Jiraiya whispered to Naruto secretly, "Everything you asked me to do is done."
After that, Jiraiya quickly left.
"Yamato, Hokage Tsunade has issued an order. She needs you to cooperate with me to find Orochimaru." Naruto handed a document to Yamato.
After reading the document, Yamato had to suppress all his inner dissatisfaction.
Naruto thought to himself, "One day, I must obtain the Wood Release Scroll."
One hour later, at the gate of Konoha Village.
Naruto, Hinata, Yamato, and Neji had gathered.
Neji stared at Hinata for a long time and found that she had changed greatly.
In the past, Hinata was very timid. As long as someone looked at her, she would avert her eyes.
Now, Hinata was proud and confident. She even provoked Neji actively.
This really annoyed Neji. Neji always thought Hinata was very weak. He believed that he lost to Hinata in the [Chunin Exams] only because of Naruto.
Without Naruto, Neji was fully confident that he could defeat Hinata.
Naruto soon noticed the tension between Neji and Hinata. They were both from the Hyuga clan, one from the main branch and the other from the branch family, but they were like strangers.
Naruto spoke first, "The mission this time is to find Orochimaru's stronghold."
"Why was I chosen?" Neji Hyuga interrupted. "There's already Hinata in the team. She also has the [Byakugan]. Why do we need me? Hinata is from the main branch. Her [Byakugan] ability should be no worse than mine, right?"
Naruto squinted his eyes and completely ignored Neji. He continued to explain the mission, "I've received intelligence and roughly locked down the location of Orochimaru's stronghold."
Naruto took out a map from his bosom, unfolded it, and pointed at a place. "Orochimaru should be hiding here," he said.
"Why was I chosen for this mission?" Neji asked again.
"Everyone in Konoha Village is very busy. You look the most idle, so I called you," Naruto said bluntly.
"What!"
So, just like that, everyone set off in a bad mood.
The four of them traveled during the day and stayed in a wooden house at night.
Yamato formed Hand Seals and used Wood Release. A large number of neatly arranged planks and wooden stakes emerged from the open space. These planks and stakes combined to form a wooden house.
At this moment, Yamato finally understood what Naruto meant by those words before.
Yamato's Wood Release ability could indeed easily build a wooden house in the wilderness. Moreover, the size of the wooden house was completely controlled by Yamato. It was no problem to build a house of any size.
Naruto kept praising Yamato's ability and boasted that Yamato's Wood Release[b]Wood Release[/b] was the number one Ninjutsu[b]Ninjutsu[/b] in the ninja world.
Then, Naruto took Hinata into the wooden house. They found a corner and took a rest together.
Such days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, several days had passed, and they finally reached the target location of the mission.
This area was not large in area, but it was full of dense forests and wild beasts everywhere. Ordinary people would never come to such a place.
Since there were two people with the [Byakugan] in the team, under the search of Hinata and Neji, they quickly locked down a cave.
Yamato was extremely cautious, secretly observing the entrance to Orochimaru's lair. He knew very well that it was a snake lair full of dangers.
Yamato said worriedly, "Now that we've found Orochimaru's lair, we should just keep watch on the outskirts. Wait for the subsequent [reinforcement troops] to arrive before taking further action."
Naruto disagreed. "Right, it's really dangerous in there. I'll go in and check it out first."
After saying that, Naruto stepped out of the grass and walked towards the cave entrance.
Yamato immediately got angry. He quickly formed [Hand Seal] and used Wood Release[b]Wood Release[/b].
Suddenly, several square wooden planks emerged from the ground and wrapped around Naruto, restricting his movement at the same time.
Yamato showed a faint smile. "Naruto, you can't act rashly."
Suddenly, Yamato and Neji were greatly shocked. The Naruto who had been wrapped by the wooden planks actually disappeared.
It turned out that the moment Yamato used Wood Release[b]Wood Release[/b], Hinata seemed to be in sync. Hinata rushed straight towards the entrance of Orochimaru's lair.
And Naruto took advantage of this. He used the mark of the Flying Thunder God Technique[b]Flying Thunder God Technique[/b] he left on Hinata and teleported to Hinata's side.
After Naruto teleported to Hinata's side, he turned his head and said with a big smile, "If you want to restrict my actions, you have to restrict Hinata-chan too."
"Damn it," Yamato's expression completely changed, and he became very angry. "These two guys... are so impulsive..."
Naruto got rid of Yamato and Neji and took Hinata into Orochimaru's lair.
As they walked deeper inside, they found that the temperature was getting lower and lower.
The dim and damp environment was really suitable for snakes to live in.
Naruto took off his [Forehead Protector] and revealed his [Sharingan]. Hinata also activated her [Byakugan].
Orochimaru, come out! What the hell have you become? Did something go wrong with the Kotoamatsukami[b]Kotoamatsukami[/b] I cast on you three years ago? Why do I always feel something's off...
As they kept walking into the cave, many figures appeared in front of them.
Naruto was stunned for a moment, stopped, and then looked at Hinata.
Hinata shook her head, indicating that she couldn't see what was in front of them even with her [Byakugan].
Naruto walked forward cautiously. When he got closer, he found that they were just ordinary stone statues.
"Whoa!" Naruto was startled by the stone statues in front of him.
Hinata also showed a shocked expression.
It was because there were hundreds of stone statues of all sizes here, and they were all carved in Naruto's likeness.
"What the hell is Orochimaru up to? Why did he carve so many stone statues of me here?"
Naruto's expression became solemn, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He continued to walk forward step by step.
Then, a room appeared in front of them. There was light inside the room. As they got closer, they heard the sound of chiseling stones coming from the room.
Naruto hid outside the door, quietly pushed it open a little, and peeked inside through the crack. He clearly saw Orochimaru's figure.
Under the dim light, Orochimaru was very diligent. He was holding a stonemason's tool and carving a stone statue.
Naruto felt it was unbelievable. Why would a guy like Orochimaru waste his time and energy doing something so meaningless.
Naruto kept watching and found that the stone statue looked exactly like him.
Orochimaru threw away the tools in his hand and stared at the stone statue of Naruto in front of him obsessively. "It's done! It's done! This time it looks incredibly realistic. This jutsu[b]jutsu[/b] will definitely work."
"Jutsu?" Naruto thought to himself. "Could it be that Orochimaru is creating a new Ninjutsu[b]Ninjutsu[/b]?"
Orochimaru drew a strange pattern on the ground, encircling Naruto's stone statue in the middle. Then he formed Hand Seals with both hands, narrowing his eyes. "Ninjutsu[b]Ninjutsu[/b]! Stone Statue Spirit Replacement Jutsu[b]Stone Statue Spirit Replacement Jutsu[/b]!"
The stone statue[b]stone statue[/b] of Naruto at the center of the strange pattern started to emit strange ripples all over, and the surrounding space began to distort.
"Space–Time Ninjutsu!" Naruto was completely shocked. Orochimaru had actually developed a brand - new Space–Time Ninjutsu[b]Space–Time Ninjutsu[/b], and not even Naruto knew about this jutsu[b]jutsu[/b].
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