In the Forest of Death, the ninja squad dressed as ANBU looked at Orochimaru in front of them and spoke in a harsh tone:
"Orochimaru, why did your people appear in the Forest of Death? Do you know how much risk we took to keep the Fifth Hokage from discovering this?"
"If our plan is exposed, there won't be a single ninja village in the ninja world willing to accept you!"
"Remember, you're no longer one of the Sannin. You're a rogue ninja who betrayed the village. A rogue ninja isn't qualified to bargain with us."
Hearing this, Orochimaru's eyes flashed with gloom, but he still replied in his eerie tone:
"Of course I know about our plan. But who exactly was it that colluded with Sunagakure and Amegakure?"
The ninja squad showed a trace of panic before quickly pretending to remain calm.
"Without the Patriarch's authorization, would we dare to do this? Orochimaru, don't waste this final chance."
After saying that, the ninja squad voluntarily left the area, turning into black shadows as they disappeared into the forest.
Staring at the squad vanishing into the trees, Orochimaru sneered and muttered faintly:
"Ever since Danzo died, these wastes have taken over his role and continued living in the darkness of Konoha. How exactly are they supposed to deal with disobedient ninjas in the village? That idiot Jiraiya really thinks the Will of Fire alone can keep the entire village obedient."
After speaking, Orochimaru looked toward the tree trunk behind him and revealed a faint smile.
"Come out, Anko. It's been nearly ten years since we last met. You've grown up before I even noticed."
After being exposed, Anko jumped out from behind the massive tree, her kunai stabbing directly toward Orochimaru's face.
Orochimaru neither dodged nor retreated. He grabbed the kunai barehanded and licked Anko's cheek with his long tongue.
"Killing me the moment we meet? Looks like being around me really was hard on you."
"Do you even know what I've gone through these past years? Discrimination, exclusion, suspicion."
Anko broke free from Orochimaru's control, pulled the short sword from her thigh, and stabbed through Orochimaru's palm. At the same time, she formed hand seals and shouted:
"Ninja Art: Twin Snake Mutual Death Technique!"
As the words fell, Anko's hands transformed into two giant pythons that lunged toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru, who had supposedly been restrained, suddenly melted into a mud clone and reappeared behind Anko.
"Even if you're my disciple, don't casually use a ninjutsu like that."
Cold sweat dripped down Anko's forehead, but she still maintained a stubborn expression.
"Why don't you just kill me? As long as I'm alive, I'll report everything to Lord Jiraiya, and your plan will definitely fail."
Orochimaru replied calmly:
"That idiot Jiraiya would never believe your words. Otherwise, the commotion just now would've already attracted other ANBU. The people cooperating with me aren't ordinary high-ranking Konoha officials."
"Orochimaru… what exactly are you trying to do?"
Seeing Orochimaru deliberately revealing information to her, Anko began to panic.
Knowing too much was never a good thing, and the fact that Orochimaru dared to tell her all this meant he was already confident in victory. The only thing she still couldn't determine was Orochimaru's true objective.
Was he working with hostile forces to destroy the village?
Or was he planning to overthrow Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage?
The answer Anko received was only an illusion.
After using genjutsu to control Anko, Orochimaru left a viper nearby to guard her before turning to look at Konoha in the distance, nostalgia flashing through his eyes.
...
After handing the unconscious Oto ninja over to the proctors, Naruto and the others rushed toward the central tower area.
Under the simultaneous assault of seven ninjas, many teams couldn't withstand the pressure and chose to surrender. Among them, the Konoha, Sunagakure, and Amegakure squads suffered the most losses, obediently handing over their corresponding scrolls.
Naturally, they deeply despised Naruto and the others for teaming up to hunt other squads together.
However, this behavior didn't violate the exam rules. War was never a game, nor would it create an environment for fair fights. Other than complaining bitterly, the only thing they could do was find ways to become stronger.
And judging from the scroll distribution among the major ninja village teams, Konoha itself clearly encouraged this kind of behavior.
After all, teams from other villages could still return home and continue advancing in rank if they failed. But if Konoha ninja missed this opportunity, they would have to wait another half a year. There was naturally some home-field advantage involved.
A few hours later, Naruto and the others appeared one kilometer away from the tower area.
What stopped them was a battle taking place ahead.
The two sides were the Sunagakure squad they had seen earlier and Konoha's Team Three.
The atmosphere between the Sand squad and Team Three was extremely tense, and a clash could break out at any moment.
After seeing Neji being blocked by Gaara and the others, Hinata frowned and wanted to step forward to help, but Naruto stopped her.
"It's no fun always crushing people with numbers. They need to face opponents on their own level. Besides, we might still end up as competitors in a few days."
At this moment, Kiba said:
"I also want to see who wins. Neji and the others are a year older than us, so they should be able to handle Sand's panda-eyed freak."
Sasuke's expression darkened slightly as he remembered the challenge he had made to Rock Lee a few years ago.
Back then, he had been completely crushed by Lee in taijutsu. As for using the Sharingan in a spar against someone his age, Sasuke considered that kind of victory beneath him.
This was the perfect opportunity to test the limits of both Rock Lee and Gaara so he could formulate countermeasures later.
As they spoke, Gaara had already launched his attack.
The sand surged toward Rock Lee, who stood at the front, but Lee shattered the incoming sand merely with the force of his kicks.
Neji and Tenten also quickly entered combat against Kankuro and Temari.
Just as both sides were about to start using their real strength, they noticed Naruto and the others in the distance. Everyone immediately stopped fighting and turned to look over.
"They're all Konoha ninja… let's retreat first."
Sensing that the situation had become unfavorable, Temari hurriedly spoke.
Kankuro also looked panicked.
"Yeah, even those monsters from Uzushiogakure are here! Why the hell are they all together instead of fighting each other?!"
Monsters from Uzushiogakure?
Gaara immediately locked onto Naruto's position and frowned.
Every time he encountered Naruto, Shukaku inside him became unusually restless. It was hard to tell whether it was fear or excitement.
But no matter which it was, it proved one thing:
Naruto possessed the ability to suppress Shukaku.
Gaara wanted to walk over and ask why Naruto made Shukaku so afraid, but he didn't want to satisfy Shukaku's desires either. He wanted Shukaku to experience the feeling of wanting something it could never obtain.
Thinking of this, Gaara looked toward Temari and said calmly:
"I won't fight for now. We'll wait until the third exam."
Hearing this, Temari finally breathed a sigh of relief. If they got gang-beaten here, their entire plan would fail.
This time, they hadn't come to Konoha with their father, the Fourth Kazekage, merely to participate in the Chunin Exam.
They had come to reclaim everything Sunagakure had lost.
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