The simultaneous assassination of Konoha's two senior advisors shocked every clan in the village. Lights flickered on across the village as
Uchiha Clan."So there really is a village trying to act during the exams."Uchiha Fugaku was slightly surprised.The pair of eyes spying on the five Iwagakure ninja just now naturally belonged to one of his Spore Clones.Some time had passed, and the number of Spore Clones had grown to over a hundred.Because in the original timeline, Orochimaru and Sunagakure had stirred up trouble during the Chūnin Exams, Fugaku had been especially vigilant toward the participating villages this time.He dispatched many Spore Clones to monitor the actions of the visiting ninja in secret.As a result, he really did uncover a plot—one of the villages was planning something during the Chūnin Exams."No wonder Iwagakure came this time—they've set their sights on the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."A flash of realization crossed his eyes.When he first saw that Iwagakure was participating in the exams, he had already felt something was off.Now his suspicions were confirmed: the Iwagakure ninja had come with a purpose."A good plan, but it's doomed to fail."A cold smirk formed at the corner of his mouth.Now that he knew about it, there was no way he'd let it succeed.If he allowed the enemy to succeed even when prepared, where would his pride go?"They dare target the Nine-Tails jinchūriki… None of them will leave alive!"With a cold snort, he stood up.He planned to mobilize forces to capture the Iwagakure operatives."Wait… This could be an opportunity."Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he sat back down.Lately, he had been thinking about how to quickly raise his prestige within the village.The operation Iwagakure was about to launch could be the perfect chance.While the five Iwagakure ninja were decent in strength, that was all. He didn't believe they could abduct Naruto Uzumaki under ANBU surveillance and escape Konoha.The real threat lay in what they had mentioned during their secret talk—the group meant to cause a commotion.Their goal was likely to create enough chaos to distract the ANBU, giving them a chance to kidnap Naruto.To divert ANBU's attention, the chaos would need to be massive—likely involving powerful individuals, possibly even Kage-level threats.If he arrested the five now, the plan would be aborted, and the more dangerous instigators might never appear.But if he pretended to know nothing, and let the commotion break out before acting, he could confront the true enemy behind it.Capturing or eliminating those powerful enemies would dramatically boost his reputation."But I can't afford to be careless. If the jinchūriki is actually lost, it wouldn't be worth the risk."After a brief moment of thought, he made a decision.He assigned Spore Clone No. 1, which had already reached Kage-level strength, to remain hidden near Naruto and protect him closely.With a high-level clone that could conceal its presence, there was no way Naruto could be kidnapped.---A few days passed, and the Chūnin Exams began.The first round was a written test. Nothing major happened, and it passed without incident.The second round was the scroll battle, held in the Forest of Death, just like in the original timeline.After all, within Konoha, only the Forest of Death was suitable for such an event.Halfway through the test—Crash! Boom!Sudden crashing sounds echoed throughout the forest, like dozens of trees being violently torn down.A huge flock of birds was startled and scattered into the sky.Hearing the commotion from the Forest of Death, the Konoha shinobi monitoring the exam—as well as the leading ninja from other villages—were all alarmed."What's causing such a huge disturbance?""No way genin could cause this! Even jōnin would struggle to make such a racket!""What on earth is happening inside the Forest of Death?"Worried expressions appeared on many of the attending chūnin exam supervisors from other villages.Were their genin in danger?Swish—A proctor swiftly arrived."Lord Hokage! Orochimaru has appeared in the Forest of Death!"The proctor knelt before the Third Hokage and reported anxiously."What?! The S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru is in the Forest of Death?!""Why is Orochimaru there?! We must stop the exam immediately!""Lord Hokage, we request immediate suspension of the exam and permission to launch a rescue mission!"…Hearing the report, the faces of Konoha's ninja and the leaders from other villages changed drastically.With Orochimaru's power, the genin—who hadn't even become chūnin yet—would be facing certain death."Orochimaru?"A flicker of surprise crossed Fugaku's eyes.He had known Iwagakure would cause a disturbance to snatch the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.But he hadn't expected that Orochimaru himself would be the one creating the chaos."How is Orochimaru involved with Iwagakure? Ah—he's with the Akatsuki now.""And Iwagakure has hired Akatsuki many times in the past—they're practically Akatsuki's biggest client. This must be another contract job."He quickly connected the dots.Before the Akatsuki fully revealed their fangs, Iwagakure had repeatedly hired them, even supplying them with substantial funds.It was like inviting a tiger into your home.And in fact, both of Iwagakure's jinchūriki—the Four-Tails and Five-Tails—had been captured by Akatsuki and killed when the tailed beasts were extracted.---"Suspend the Chūnin Exams."Upon learning that Orochimaru had entered the Forest of Death, the Third Hokage's expression turned grim.He cast a calculating glance toward Fugaku and spoke:"Captain Fugaku, please lead a team into the Forest of Death to capture the rogue ninja Orochimaru.""As for the other clan heads, lead your clan's ninja to surround the Forest and block any escape routes."Both Orochimaru and Fugaku were his enemies. If they clashed and one of them was injured—or even killed—it would be a win for him either way."That old fox... He's trying to use Orochimaru to get rid of me?"Fugaku instantly saw through the Third Hokage's plan."Yes, Lord Hokage."But he didn't refuse. Instead, he nodded and accepted the order.He immediately took Konoha's elite police force and rushed toward the site of the disturbance in the forest.The Hokage wanted to pit Orochimaru against him, but Fugaku saw this as a prime opportunity.Orochimaru was an S-rank criminal despised by many clans for his human experimentation.If he could capture Orochimaru, his prestige in Konoha would soar.As for Iwagakure's plan to kidnap the jinchūriki—he wasn't worried.With the Kage-level Spore Clone No. 1 secretly tailing Naruto, the enemy wouldn't escape the Land of Fire.He would deal with Orochimaru first—then go after the rest.It would be two major victories—and two boosts to his reputation.