[TL/n: Extra Chapter for being 1st on the ranking]

"Ughh… Let go of me!!" ​​

Jiraiya, who was being tied like a caterpillar, shouted angrily.

"Let's find his other teammates."

Murasaki then tied Jiraiya onto the tree.

"I'll stay here to keep watch on him so he won't get rescued by his team."

Akabane knew that Tsunade and Orochimaru wouldn't take a risk to rescue Jiraiya knowing that it is only meaningless, that's why he wants to stay here to take some rest while the two work their asses off.

"Don't try to fool me Akaba.."

But it seems Sakumo knew his true intention.

"Okay, okay, you caught me. In that case, let's not waste any time. Otherwise, they might plan one step ahead of us."

Akabane got up reluctantly since his true intention was seen through. He could only settle the battle as soon as possible.

"Let's go!"

Hearing the signal, and team 7 disappeared deeper into the forest.

"Hey, wait! let me down, don't go!"

Jiraiya who saw them disappear begged desperately for mercy because he knows that it's possible that after the test, he could be sent back to the academy.

"Aaah! damn Murasaki, you tied me too tight!"

…

Within the forest of death, Orochimaru began to continuously set his traps.

"Aren't we going to save Jiraiya?"

Tsunade was a little worried. According to that idiot's character, he would face team 7 alone and will fail miserably.

"It's useless to save that idiot. Our best chance is to counter their attack when the opportunity comes."

Orochimaru said lightly.

Tsunade was speechless for a moment, and thinking about it for a second she still then agreed to Orochimaru's plan since it's the only plausible plan for both of them.

Now that they are at disadvantage, even if they're technically two of the best students in the academy, but since Jiraiya acted on his own, they need another plan.

…

"I could detect some traps. We are getting closer."

Akabane warned and stopped on a branch, Murasaki and Sakumo also stopped and listened to his warning.

" The ground below us must be full of traps.

Who knows how many traps there are here? In the academy, Orochimaru scores perfectly in all subjects. Thus his knowledge and ability on traps can't be underestimated." Murasaki explained.

"I go first."

Without hesitation, Sakumo approaches forward.

"I'll follow Sakumo from behind. You can support us, depending on the situation."

Murasaki said calmly.

After their test against Danzo yesterday, they've grown better at teamwork with each other. Sakumo is flexible, swift, and has great offensive prowess. He is suited for reconnaissance.

Murasaki is versatile and a jack of all trades. Akabane, on the other hand, is passive and lazybones but has the strongest ninjutsu and a great tactician.

"Okay, I'm fine with that.."

Akabane responded, secretly rejoicing in his mind.

The position assigned to him is his favorite, as long as he stays in the back and doesn't need head-to-head combat. It's the best position for someone slacker like him.

Sakumo ran between the trees swiftly, looking for the traces of Orochimaru and Tsunade.

After a while, he stopped, he looked around with his keen eyes and made use of a jutsu.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Poof!

"Kenma, help me scan the surrounding."

Kenma is a young ninja dog that Sakumo contracted, and it's been specially trained since he was a child and had considerable abilities.

Kenma started sniffing around for scent and quickly found something after a moment.

Woof! Woof!

"That direction? Thank you!"

Sakumo sent Kenma back, carefully holding the handle of his sword that was on his back, he cautiously moved where his ninja dog smelled something.

Akabane who was waiting yawned lazily, but his eyes suddenly became serious the moment he instinctively felt someone coming at him.

"Come, let's s…"

Before Akabane managed to finish his words, Orochimaru suddenly appeared using substitution Jutsu and tried to give him a surprise attack.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

"Damn.."

Orochimaru didn't expect Akabane to learn it and felt that he was one step behind,

and knowing that he failed his surprise attack, he escaped with substitution Jutsu the moment Akabane tried to drag his body on earth.

"What a fast reaction!"

Akabane was shocked by Orochimaru's fast reaction.

But even if he got a surprise attack, Akabane managed to inject chakra into Orochimaru's body. Normally to cast a genjutsu he didn't need to use it, but since Orochimaru wasn't an ordinary person he needs to add insurance for his genjutsu to work.

"Genjutsu: Five sense control!"

Orochimaru fell within his Genjutsu in an instant. However, Orochimaru had an experience of breaking free from his Genjutsu, so without delay, Orochimaru forced himself to become comatose so that he can be free from Akabane's Genjutsu.

And besides him was the clone that he prepared before he lost his consciousness to drag his body to a safe position first.

"Shadow clone!"

'So he already planned ahead before he attempted to ambush me. What a cunning move' Akabane thought.

Akabane rubbed his temples, he didn't want to fight again since he was lazy…

"It's really difficult to deal with an opponent, who knows how to break my Genjutsu in one try."

However, since Orochimaru attacked him, he needed to fight back. So Akabane used his clones to block their escape route and follow them in a haste.

"Don't chase after him; we need your help to handle Tsunade."

Murasaki wanted to ask for help from Akabane but he was too late since Akabane was already gone chasing Orochimaru.

"Ughh.. well, change of plan, me and Sakumo will handle Tsunade."

Murasaki fastly adapted to their situation and continued to hunt Tsunade.

…

Akabane used Body Flicker Jutsu to chase them, but for a moment, he saw

Orochimaru Clone stopped running because the real body had awakened.

Akabane also stopped on his track and stared at his opponent who was still groggy from being awakened.

Seeing Orochimaru who finally got his bearings Akabane couldn't help but praise Orochimaru with emotion.

"You can learn the shadow clone in a few days. You are indeed a talented person."

"Ahh… that goes the same for you."

Hearing Akabane compliment Orochimaru couldn't help but smile bitterly. He thought that although Akabane was good at genjutsu, his weakness would be his physique and other ninjutsu, but Akabane had improved tremendously within just a few days that it almost led him to his defeat earlier.

If it wasn't for his cautious personality, the move Earth Release Akabane used almost made him buried and lost.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a loud noise, a tree in the distance trembled three times and almost fell.

"Tsunade is also in trouble."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his fighting intent surge, "It seems that I must settle with Akaba-kun first."

"Keep fighting with you has wasted my chakra a little too much."

Akabane sighed lightly, and then continued, "But if I go to Tsunade, you will save Jiraiya."

Even if Jiraiya is an airhead, his physique and earth release would be troublesome if he managed to escape.

"Go on."

Orochimaru dispatched his clone instantly, heading towards Akabane to kill.

Here he comes!

Akabane was not so foolish to let his opponent attack him first. In fact, what stays in place is just a clone, not even a Shadow Clone.

"Something felt wrong.."

After a few steps, Orochimaru noticed something was wrong and immediately jumped back towards where his traps were set.

However...

Suddenly, two figures shot out from his side.

"Why is Murasaki here? He should be fighting Tsunade right now…No! It's Hell Viewing Jutsu!"

Orochimaru immediately tries to break the genjutsu.

But nothing has changed, the two figures in front of him did not stop, and continued to run towards him.

"Body Substitution Jutsu!"

Orochimaru's instinctive reaction to the crisis caused Orochimaru to avoid the attack, but the next second he saw the two of them run past his substitute.

Is it Clone Jutsu?

But at this moment, a kunai came from behind.

"Still clone?"

Orochimaru thought to himself, but before his eyes, he realized that it was not.

This is real!

Substitution Jutsu! Smoke bomb!

Combining ninjutsu and smoke bombs, Orochimaru panted and fled away from his original position,

"Agh… I don't know which one is real or not."

Orochimaru was hiding with cold sweat on his face.

He knew that Akabane had combined his Shadow Clone Jutsu and his Genjutsu to attack him. But all he could do was receive it without fighting back.

Genjutsu is to produce an illusion, while the Kurama Clan could amplify its effect using their five senses control, which turns the illusion into reality.

When facing Akabane, it's too difficult to distinguish between the two, but what about my teammates who are still out there?

Orochimaru couldn't help but feel worried.

"En? The movement stopped, did Tsunade get caught?"

"No, this must be an illusion!"

He immediately reacted.

But Orochimaru suddenly becomes worried. And though "Is this an illusion or a reality!?"