Yakushi Kabuto—truly a legendary figure in the story. In the shinobi world, where bloodline supremacy reigned, he managed to make a name for himself solely by riding on the remnants of Orochimaru's legacy.
At this moment, Yakushi Kabuto was casually chatting with the recent graduates of Konoha. He wore a pleasant, friendly smile that made people instinctively lower their guard, skillfully using information about other shinobi villages to quickly bridge the gap between himself and the Konoha genin.
Meanwhile, the shinobi from Otogakure sat quietly in their seats, doing absolutely nothing suspicious. Most likely, they'd received specific instructions from Orochimaru ahead of time.
Soon after, the first round of the Chunin Exams began. Officially, it was a written test—but in reality, it was an information-gathering exercise. Everyone in the exam room used their own methods to "cheat," while Naruto scratched his head in frustration, unable to answer the questions or even cheat properly.
Hinata shyly tilted her answer sheet toward Naruto, trying to help him. But... her actions were far too obvious. To be honest, at that moment, her head was completely filled with Naruto. She didn't seem to spare even a thought for her teammates, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. If her actions were caught, their whole team could have been disqualified.
No, wait—
Hinata was being way too blatant. There was no way the examiners didn't notice her!
Sasuke understood immediately. Hinata was the daughter of the Hyūga clan head. Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino also came from major clans. They were all predetermined candidates. Who among the proctors would dare disqualify them?
Naruto, too—though it seemed like he passed the test by giving a passionate speech about perseverance, in reality... well, those who knew, knew.
...
The second round of the exam took place inside the Forest of Death, where the goal was to collect both the Heaven and Earth scrolls.
"Sign here! Everyone participating must sign this waiver," Mitarashi Anko, the exam proctor, said.
"Each team will start with either a 'Heaven Scroll' or an 'Earth Scroll.' You'll have five days to survive in the forest. Your objective, besides staying alive, is to gather a full set of both Heaven and Earth scrolls to pass."
As Anko explained the rules, Sasuke subtly glanced around. Kusagakure had already been destroyed. He wondered who Orochimaru had disguised himself as this time.
Naruto remained as energetic and spirited as ever. But the moment they actually entered the Forest of Death, nervousness crept over him. Before long, he claimed he needed to "relieve himself" and darted off into the bushes.
Classic Naruto—always good at lightening the mood.
As Naruto disappeared into a small thicket, Sasuke's ears twitched. He raised his hand, and a faint mist seeped from his fingertips, sliding silently across the ground toward a spot hidden in the undergrowth. Then Sasuke stepped forward, performed an Earth Release technique, and the ground began to churn.
Naruto, returning after finishing his business, noticed Sasuke's odd behavior and called out,
"Oi, what are you doing?"
"Collecting scrolls," Sasuke replied coolly.
Sakura and Naruto exchanged confused looks, still completely clueless about what was happening.
With a soft splurch, the earth overturned—and a foul, reddish-brown, half-liquefied humanoid figure was exposed to the open air, reeking terribly.
"Sa—Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura both cried out in shock. "What the heck is that?!"
Sasuke didn't answer. Instead, he began searching the body methodically. Judging by the remains, the grotesque figure had recently been alive—a fellow Chunin Exam participant.
"Judging by his forehead protector, he was from Amegakure," Sasuke commented, rifling through the corpse without the slightest change in expression. "Let's see if he had the scroll we need."
From the moment the body was unearthed, Sakura's entire body began trembling. She was gasping for breath, struggling not to make a sound.
She wasn't just horrified by the corpse—it was Sasuke's eerie calmness that truly scared her. The Sasuke she had imagined and the real Sasuke standing before her... they were worlds apart.
She staggered back against a nearby tree, leaning heavily on the trunk to stay upright, drawing deep, shaky breaths.
Naruto looked equally shaken. It was his first time seeing a dead body up close. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sasuke beat him to it.
"He signed the waiver before the exam. No one is responsible for his death but himself. In other words, the same could happen to you at any moment."
Sakura immediately lost all strength and collapsed onto the ground, as if Sasuke's chilling words had drained the life from her.
Sasuke turned toward her with a mechanical smile.
"I'm kidding. You guys don't have to worry. The shinobi from minor villages wouldn't dare lay a finger on Konoha genin. Forget killing—they wouldn't even dare seriously injure you without thinking twice."
"???" Naruto was utterly confused, but Sakura quickly caught on.
There was no way shinobi from minor villages would act recklessly in this kind of setting. Even though it was called a joint Chunin Exam, the stage belonged to the Five Great Nations. Smaller villages were just there to make up the numbers.
The leaders of minor villages weren't fools. They wouldn't send their best young talents to this kind of event, because if they happened to outperform shinobi from the major villages, it would only bring disaster upon them. The benevolent and kind-hearted Third Hokage might not retaliate—but his "good friend" Shimura Danzō certainly would.
In the shinobi world, fairness and justice were illusions. Even in the canon story, Sunagakure's shinobi could unleash bloody slaughter during the Chunin Exams, while Konoha's "Rookie Twelve" got a vivid lesson in what real combat meant—often at the expense of minor village fodder.
Naruto's mood was complicated. He didn't really understand what Sasuke and Sakura were talking about, but he could tell he wasn't quite smart enough to follow along.
...
"Sasuke," Sakura said, snapping out of her daze. "How did you do that just now? That Amegakure shinobi was hiding underground, right? How did he end up... like that?"
She wanted to ask something else too—namely, why the body looked so horrifically decomposed.
"Oh, it's a new jutsu I developed," Sasuke replied nonchalantly. He flicked a small cloud of decaying mist onto a nearby tree. Instantly, the once-lush tree withered into a dried husk, revealing two more Amegakure shinobi hiding within—both swiftly sent to the Pure Land.
"I see..." Sakura didn't dare meet Sasuke's eyes again—and wisely chose not to ask further questions.
Sasuke didn't mind revealing a few of his "secrets." After all, Konoha was doomed. To a group of soon-to-be-dead people, what did it matter if they learned a few things?
From the corpses of the Amegakure team, Sasuke extracted an Earth Scroll. Sakura remained silent, while Naruto looked somewhat hesitant.
...
Suddenly, a cold, murderous aura slashed through the air, like a sword hanging over their heads. Sakura stumbled back a step in fright, while Naruto's brows furrowed—he felt an intense, unexplainable sense of dread.
The killing intent was directed specifically at Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura were merely collateral.
A figure emerged from the bushes—a shinobi they didn't recognize. His pupils were vertical slits, and a long, snake-like tongue flickered from his mouth. One look was enough to tell he wasn't normal.
Naruto's gaze locked onto the strange ninja. A powerful, instinctive sense of familiarity welled up inside him—an irresistible urge to draw closer.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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