8. Did You Really Thought That This Chapter Is Normal?

(100 Powerstones before this week ends and you guys get a double release on Monday)

The trio quickly rushed to the location where the patrol team last saw him. They didn't need to resupply or go home to retrieve their weapons, as they always carried them in storage seals.

They hurried towards the location where the scouting team last saw Orochimaru.

"Are you guys scared?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah."

"No."

"Woah, I didn't think Yukio, of all people, would be scared," Miyuki giggled.

"Hmm, I'm just scared that if I die here, I won't be able to achieve Sage of Six Paths level this decade," Yukio shrugged.

"Hehe, and Kakashi won't be able to become Hokage if we fall here."

"And we won't be able to resurrect them," Kakashi added.

"Naru-chan would be without a caretaker then," Miyuki continued the game of predicting the future.

"Then, Naruto would face the same treatment as other jinchūriki, as the Third won't allow the Uchiha main family to adopt him," Yukio continued the game he had started.

"Then, Naru-chan won't have any chance to properly meet his parents."

"Maybe he won't be able to become a proper ninja, as nobody would take the initiative to guide him. Maybe Danzo will induct him into Root," Kakashi added.

"Then, Naruto would lose his humanity and just become a mindless tool," Yukio chuckled.

The weight of the mission increased drastically after this conversation.

They could not afford to die here.

They might be joking to keep the conversation going, but there was a high chance this could happen.

Without Kakashi, Team 7 would be led by someone else—that is, if they reached that point in the first place.

After 5 minutes of continuous travel, they heard a voice.

"Hoho, who do we have here? Three prodigies sent by Sensei to their death? Has the old man already gone senile?"

The trio stopped abruptly.

They felt the killing intent of an S-rank ninja who had been on the battlefield.

Miyuki and Yukio were from a modern world, so even if their willpower may or may not be higher than average, they still hadn't felt this level of danger before.

Even though they had been ninjas in this life for a few years, they hadn't faced this level of killing intent directed at them in a long time.

It felt like they were going to die any second.

"How are you going to capture me if you can't even move?" Orochimaru licked the tip of his kunai.

"Who should I ki—" Orochimaru was cut off by a kunai aimed at his neck.

He used a substitution jutsu.

The place where he was standing exploded.

"Aren't you too feisty, Yukio-kun?" Orochimaru said from another spot.

However, just as he spoke, Yukio launched at him with his palm covered in water, rotating at high speed.

Orochimaru suddenly summoned his Kusanagi sword.

Yukio's palm clashed with Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword.

Surprisingly—or unsurprisingly, depending on the perspective—

Yukio's palm was chopped.

Blood flowed out of his palm.

"Did you actually expect that your jutsu could clash with my Kusanagi?"

"Did you expect me to actually do such a stupid move?" Yukio's hand pierced through Orochimaru's heart from behind.

Kakashi and Miyuki were still frozen in place due to the killing intent.

Orochimaru's body transformed into snake.

"Did you really think that you could kill an S-rank ninja like this?" Orochimaru thrust the Kusanagi sword at Yukio's head from above.

"Did you actually think that I would think I could kill an S-rank ninja like this?" Yukio thrust his hand from below Orochimaru.

The previous bodies turned into water. The blood was released from a storage seal on the clone's body.

"Did you—" Orochimaru emerged from within a tree but was pierced from a different side.

The Yukio who just did that was pierced through his pelvis.

He turned into water.

Kakashi and Miyuki, still frozen in place, were speechless.

What exactly was happening?

In the next instant, glass shattered, and Orochimaru could be seen staring at them.

'Were we in a genjutsu?' Kakashi wondered but didn't dare to move.

He hadn't even unfurled his protector from his Sharingan, as he was too scared to move.

I mean, nobody could blame him.

Even if Orochimaru wasn't an S-rank, he didn't seem like someone a kid would find approachable.

How Orochimaru could even lead a team in which Anko was present is a mystery.

A Water Dragon came from Yukio's mouth, clashing with an Earth Dragon of Orochimaru's, which easily overpowered Yukio's dragon.

However, the Water Dragon suddenly started rotating very fast.

Despite the elemental disadvantage, it successfully neutralized the Earth Dragon.

"That technique... It's the application of Shape Transformation, isn't it? It seems you're already taking steps to surpass your sensei," Orochimaru commented.

Yukio weaved hand seals and rushed at Orochimaru.

Wind met water.

Yukio was the one pushed back, currently in midair, going backward.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Orochimaru appeared just above Yukio, his hands covered in chakra aimed at Yukio's face with a thrust.

Yukio crossed his hands, but before he could do anything, Orochimaru thrust.

Yukio's hands were broken.

He plummeted to the earth.

'Damn it, move, why can't I move my body?' Miyuki cursed internally.

She felt like she was experiencing sleep paralysis.

She was consciously aware that she was awake but couldn't move her body.

It was really scary, as Yukio was almost going to be killed, and she could only watch.

In the next instant, Orochimaru stomped on the ground.

Blood splattered on the floor.

Reality broke again for Kakashi and Miyuki.

They saw Orochimaru looking at them.

"Hehe, not only did you break my genjutsu consecutively, but you also fought me in it. As expected from the Fourth's disciple."

A hand was placed on both Kakashi's and Miyuki's shoulders, one on each.

"Guys, do something instead of being useless." Electricity materialized in Yukio's palms, slightly shocking the other two and making them jump.

"I was just seeing whether your skills have degraded or not," Miyuki tried to save face.

Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan. "Do you think I couldn't tell I was in a genjutsu without my Sharingan?" he shamelessly said, acting like he knew he was in a genjutsu from the start.

Not only Yukio but even Orochimaru was taken aback by these two people's shamelessness.

"It seems that instead of inheriting the Will of Fire, Konoha ninjas these days are learning 'how to talk big' from my sensei," Orochimaru said loudly.

"Hehe, so you also know that," Miyuki said.

"Huh?" Orochimaru...

Miyuki quickly weaved hand seals. Orochimaru also regained his awareness and started doing the same jutsu as he recognized the technique.

How could he not?

It was the first jutsu his sensei taught him.

Tens of shuriken were launched from both sides, which multiplied into hundreds, clashing in between.

However, Miyuki weaved hand seals, and all the shuriken that had their momentum killed from both sides were now heading toward Orochimaru.

"Oh, not bad. I can say I know fewer than ten people who could claim to have such mastery of electromagnetism as you. Then again, this could be said to be more like a secret technique than a kekkei genkai," Orochimaru said while weaving hand signs.

Various Vacuum Balls were spat out of Orochimaru's mouth.

They took care of not only the shuriken but also made the trio change their positions.

"Well, I think I'm done playing with you guys. Let's end this," Orochimaru said as he quickly weaved hand seals.

A clone formed near him, and both formed different hand seals.

Kakashi covered his sword with Chidori.

Instead of just palms, Yukio's whole hands were covered in fast-rotating water.

Miyuki weaved hand seals for Body Flicker while releasing chakra from her feet and jumping backward.

This all happened in about two seconds.

A Fire Dragon emerged from Orochimaru, which was large in size.

However, it didn't stop there and grew even larger due to the Wind Release jutsu used by his clone.

The massive dragon would make the one Yukio created in the match against Kakashi look like a baby in comparison.

It seemed Orochimaru had overcharged his jutsu considerably, with a wide scope area, such that they wouldn't be able to dodge.

Yukio shielded his face with his arms crossed in front of him. Miyuki was just behind him.

Somebody needed to bring back Yukio's corpse if he fell today.

Miyuki told herself that while weaving hand seals.

Kakashi did create a sort of shield by swinging both of his swords in front of him, but it wasn't a trustworthy defensive maneuver.

The dragon made contact.

Yukio felt that his arms were going to get vaporized.

He could only see steam due to the water on his arms vaporizing very fast.

He didn't know whether his arms would burn first or the water in his bracers would run out first.

Miyuki created a shield from various kunai to ease the burden on Yukio, but it wasn't very effective.

Soon, an Earth Wall appeared in front of them, stopping the continuous fire.

"You kids go home, I'm here."

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A/N: This chapter may or may not contain double meanings if you know where to look.

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