'd refined the technique enough to no longer have an unacceptable mortality rate. Orochimaru found his mouth unexpectedly dry. He wanted that jutsu so bad he could taste it.
But the Sharingan…Dragon Slayer jutsu was not inherently a kekkei genkai. The Sharingan could copy it. Oh the handful of Uchiha that had tried only found it somewhat useful without the high-performance chakra network the jutsu created in its practitioners, but Orochimaru had ways around that.
Hmm. Or maybe he should take Sasuke's eyes and the Dragon Slayer's body? No Uchiha had ever actually undergone Dragon Slayer training that he knew of. With such potent chakra, what might the Sharingan become? Ah, so many possibilities.
Well, hedge the bet then. Sasuke would get the Heaven Seal as planned. The Dragon Slayer would get something else. Orochimaru hesitated.
He'd need to create a new kind of seal. Something that could anchor itself against the Dragon Slayer's legendary control of the chakra in his body. But to create such a complex fuuinjutsu so quickly…he spent an idle thought wishing Jiraya were here to consult with. If he got it wrong there was no question, the boy would die from chakra poisoning.
But then, it wasn't a kekkei genkai. Sarutobi could always train a new one. He'd lose the ice techniques, but that was retrievable from the corpse.
Of course Sarutobi would be dead soon. Hmm. Well, if the Dragon Slayer died, he'd have to change the plan and let the Leaf win even sooner. It wasn't like Sand and Sound stood a chance anyway. Now, what should he call this new seal?
The second day of the exam began with a surprisingly peaceful morning.
Sasuke looked around their campsite as he woke. Undisturbed. No monsters, no ninja. He looked to Sakura and gave a slight nod.
Sakura smiled back broadly, eyes sparkling. Sasuke turned his back before she could start into fangirl mode. Still, her traps, decoys, and camouflage netting had bought them a good night's sleep. She was becoming a useful girl to have around, even if she wasn't much of a ninja.
"Kukukuku. Sleep well, Sasuke-kun?"
Scratch that. Sasuke leapt to his feet and looked around for the source of the unspeakably creepy voice.
The body flowed up from the ground, a muddy parody of a body that coalesced into a woman with a Grass protector. "You didn't answer the question," she asked in a voice that sounded the way a knife in the throat felt.
Sasuke was dimly aware of Sakura and Naruto leaping to their feet and drawing weapons. "Hey," Naruto said. "You're what I smelled on the Rain-nin!"
"Ooo?" the woman asked. "The Dragon Slayer can smell that well? Fascinating." Then the air was heavy with Killing Intent.
Sasuke gagged. Zabuza was a choir boy compared to this woman!
Sakura felt her kunai turning in her hand, heading for her own throat. Her eyes were wide, she didn't know what was going on! Was this a genjutsu? Kai! Kai, dammit!
Orochimaru smiled under his borrowed face. "Useless girl," he sneered.
Then a pillar of ice smashed his head back into mud.
"Ooo," he said, reforming a new mud clone. "You're not afraid?"
"Course I am, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled. "That doesn't mean I just roll over and die!" He punched another pillar at Orochimaru, which the rogue Sannin dodged lazily.
"Impressive, but still far too weak. If you have this kind of energy, you should just run."
Sasuke was drowning in the Grass ninja's Intent, but he still saw Naruto move. He heard Naruto speak. And unable to summon up his usual snide defense against Naruto's cheerful personality, he found himself moved. "Sharingan!" he bellowed suddenly.
Orochimaru was surprised that Sasuke had broken free of his Intent so quickly, but the Rookie of the Year was now at him with his taijutsu, Sharingan whirling. Two tomoe appeared in Sasuke's right eye, a small step up from when he had a single tomoe in each. "Only three tomoe total?" Orochimaru asked, disappointed. "I thought you were further than this, Sasuke-kun."
"I'm far enough to see you!" Sasuke yelled angrily.
That was certainly true. Orochimaru crossed his most powerful jutsu off his list of options. Until Sasuke went down, anything he did would be troubling later. "But not catch me," he said calmly.
Sasuke took a deep breath. "Katon! Go-"
Orochimaru landed a punch in Sasuke's gut. "Now now, none of that," he admonished.
"Then try mine! Ice Dragon Roar!"
Orochimaru spun and suddenly found himself a clay statue in ice.
"Another mud clone?" Naruto complained. "Okay then, two can play this game! Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Orochimaru, the real Orochimaru, paused in the middle of creating a new mud clone. There had to be a dozen shadow clones surrounding Sasuke, the pinkette, and the Dragon Slayer. The limited chakra of a mud clone wouldn't get through that if those clones could roar themselves. He'd have to actually get involved himself.
Naruto held a kunai in a standard guard, back to back with Sasuke. Two more clones stood over Sakura, then the dozen he'd placed as a guard around them. "I smell him," he growled.
"Do you know where he is?" Sasuke asked.
"Too many mud clones," Naruto complained. "His scent is everywhere. But it's too strong for him to be gone."
"Hnn. Can we send up a flare?"
"You don't think we can take him?"
"I don't think fighting him fair is very ninjaly."
Naruto sniffed suddenly. "He doesn't think so either. RUN!"
Sasuke didn't hesitate, he just ran. Naruto ran. Naruto clones ran with Sakura. And the other clones shattered into ice as a giant snake lunged through the forest.
"What the!?" Naruto yelped. "So that's what a giant snake smells like. Oi!" The snake spun around and went after Naruto.
Sasuke spun. "Naruto!"
Blinding pain sprung from his neck. Sasuke went down, hard. He turned over and saw the man standing over him, licking his lips. "A gift from me, Sasuke-kun."
Naruto stared at the snake and wove around it. The giant reptile followed, coiling and never knotting itself. It was too smart for such a simple trick.
Naruto felt that he should have been afraid, but his heart sang. He kicked off a tree and lunged for the snake. "Ice Dragon Lance!" he called again. He punched the snake with a pillar of ice.
He might have seen one of the snake's scales crack slightly from the blow before he was dodging. "That's not going to work!" he yelped as one bite came way too close for comfort. The Ice Dragon Lance was a solid, simple punch. He needed something more. He needed something…sharp.
Naruto's eyes flashed. He held out one hand. "Ice Dragon Talon!" he shouted, funneling chakra not to his fist, but his open hand. Ice formed along the arm, bulking it up. It articulated around his joints, a complex weave of ice and water that Naruto could never make if he was trying to concentrate on getting it right. The chakra fell into useful patterns on its own accord, and when it reached his hand Naruto gained three thick digits, a thumb and two fingers, topped with claws more than an inch long. Wind chakra vibrated over their tips, promising a clean cut.
The snake was not so smart as to realize it should be afraid and lunged at Naruto from above.
Naruto jumped and aimed for the underside of the snake. "Dragon Slayer Secret Arts! Cleaving Claw Strike!" He swung his ice-covered hand in a wide arc over his head and, as he passed, opened the snake from chin to tail.
Naruto landed in a crumpled pile at the end of his leap. The snake landed in a spray of organs and gore that covered a wide area in reeking filth.
Naruto was almost on his feet when the blow to the back of his head came. He went down.
"Now for your seal," Orochimaru said calmly.
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(Posted Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:56)
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