The Forest of Death lived up to its name. It smelled of wet rot, iron, and old fear.
I stood on a thick branch high in the canopy, the black cloak heavy on my shoulders. Zabuza and the Doctor were patrolling the perimeter of the exam zone—I had told them to keep the other teams away from "the loud blonde one."
But my attention wasn't on the perimeter. It was focused on a specific, cold signature I had sensed earlier.
The Snake.
My Observation Haki flared. It wasn't a vague sense of danger. It was a scream.
Sasuke's terror. Sakura's helplessness. Naruto's fading consciousness.
And beneath it all, a slimy, suffocating malice that felt like swallowing a bucket of slugs.
"Found you," I whispered.
I didn't use Geppo. I didn't run. I simply vanished, pushing off the branch with enough force that the massive oak tree splintered down the middle.
The Battlefield
Sasuke Uchiha was breathing hard. He was battered, bruised, and terrified.
Opposite him, standing on a tree branch, was the Grass Ninja. Her face—no, his face—was melting away, revealing the pale, snake-like visage underneath.
"You are magnificent, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru hissed, his tongue darting out to taste the air. "Your eyes... they have the potential to surpass Itachi. But you lack... hatred. You lack power."
Sasuke gripped a kunai, his hands trembling. He had given everything. The Fireball Jutsu. The Dragon Flame. It hadn't been enough. Naruto was unconscious, pinned to a tree by five-pronged seal. Sakura was cowering behind a bush.
"I have a gift for you," Orochimaru smiled, his neck beginning to elongate. "A little parting gift to ensure you come seeking me."
Orochimaru's head shot forward.
His neck stretched like a rubber band, crossing the twenty feet between them in a split second. His mouth unhinged, fangs dripping with purple chakra venom. The Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Sasuke couldn't move. The Killing Intent had paralyzed him. He watched the fangs coming for his neck.
I'm going to die, Sasuke thought. Or worse.
The fangs were inches away. Sasuke flinched, closing his eyes.
CLANG.
The sound wasn't teeth sinking into flesh. It was steel hitting bone.
Sasuke opened his eyes.
A blade—a single-edged, magnificent saber—was interposed between his neck and Orochimaru's face. The flat of the blade was pressing against Sasuke's collarbone, shielding him. The sharp edge was pressed against Orochimaru's teeth.
Standing next to Sasuke, looming over him like a guardian titan, was a figure in a black cloak.
"I thought I told you," a voice rumbled, deep and devoid of any warmth. "Don't even think about it."
I stood there. Gryphon was fully unsheathed, gleaming in the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.
I looked at the snake head hovering in front of me.
I wasn't smiling.
The carefree pirate who joked about burgers and sake was gone. The man who let Genin hit him for a free dinner was gone.
This was the face of the man who stopped the Marineford War.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. His neck was fully extended, leaving his main body vulnerable twenty feet away on the branch. He tried to retract his head, but he couldn't.
My Haki was pinning him.
"You..." Orochimaru hissed, the word garbled by the sword pressed against his mouth. "Shanks."
"You ignored my warning," I said softly.
I flicked my wrist.
SHING.
I didn't cut his head off. I just pushed. A burst of Armament Haki exploded from the blade.
Orochimaru's head was blasted backward. His neck snapped back like a whip, retracting violently toward his body. He stumbled on the branch, clutching his jaw.
"Sasuke," I said, not looking down at the boy. "Go to Sakura. Check on Naruto."
"Shanks..." Sasuke whispered. He looked at my back. He felt the air around me. It was heavy. Suffocating. "He... he's a Sannin. A legendary ninja."
"I don't care if he's the Sage of Six Paths," I said cold. "He touched my crew."
I stepped off the branch, dropping to the forest floor.
Orochimaru regained his composure. He licked his jaw, healing the bruise instantly. He looked at me with a mix of scientific curiosity and genuine caution.
"So," Orochimaru chuckled. "The Emperor comes out to play. I admit, your speed is impressive. No hand signs. No chakra flare. Just... movement."
"Leave," I ordered.
"I can't do that," Orochimaru smiled. "I have invested too much in this boy. And now... I am interested in you. A body with no chakra that rivals a Kage? Imagine the secrets your DNA holds."
Orochimaru opened his mouth. Thousands of snakes poured out, forming a massive wave of scales and fangs.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands? No... A Sea of Snakes."
I stood my ground. I held Gryphon in my right hand, the tip pointing at the ground.
"You ninja rely too much on numbers," I muttered.
I glared.
CONQUEROR'S HAKI.
I didn't hold back this time. I focused it into a localized beam, aimed directly at the wave of snakes and the man behind them.
BOOM.
The air cracked. Red lightning arced from my body, turning the forest floor to dust.
The wave of snakes didn't just stop. They exploded. Their small brains couldn't handle the pressure. They burst into puffs of smoke and blood before they could reach me.
The blast wave hit Orochimaru.
The Sannin froze. He felt it—the sensation of being prey. It was the same feeling he had given Sasuke, but magnified a thousand times. It felt like a giant hand was crushing his lungs.
He fell to one knee.
"Kuh..." Orochimaru gasped, sweat pouring down his pale face. "This... fear? Me?"
I walked through the remains of the snakes. I walked up to him.
I raised Gryphon. The blade turned pitch black as I coated it in Advanced Armament.
"One arm," I said, looking down at him. "That's all I have. But it's enough to take your head, Snake."
Orochimaru looked at the black blade. He looked at my eyes. He realized, with sudden clarity, that I wasn't bluffing. I wasn't a ninja who would monologue. I was a pirate who would kill him and go eat lunch.
"This isn't over," Orochimaru hissed.
He dissolved. His body turned into mud, melting into the ground. An Earth Clone substitution, combined with a high-speed escape jutsu.
I tracked him with Observation Haki. He was tunneling deep, fleeing the forest at maximum speed. He was terrified.
I let him go. Digging him out would take too long, and I had injured kids to tend to.
I sheathed Gryphon.
Click.
The crushing pressure vanished. The birds began to sing again, tentatively.
I turned around.
Sasuke and Sakura were staring at me. They looked like they had seen a ghost.
I walked over to the tree where Naruto was unconscious. I saw the seal on his stomach—the Five-Pronged Seal Orochimaru had placed over the Nine-Tails seal to disrupt his chakra.
"Messy work," I muttered.
I couldn't fix a seal with Haki. I wasn't a seal master.
"We need to get him to Kakashi," I said, turning to the others.
My voice was softer now, but the sternness remained.
Sasuke was trembling. Not from Orochimaru's fear anymore, but from the adrenaline crash.
"You..." Sasuke stammered. "You made him kneel. You made one of the Sannin kneel."
"He tripped," I lied smoothly.
I walked over to Sasuke. I put my hand on his shoulder.
"You did good, kid," I said. "You fought. You didn't give up."
"I was terrified," Sasuke admitted, looking at his hands. "I couldn't move."
"Fear is normal," I said. "It tells you you're still alive. But you stood your ground when it mattered."
I looked at his neck. It was unblemished. No curse mark. No bite.
"You're safe," I said. "No snakes allowed on this ship."
I picked up Naruto, slinging him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Come on," I said, gesturing with my head. "Let's get out of this creepy forest. I smell ozone and wet dog. Zabuza is waiting at the tower."
As we walked, Sasuke touched his neck. He looked at the back of the one-armed man walking ahead of him.
The craving for power that Orochimaru had tried to exploit was still there. But now, it had a different shape.
Sasuke didn't want the power of a snake.
He wanted the power of the Emperor.
"Shanks," Sasuke whispered to himself. "Teach me that."
I heard him, of course.
I smiled, just a little, hidden by the collar of my black cloak.
One step at a time, kid. First, let's survive the exams.