The Cloud Over The Leaf

Orochimaru stood up and assessed the new Genin.

"Ah! You must be....Kaya's child."

"....."

He cracked his neck as he looked between the two.

"Now this will be fun."

With excitement in his eyes, he opened his mouth towards the sky as a blade handle popped out of his mouth.

".....Gross."

Hii shivered as he watched Orochimaru grabbed the blade handle and pulled the sword out.

"Fufufu! The Sword of Kusunagi should be enough for you to enjoy."

Hii's eyes narrowed as his chakra tensed up.

*Bzzt*

He flashed forward and slashed towards Orochimaru's head from the side!

*Clang Clang Clang*

The two traded blows with each other at high speed before separating again.

Hii observed Orochimaru while adjusting his blade in his hands.

'His strikes are bizarre. They're very snake-like and unpredictable. Perhaps I should look into following a style like that for my own.'

As Hii thought about the technique, Orochimaru also had some thoughts.

'Hmmm. He's actually pretty good at swordplay. His reflexes are very good as well. He'll be a bit tough to deal with.'

As Orochimaru thought more, he felt a shiver crawl up his spine!

*Clang*

He swung his blade behind him, blocking several shurikens heading towards him!

"Tch!"

He heard a tongue clicking, but before he could investigate it further, another dreaded sound came to his ears!

*Bzzzt Clang Clang*

Hii attacked Orochimaru once more, leading to another bout of sword clashes!

'So this is what it's like to fight someone with at the Kage level!'

Hii was relishing every second of this fight!

His fights with his grandpa weren't the same as fighting this guy!

There was no fear of death!

He attacked from strange angles that always put Hii on his toes!

"Fufufu! How amusing!"

*Clang*

Hii jumped back and avoided a slash as Orochimaru chuckled to himself.

"Shadow Snake Jutsu!"

Orochimaru stretched out his arm as 4 snakes shot out of his sleeve towards Hii!

*Puchi Puchi*

"Shaaa!"

"Hmph!"

Hii sliced off two heads and dodged the rest of the snakes quickly!

Maka jumped out from a nearby bush and weaved handsigns!

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

*Fwoosh*

"This brat!"

Orochimaru had no choice, but to stop his pursuit and detach the snakes from his sleeve.

"Shaaaa!!!"

The snakes caught on fire and thrashed around before falling silent on the ground.

Hii weaved his own handsigns and took a deep breath!

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

*Pwooosh*

The fire was washed away as smoke flew into Orochimaru's face!

He lowered his stance and waited for a moment.

He wasn't going to get caught off guard again!

He continued to wait for the steam to dissipate, but it was persistently holding on.

'Wait!'

"Release!"

Orochimaru raised his hand and formed a seal!

The mist quickly disappeared into nothing, leaving Orochimaru with a clear view around him.

He was all alone again.

"....Fufufufu!"

His anger finally started to surface as he had been tricked by the Uchiha again!

"I'll get them back for this!"

**********

Hii followed behind Maka as she led him towards their designated rendezvous.

The two quietly made their way towards it before Maka shivered and stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Hii stopped next to her and asked.

"He broke free from my Genjutsu."

Maka looked back for a moment before shaking her head.

"We still managed to get a lot of time from that trick, but we better hurry."

Maka continued on her path as Hii once again followed behind her.

Maka glanced at Hii for a moment and continued to jump from tree to tree.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Maka stopped on a nearby branch and kept her back towards Hii.

"Hii-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you also have a form like that because of Akumu and Fuyuki?"

"!!"

Hii was caught off guard for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and kept silent.

"...In a way, yes."

"Is it okay if you don't use it?"

"Well..."

Maka shook her head and kept moving.

"Nevermind. I'm in no position to ask that of you. It's stupid."

"....."

Hii could see her clenching her fists tightly before she started to speed up again.

Hii chased after her in silence, unsure of how to respond.

He just chose to keep quiet as they quickly caught up to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Over there."

Maka quickly landed next to a large tree with space inside of it. They saw Naruto laying down inside of the tree with Sasuke nearby.

"Nee-san."

Maka nodded her head and looked over Naruto's body.

Hii looked over his body as well and frowned deeply.

Naruto was covered in bruises, cuts, and caked blood. His body was red and raw from the backlash.

"He became unconscious as soon as we stopped. He must've hit his limit."

Sasuke told Hii as he looked at Naruto. Hii could hear the concern in his voice and moved himself next to Naruto to get started.

With a few handsigns, Hii's hands began to glow green as he began to heal Naruto.

Nothing changed after the first few seconds, but his skin began to slowly recover as Hii started to pump more chakra into his recovery.

"It's going to take a while before he's done. You two will have to watch out for Orochimaru until I'm done."

"Got it."

"Leave it to us!"

Sasuke and Maka both nodded their heads and started to monitor the area while Hii slowly worked on Naruto's recovery.

********

"...Mmmh."

Shizuka's eyes fluttered for a moment before opening slowly.

The first thing she saw was Sakura healing her.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!"

Karin leaned into her view, crying tears of joy.

Shizuka paused for a moment and smiled painfully.

"Where?"

"Still in the exam. We got away from Orochimaru."

Shizuka shivered at the mention of his name before barely clenching her fists in defiance.

She tried to get up, but struggled to even make it off the ground.

"Here! I can heal you now too!"

Karin hurriedly rose up one of her sleeves and pressed her arm close to Shizuka's mouth.

Shizuka and Sakura were both surprised by the amount of bite marks all over her arm.

"......"

Shizuka only looked at the arm coldly before looking at Sakura.

"I'll have to trouble you, Sakura-chan."

"No problem."

Only Karin was rather confused as the two proceeded to ignore her help.

"Um?"

"Don't worry about my injuries for now, Karin-chan. I need you to do something else for me."

"Sure! What is it?!"

"There should be a scroll in my pouch. Can you take it out for me?"

Karin quickly looked at her pouch and began to look through it.

"Is this it?"

She quickly pulled out a scroll that was covered in red string.

"Yeah. Can you open it at the top of one of these trees? Make sure it has a clear shot into the sky."

"Okay!"

*Shuuu*

Karin quickly took the scroll and ran up a nearby tree.

A short moment later, she reached the top of the tree and saw the night sky.

'Here should be good enough.'

Karin carefully removed the red string from the scroll and began to open it.

The insides of the scroll were marked with many strange drawings that Karin couldn't make heads or tails of.

All she knew was that they felt...familiar to her.

*Wuuuuu*

Once the scroll was completely unfurled, the writing inside of it began to glow brightly!

"Huh?"

*Fwoosh Fwoosh Fwoosh*

Three strange balls of light suddenly shot out into the night sky from the scroll.

The three balls of light were especially eye-catching in the night sky, making many watch them fly into the sky.

*Bang Bang Bang*

"Uwaa!?"

Karin nearly stumbled off of the tree as she was surprised by the power of the fireworks.

When she recovered, she soon noticed the after effects of the fire works didn't disappear from the sky like normal ones did.

"...How did she make that?!"

**********

Anko Mitarashi stood up abruptly from her seat and looked at the sky.

A nearby Chuunin was surprised and looked at her cautiously.

"What happened, Mitarashi-san?"

He followed her line of sight and was greeted with a strange sight.

Three flashes of light lit up the night sky and blew up in the distance.

He frowned as he watched the spectacle.

'Fireworks? There shouldn't be any festivals this time of year. A warning signal!?'

His confusion lasted for a moment before being replaced with shock.

The sparks of the fireworks turned into a giant snake in the sky!

The snake slithered around and showed its fangs before disappearing into ash.

"What kind of firework was that?!"

The Chuunin couldn't help, but shout out in surprise!

He then noticed that Anko was looking at the sky with a hint of dread.

"Mitarashi-san?"

"Check the locations of each exam taker! I need all of their locations in hour! Also check the perimeter of the Exam site for any bodies! Someone may have snuck into the test!"

Anko quickly turned to the Chuunin and ordered ferociously!

"Y-Yes! I'll get right on it!"

*Shuu*

The Chuunin disappeared quickly while Anko also darted over to the exam site!

'He snuck right past me! Hang on, Shizuka-chan!'

***************

Orochimaru also looked up into the sky and frowned.

'That was a very elaborate firework.'

He stared into the sky for a moment and suddenly began to chuckle.

'I see. It seems like my cover has been blown. It must've been the girl from before.'

He licked his lips happily as he started to calculate.

"Hmmm. They shouldn't be too far away."

Orochimaru smiled with a sinister grin as a plan came to mind.

'I wonder what face they'll make when they head to their friend's location only to find me there as well.'

*Shuu*

He quickly started to head over to the location to bring his plan to fruition.

********

Maka also looked up into the sky and watched the strange firework.

She began to frown deeply as she felt she had missed something.

"Oh no!"

She suddenly realized who would have such a firework!

She turned back to the others with a pale face.

"I think Shizuka used a weird flare to notify the examiners!"

Hii was surprised for a moment before frowning deeply.

"Her location was probably given away as well."

Maka nodded her head and looked at Sasuke.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good to go, Nee-san."

Maka nodded her head and turned back to Hii.

Hii's frown deepened as he guessed what she was planning.

"You can't intercept someone like that so easily."

Maka smiled as she nodded her head.

"I know. I just...have to do something. We need more time, however we can get it before reinforcements come."

Maka exited the tree while Sasuke followed behind her.

"Maka!"

Maka turned around to see Hii's back illuminated by his healing technique.

"Watch out for everything he does. He's called a snake for a reason."

Maka slowly nodded her head and disappeared with Sasuke.

Hii focused on Naruto and sighed.

'She really thinks I'm going to just let her fight him on her own. I have to hurry and get him stable so I can support them.'

*Oooooom*

Hii put a bit more chakra into his technique as he healed Naruto as best as he could.

He didn't have much time to waste.

************

Orochimaru jumped between nearby trees as he headed towards the source of the fireworks.

'Hm?'

He suddenly stopped and sensed everything around him.

Once he finished, a smile came over his face.

'I have at most 10 minutes or less. I should be able to exact a little punishment for ruining my fun.'

Orochimaru licked his lips as he continued to head towards his prey.

*********

"W-What was that thing?!"

Karin came back down from the tree and asked Shizuka.

Shizuka smiled weakly at her reaction.

"It was a type of flare I made, just in case something like this happened."

Shizuka weakly shook her head as she looked into the sky.

"I just didn't expect to use it so soon."

Shizuka turned to Sakura with a serious face.

"Sakura-chan. I need you to go into my pouch as well and pull out some items."

"Got it!"

"Look for a stack of seal tags. They should be bound together."

Sakura quickly went into her pouch and found the seals.

"This is?!"

Sakura looked at the seals and realized she had never seen this type of seal before.

"Don't waste any time. Just put them on the nearby trees like a barrier."

Sakura looked at Shizuka for a moment and nodded her head.

She quickly ran to the nearby trees and slapped the seals on their trunks.

*Zuzuzuzu*

The writing on the seals began to spread down towards the ground as well as up the trees, forming a large circle around them.

Sakura and Karin were shocked as they looked around at the seal.

They didn't notice Shizuka's sly grin as she watched the seal expand out.

'I hope he comes...'

*********

Orochimaru leisurely made his way into the nearby area and looked for signs of his prey.

'Ah! There we are.'

Orochimaru hid in a nearby tree and observed the three girls.

'Fufufu. Looks like she hasn't recovered yet. How unfortunate.'

Orochimaru snickered as he reached into his pouch and pulled out some shurikens.

*Swish Swish Swish*

He threw them towards the group!

"Look out!"

Sakura quickly reacted and prepared to throw her own shurikens.

*Clang Clang*

"Huh?!"

"W-What?!"

Sakura and Karin were both shocked as they watched the shurikens get swatted away!

Strange black hands hovered from the nearby shadows of the trees.

Shizuka had a frown on her face as she tried to find Orochimaru from her position.

'Tch! I thought he'd rush in!'

Orochimaru looked at the strange black hands with sparkles in his eyes.

"Fascinating! How were these made?"

Orochimaru decided to simply walk towards the seal and examine it closely.

Sakura and Karin immediately reacted, the former pulling out a kunai while the later held shurikens in her hand.

They both hovered over Shizuka, but Orochimaru paid them no mind.

He only looked at the symbols on the ground and trees with intrigue and greed.

"Hmmmm..."

He was oblivious to Shizuka's death stare!

"Orochimaru!"

Her fists clenched, but she and everyone else knew she couldn't move.

"Such impressive work from a Genin. You really do have a talent for this."

Orochimaru looked over the seal with more and more praise for it.

"How do you...Oh! I see. So you implemented that into the seal. Impressive!"

Orochimaru kept praising her seal, but Shizuka only felt more and more disgust for him and his ability.

He was far stronger than she could've imagined.

*Swish Swish Swish*

"Hmm?"

Orochimaru turned his head as he saw several shurikens flying towards him!

He casually leaned his head to avoid them.

*Clang *

One stray shuriken was swatted away by a nearby black hand.

"Is it time for us to dance once again, Uchiha brats?"

*Shuu Shuu*

Maka and Sasuke landed nearby and got ready to fight!

"Maka-san! Sasuke!"

Sakura shouted in joy seeing her teammates still safe and sound.

"Are you ready, Sasuke?"

"Ready!"

Maka took a deep breath and focused on Orochimaru.

He stood by casually with his arms crossed.

"...Hmm!"

Maka quickly reached into her pouch and threw several shurikens at him!

Sasuke immediately darted towards him as well while Maka started to weave handsigns!

"How will you deal with me now?"

*Clang Clang*

Orochimaru pulled out a kunai and deflected the nearby shurikens as he watched Sasuke approach!

Sasuke pulled out a kunai as well and swung at Orochimaru with a leaping strike!

*Clang Clang Clang*

He tried to circle Orochimaru and stab him, but Orochimaru showed the gap between them by dodging all of Sasuke's attempts and countered!

Sasuke's Sharingan could barely catch his moves as he held his attention!

He carefully checked Maka for a moment and noticed she was ready to attack. 

The only problem now was that he couldn't get out of his rhythm!

Sasuke's brows furrowed as he deflected his attacks.

'How should I get out of this?!'

"Earth Style: Stone Grip Jutsu!"

*Crack*

The ground beneath Orochimaru suddenly burst apart as two hands reached out and grabbed Orochimaru's ankles!

Sasuke glanced over at Sakura who placed her hands on the ground.

'Thanks!'

Sasuke quickly jumped back from him and weaved handsigns as well!

"Fire Style: Phoenix Blast!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!"

Maka and Sasuke both shot out fireballs at Orochimaru, cutting off his escape!

*Boom*

"Kyaaa!!"

Karin blocked her face as the explosion sent wind all around them.

Maka and Sasuke watched the fire intently as their Sharingan tried to peer into the flames.

They both saw a silhouette of Orochimaru still bound to the ground by the stone hands.

Sasuke trembled as he saw the shadow slowly burn away!

"Nee-san! Watch the ground!"

*Crack*

A blade appeared right behind Maka from the ground!

"Wha?!"

*Puchi*

The blade stabbed through Maka's stomach as she held on to the blade to stop from sliding on it!

"Ghk!"

"Fuhahahaha!"

Orochimaru's head slithered out of the ground as it lifted Maka up!

"How unfortunate."

"Nee-san!"

Sasuke panicked as he watched Maka get carried into the air!

"No!"

"....."

Sakura and Karin both watched in horror as blood dripped down the blade.

"You! You'll pay!"

"It seems like the Uchiha's next generation isn't much."

Orochimaru gloated over his victory for a moment before noticing something strange.

Shizuka was smiling as she watched Orochimaru!

'Wait!'

Before Orochimaru could pinpoint the problem, Maka appeared right behind his stretched neck!

*Slash*

His snake-like neck was severed, splashing blood everywhere.

Maka quickly backed up from the spray and watched his head slam to the ground.

"Nee-san!"

"She's okay!"

"Huaaa~! Thank goodness!"

The Genin were all happy she was okay as Shizuka shook her head.

'Maka has grown stronger too.'

Shizuka looked over at Karin for a moment and gritted her teeth.

'No! I just have to wait now! I can't go off on my own again! The consequences could be worse next time.'

Shizuka shook off those strange thoughts as the group heard a strange sound.

*Splat Crack*

A hand extended out of Orochimaru's mouth, carrying the handle of his sword.

Sasuke groaned as he saw that.

"Again?! Can this guy even die?!"

Sasuke could hear Sakura and Shizuka groan as well!

"He's more of a cockroach if anything at this point."

Even Maka couldn't help, but groan at his vitality.

After a moment, the group saw the arm crawl away from the head, revealing Orochimaru's figure.

"I'm surprised again and again by you, little Uchiha."

He wiped off the slime from his sleeves as he chuckled.

Maka shivered at how gross he was, but didn't take her eyes off him.

"It's pretty impressive how similar you brats are to those two. Fufufufufu! I wonder how much more you have to show me?"

Orochimaru swung his blade and pointed it at Maka and Sasuke. 

Maka started to sweat as she held her kunai close.

"I'm starting to see how Hii felt when that guy was chasing after him..."

"Huh?!"

Maka shook her head and sighed. She ignored Sasuke and focused.

"Don't worry about it. Let's hold him off!"

**********

*Jyuuuuu*

Hii healed the last section of Naruto's injuries before wiping his forehead of sweat.

'He should be waking up soon. I just need a quick breather before I'm ready to go.'

Hii quickly calmed his breath and tried to restore as much of his chakra as he could.

He knew there wasn't much time left before Naruto woke up.

'Akumu. Fuyuki. Can you guys hear me?'

{Loud and clear!}

[Yeah. Did something happen?]

Hii started to recap what had happened since the start of the test.

{Uuugh! He sounds really creepy!}

[Sadly, we can't help you on this one right now.]

'Is something else happening?'

{Yeah! We've been getting this really bad feeling, like a net is being cast over the village.}

[We have a lead, but we can't expose ourselves to someone like Orochimaru. If he finds out, the target may be notified as well. It's likely they are related to him.]

'....I see.'

Hii had a feeling, but he never imagined someone striking the village at such a scale.

'Well, I'll do what I can.'

"Ugh..."

Hii woke up from his meditation and looked over at Naruto waking up.

"Hii. Where is everyone?"

"At another location. We have to get going soon to help out!"

Hii crossed his fingers and poured in some newly formed chakra.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

*Poof*

Another version of Hii appeared and squatted down close to Naruto.

"Come on! Get on quick!"

"Ah. Right."

Naruto weakly got on to the clone's back.

"Let's go!"

*Shuu Shuu*

The three quickly ran after Sasuke and Maka!

********

*Shuu Shuu Shuu*

Anko ran quickly through the trees as she headed towards the site of the flare with her team.

"Mitarashi-san! We'll be at the site soon."

"Good! Everyone! Keep on your toes! I'm going ahead to get the drop on him!"

""Yes. Ma'am!""

The three responded seriously as they followed behind her.

'I'll catch you this time, Orochimaru!'

Anko rubbed her shoulder with her hand as a her eyes gleamed with intent.

**********

*Clang Clang Clang*

"Sasuke!" 

"I see him!"

*Clang Clang Clang*

Sasuke and Maka held Orochimaru off with their kunais as they worked together to push him back.

"Fufufufu! You two are looking more and more promising as we fight."

Orochimaru had the grin of predator on as he continued to stab towards the two.

"Earth Style: Rock Wall!"

*Crack*

Sakura palmed the ground as a rock wall appeared between Orochimaru and Sasuke, giving him some much needed breathing room.

"Haa! Haa!"

"Sakura-san! You can use me if you need more chakra!"

Sakura glanced at her and shook her head.

"No need. If anyone would need it, it's Shizuka-san."

"I'm not taking it!"

Shizuka refused as she watched the battle with clenched fists.

She glanced at Karin for a moment before focusing back on the fight.

*Swish Swish Clang*

Sasuke found an opening with Maka's attack and stabbed at Orochimaru!

*Puchi*

Orochimaru grabbed the kunai with his own hand, letting the blade pierce through him!

"It's about time we end this game."

Orochimaru quickly splashed blood from his wound onto Sasuke's face!

"Ugh!"

"Sasuke!"

Maka quickly darted over to him and slashed at Orochimaru! 

He backed away from the slash with a chuckle as she defended Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?!"

"Ugh! I'm...fine! Urgh!"

Sasuke fell to his knees as he held his head.

Maka nervously looked between Sasuke and Orochimaru as she tried to keep the situation under control.

"Fufufufu. He's holding on quite well. I thought the poison would've knocked him out by now. Such a strong will."

'Poison?! In his blood?!'

Maka was caught off guard by Orochimaru's tricks. She never suspected that even his blood was tampered with.

'He's too dangerous. I'm nowhere near ready to take him on right now!'

Maka gaze never left Orochimaru as she quickly dug into her pouch and pulled out a canteen.

"Here, Sasuke. Use the water in this to wash out the blood. You can't let it stick to you."

"Ghk!"

Maka could feel Sasuke reaching for the canteen, but was only able to grab her arm or the air.

"Tch!"

She clicked her tongue and quickly came behind him and placed the bottle in his hands.

"Thanks for helping me, little brother. I'll take it from here."

"W-What?!"

"Hup!"

She grabbed his shirt and threw him towards the seal!

"Oh no!"

"Wait!"

The others watched in terror as they assumed the dark hands would attack Sasuke, but to their surprise, the hands actually caught him and placed him inside!

"H-How?!"

"Fufufu."

Orochimaru watched with a gleam in his eyes as he figured something out.

"I see. The hands respond to threats and ill intent. No, that's not it either."

His gaze focused on Shizuka, who also just so happened to be in the center of the formation.

His eyes grew bright as another theory came to his mind.

"It attacks or helps what the core thinks is good or bad. Such an ingenious invention."

"....."

Shizuka watched him as her fists clenched.

'I'll have to make my seals more complicated if I want to catch him off guard...'

Shizuka noted this down mentally as Maka pulled out another kunai and glared at Orochimaru.

"You will pay for that!"

"Ooh? I wonder how?"

Maka snorted in disgust as her red eyes began to spin with fervor!

Orochimaru paused as he saw Maka split apart into 5 different clones.

"Interesting."

""Haaaaaa!"

*Shuu Shuu Shuu*

All of the Maka's darted towards Orochimaru in a synchronized manner!

*Clang Clang Clang*

Orochimaru slashed at the clones as the continued to strike him!

"I must commend you for copying your brother's technique, but you aren't good enough yet!"

Orochimaru struck one of the images of Maka with his kunai, only to watch it disappear into nothing!

"Now!"

The four images of Maka all grabbed onto Orochimaru and held him down!

"What?! Since when?!"

Orochimaru was shocked! He didn't see her use any seals!

How could they be Shadow clones?!

"Haaaa!"

*Shwing Splat*

Maka appeared in front of him and cut of his head with her kunais!

She quickly backed away and weaved handsigns as she landed!

"Fire Style: Great Flame Jutsu!"

*Fwooosh*

"Aaargh!"

Maka shot her flames at Orochimaru and her clones as they were all swallowed by the flames!

"Yes!"

Karin shouted out gleefully as she watched the fire burn!

Sakura looked worriedly at the flame as she helped Sasuke clean his face.

"...Do you think he's gone?"

"Don't hold your breath."

Shizuka looked towards a nearby bush and sighed as Orochimaru appeared once again.

"That hurt quite a bit this time. I see you're becoming more and more desirable as time passes."

"I'm not interested in what you're selling, creep."

"How rude. I only want your body after all. I wouldn't mind being a woman again for a few more years. Especially if I can have that Sharingan."

Maka felt a violent shiver come over her as Orochimaru licked his lips.

"Don't even think I'll let you do that! Kuh!"

"Shizuka-san!"

Shizuka nearly stood up in rage at Orochimaru, but her body couldn't hold itself up.

Orochimaru chuckled as he turned to look at her.

"Your body isn't a bad choice either. That goes for little Sasuke-kun as well."

*Shuu*

Maka immediately struck at him, but he jumped back from her attack with a chuckle.

"Oh! Did I hit a nerve?"

"No. Your existence is just irritating!"

"!!!"

*Shaaa*

Several large snakes appeared behind Orochimaru and bit into him!

""!!!!""

The Genin were shocked at the sight until a kunoichi came from behind Orochimaru.

"Anko-san!"

Shizuka sighed in relief as she knew her flare worked.

"Thanks for the warning, Shizuka-chan! He would've gotten away from us if you didn't let us know."

"Hehehe! It's good to see you as well, Anko."

Orochimaru chuckled as he could feel the snakes bite harder into his body.

"You won't be getting away this time, Orochimaru!"

"Hmmm. I wonder if that's true."

Orochimaru's hand formed a seal, trying to activate a technique. 

After a few seconds, however, he realized something as his face grew cold. 

"How did you do it?!"

Anko's face showed a sinister grin as she made her snakes wrap around him with a tighter grip.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Orochimaru couldn't feel his connection to her cursed seal anymore!

His mind raced as he tried to figure out how this could've happened, until his gaze came across the strange seal the Genin made.

It all clicked at that moment.

"You...."

Orochimaru's gaze was cold as he honed in on Shizuka's face, which was plastered with the biggest smile she could muster.

She had already noticed that weird mark on Anko when she had first met her, and had already tried to fix it for her as soon as she learned it came from Orochimaru.

Luckily, she found a way to suppress the seal by overlaying it with another seal. It gave a dull pain to the body, but it was nothing compared to the power the original seal would release.

She did all of this just to get a glimpse of Orochimaru's flustered expression and she had to admit it felt good!

"Hehehe!!"

"You little!"

Orochimaru's mouth opened wide as another version of him ripped his jaw open and crawled towards the seal at high speed!

"Oh no, you don't!"

"You're not getting to them!"

Anko and Maka quickly tried to cut him off from reaching the seal!

"Ninja Art: Shadow Snake!"

Anko raised her hands as more snakes shot out from her sleeves!

Maka also assisted as she threw shurikens toward Orochimaru to slow him down!

"It's useless!"

*Clang Clang Clang*

He deflected the shurikens, only to see reflective lines shine from the deflected shurikens!

*Woosh Woosh*

The wires quickly wrapped around him while snakes launched on to him once more, binding him in place!

"This won't stop me!"

He yelled in anger as he opened his mouth and stretched his neck!

The sword of Kusanagi stretched out from his mouth and shot towards the seal, aiming straight for Shizuka!

*Crrrrrr*

The dark hands instantly wrapped around the blade slowing it down to a crawl as it pushed forward slowly.

Orochimaru tried to pierce the seal as hard as he could!

"Don't you dare!"

Anko's glare became sharp as she released more snakes from her sleeves into Orochimaru's neck!

Karin stood up and pulled out a kunai to block the slowly approaching blade as well!

She was the only one who could help now since Sakura was busy!

"I won't let you through!"

She valiantly stood up to Orochimaru, though her legs were still trembling violently.

*Bzzzt Swish*

Suddenly, everyone heard the crackling sounds of lightning as something streaked by and slashed Orochimaru's neck!

"Gyaaah!"

Orochimaru yelled as he crashed to the ground.

His body went limp as the figure shrouded in lightning became clear.

"Hii-kun!"

Hii turned around to look at everyone and sighed when he saw they were relatively safe.

*Shuu*

His clone followed shortly behind him and jumped into the seal with Naruto on his back.

"Naruto!"

"Hey, Nee-san."

Naruto weakly waved his hand as he tried to recover his energy.

Hii's clone placed Naruto down and drew its blade as well.

*Splich*

Everyone was used to the sickening sound of Orochimaru regrowing his body.

This time he came out of his neck wound as a new Orochimaru stretched his limbs.

"Ugh! This guy is sickeningly tough."

"Fufufufu! Thank you for the compliment, little Hii-kun. I must admit that the slice you gave me was quite majestic."

"Enough! Give it up, Orochimaru! We have ninjas on the way to take you down!"

Orochimaru looked at his old disciple and could feel numerous chakra signatures coming his way. Some of them were familiar while some were new to him.

"Fufufufufufu...Hahahahahahahaha!!!"

Orochimaru began to cackle loudly as he leaned his head back into the night sky, sending chills into everyone as they felt an unholy amount of chakra emanate from him.

Once he was done laughing, however, his chakra completely disappeared. He looked calm as he looked at the group of Genin.

"I'll have to show my respect for such a group of Genin. You kept me so occupied, I forgot to check on the other saplings in this test."

Orochimaru chuckled as he reached for an item.

""!!!!""

He pulled out a scroll from his pocket. An earth scroll to be exact.

"I'm certain your little group needs this scroll to pass. Consider it payment for my amusement."

He tossed the scroll into the seal area, only to watch it be caught and sealed by the dark hands.

He chuckled at the response, but that only made him more intrigued about the creator.

"It's unfortunate that I missed such a talent."

He shook his head at his luck as he began to weave seals.

"Of course, I can't leave the other group without a present!"

"Look out!"

"!!"

His neck extendend towards Maka at high speed as he opened his mouth wide!

*Bzzt*

Hii quickly reacted and bolted over to Orochimaru's neck and sliced it once again!

"Haha! Not good enough!"

Much to his horror, Orochimaru's neck transformed into the body of a white snake and kept going towards Maka!

Maka was shocked, but still reacted quickly with handsigns!

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

*Fwooosh*

She breathed fire on the Snake, but the snake continued to dodge her attacks!

"Tch!"

Anko quickly flickered over to her and tried to block him!

"Wind Style! Air Bullets!"

  *Fwoosh*

Anko fired air bullets at the snake and used the fire to turn them in flaming air bullets!

"Shaa!"

Orochimaru dodged her blasts and shot its own airblast at her!

"Ugh!"

"Maka-san! Noo!!"

Maka held her kunai and used her Sharingan to the limit!

There was only silence for a moment before she saw a nightmarish sight!

The snake came towards her on fire and with a crazed look in its eyes as it tried to sink his fangs into her!

"Not yet!"

She weaved handsigns as fast as she could as the gaping mouth grew closer!

"Wind style: Air Bomb!"

*Boom*

 Maka released a shockwave from her mouth that the Snake couldn't dodge!

"Shaaa!!"

*Bang Bang*

The snake was launched towards the nearby trees as it crashed through them with force!

"Haaa! Haa! I don't want your present!"

Maka sank to her knees as she felt her chakra drop down to nearly nothing. Even her eyes couldn't keep her Sharingan active.

Anko sighed in relief as she saw Orochimaru didn't get to her.

"Good job, Nee-san."

Sasuke was relieved as he still couldn't feel his limbs and help her.

*Crack*

The relieved atmosphere broke as a loud crack was heard right behind Maka!

"Shaaa!!"

Another white snake appeared from behind her and lunged at her!

*Bzzzt*

While everyone was frozen, Hii raced to her side and stood in front of the snake.

"You won't hurt her!"

"Shaaa!!"

The snake lunged for Maka as Hii aimed to cut him down once and for all!

Hii, However, felt a shiver run down his spine as he realized something. The eyes of the snake weren't focused on Maka.

They were only focused on him!

The snake that attacked Maka roared and threw itself onto his blade!

*Crack*

"Shaaa!"

A third snake appeared next to the other one and darted towards them!

Maka gritted her teeth and held her kunai tightly to prepare for another fight, but her face quickly changed as she realized what was happening!

"No!"

*Bzzzt*

Hii tried to keep the snake off of him with his lightning armor, but the snake's fangs seemed to ignore the defense!

*Chomp*

The snake quickly bit into Hii's shoulder and began to inject a strange type of chakra into him!

"Aaaaaaaah!!!"

Hii yelled in pain as the snake continued to brand his body with its technique!

*Fuuu Bang Bang*

The snakes near him suddenly burst into ash as his body suddenly began to glow black, white, and purple!

He yelled in pain as a mark similar to the Sharingan appeared on his right shoulder!

It pulsated with power as energy converged on that one spot!

"Hii!!"

"Hii-kun!"

Hii felt intense pain come over him all at once as he crumpled down to his knees.

His sword dropped from his hands as  his body fell forward, crackling with clashing energy.

Hii couldn't hear anything as he only saw Maka's teary face come close to him.

Her words were drowned out in pain, but Hii smiled at her condition.

'At least she's alright.'

That was the last thought Hii had before his consciousness slipped away from the pain.