Uzumaki Naruto: Birth of the New Demon King by The Engulfing Silence

Chapter 10: When You've Got It

A grin formed on Naruto's face, one that threatened to split his face in half. "Very well." Naruto blurred from view as the battle began.

He reappeared right next to Orochimaru, his fist already lashing out in a punch that had so much strength put into it, it would take the Sannin's head off. Orochimaru had just enough time to weave his body around the punch, twisting his body at an angle that should be impossible for humans to accomplish. It was like he could dislocate all his joints at will, or like he didn't actually have a backbone. He moved much like a snake would. Considering his summons, the man's way of movement was fitting.

The Hebi-Sannin lashed out as he dodged the first attack, striking at Naruto with a knife edged hand aimed at his throat. Because of Naruto's strength even when he was not using his youki, the attack wouldn't have done much more than cause him to stumble. However, he still had no intention of getting hit by Orochimaru, and so he dodged accordingly, ducking under the blow and coming up with an upper cut. Orochimaru wove around the blow and made an attempt at stabbing Naruto through the eye. It was dodged when the blond Uzumaki moved his head to the side, letting the hand ruffle his hair. In return the blond launched his own punch at the Sannin's face, however that to was dodged. Naruto's knee came up and blocked Orochimaru's foot when it tried to take him by surprise. With no true blows landed the two jumped back and reassessed each other.

The entire sequence of combat had taken less then a minute. In the shinobi world battles were usually fast paced, where seconds could mean the difference between life and death. So many ninja were used to moving fast in combat. However, even then what the ANBU watching outside witnessed was beyond a simple ninja battle. The speed of the two fighters was of the kind very few could reach, it went beyond jonin and into the realm of kage's.

What surprised them the most was that the one battling Orochimaru, S-rank ninja and one of the three Sannin who were said to be on par with any kage, was none other then Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha, dead-last of his class, and from his file an all around screw up. The image they had in their mind and the image the grinning blond before them were in such complete contrast with each other that those watching found it hard to believe the battle could be anything more then a very elaborate genjutsu. A few of the younger officers there even tried to dispel an illusion just to make sure they hadn't been caught in one.

"Oh man, did you see that?" asked Usagi as he watched the battle. "I could hardly even keep up with them!"

"Me either, the battle's only just started and it looks like they've kick started into high gear." This particular comment came from Tori.

"I expected this kind of fighting from someone like Orochimaru. But to see Uzumaki fighting like that is unbelievable," Usagi said in an excited voice.

"It is most impressive," replied Tenzou, the captain of the ANBU squad. "But then, this is the genin who pranks the ANBU and Clans of Konoha as a past time. There is obviously more to this young man then we thought."

"Maybe we should offer him a position in the ANBU when this is all over," Usagi suggested.

"You mean if he survives," said Tori.

However, none were more surprised then Sarutobi Hiruzen. While the battle had just started, the fact that Naruto was more then keeping up with his former student was remarkable. Naruto, who was still just a genin, and one who was supposed to be at the bottom of his classes graduates, was fighting a shinobi that had been hailed as a genius. Even with the recent and mysterious changes the blond went through, he should not have become this powerful. What happened to you during that time in the forest of death, Naruto-kun?

Inside of the barrier Naruto was grinning like a madman as he dodged and blocked, attacked and counter attacked. He had never actually had this much fun. This was a fight! This was what he had been waiting for! A battle with a worthy opponent! It didn't matter that Naruto had decided not to use his youki so as to make the battle more even in the hopes of gaining a challenge. All that mattered to him was that he had found someone to battle who was on par with him as far as raw skills went. It actually went without saying that Orochimaru was a better fighter; his style was more fluid than Naruto's brawling style, his reflexes were better honed due to the decades of battle he had been in, and he had more tricks up his sleeve then the blond did. But that was okay with Naruto, it just made this fight more exciting.