There were way too many, similar-sounding shouts going across the village, just four and a half days later, right after every group got either ejected or finished the task within the forest, and the results were publicized. Naturally, we had a proper celebration for it back home; mom and dad were super proud of us both, and it was like having another birthday party out of nowhere.
"What… No... That... can't be! Two hours?!"
"That's not possible!"
"They're lying!"
"I saw the time stamp..."
Minato and I were brought back to the edge of the forest now, listening to the same shouts that the villagers were saying, standing near the clearing leading into it. Shaking my head, I exhaled through my nose, holding back a smile while glancing at Minato, who was standing beside me.
"They're loud," he murmured, catching my eye, "more than the others outside."
"They are just jealous," I hummed, glancing over the gathered group. "Very loud and very jealous, in fact. But there aren't as many of us remaining to host a preliminary fight, huh..."
Naturally, they wanted to see the results, and it wasn't hidden by Sakumo; a tall wooden board, freshly nailed into place, stood there for everyone to walk up to and start reading. The yells were coming from those who were gathering before it, watching the sheets of paper that were pinned onto it, and right at the very top, in bold ink, were our names:
"1st Place: Minato Namikaze & Renjiro Uchiha.
Completion Time: 1 hour 52 minutes."
As for below that? The best one was Twenty-three hours. Then, thirty-one. Then forty... No one even came close to matching ours, not even the Hyūga team, which came up second in the end.
"Oi... You're enjoying this too much," Minato said quietly, nudging me, seeing me grin as people kept looking towards us.
"I am," I admitted, without shame, stretching my back, "This is the fun part! And you are picking up some words from Kushina, hm?"
"..." He just rolled his eyes in answer, hiding a smile, and it was then that someone else spoke to me.
"Renji." I turned at once, seeing Shikaku coming up to us, with Inoichi and Chōza following him. "Didn't think you'd go that far," Shikaku added, scratching the back of his head. "Troublesome... Oh boy... You both are troublesome!"
"You say that," I smirked, "but you're not exactly shocked as far as I can tell."
"I'm shocked by the number," he replied, shaking his head. "Not the result, so that's true. You just had to do something unreasonable, eh?"
"Maybe." I grinned, making him shake his head again, exchanging a glance with the others behind him.
"Go easy on us in the finals, hm?"
"Don't surrender immediately, hm?" I answered, making all three of them snort, "Oh, good! I'm curious how good you all are in one-on-one!"
"I hate battle-maniacs..." Shikaku muttered, waving a hand as they all left, deciding it was best to just go and stand further away from us.
While they left, a few steps away, the Hyūga twins stood in silence, gazing at us, making me look back towards them. I caught as Hiashi's gaze flicked from the board to me, then to Minato, giving us a simple nod. It was the first time they looked this friendly, or as friendly as they could be, making me return it in kind.
"You've caused a proper disturbance."
"Hm?" My head turned, and when I noticed who said it, I somewhat straightened my back. "Ah, Hatake-san. Sorry about that, but we had our orders."
"I'm not complaining, you've done well," Sakumo continued, his gaze sweeping across the gathered others, raising his voice, knowing that everyone was watching us anyway. "Completing the second exam is, in itself, an achievement. But..." he then walked past us, now addressing everyone present, "We have to address Minato Namikaze and Renjiro Uchiha."
What now? Are we suspected of cheating? I hope not.
"You have set a new record," he continued, sounding as if it were the official recognition of it, and I think I was right. "Something that hadn't been done or seen since the establishment of this course, and probably it will never be toppled." Well... damn. That's some proper acknowledgment. Was this coming from the Hokage's own mouth? "Let this be clear," he said, sweeping his gaze over everyone else. "Anyone wanting to challenge them about it can do so freely... but don't blame us if you get ejected before the final round takes place."
"Ejected?" someone asked, making Sakumo smile at him.
"If you think you can recover in only a week or so for the finals, be my guest. Now," Sakumo said, turning slightly towards us for a moment, "The final round will be a tournament. It will feature one-on-one matches in which victory is achieved by submission, incapacitation, or surrender. Lethal force is prohibited, but…" His eyes hardened slightly when he paused, "…self-control is your responsibility." Meaning...? If someone dies...? That's on... us? Or what? That didn't sound good. Tsk. "The matchups will be announced after a short period of rest," Sakumo continued after a brief pause. "Then the final round will be happening a week from now, so use that time wisely. Now... Go back and rest!"
Naturally, everyone was looking at us again. Because we have been doing that for a week now. In all things considered, we were ahead of them... by a lot.
...
....
...
At the same time, Sakumo was finishing his speech somewhere outside Konohagakure, Orochimaru was preparing for the next phase of his experiments. All around him, the walls were plastered with sealing papers, layered over one another until the cave-like room looked like it was made of paper rather than of stone. Above him, lanterns burned in a bluish, sterile light, giving the chamber a cold feel, reflected in the many steel tables, glass containers, shelves filled with preserved organs, and scrolls stacked in an obsessive order. Naturally, he was looking over his future subjects, the three bodies lying on separate operating tables, unconscious. Raiga Amehara, Sora Kagemori, and lastly, Kiyomi Aika, the three Amegakure shinobi.
For safety reasons, their limbs had been restrained with metal bands and sealing tags. At the same time, their mouths were covered, their breathing forcefully slowed, and their chakra was being suppressed by needles placed along specific points in their necks, wrists, and abdomen. Their bodies twitched occasionally beneath the sedatives, small signs that whatever drugs Orochimaru had used had not put them into a peaceful sleep, as if they were trying to resist and wake up, but couldn't.
Writing his notes, measuring the frequency of the twitches, Orochimaru stood between their tables, wearing gloves stained faintly at the fingertips. After finishing his latest notes, he leaned down and was examining Kiyomi's arm, pressing two fingers against a vein while watching the pulse beneath her skin with quiet interest.
"She is more resilient than expected," he murmured, mostly to himself, "Amegakure's training methods truly are crude… but effective. I will have to increase the dose, or she may wake up during the process of inserting the cells into her body..." The door opened behind him just then, and Danzō Shimura entered, his steps accompanied by the thunk of his walking cane. "Danzō-sama," Orochimaru said, his voice silky but laced with noticeable sarcasm. "You arrive later than I expected. I wondered whether you were busy explaining how your carefully arranged plan was dismantled by two children or just hiding away, trying to deal with the shame."
Danzō's visible eye narrowed at that, watching as Orochimaru finally turned, his smile widening by the smallest amount, looking like a damned snake. If the room felt cold before, the air in the room seemed to freeze over in that brief moment. For a second, Danzō did not move again, and he merely stood there, leaning on his cane, just watching him, but Orochimaru wasn't flustered by his gaze. Quite the opposite...
"Choose your next words carefully, Orochimaru."
"Of course." His smile did not fade away; if anything, it became softer, more poisonous. "I only meant that it is fascinating. You selected an experienced team from Amegakure, a group of shinobi far beyond the level expected for this examination. You prepared contingencies, you accounted for Sakumo, hence the three bodies before me. You accounted for the proctors, you accounted for the forest itself, maybe even for the old monkey." He turned slightly, glancing toward the three unconscious bodies. "And still, Minato Namikaze and Renjiro Uchiha had crossed out all your plans and calculations, along with these pawns from Hanzo, swiping them from the board before they could perform even one useful task. How... unexpected."
Danzō's fingers tightened around his cane the more he had to listen to him, and for a moment, even Orochimaru felt like he was about to strike at him, but that never happened. Sweeping his gaze over the three, he turned back towards Danzō, speaking as if it was nothing serious.
"Do not misunderstand me. I am not displeased. The original plan failed, so we have to adapt. Good thing you thought of the same thing, that's why we are such good partners." His gloved hand rested lightly on Raiga's chest as he said it, "These three will suffice, but I will need more and soon."
Danzō did not answer immediately as his gaze moved over the three bodies, stopping on each in turn. Hanzo's shinobi... Tools, but still, tools that were sent across the border under a strict agreement. When he learns about this, Hanzo won't be happy about it, but then again... Orochimaru was right. They needed specimens, because they couldn't waste all the cells they managed to harvest from Hashirama's corpse on damned animals. They... He needed results.
"This will sever the arrangement with Hanzo," Danzō said at last, shaking his head, "I can smooth it over, but we won't be able to use him again for a long time."
"Yes, most likely."
"Not likely... Certainly. This blunder is greater than any of us expected..." Orochimaru just hummed, as if that did not matter to him at all. Finally, after that, it seemed the air between them stabilized as Danzō stepped farther into the room, the end of his cane clicking against the stone with each step. "Hanzo will not forgive the loss of his team." He continued, "Especially not if he learns they did not die in the exam but on your operating table."
"We must all learn from our losses."
"Enough," Danzō's eye hardened at that, "Do not be glib with me, I'm not Hiruzen."
"Of course not," Orochimaru's smile thinned, but he inclined his head slightly.
"..." By then, Danzō stopped beside Sora's table, looking down at the unconscious shinobi. "When can you start?"
"They are already prepared, as you can see. In a few months, we will have the first results. I will, as you said, make sure the experiments go well, so I can't rush it. But, I can tell you this, with just three, I won't have a successful run. I need more... a hundred would suffice. So either start that war so we can harvest without worry, or do something else. It is for both of our sakes! The old monkey is getting suspicious."
"You don't have to worry about Hiruzen for now."
"How generous."
"Do not mistake necessity for generosity," Danzō said sharply. "This failure has created a problem... Hanzo won't start the war, but if I can't smooth this out, he will be a thorn in our side more than he was in the previous conflict. We need to weaken him before he joins any other sides and turns into an infected scab on our back."
"Do I hear you have ideas already, or are you just annoyed?"
"Some," Danzō nodded, ignoring the second half, "There is a rebel cell growing under his watch... something called the Akatsuki, but this is not something you have to worry about. I will deal with this and make sure he has no time to waste on us."
"As always," Orochimaru said with a smile still on his face, changing the topic, "I reviewed the field report. Fire Release shaped into a defensive cloak, with a regenerative flame structure. That is not a standard Uchiha technique... I'm curious about the kid."
"No."
"Oh, please... I'm just saying."
"You have read enough of it, don't try to approach him. He is under Jiraiya!"
"I know that. I also know he likes the Minato Namikaze boy more because he is not an Uchiha. That one is a genius in... the conventional sense. But Renjiro Uchiha is… more interesting exactly because of his eyes..."
"Don't. Touch. Them." Danzō said in a dangerous voice, "We are not ready to poke the Uchihas, not at this phase. That needs to happen later. Do you understand?" Danzō turned away from the tables, looking directly into his eyes. "Do not approach the boy."
"Hm..." Orochimaru's smile did not go away, but something in his eyes flashed dangerously. "So... Not yet?"
"Do not approach him," Danzō repeated flatly. "Forgetting about Jiraiya, he has Fugaku's attention, Hiruzen has noticed him, and currently, Sakumo is watching him. Moving carelessly would expose too much, and I won't protect you then!"
"How unfortunate," Orochimaru murmured, shaking his head. "The most promising specimens are always the most guarded..."