The second day's Chunin Exam was in full swing, with spectators pouring into the arena early in the morning.
Ninja nobles clustered together in private stands, analyzing their favorite participants and speculating on match outcomes. Since the match roster hadn't been publicly released, the unpredictability made it all the more thrilling.
This was far more exciting than sitting around drinking sake and watching dancers. After all, this was the first Chunin Exam jointly hosted by the entire shinobi world.
Meanwhile, Assistant Hokage Uchiha Hikaru was still sound asleep in his room.
He didn't wake until nearly ten o'clock, and even then, he casually made his way to Orochimaru's Ninjutsu Science Research Institute.
To him, watching Genin skirmishes was utterly boring. Unless something unexpected happened—or unless Kisame and Saya clashed prematurely—he already knew the finals would boil down to those two. The rest were just background noise.
Better to deliver the new chakra cannon to Orochimaru and see if it produced the desired results.
By pure coincidence, just as Hikaru was passing through the forest behind the Hokage Monument, he ran into Anko.
At that moment, Anko was munching on a piece of bread. When she spotted Hikaru, she froze like a startled deer.
No way… Did Orochimaru really send him to scold me for being late?!
Hikaru raised an eyebrow at her stunned expression, briefly wondering if something was wrong with him.
After a moment of internal diagnostics, he concluded:
Nope. I'm fine. She's the one acting weird.
He strode up to her, snatched the piece of bread from her mouth, and took a massive bite.
"The clay figurine might be full of needles, but the breakfast my sister made is still edible," he said with a smirk.
Anko slowly raised her hand in a helpless gesture, eyes shimmering with unshed tears as she watched him devour her last bite of red bean bread.
"My red bean bread… wooo~!"
"I only took one bite! What are you, a first-year student?!" she wailed.
Hikaru tilted his head thoughtfully.
Red bean? That's why it was so sweet. Not bad to have a treat now and then.
But this little act was their usual brand of banter.
Truth was, Anko had eaten most of her red bean bread on the way there—this last piece was just a prop to keep up appearances. She even hoped Hikaru would take it. If he did, she could play the victim and use the encounter to avoid getting scolded for showing up late.
Hehe~
Together, Anko and Hikaru walked toward the research institute. Anko felt completely at ease now.
That damn Orochimaru lied to me again!
Fine! I'm taking a three-day break—starting now!
They split up at the fork in the path—Anko heading toward her lab, while Hikaru made his way to Orochimaru's section.
Boom boom boom.
Boom boom boom.
Boom boom boom…
After knocking several times without hearing a response, Hikaru frowned.
"That shut-in snake can't still be sleeping, can he?"
"No way. That guy basically lives in the lab."
He made a decisive choice.
Time for Plan B: Physical Entry.
With a solid kick—
Boom!
The door flew open.
But inside, Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell did he go?"
Then Hikaru remembered: Orochimaru had a hidden room behind a stone wall—once used to store backup bodies.
Drawing on his memory, Hikaru approached the wall and kicked again.
Boom!
The stone shattered, revealing a scene both absurd and horrifying.
Four White Zetsu lay bound by curse seals, immobilized.
Orochimaru sat on the floor, hunched over, scribbling intricate runes across the ground. His face was smeared with some disgusting black-and-yellow substance.
Hikaru froze, then clutched his nose and mouth with his left hand while pointing at Orochimaru with his right—visibly trembling.
"Orochimaru! Are you… Are you turning into Akaashi?!"
Orochimaru looked down at his yellow-smeared hand, wiped his face with the back of the same hand, and calmly stood up.
"Hikaru, I'm not in Akaashi. This is—"
He stepped forward, hand extended—trying to smear the yellow goo on Hikaru's sleeve.
"Stay away from me!!!"
e＝e＝e＝(#＞д＜)?
Orochimaru sighed and relented.
"I was attempting to synthesize a mixture of rare natural chakra elements."
"One sample was rich in Earth Release properties, the other in Water Release. When mixed, they formed… this."
Hikaru coughed, regaining composure.
"Ahem. Next time lead with that. I thought you were... doing something perverted."
Orochimaru rolled his eyes.
"I may be morally ambiguous, but I don't waste time with meaningless nonsense."
Hikaru then noticed the bound White Zetsu.
That changed everything.
"You're trying to use Impure World Reincarnation to summon the past Hokage, aren't you?"
Orochimaru flinched. For a moment, his heart skipped.
He had planned to make his move during the Chunin Exams. With Hikaru overseeing most of it, Orochimaru thought he'd have the chance to complete the process quietly.
He had perfected the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but hadn't yet used it.
Madara's resurrection had reawakened his obsession.
If he could summon the past Kage… perhaps he wouldn't be overshadowed by Uchiha Hikaru anymore.
He didn't intend to betray Konoha. He had wealth, resources, and a perfect base here to conduct his experiments.
But Hikaru made him uncomfortable. His presence, his power—Orochimaru felt perpetually exposed around him.
And, deep down, he still hadn't accepted Hiruzen Sarutobi's death.
He wanted to use Impure World Reincarnation to call his sensei's soul from the belly of the Shinigami—just once—to send him peacefully to the Pure Land.
"Ahem… Yes, it's Impure World Reincarnation. But I only wanted to run some tests on these White Zetsu I captured alive."
Hikaru looked at him silently, then stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
"No problem. An experiment's an experiment."
"But why sneak into this room instead of working in the lab?"
"And when you say 'test subjects,' do you usually use top-grade materials like these?"
"You really think I'm that easy to fool~?"
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