The air was thick with moisture, the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves hanging heavy in the dense forest. The towering trees stretched endlessly above, their canopies blotting out most of the sunlight, casting long, shifting shadows that moved unnaturally with the rustling of unseen creatures. It was eerily silent—too silent. Even the usual hum of insects seemed hesitant to break the oppressive quiet.
Naruto bounded ahead, grinning ear to ear. "Alright, guys! First things first—find a team, beat 'em up, take their scroll. Easy, right?" Sasuke scoffed, rolling his shoulders. "Tch. No, the first thing is assessing our competition. If we charge in blind, we'll end up being the ones getting ambushed." Naruto crossed his arms, puffing up. "Oh yeah? So what, we just sit around and wait for someone to jump us? That's dumb!" Sakura sighed, trying to maintain balance between their ever-present bickering. "We have to be smart about this. Five days is a long time. If we fight now and get injured, we'll be in trouble later." Raven, leaning lazily against a tree, watched them with amusement. "How about this? We let Sasuke's plan happen. I'd love to see what happens when 'Mr. Brooding Tactics' makes his first mistake." Sasuke glared. "I don't make mistakes." "Sure," Raven said, smirking. "Let's test that theory."
Sasuke ignored her and scanned the area. His Sharingan, newly awakened from school-induced PTSD, gleamed slightly as he searched for movement. A few hundred meters ahead, he spotted a team moving cautiously through the brush. Three genin, likely from the Hidden Rain based on their cloaks. "They're weak," Sasuke assessed. "We take them out fast, grab their scroll, and move on." Naruto frowned. "I dunno… feels too easy." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "That's because you're an idiot." Naruto bristled, but Raven clapped her hands. "Alright, children. Let's get this over with. I want to see how well this works."
Sasuke darted into the foliage, using his Sharingan to track the Rain ninja's movements. He gestured for Naruto and Sakura to spread out, positioning themselves to surround their targets. Then, they struck. Sasuke moved first, his Sharingan tracking every shift in his opponent's muscles. His kunai sliced through the air, aimed at the lead Rain ninja's thigh—a nonlethal but crippling blow. The enemy barely had time to react before Sasuke's foot connected with his chest, sending him sprawling back into a tree.
Naruto followed up with a burst of clones. "Ramen Clone Jutsu!" The clearing filled with a dozen identical Narutos, each one crafted from hardened noodle constructs, their forms shifting between solidified ramen strands and humanoid figures. The moment they moved, their bodies wavered like cooked noodles snapping back into place, flexing unnaturally but still quick and deadly. A few of them lashed out, their arms stretching like elastic strands, aiming for the enemy's legs.
Sakura took a defensive stance, kunai in hand, ready to intercept any counterattacks. For a moment, it looked like their ambush had worked. Then the counterattack came. A Rain ninja smirked, forming a rapid set of hand seals. "Water Style: Hydro Fang Prison!" From the damp earth, water erupted into thick, fanged tendrils, lashing toward the clones. Within seconds, half of Naruto's army was crushed in liquid jaws, bursting into harmless broth.
Another enemy, a kunoichi, flipped backward, tossing a handful of metal spheres. "Hidden Rain Art: Poison Mist Bombs!" The moment they hit the ground, a violet mist exploded outward, rapidly spreading. Sakura's eyes widened. "Poison!" Sasuke cursed, leaping back, his Sharingan tracking the gas's movement. "Naruto! Back off!" Naruto, of course, didn't listen.
"Damn it!" Naruto coughed, covering his mouth with his sleeve as the mist drifted toward him. Raven, still leaning casually against a tree, sighed. "Welp. Saw that coming." With a flick of her wrist, she unsealed a scroll, pressing her fingers into the inked symbols. A burst of Fire Style chakra erupted outward, igniting a controlled explosion that burned away the encroaching mist. The fire licked harmlessly around her form, a technique refined through years of careful chakra control.
The Rain ninja barely had time to register what happened before Raven moved. She was a blur. A kunai spun from her grip, slicing through the air in a precise arc, embedding itself in the wrist of the ninja who had cast the water jutsu. He cried out, dropping his hand signs before he could finish forming a second attack. Raven landed softly, her violet eyes gleaming. "See, this is why you never trust the obvious. It's always bait."
Sasuke, annoyed but unwilling to admit he had miscalculated, wiped at his mouth, watching the enemy team regroup. "Tch. They set a trap." Naruto, hacking out the last remnants of the poison mist, grinned. "Yeah, well, now we kick their butts, right?" Raven cracked her knuckles. "Sure. I'll even let you lead this time."
Naruto launched forward again, but this time with a plan. His clones fanned out, a handful of them performing Ramen Clone Bindings, their arms stretching into long, sticky noodles that wrapped around their enemies' ankles. The enemy genin struggled, their movements slowed as the thickened noodles constricted, turning from soft dough to hardened chakra-infused strands that restricted them like steel wires.
Sasuke, now pissed off, moved faster. His Sharingan traced the remaining Rain ninja's movements, predicting their counters before they made them. He ducked low, pivoting around a kunai slash, before driving an elbow into his opponent's ribs. Sakura, now more confident, blocked an incoming attack with her kunai, deflecting it to the side before kicking her opponent backward.
Within minutes, it was over. The Rain team, battered and disarmed, retreated into the forest, leaving behind only a few scraps of cloth and a single abandoned weapon. Their scroll, however, was missing. Naruto blinked. "Wait. Did they not have a scroll?!" Raven snorted. "Nope. That's the best part." Sasuke, now seething, kicked a nearby tree. "They were a decoy team." Naruto threw his hands up. "So we just wasted all that energy for nothing?!"
Raven patted Sasuke on the shoulder. "Lesson learned, broody boy. Never assume an easy fight is worth it." Sasuke grumbled something under his breath. Sakura sighed. "At least we know what to expect now." Raven stretched, glancing into the deeper parts of the forest. She could feel it—Orochimaru was here. The real fight was on its way.
Far from Team 7's skirmish, another battle had already ended. The bodies of three genin lay crumpled against the trees, sand still slowly curling around their limbs. Their faces were frozen in expressions of horror, their bodies crushed beyond recognition. Gaara stood in the center of the carnage, his sand spiraling around him in a slow, lazy dance. His expression remained blank. Kankuro stood beside him, arms crossed. "You overdid it again." Temari sighed, gripping her fan. "We could've just taken their scroll."
Gaara said nothing. His cold, pale blue eyes stared at the bodies as though they were insignificant. "Mother," he whispered, barely audible, "is still hungry." Temari's grip tightened, but she didn't argue. Kankuro swallowed hard.
A pair of golden, slitted eyes watched from the shadows. Orochimaru licked his lips, his smile stretching unnaturally wide. "The game is set," he murmured. His gaze locked onto Sasuke. "Let's begin."
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