"Chakra metal?" Naruto muttered to himself as he leapt forward, his axe drawn back to strike, his other hand going through number of quick one handed seals.
Chakra metal, the same material his axe was made from, was one of the few materials that his chakra couldn't decay or rot, even so though, he had never seen anyone cut through his chains like Orochimaru just had.
...
(With Orochimaru)
Letting out a harsh grunt as he landed on his feet, his blade, Kusunagi, clasped tightly in his right hand, Orochimaru prepared to counter attack.
It appeared he had underestimated the boy, whilst he was digging for information the boy had been more active than he thought, his chains had literally been digging through the ground beneath them.
It was foolishness on Orochimaru's part, the boy had been given an S-rank for a reason. Orochimaru should have taken him seriously from the beginning.
Glancing down at his leg Orochimaru contained a wince as he saw how the chain had torn a large wound across his thigh.
A wound that had already begun to fester and spread, already it was almost up to his knee, the flesh and muscle rotting as Pain's chakra began to eat through anything it came in contact with.
Orochimaru could now tell why he was called Pain, the injury he caused was excruciating and debilitating.
Narrowing his eyes Orochimaru began to channel chakra into his leg, forcibly trying to expel Pain's chakra and heal the injury, which considering Pain's chakra had begun to eat his own was not an easy task.
All the while he was doing this he kept his gaze on Pain as he charged in, sensibly trying to take advantage of Orochimaru's injury.
Swinging his Kusunagi blade up, Orochimaru decided to get serious. This wasn't like fighting the genin, this Pain was a credible threat.
He wouldn't kill him though, as he was also a potential tool, as once the invasion started Orochimaru would have influence of Kiri's forces, and after the invasion, well that would depend on how amicable he was feeling.
For now though he had to get away. Either way Pain was going to be a useful tool in the invasion ahead, which meant that he didn't want to kill him off now, especially as killing Mei's guard dog would not endear him to the Mizukage.
Grimacing Orochimaru shot through a number of rapid hand seal, preparing to send a 'Great Wind Breakthrough Jutsu' at Pain which would hopefully get rid of the boy and allow Orochimaru to withdraw and sort out his festering wound, which even now he was still struggling to combat.
...
(With Naruto)
Naruto didn't pause for a moment as he shot forwards towards Orochimaru, his free hand shifting through a number of one handed seals molding his chakra.
Bringing his cupped left hand to his mouth Naruto took a deep breath before unleashing his wide ranged Jutsu directly at the Snake Sannin.
A blast of flickering grey fire erupted from Naruto's mouth as he released a version of his own 'Great Fireball Jutsu' one of several jutsu he had managed to adjust and personalize.
Naruto's chakra almost acted like an actual fireball as it shot across the distance between him and Orochimaru, devouring anything that got in its way. Grinning Naruto followed after his attack, putting on a burst of speed as he blurred out of sight, two chakra chains extended from his back and his axe in hand.
Within a moment he was in his attack using it as cover as he attacked the wounded Orochimaru, not at all affected by the deathly nature of his own chakra, him being completely immune to its effects.
The two elemental attacks met in midair between the two combatants. Naruto's chakra devouring Orochimaru's attack.
The fiery grey cloud of chakra then continued to spread as it rotted trees, grass, plants and anything that got in its way. Unfortunately though Naruto's Jutsu lacked the range of a 'Great Fireball Jutsu', meaning that it had already begun to disperse.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as he saw this, his teeth gritting as he saw Pain explode forward, exploding out of the cloud of chakra, two chakra chains extending before him, the spear like tips aimed right for the Snake Sannin.
Naruto once again struck Orochimaru, his chain burrowing through his chest, but like before the Snake Sannin's body turned into mud.
Turning around Naruto lashed out with his chains and axe as heeasily cut through another six Orochimaru's all of whom leapt out of the ground and attacked him, and all of whom upon being dispatched turned into mud.
Spamming clones like that was an annoying trick, and it was starting to piss Naruto off. Twisting around once the last of the clones was dispatched, Naruto began surveying the whole area attempting to locate where Orochimaru was as he did so.
This time though he sensed nothing, it appeared the Snake Sannin had decided to cut his losses and retreat. Naruto might be able to pick up his trail, but considering that this was Orochimaru the chances of actually catching up to him before he disappeared was slim.
If Naruto had been with his team, both Victor and Clementine than he had no doubt they would be able to find Orochimaru and maybe working together take him down. But alone and in unfamiliar territory Naruto was a bit more cautious.
Narrowing his eyes as he thought this Naruto once again surveyed the area. He had taken Orochimaru by surprise, he doubted he would do so again.
This meant that the next time Naruto fought Orochimaru, he would need to be extra cautious. Orochimaru was after all a prodigy for a reason, his skill and experience as a Shinobi was greater than Naruto's.
The Snake Sannin would no doubt have come up with countermeasures to deal with what he now knew about Naruto.
...
Scowling at the less than satisfactory end to his skirmish with Orochimaru, Naruto was soon distracted from his thoughts by the sound of someone pushing themselves to their feet behind him.
Turning around Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he saw Erza still holding her Taijutsu stance, her movements still shaky and her face still pale. Whatever Orochimaru had done to her, it didn't seem like it had worn off yet. Despite that though she still looked willing to fight Naruto if she had too.
Standing just in front and to the side of Erza, looking cautiously at Naruto, was Mito. Like Erza she was prepared to fight, despite the fact that she was clearly tired and from the looks of the large bloodstain on the side of her torso, had been badly injured.
Quite frankly the two of them were in a weakened state and if he had any desire to Naruto knew he could crush both of them without issue.
By the stubborn and resilient looks on their faces, he guessed the two of them were aware of this fact too. But despite that they were both still on their feet, preparing to fight and defend each other if Naruto proved he was a threat.
"Problem?" Naruto asked calmly as he fully turned to face them, deciding to do this diplomatically. Despite that however he did not let his guard down, just in case his hot-tempered sisters tried something rash.
"What are you doing here?" Mito snapped back her eyes locked cautiously on Naruto, watching him closely, prepared to act at the slightest sign of hostility.
"Saving you and your team from Orochimaru… doing my job as an Exam Proctor…." Naruto said blithely, shrugging his shoulders before he sealed his axe back into the tattoo on his wrist.
Proving o the two of them that he was not wanting to fight them, already his chakra chains had sunk into his body and his stance had relaxed slightly.
Erza relaxed her stance as well as she heard that, giving Naruto a very slight nod of thanks as she did so. "We appreciate your assistance."
"It's no problem, how badly injured are you?" Naruto asked the slightest hint of concern bleeding into his voice.
"Myself and Mito are fine, due to certain… circumstances we both have a healing factor. Sasuke however…" Erza trailed off as she turned to look at the passed out Uchiha, her eyes fixing on the seal on his neck.
"He is in a bad state, we need to get that seal on his neck removed."
Naruto nodded as he heard that, an idea coming to mind as he began to approach Sasuke's passed out body. Before he could though he found himself stopped by Mito, the girl having moved to stop him, still giving him a hostile look as she did so.
"I may be able to help your teammate." Naruto said coming to a pause in front of her.
"We don't need your help. Our mother is a Fuuninjutsu Master, she can remove the seal when we get back to Konoha." Mito said abruptly.
Naruto shrugged as he heard that. "I may not be a Funninjutsu Master, but I can do something that will help, you can get it sorted out properly once you leave the forest, along with whatever Orochimaru has done to your sister."
"Mito let him help." Erza spoke up, turning to her sister with a frown.
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