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Early the next morning, Kagaya and his two companions followed the other Genin to the assembly point.
On the way, a thought occurred to Kagaya. Now that he considered it, Danzo's right arm, which was covered with Sharingan eyes, seemed to have been crafted for him by Orochimaru using cells from Hashirama Senju.
Originally, Kagaya hadn't given much thought to Hashirama's cells. But this time, if he managed to kill Danzo, perhaps he could scrape some off for examination.
Furthermore, after this affair was concluded, Kagaya planned to use his father's Mangekyo Sharingan to evolve his own into the Eternal Mangekyo. Only then would Kagaya have the confidence to confront Obito. After all, Obito's combination of Mangekyo Sharingan and Hashirama cells allowed him to use his Mangekyo abilities limitlessly without the risk of blindness, bringing him close to the level of an Eternal Mangekyo.
Most importantly, after killing Danzo, Kagaya could officially begin his attempts to master the Impure World Reincarnation technique!
With these thoughts running through his mind, they soon arrived at the assembly point for the second stage of the exams.
Anko stood before the gathered examinees. Once it seemed everyone had arrived, she began to explain the rules of this stage.
First, they were made to sign consent forms. Deaths were possible during this exam, and the forms were prepared for that eventuality.
Afterwards, Anko continued to explain the contents of the exam.
Kagaya listened with a bored expression. However, halfway through, his brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he glanced subtly over his shoulder.
Standing behind him was a person wearing a woven sedge hat, with long hair, dressed entirely in white robes, and tied at the waist with a purple hemp rope.
Judging by the face, Kagaya had never seen this person before. But that was only judging by the face.
"You... is this how you managed to sneak in?" Kagaya looked at the person behind him and spoke in a low voice.
The person behind him was, of course, Orochimaru. However, the face was not Orochimaru's face. It seemed Orochimaru had likely taken the face of some examinee to infiltrate the second stage of the exams.
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "Quite convenient, isn't it?"
The voice that came out was also not Orochimaru's usual voice.
However, this probably wasn't the Body Replacement Technique. Kagaya remembered that technique had a significant cooldown period. In the original story, because Orochimaru couldn't wait for Sasuke to arrive, he was forced to perform the transfer prematurely and then stated the next transfer would have to wait two years.
If Orochimaru had performed the Living Corpse Reincarnation now, then his later transfer in the original story wouldn't make sense.
This method of taking someone else's appearance was likely one of Orochimaru's other ninjutsu. As for what technique it was, Kagaya didn't know. After so many years, it was impressive enough he could remember the Immortal Body Transfer had a cooldown. If he could still remember every single one of Orochimaru's techniques in detail, that would be truly supernatural.
Kagaya chuckled softly. "Do you need my help once we're inside?"
Cooperating with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death to help him plant the Cursed Seal on Sasuke was what Kagaya intended to do. However, the premise was that Orochimaru didn't mind his help. If Orochimaru wasn't willing, then Kagaya couldn't do anything about it. After all, Kagaya's fundamental purpose for infiltrating Konoha wasn't to help Orochimaru deal with Sasuke, but to avoid Itachi.
Orochimaru's reply was pretty much what Kagaya had expected. He spoke plainly.
"No need. Leave Sasuke-kun to me alone. I want to see if he possesses the ability worthy of the Uchiha name."
Orochimaru had refused. Kagaya wasn't the least bit surprised. Previously, he and Orochimaru had agreed to meet in the Forest of Death, but they had only agreed to meet. Other matters hadn't been discussed in detail.
As for agreeing to meet, the purpose was singular: to prevent unforeseen circumstances. Meeting occasionally would prevent a situation where one party encountered trouble but couldn't notify the other.
Just like the previous appearance of Itachi, Kagaya hadn't been able to notify Orochimaru immediately. Learning from that lesson, Kagaya and Orochimaru had agreed to meet from time to time to prevent being unaware of the situations.
Speaking of which, Kagaya was quite keen on helping Orochimaru target Sasuke. Not for any other reason than boredom. Participating in this kind of Chunin Exam with a bunch of Genin, Kagaya really couldn't muster much interest, so he could only proactively seek out something interesting to do.
Even though he knew there was an eighty percent chance Orochimaru wouldn't need his help, Kagaya still wanted to try. Just in case, right? But unfortunately, no "just in case" occurred with Orochimaru; he flatly refused Kagaya.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Orochimaru was the "Snake." How could he allow others to interfere with the prey he had set his sights on?
Thinking this, Kagaya spoke with a hint of helplessness.
"Well then, is there anything else?"
This question was to inquire if there were any unforeseen circumstances on Orochimaru's side.
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "Not at all."
Kagaya looked towards the direction of the Hokage's office.
"Alright then. I'll withdraw from this stage of the exam. It's time to attend to the main business."
The purposes of cosplaying as an examinee were, first, to facilitate infiltration into Konoha, and second, to have an identity to meet Orochimaru.
Now that both objectives had been achieved, Kagaya naturally had no desire to continue the exam with these Genin.
Orochimaru looked at Kagaya with concern. "Please try not to cause too much of a commotion. The timing is not yet ripe."
If they acted now, Orochimaru would be absolutely displeased. He hadn't tested Sasuke's abilities yet, nor had he planted the Cursed Seal. To act before achieving any of his objectives was something Orochimaru was absolutely unwilling to do.
Therefore, the planned time for action in their scheme was set during the third stage of the exams, nearly a month later. This extended period was precisely to allow time for Orochimaru to plant the seal and for Sasuke to adapt to it.
Since the two were cooperating, they naturally had to consider each other's interests, at least to the extent of not interfering. Kagaya could not interfere with or disrupt Orochimaru's targeting of Sasuke, and Orochimaru could not interfere with or disrupt Kagaya's targeting of Danzo.
Kagaya frowned. If he actually found Danzo, could he restrain himself from taking action? "If I find Danzo, I'm afraid I won't be able to..."
Orochimaru spoke coolly. "Then, what will you use to find him?"
Kagaya was taken aback for a moment, then glanced at Karin. He understood Orochimaru's meaning. Although Karin had willingly followed Kagaya, he had essentially poached her from Orochimaru. Now, using Karin to find Danzo and then forcibly taking action regardless, disregarding Orochimaru's interests—that would indeed be somewhat excessive.
With a sigh, Kagaya spoke. "I understand. For her sake, I will restrain myself until the third stage."
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "That will do."
Their conversation ended there. They had spoken in very low voices, and coupled with the constant noise of discussion from the surrounding examinees, no one had paid any attention to the talk between Kagaya and Orochimaru.
By this time, Anko had finished explaining the rules.
Next, after signing the consent forms, each team would receive a scroll. The scrolls were divided into two types: Heaven and Earth. Each team could only receive one of the two types.
The method to pass this stage of the exam was to collect one set of Heaven and Earth scrolls and bring them to a tower in the center of the Forest of Death.
The Forest of Death was surrounded by 44 gates. When entering the forest, each team would enter through a different gate.
The distance from the gates to the central tower in the Forest of Death was approximately 10 kilometers.
These were the general conditions of the second stage of the exam.