Chapter 28: Serpent (I)
Konoha Village, Hokage's Office.
"Hokage-sama."
Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu stood respectfully, bowing before the Hokage's desk.
"Oh? You're here. I called you in because I have a mission for you."
Namikaze Minato lifted his head from the mountain of documents on his desk, rubbed his brow, and looked at the two of them.
"Please give your orders, Hokage-sama,"
Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu replied respectfully.
"It's like this. Over the past two months, a powerful giant snake has appeared in the Forest of Death. Its presence has already caused serious damage to the forest's natural ecosystem.
The village will be holding the next Chūnin Exams in two months' time. The Barrier Team responsible for maintaining the Forest of Death is not skilled at fighting this kind of large ninja beast. I want the two of you to cooperate with them and resolve this issue as soon as possible."
Namikaze Minato nodded, his expression solemn.
In fact, the Hokage's Office had already received reports about the emergence of a powerful ninja snake in the Forest of Death a month ago.
However, during this period Minato had been busy handling village affairs and caring for his wife, and hadn't paid it much attention.
Who would have thought that in just this short span of time, the snake would cause such massive damage to the Forest of Death—far beyond the village's expectations.
According to the intelligence, this giant snake had appeared in the Forest of Death quite suddenly.
In only a few months, it had nearly devoured all the large animals in the forest, severely disrupting the original ecological balance.
Most members of the Barrier Team were ninjas skilled in sealing techniques. After discovering the giant snake, they had attempted several times to capture it.
However, they were not adept at fighting large ninja beasts, and each attempt ended in failure.
Left with no choice, the Barrier Team reported the situation and requested assistance from the Hokage's Office.
Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu were both special jōnin of Konoha, ninjas with extremely rich combat experience.
They had been partners for many years—Mizunotsuki excelled at close-quarters combat, while Chishima Matsu specialized in Water Release. Their coordination was excellent.
Moreover, Mizunotsuki's Water Syrup Capture Field and Water Syrup Binding Rope were Water Release techniques with restraining effects, making him an ideal candidate for this mission.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The two accepted the mission and took their leave.
After leaving the Hokage's Office, Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu immediately headed toward the Forest of Death.
Back in the office, once the two had departed, the Fourth Hokage buried himself once more in the pile of documents.
"Akimichi Ryūya…"
At this moment, Namikaze Minato was holding a file that recorded detailed intelligence on the three A-rank missions Ryūya had completed together with Shisui and Itachi over the past half year.
Looking at the mutual evaluations recorded in the file, Minato's brows furrowed slightly.
As the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Minato was naturally well aware of the relationship between the village's higher-ups and the Uchiha clan.
He didn't harbor much prejudice against the Uchiha.
Back then, Obito—whom he had personally mentored—was a member of the Uchiha clan.
However, after ascending to the position of Hokage, Minato came to understand much more deeply the complex relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village.
As for how to handle this matter, Minato had yet to make up his mind.
At the outer edge of the Forest of Death, in a concealed location, there was a circular opening leading to a pitch-black tunnel that extended deep underground.
Inside the tunnel, the sound of dripping water echoed endlessly.
Beyond the end of the passage lay a vast stone cavern. Inside stood more than a dozen large cultivation tanks, each about the height of a person. Within them floated grotesque limbs and chunks of flesh—some already clearly bearing human outlines.
At the center of the cavern, on a massive experimental table, stood Konoha's black-tech enthusiast and one of the Legendary Sannin—Orochimaru—holding tools and working tirelessly.
Rumble~
At that moment, the experimental table trembled slightly.
Orochimaru paused his movements and lifted his head, his cold, slit-like pupils looking toward the upper left.
This was a secret laboratory Orochimaru had established beneath the Forest of Death.
Ever since losing the Hokage election to Namikaze Minato and being relieved of all official duties in the village, Orochimaru had completely let himself go, walking further and further down the path of forbidden jutsu research and human experimentation.
With ample financial support provided by Danzō, many of his forbidden experiments had achieved promising results.
Several months ago, based on the outcomes of Orochimaru's experiments, Danzō had just completed the fusion of Hashirama's cells into his body.
Although the tremor just now was slight, Orochimaru could clearly sense that its source came from the direction of the Forest of Death.
For vibrations to reach him tens of meters underground, the disturbance above had to be considerable.
Could someone be fighting over there? And right inside the Forest of Death?
Could it be that the Chūnin Exams had already begun?
Putting down the tools in his hands, Orochimaru took a single step—and his figure vanished from the laboratory table.
Boom!
Inside the Forest of Death, amid the dense woodland, a massive azure serpent—about one meter in diameter and over twenty meters long—was violently swinging its tail. A towering tree was effortlessly uprooted and sent flying by the tremendous force carried in the blow.
Dust billowed, branches and debris scattered everywhere!
Within the rolling clouds of dust, the figures of Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu leapt repeatedly between tree branches, retreating rapidly as they evaded the serpent's attacks.
Looking at the devastation wrought across the forest by the rampaging tail, both men wore grim expressions.
As they retreated, shuriken in their hands flew nonstop toward the giant snake.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amid a series of metallic sounds, the shuriken bounced off the snake's hard scales, failing to cause even the slightest damage.
"This thing is far too strong… I underestimated it!"
Seeing this, Chishima Matsu's expression darkened.
"This isn't your fault. Who could've imagined that something this powerful would appear in the Forest of Death? The Barrier Team should've warned us in advance."
Mizunotsuki also looked irritated as he spoke in consolation.
When they had left the Hokage's Office, the two had already raised the estimated difficulty of the mission in their minds as much as possible—yet even then, they hadn't expected things to turn out like this.
It was obvious that the Barrier Team hadn't properly investigated the true strength of this giant snake.
Without accurate reports from the Barrier Team, the Hokage naturally wouldn't know the full situation—and the two of them, sent to carry out the mission, ended up suffering for it.
After arriving at the Forest of Death, Mizunotsuki and Chishima Matsu had been led by a member of the Barrier Team to the snake's lair.
After all, the Forest of Death wasn't that large. For a ninja snake of such enormous size, completely hiding its traces was extremely difficult.
Moreover, this giant serpent didn't seem to have any intention of hiding at all.
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