Naruto's army of Shadow Clones made quick work of the digging. Within moments, both the Heaven and Earth scrolls were unearthed. After Naruto drove off the enemy and saved Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji from near death, they naturally didn't try to shamelessly take the extra Earth Scroll. They only retrieved the Heaven Scroll Ino had originally offered. With Naruto now possessing the Earth Scroll, he had both.
Next, they only needed to reach the center of the Forest of Death to successfully pass the second exam.
After distributing the scrolls, the sun was beginning to set. To help Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji—both recovering from injuries—Naruto and Sakura decided to find a place to rest for the night. Sasuke didn't refuse; he didn't care about his ranking in the Chunin Exams at the moment. However, his gaze toward Naruto grew increasingly provocative and hostile. It looked like a fight could break out at any second!
As for Kiba, Hinata, and Shino… having already collected both scrolls, they bid farewell to the others and left, intending to waste no time by traveling through the night to the central tower.
---
Behind a tree trunk not far away, Kabuto adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, withdrawing his prying gaze. His brow furrowed in confusion.
"To be able to fight against a half-transformed Shukaku without being at a disadvantage, Naruto has indeed mastered the Nine-Tails' power," he muttered. "It seems that the Manda Orochimaru summoned this afternoon was also fighting him."
He paused, his mind racing. "But what's going on with Sasuke? Why can he also use Tailed Beast chakra? And that Heavenly Curse Seal successfully implanted on his neck… Could it be that Orochimaru's research on the Eight-Tails' chakra made a huge breakthrough? Did he give Sasuke both the Eight-Tails' power and the Curse Mark?"
Kabuto was skeptical of his own guess. After all, the two combined were far too powerful! Judging from Sasuke's aura and his disdain for Naruto, even with his Elite Jōnin strength, Kabuto might not be a match for him.
Shaking his head, he took out a pen and notebook to record everything he'd just witnessed. When the afternoon exams began, he hadn't entered through the same entrance as Naruto and the others, nor with the disguised Grass Ninja or the Sound Ninja trio. To avoid suspicion, he'd chosen a distant entrance. Shortly after entering, he'd separated from his teammates to search for Naruto and Sasuke alone. He had been drawn by the appearance of Manda, but by the time he arrived, the battle was over; he'd only witnessed Sakura healing everyone. He hadn't seen Sasuke fight, nor Orochimaru leave behind half the white snake's true form. However, he had seen the later battle between Naruto and Gaara, and Sasuke almost fighting Naruto. He'd witnessed it all clearly from a distance.
"Who is it?!" he suddenly snapped, catching a glimpse of movement in the corner of his eye.
He raised his hand and fired a volley of shurikens. Swish! Swish! Swish! As the blades pierced the ground, the raised area flattened out. Then, the earth rose on the other side, and a large, fat man jumped out.
"Kabuto Yakushi, it's me. Jirobo."
Kabuto's furrowed brows relaxed as he looked at Jirobo, who was bound with purple sacred rope. "What are you doing here? I remember Orochimaru told you to hide in the camp until the plan began."
Jirobo nodded. "Of course I know. But Orochimaru has returned to the camp and sent me to inform you. The plan was originally scheduled to begin after the Daimyo arrived to observe, but it's been moved up. I need you to come with me now."
"The plan has moved up?!" Kabuto's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. He quickly processed this. "Is it because of Naruto and Sasuke?"
"I don't know," Jirobo said, a hint of impatience in his face. "I'm just here to deliver a message. If you have questions, go back and ask Orochimaru."
Kabuto showed no reaction to the disrespectful tone. Instead, he nodded with a smile. "That's true. Since the plan has been brought forward, there's no point in me continuing the exam."
Saying this, Kabuto took out the two scrolls he had acquired—Heaven and Earth—and opened them directly. A summoning ninjutsu engraved with the character for "human" activated.
Boom! After a puff of white smoke, the voice of the proctoring chunin came from within.
"Opening the scroll midway, you've been disquali—uh!"
Whoosh! A bluish-green Chakra Scalpel flashed, drawing a spurt of bright red blood. The proctoring chunin looked on in disbelief, clutching his neck as he fell backward. Kabuto smiled and withdrew the chakra from his palm, then crouched to pat the corpse of the proctor.
Soul Removal Technique!
The corpse, which had begun to grow cold, suddenly twitched back to life. Then, it stood up like a living person and walked to Kabuto's side. This scene sent a chill down Jirobo's spine, but Kabuto spoke indifferently.
"Go back and report. I'll be leaving soon under the pretense of being eliminated."
---
That night, in front of the Shimura Clan Mansion—
"Hey, Blondie, Red-Hair, and you, Black-Hair Arrogant Guy," Hidan said, gripping the three-bladed scythe behind his back. "Is this the place you guys were talking about where we can kill people?"
He gazed at the luxurious mansion with its gates tightly closed. Hidan, forbidden from killing for days, was vibrating with excitement. To avoid making a mistake and being punished, he turned to the three people beside him to confirm.
"Black-Hair Arrogant Guy? I'm Obito!" Menma rounded on Hidan, glaring. He crossed his arms, looking haughty.
"Don't ask me, I don't know," Kurama grumbled. "I was just bored and came along to digest my food!"
Kurama was finally able to enjoy some human life. It had been feasting all afternoon at the Hidden Void Village's base, eating until evening. If it hadn't seen Minato, Kushina, and Hidan sneaking out, it would have planned to eat until tomorrow morning! After all, aside from the Sage of Six Paths, it had never linked its chakra with anyone else. This time, it finally managed to connect, and it absolutely had to indulge in some good verbal sparring.
"The Shimura Clan is this wealthy now…" Minato stared blankly at the sprawling mansions. If it weren't for the Shimura nameplates, he would have thought this was the territory of the Hyuga or Uchiha clans!
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