In the Forest of Death, the Anbu ninjas moved all around, locating the candidates of the Chunin Exams from different villages and informing them about the disruption that had been caused during the exam. They also informed them about the extension in the time limit for submission, and six hours of rest were given to all of them.
The rustling of leaves echoed through the forest as the Anbu moved from one team to another, appearing and disappearing like shadows among the trees. Some candidates looked relieved upon hearing the news, while others simply nodded and remained on guard, still tense from everything that had happened.
Although, even if Minato had not given any such privileges or made changes to allow them time to rest, he still could have continued with the Chunin Exams in the normal way. After all, this test was about survival in the wild, so the participants had to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances. What had happened in the Forest of Death around half an hour ago was, in many ways, very similar to that reality.
But anyways, due to the fact that all of this had happened because of Konoha's negligence and was not particularly part of the Chunin Exams, nor was it deliberately arranged by Konoha, Minato decided to make an exception. Since it had been an accident, he granted all of the candidates this grace period of rest and made such changes.
While all of this was happening, Minato and Jiraiya returned back to the Hokage office.
Minato took the main seat as the Hokage, while Jiraiya stood beside the window behind him, looking outside. Sunlight filtered through the glass, casting long shadows across the room, while the faint noise of movement from outside the office barely reached them.
Minato looked at the paperwork in front of him for a few moments before speaking.
"Sensei, you need to be mentally prepared, because now Orochimaru is going to be in huge trouble. He tried to do something that he should not even have dreamed of. He dared to extend his hands towards the children of Uzukage."
Minato's eyes darkened slightly as he spoke those words.
"He is in for it now. He will be facing humongous trouble and might not live for that long."
After hearing Minato's words, Jiraiya let out a long sigh and kept looking outside the window.
"It can't be helped," Jiraiya said. "After all, with the domineering nature of Shanks Uzumaki, he will definitely avenge his children."
Jiraiya paused for a moment, as if recalling the kind of man Shanks was.
"If it was someone around his children's age, or someone of equal strength who had attacked them and they lost, then Shanks Uzumaki might not have been that angry. Because in that case, he would simply think that his children were inferior in strength, train them harder, and not bother much with it."
His expression became more serious.
"But Orochimaru really crossed a line which Uzukage will definitely not like. He attacked children who were far weaker than him and tried to take advantage of them. Shanks Uzumaki will definitely take action."
…
In Uzushiogakure, Shanks was standing beside a fish pond in the Uzumaki clan compound, feeding the fish.
The pond water rippled gently as dozens of colorful fish gathered near the surface, fighting over the scattered feed. A cool breeze passed through the compound, making the nearby trees sway softly.
Suddenly, a few feet away from Shanks, a black hole appeared in the air.
Shanks's hand did not stop. He continued to spread the fish food calmly into the pond as, from the black hole, Antares walked out. The dark portal disappeared the moment Antares stepped through it.
Antares looked at Shanks and said, "It was Orochimaru. He attacked Shamrock and Uta."
As soon as Shanks heard this, he simply nodded and gave a quiet hum.
"It seems that people are starting to forget the sharpness of my sword," Shanks said calmly.
His hand finally stopped above the pond.
"They have forgotten."
A cold breeze passed through the area at that moment, and even the movement of the fish seemed to slow.
"If I become angry, then what are the consequences… It seems this world needs to be reminded of what will happen if you dare to cross a line against my people."
Shanks then said, "Navi."
As soon as he spoke, a man appeared just behind Shanks and knelt on one knee while wearing a white tiger mask. He was one of the shadow guards and also one of the commanders, code-named White Tiger.
Shanks said, "All the hideouts, or the probable hideouts, of Orochimaru have already been marked. You will go there and immediately start destroying all of those hideouts completely. Destroy everything and everyone inside them. And make sure that the people of that country or village, wherever that hideout is located, know that it was Orochimaru's hideout and that you have destroyed it."
White Tiger lowered his head further and said, "Yes, Lord."
After saying this, he disappeared without making a sound.
Soon, Navi left Uzushiogakure along with the team of twenty Shadow Guards under his command.
Their immediate target was all of the predicted hideouts of Orochimaru that they had previously scouted and kept an eye on. This was not something prepared in a hurry. Long ago, Shanks had already ordered the Shadow Guards to create a detailed list, not only of Orochimaru's hideouts, but also of the hideouts of Akatsuki and any other useful locations or information they could gather.
The Shadow Guards generally knew where people like Orochimaru, Obito, and the Akatsuki tended to operate, or the regions where they had been spotted more often. They had not explicitly gone to every single place to verify whether there truly was a hideout there or not, because doing so could alert the enemy.
And the reason why they did not simply barge into those hideouts was also very simple. Shanks did not want to alert them or let them know that Uzushiogakure was already onto them.
Because if Akatsuki or Obito came to know that Uzushiogakure was already tracking them, then they might become even more cautious, and things could become far more complicated in the future.
So, the Shadow Guards only did just enough.
They visited all the previously marked locations and found that, on average, every third or fourth site appeared to be one of Orochimaru's hideouts. While they weren't entirely certain, they proceeded under the assumption that these were their targets.
In many of those areas, they found hidden tunnels, concealed entrances, abandoned caves, underground chambers, and small hidden facilities which clearly showed that there had once been people operating there. There were also a few guards, traps, seals, and different mechanisms in some places, making it even more obvious that those were not ordinary locations.
From the structures themselves and from some of the papers and notes they managed to gather from those places, they confirmed that many of those hideouts truly belonged to Orochimaru.
As for the number of ninjas they encountered during their raids on different hideout locations, it was not more than ten in total.
This entire thing continued for one week.
For seven days, Navi and the Shadow Guards moved across different countries and remote regions, destroying confirmed hideouts one after another. Smoke rose from hidden caves, underground laboratories collapsed into rubble, and word slowly began to spread in different villages that Orochimaru's bases were being wiped out by the Shadow Guards of Uzushiogakure.
After one week, Navi and his entire team arrived in front of an empty barren land with a few rocky cliffs surrounding the area.
This place was located close to the border of the Land of Earth.
Cold wind moved across the dry ground, carrying dust through the air. The rocky cliffs stood tall and silent around them, and at first glance, the entire place looked completely empty.
But with their mastery over Observation Haki, they were able to sense multiple presences hidden inside one of the stone cliffs.
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