---
The viewing room was still tense from the previous cliffhanger, everyone leaning forward as the new chapter began.
"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed. "We need to know what happened to Kyo!"
"That snake attack looked bad," Yuri said with maternal worry, gripping Ryo's hand tighter.
---
Kyo blinked a couple of times and found himself in a dark space.
"He's conscious," Tsunade noted with medical relief. "That's a good sign."
"Oh... Not again....." Kyo growled in frustration. He found himself in a familiar space, but this time it was quite different; it was a slimy and smelly space.
"Not again?" Hinata questioned softly. "Has this happened before?"
"The water space from his coma," Shikamaru realized. "But this is different."
"Uh... The smells... Where am I?" He pinches his nose with his right hand and makes a ki ball hovering on his left palm. His Ki ball is enough to light the whole space as he realizes that he steps on the purple slimy meat-looking floor and the same purple slimy meat-looking wall around him.
"Ew," multiple voices said in disgust.
"He's inside something," Gaara noted grimly. "Something alive."
"Snake stomach," Orochimaru said with scientific interest. "Classic summoning technique interior."
The young Saiyan can see the meat tunnel walk straight through, but before he can walk, he hears a voice.
The room tensed, knowing Orochi was about to appear.
"Why do you look so much like him..."
"Like who?" Kushina asked with growing concern.
"She recognizes something about Kyo," Hiruzen noted grimly.
Kyo turns his attention toward the voice as he sees the same female he saw before he was knocked out.
"O-Orochi-Chan." When he said her name, he gasped in pain and clutched his head.
"The memories are hurting him again," Yuri said with worry.
"Kenshi's memories trigger when he sees her," Ryo observed with concern.
Orochi narrows her eyes as she walks closer.
"How do you know the nickname he calls me?" Orochi said in a cold, serious tone.
The room fell silent as the implications hit them.
"Nickname," Jiraiya said slowly. "Someone close to her called her that."
"Orochi-chan," Hiruzen repeated with growing understanding. "Kenshi..."
Kyo saw her pull a sword that came out from her cleavage at first; he wondered how she managed to hide that sword in the first place, then seconds later; he knew he lived in danger, so he ignored it.
"Sword storage in cleavage," Jiraiya noted with scientific interest before getting smacked by Tsunade.
"Focus on the danger!" Kurenai snapped.
Orochi points the sword toward Kyo as she asks again. "Answer me, brat!"
"She's interrogating him," Ibiki noted professionally. "Aggressively."
Kyo noticed she was furious as Kyo tried to ease the pain in his mind and talk to her. "I-I didn't know, but something that happened months ago makes me remember the past."
"He's trying to explain the memories," Minato noted with concern.
"But she doesn't understand," Yuri added worriedly.
Kyo didn't want to tell her whole story, as he knew she might be an enemy, but his mind told him she was the person he knew and somehow loved.
"Loved," multiple voices repeated in shock.
"Kenshi's feelings bleeding through," Kushina said with sadness.
"He's feeling emotions that aren't his own," Gaara noted with understanding.
"That wasn't good enough! How does your look like? How do you know my nickname? How do you even have his voice? And what do you mean by you remember the past?" Orochi attacks Kyo as the young Saiyan dodges the sword slash. Kyo's single-handed backflips as he fires his Ki blast at the snake lady.
"She thinks he's pretending to be someone," Sasuke analyzed.
"The resemblance is driving her crazy," Neji noted.
Orochi cuts the Ki ball into two as she attacks faster.
"She cut through Ki energy," A noted with amazement. "Impressive sword work."
"Wait! Why did you suddenly attack me?" Kyo said, managing to pull out his kunai and hold it in his right hand as his left-hand Ki blast illuminated the space.
"He's trying to de-escalate," Minato noted approvingly. "Good instincts."
"You can't fool me! I know you are from Nakamura! Only Nakamura can use KI!" The snake lady points her sword at Kyo Ki's ball.
The room went tense as they realized the connection.
"She thinks he's Nakamura because of his Ki," Shikamaru noted grimly.
"But we know the Nakamura clan was wiped out," Sasuke said with understanding.
"She doesn't know Kyo is Saiyan, not Nakamura," Madara observed analytically.
"Huh? Wait, you know about my power?" Kyo asks her as Orochi smiles, standing still.
"She knows about Ki users," Orochimaru noted with scientific fascination.
"Why would I know? Kukukuku....." Orochi said, and she closed her eyes as tears ran down her face, and she tightened her grip on her sword, and she continued. "Because one of your clans KILL MY LOVER!"
The room fell silent as the pieces clicked together.
"Her lover," Yuri whispered with growing understanding.
"She's talking about Kenshi," Ryo said with dawning realization.
"The blue-haired man from 25 years ago," Hiruzen said grimly. "She thinks it was the Nakamura clan."
Kyo is in shock as he remembers what caused Kenshi's death. Kyo saw a blue-haired man, the same as Taros, use self-destruct to kill four Sannin, and Kenchi was the one who protected three Sannin with his Susanoo body. Still, the explosion is too great.
"BLUE HAIR LIKE TAROS!" Multiple voices screamed.
"Self-destruct," Gaara said grimly. "Suicide attack."
"Kenshi protected them with Susanoo," Fugaku said with deep respect.
"But the explosion was too powerful," Itachi noted sadly.
Even his Susanoo can't hold the damage. Everything turns black and white as Kenchi roars, and the scene shifts into a white void.
The room was in tears watching Kenshi's heroic death.
"He died protecting them," Kushina sobbed.
"Ultimate sacrifice," Guy said through tears. "YOUTHFUL PROTECTION!"
Kyo is down to his knees, panting as he now knows how Kenchi got into that situation.
"The memory trauma," Tsunade noted with medical concern. "Experiencing someone else's death."
"I was happy when I heard Narakamura got massacred and the last Nakamura also died seven years ago, but it seems like I was wrong... You, Nakamura, should not exist in this world." Orochi said with venom as she glared at Kyo. Kyo found it hard to breathe as he felt he sucked poisoned air.
"She knows about Taros," Ryo said with grim understanding.
"The 'last Nakamura' - she means when Taros died fighting you," Shikamaru noted analytically.
"She thought the bloodline was extinct," Sasuke realized. "But now she thinks Kyo proves it survived."
"Y-You..... wrong. I'm not Nakamura. I'm Uchiha!" Kyo said as he tried to stand up. His Sharingan is active as he looks at Orochi with a glare.
"He's fighting back," Ryo said with paternal pride.
"Declaring his true clan," Fugaku noted approvingly.
The snake lady is shocked at this when she looks at Kyo Blue's Sharingan.
"How do you have that?" Orochi said as she threw her sword toward Kyo, aiming at his head as he managed to dodge the sword in time. Orochi makes a hand seal. "[Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes]!" A thousand snakes slither out from her arms.
"Ten thousand snakes," multiple voices said in horror.
"Massive summoning technique," Orochimaru noted with professional admiration.
Kyo makes a Ki blast and blasts all the snakes away, but suddenly, he is down to his knees, panting for air.
"The poison is affecting him," Tsunade noted with growing alarm.
"Kukuku, it looks like the poison air finally takes effect," Orochi said with a smirk at Kyo as she walked closer to Kyo. "But it will be such a waste to let you die here... I want to make you suffer by watching everyone you love die." She said with a smirk and continued her words.
"Threatening his loved ones," Kushina said with maternal rage.
"That's the worst thing you can threaten Kyo with," Yuri said with anger.
"See you again, Kyo Uchiha, or may I say, Nakamura." Orochi walks closer toward the young Saiyan as Kyo stands right in front of her, his hair slightly spiked up.
"His hair's spiking," Lee noted with excitement.
"Transformation incoming," A noted with anticipation.
"I'm not Nakamura; I will not let you kill my friends! and remember my name, and I'm Kyo UCHIHA!!!" Kyo screams at the top of his lungs as he transforms into Super Saiyan.
"SUPER SAIYAN!" Multiple voices cheered.
"Rage transformation," Madara noted with approval. "Protecting his friends."
"The power of love," Guy cried with tears streaming.
Orochi is very shocked at this. She felt powerful energy come from Kyo as she decides to leave right away. Kyo notices that the meat floor is swallowing a snake lady, and Kyo lets his aura fire freely to prevent poisonous air near him.
"She's retreating," Sasuke noted with satisfaction.
"Smart tactical withdrawal," Shikamaru observed. "She wasn't expecting that power level."
Kyo floats in the air as he charges his Ki blast and fires it at the nearby meat wall, but it slightly affects the wall. 'The wall is tough... I need something more powerful.' Kyo thought as he lay down on the meat floor.
"The walls are reinforced," Neji noted analytically.
"He needs a bigger attack," Choji observed.
Kyo stands still as he slowly raises his right arm and opens his palm while his left arm is on his waist with a tight fist. A sparkle of tiny light starts to get on his open palm, and his right arm glows bright blue.
"New technique," multiple voices said with anticipation.
"That charging motion," Guy noted with admiration.
Kyo closed his palm, his hand glowed even brighter, and lightning danced around his right arm. Kyo changed the position of his right arm to his waist as his left arm was in the sky.
"Lightning element," Sasuke noted with professional interest.
"That's incredible power buildup," Kakashi observed.
"[Thunder Crusher]!" Kyo screams and smashes the top ceiling meat with power on his right arm while flying out of the meat space.
"THUNDER CRUSHER!" Multiple voices screamed with excitement.
"New signature technique!" Lee yelled with admiration.
As Kyo named the power Thunder Crusher, there literally was a thunder strike out from his hand and straight into the sky.
"Literal thunder from his hand," A noted with amazement.
"Creating weather effects," Gaara observed with fascination.
---
On the night of Konoha, everyone in Konoha looked at the sky as they saw Thunder straight up into the sky. Some of them got scared, and some had questions on their minds.
"The whole village saw it," Hiruzen noted with concern.
"That's going to raise questions," Minato added grimly.
---
Back to Kyo, he floats in the air, panting heavily. He is still in his Super Saiyan form. But suddenly, he powers down, crashes to the ground, and falls unconscious.
"Power exhaustion," Tsunade diagnosed immediately. "He pushed too hard while poisoned."
"At least he escaped," Yuri said with relief.
---
Later, Kyo felt someone hold his head as his name was being called countlessly; as he slowly opened his eyes, he saw Naruko, Satsuki, and Sakura right in front of him.
"The girls found him," Kushina said with relief.
The girls hug him with tears in their eyes.
"Group hug," Ino said with a mixture of envy and approval.
"N-Naruko-Chan... Satsuki-Chan?" Kyle turns his head to Sakura as he sees she has short hair. "Sakura-Chan? Why do you have short hair?" He slowly sits up, with Naruko and Sakura supporting him, as Satsuki says.
"SAKURA CUTS HER HAIR!" Multiple voices noticed.
"Something happened to them, too," Kurenai noted with concern.
"Well, we lost to Snake Lady and Sakura, the only one who awakens. She covers us while we are both unconscious."
"Sakura fought alone," Ino said with growing admiration.
"While the other two were unconscious," Hinata noted with concern.
"Wow, really?" Kyo said in amazement and stopped for a second as he continued his words. "Wait! You three getting attacked by the other team?" Kyo asks in worry as he receives a nod from the girls, and Sakura says to him.
"He's more worried about them than himself," Minato noted approvingly.
"N-No worries, Kyo-kun. It's just hair. I managed to defeat two of them thanks to Naruko, Satsuki, and Kakane-sensei, who trained me to become a true Kunoichi for two months."
"Sakura's growth," Tsunade said with pride. "From the girl afraid of the forest to a real kunoichi."
"The training paid off," Kurenai noted approvingly.
Kyo sighs in relief, and he asks. "What about the last member of the team?"
"Satsuki is the one who stops the last member....." Sakura's head is down as she recalls Satsuki's help in defeating the last member. However, the memory isn't pretty; she remembers Satsuki having a black flame mark that covers half of Satsuki's body, and Satsuki beat the hell out of that guy.
The room went deadly silent.
"Black flame mark," Orochimaru said with recognition and horror.
"Curse mark," Sasuke said with growing alarm. "Satsuki got a curse mark."
"Covering half her body," Tsunade noted with medical concern.
"Is something wrong, Sakura-Chan?" Kyo asks her.
"Is something I want to show you, Kyo." Satsuki is the one who speaks this time, and Kyo asks. "What is it?"
Satsuki shows him a mark that she gets from the snake lady, and she tells Kyo how she acts when she tries to protect Sakura, and Satsuki honestly feels disgusted with herself for acting that way.
"She feels disgusted with herself," Mikoto said with maternal anguish.
"The curse mark changes people," Orochimaru said grimly. "Makes them more violent."
"She protected Sakura but hates how she did it," Sasuke said with understanding.
"Satsuki-Chan... you still remember that, and if you are out of control, I will be there for you and the two of you," Kyo said with a smile that made the girls blush.
"Kyo being supportive," Yuri said with maternal pride.
"Promise to help her control it," Ryo noted approvingly.
Kyo looks around and notices he's trapped between dead giant snakes, lying in the middle of a piece of snake meat.
"Giant snake corpses," Shino noted analytically.
"His Thunder Crusher was more effective than he thought," Neji observed.
"How long have we been in the forest of the dead?" Kyo asks the girls for their support, and they stand up on their feet. Naruko says.
"Three days..... we have been looking for you all this time... until last night we saw the light straight through the sky, and we know that it is you."
"Three days of searching," Kushina said with deep emotion.
"They never gave up," Minato noted with admiration.
"And we found you here, in the middle of a dead Giant snake," Satsuki said with a relieved voice, and Naruko said. "We still have the scrolls, and we have to go to the middle forest building as fast as we can, or they will let us in."
"They kept the scrolls safe," Shikamaru noted approvingly.
"Mission priorities," Hiruzen observed with approval.
"Yeah, you're right... let's go then." Kyo said as he and the girls ran to the middle of the forest building.
---
Hinata and Ino, with their team, are at the entrance as they are waiting for Team 7 to arrive.
"The other teams are already there," Hinata noted softly.
"Are you sure they're gonna be here?" Kiba asks the girls as they glare at Kiba.
"Kiba doubting them," Kiba himself said with a sweatdrop.
"Kyo is not with them when we arrive to see them," Shino said to everyone nearby him.
"True, but Kyo is not that weak to be defeated." Shikamaru is the one who is saying this with his hand crossed behind his head, while Choji is just eating his snack.
"Shikamaru having faith," the real Shikamaru noted with approval.
"Trust me, and Team 7 will be here," Hinata said with hope while she held her hand together.
"Hinata's faith," the real Hinata said softly with a smile.
Then they heard an announcement.
"Team 7 from Konohagakure passes the first round!"
"THEY MADE IT!" Multiple voices cheered.
Hinata and the others looked at the entrance as they saw Naruko, Sakura, Satsuki, and Kyo step into the building. Other Ninja villages all focus on Kyo and his team.
"All eyes on them," A noted grimly.
"The other villages are watching Kyo," Mei observed with concern.
"They felt the power from his fight," Gaara noted.
"Our boy made it through," Yuri said with overwhelming relief.
"All four of them together," Ryo added with paternal pride.
"But now they're in the spotlight," Hiruzen noted with concern.
---
•To Be Continue•
---
The room sat in stunned silence as the chapter ended.
"The Nakamura clan," Madara said slowly. "A Ki-using clan that was massacred."
"Orochi thinks they killed Kenshi," Kushina said with sadness.
"But it was actually a blue-haired man like Taros," Sasuke noted grimly. "Another Saiyan."
"The curse mark on Satsuki," Mikoto said with maternal worry. "That's going to be a problem."
"Sakura's incredible growth," Tsunade said with pride. "Fighting alone to protect her unconscious teammates."
"Three days of searching," Minato said with admiration. "True loyalty."
"Thunder Crusher," Guy said with excitement. "A YOUTHFUL new technique!"
"But now all the villages are watching them," Temari noted with concern.
"Kyo's power is becoming known," Onoki observed grimly.
Yuri looked at Ryo with tears in her eyes. "He survived, but..."
"But now he's carrying Kenshi's burden too," Ryo finished softly. "Orochi thinks he's connected to Kenshi's death."
"The truth about the Nakamura clan," Hiruzen said thoughtfully. "This adds a whole new layer to the mystery."
"And Satsuki with the curse mark," Orochimaru said with scientific concern. "That will test her in ways she's not prepared for."
"Guardian-sama," Kushina requested, "please tell us the preliminaries won't be too dangerous with everything that's happened."
The Guardian's light pulsed with anticipation. "The trials ahead will test not just their ninja skills, but their bonds, their resolve, and their ability to face the darkness within themselves. Kyo must learn to separate his memories from Kenshi's, while Satsuki must master the curse that now marks her soul."
"It's going to get harder," Gaara said with understanding.
"But they're together," Naruto said firmly. "That's what matters."
"Our children," Yuri whispered, "they're growing stronger, but facing such darkness."
"They have each other," Ryo said softly. "That's what will save them."
Everyone settled back, emotionally drained but eager to see how Team 7 would handle the challenges ahead, knowing that the real tests were just beginning.
---
(That is a wrap for chapter 24! The Nakamura clan mystery adds incredible depth to the story!)
(Orochi's tragic connection to Kenshi explains so much about her anger!)
(Satsuki's curse mark and Sakura's heroic growth show amazing character development!)
(Thunder Crusher - what an epic new technique!)
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