News of the destruction soon reached the Hokage's ears. Hiruzen took action, but it was questionable at best. Instead of doing a thorough search into what caused this, Hiruzen prioritized the advancement of the Chunin Exam more.
However, the security was tightened from that point onward.
The traces left behind by both Orochimaru and Sukuna this time around left much more evidence compared to when Sukuna and the Uchiha infiltrated the Root base.
Back then, Sukuna made sure to erase all the evidence that could lead someone to either him or the Uchiha, part of the reason why Hiruzen and the other elders couldn't blame the Uchiha clan after Danzo's fall.
If given even a single proof, they undoubtedly would have struck at the Uchiha, but without proof nothing happened. They couldn't, because after their earlier actions against the Uchiha clan, all the other clans were already watching them like hawks. If they had taken action carelessly, the other clans surely would have acted for their own interests, pulling away from the Hokage's power base.
This time around though, Sukuna didn't have time for a quick clean-up duty. The remnants of him and Orochimaru were as clear as the sky.
If not for his technique being a secret, clear suspicion would have fallen onto him. As for Orochimaru, his slithering scales were clearly seen, and Hiruzen was already aware of it. Little did he know that his favorite disciple was already nothing more than a single parasite inside Anko's body.
Orochimaru had just so many ways to save his life that even Sukuna couldn't completely kill him. The snake was arguably the only person Sukuna still, to this day, had failed to kill. Thoughts of finding the Dango Lady and ending the entire reincarnation nonsense before it even began came to his mind — God knew he was dealing with too much reincarnation already in his life — however, he didn't wish to kill Anko.
It just went against his code of conduct. He didn't mind killing, but not without reason. He personally had no grudge against Anko. So killing her just to get rid of Orochimaru felt wrong.
And of course, there were things only Orochimaru could do. In the future, he might need that snake just in case, so leaving a way for him to come back sounded just right. He just had to make sure that if he were to come back, he would do so on his terms. And for that, he had to take care of Kabuto fast. Hell, he would rather take care of that prodigal doctor one way or another. He was the wildest card he had seen in the Elemental Nation. (Kaguya doesn't count.)
Once Sukuna took care of Orochimaru's corpse, he even got a Kusanagi sword and the Ryuchi Cave contract. A lottery, if he had ever seen one.
Coming back from the Kamui dimension, he saw the entire area of conflict taken over by ANBU. There was no way to erase the traces now. He either had to make every ANBU here disappear or divert the blame to someone else so that later down the line he wouldn't get involved.
'Sigh… it's not worth it. If my technique were to be revealed, then let it be. Trying to hide it would bring more trouble than it's worth to cover it up.' Sukuna sighed, then let the matter be as it was and left.
And he or his team weren't the only ones affected by this incident. Everyone currently in the Forest of Death was.
The explosion of destruction did not go unnoticed by the other participants.
Even sectors away, the ground trembled and the terrible chakra and cursed energy radiated heat and terror.
In another part of the forest, Team 8 froze as the chaos took place.
Kiba shielded his face as a gust of hot wind rushed past. "What the hell was that?!"
Akamaru whimpered.
Shino adjusted his glasses calmly, though even he tilted his head toward the smoke. "That level of force is not genin-level. We should stay clear of that place."
Hinata had already activated her Byakugan. Her pale eyes widened.
"I—I can see it," she whispered. "The forest… it's gone. There are huge cuts in the ground. Like something sliced it apart."
"Sliced?" Kiba repeated. "What, like a giant sword?!"
Hinata swallowed. "No… I mean, I don't know."
Not far away, Team 9 stood on a high branch overlooking the rising smoke.
Tenten stared. "That's miles away."
Rock Lee clenched his fists, his eyes shining with intensity. "Such destructive power! Is this the strength of youth pushed to its limit?!"
Tenten sweat-dropped. There was no point talking to Lee; everything started and ended with training and youth for him.
Neji activated his Byakugan, scanning carefully, and his expression darkened.
"There are two massive chakra signatures," he said. "Both are definitely beyond Jonin-level."
"Can you tell who it is?" Tenten asked.
Neji shook his head slowly. "No. But whoever they are… they are far beyond us."
Elsewhere, Team 10 crouched behind cover as another tremor shook the ground.
Choji gulped. "Are we sure this is still the Chunin Exams?"
Shikamaru exhaled heavily. "Troublesome. That's not something we should get involved in. We're ignoring that place."
Ino looked toward the smoke nervously. "For once, I wouldn't mind that."
In another sector, the Sand team stood silently.
Gaara watched the rising flames without blinking. Sand shifted restlessly at his feet.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
Temari frowned. "What should we do?"
Kankuro shifted uneasily. "Ignore it. We already have the scrolls we needed. Let's get going."
Finally, near the edge of another ruined clearing, the Mist team paused.
Suigetsu was sweating bullets, literally. "Tell me we are not going there."
Haku's soft expression turned serious. "No, we are not."
Kimimaro stared toward the destruction calmly. "If we encounter whoever caused that… we must be prepared."
"Let's hope we don't encounter them."
And finally, there were both Team 7 and Team 11, who were currently closest to where the incident took place. They still waited for Sukuna's return.
xXx
A/N : Okay, a little chapter for today since I wished to include everyone else also in the chunin exam while I didn't had much time to write today since I'm traveling. Hopefully you guys like it.
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