Night deepened, and the barbecue restaurant was filled with rich aromas and drifting smoke.
While everyone was enjoying their meal, a cold, sinister presence appeared in the private room next door.
Orochimaru, disguised as a Kusa ninja, sat across from Kabuto Yakushi, who wore his usual fake smile.
Though they spoke in low voices, their attention was constantly fixed on the other room—especially on Akira and Sasuke.
Akira laughed and chatted with Shikamaru and the others, but his sensory perception had already spread outward.
The two chakra signatures next door—especially Orochimaru's cold, snake-like malice—stood out to him like a spotlight in the darkness.
Akira sneered inwardly.
"Orochimaru really has no sense of restraint… showing up so openly at a time like this."
"Then again, it's not surprising. Konoha's security means nothing to someone at his level."
"Who would've thought that one of the legendary Sannin—not only mastering forbidden jutsu like Living Corpse Reincarnation—but also able to hide his presence so perfectly?"
Akira had no intention of alerting them.
He knew Orochimaru was after Sasuke—and was also interested in himself—but he had no desire to get involved in that mess just yet.
---
In the next room—
Kabuto adjusted his glasses nervously, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Orochimaru-sama, for you to appear in person at a time like this… the risk is too high."
Orochimaru licked his lips. His slit pupils gleamed with excitement, his voice low and smooth.
"Relax, Kabuto. No one can detect me. What about that boy, Akira? How's the intel?"
Kabuto quickly formed hand seals and summoned a sealed scroll, respectfully handing it over.
To be fair, Kabuto's talent as a spy was exceptional.
In just half a day, he had dug up nearly everything about Akira's past.
Aside from the truly critical details of his strength, the report was already frighteningly thorough.
Orochimaru unrolled the scroll, his gaze greedily scanning every line. A twisted smile curved his lips.
"Interesting… what a pity."
"This Akira is practically a reflection of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze… perhaps even more low-key and composed than the Yellow Flash himself."
"But unfortunately, like the Fourth, he lacks the one thing I truly desire—the Sharingan."
Orochimaru had spent his entire life pursuing truth and immortality.
To him, the body of an Uchiha was the perfect vessel.
If he only wanted eyes, he had plenty in storage.
But what he sought was a body—one capable of housing his soul and bringing out the full potential of the Sharingan.
Orochimaru rolled up the scroll, his gaze drifting through the gap in the wall, as if watching the boy eating barbecue next door.
"Still… judging from this, his talent is extraordinary."
"He's even mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu… a complete prodigy."
"I've lived long enough to see countless so-called 'geniuses,' but in front of him, they all pale in comparison."
"Akira… if only you were an Uchiha, you would have been the perfect vessel for my reincarnation."
"What a shame."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, a sharp glint flashing behind the lenses, his tone filled with disbelief.
"When I first reviewed that file, I thought the intel department had made a mistake. The name 'Akira Hane'… belonging to nothing more than a twelve-year-old boy."
"That suffocating sense of power… it's far beyond anything a chūnin could possess. He's definitely stepped into jōnin territory. In fact… purely in terms of combat ability, he's probably already surpassed me."
From the shadows, Orochimaru's signature raspy laughter echoed softly, tinged with amusement.
In his eyes, Kabuto was being far too modest.
Akira hadn't just surpassed him—the gap was overwhelming.
Kabuto, as he was now, might be troublesome, but in raw strength he still fell slightly short of Kakashi.
Yet recalling the battle in the Land of Waves, Akira's composure and destructive power had clearly exceeded that of the so-called Copy Ninja by an entire level.
If Kabuto truly wanted to defeat Akira, a direct confrontation would offer no chance of victory.
His only hope would be exploiting an information gap—striking from the shadows.
After all, in the brutal world of ninja, information was life.
Even a Kage-level fighter could fall to an ambush if their secrets were exposed—killed by someone far weaker.
But in any fair, head-on fight…
Akira would crush Kabuto completely.
Of course, Orochimaru didn't voice these thoughts.
His presence here had two purposes:
To further gauge Akira's true strength—
And to prepare for the upcoming "Konoha Crush" plan.
He needed to find a way to draw this variable away.
Akira's presence was too overwhelming—more troublesome even than Kakashi.
If he remained in Konoha's core, the risks to the plan would multiply.
Although Orochimaru had absolute confidence in his own strength—and believed himself far superior—his target was the aging Third Hokage, not this young anomaly.
He had spent far too long preparing to take his former teacher's head.
He would not allow Akira to interfere.
In Orochimaru's mind, the verdict was already decided—
Akira had to be eliminated.
Or at the very least… removed from the equation.
On this dark, windless night, however, Orochimaru suppressed his killing intent.
A snake that had survived this long in the ninja world never acted without certainty.
Akira was stronger than Kakashi—if he failed to kill him instantly, it would alert all of Konoha.
That was a risk he wouldn't take.
---
The next morning, a light breeze stirred fallen leaves across the ground.
After asking Kakashi, Akira learned the location of the second exam.
Standing at the edge of Training Ground 44—the infamous Forest of Death—Akira kept his hands in his pockets, his expression calm as still water.
With him present, Team Seven was unquestionably the strongest squad in the exam—no contest.
After waiting idly among the crowd, the proctor—Anko Mitarashi, dressed in a mesh suit and beige coat—finally appeared.
She waved a thick stack of documents in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the young candidates.
"Before entering this hell, each of you will sign a waiver."
"If you want to take the second exam, this is mandatory."
Her words dropped like a stone into still water, instantly throwing the crowd into chaos.
"What kind of joke is this?! Why do we have to sign something like that?!"
"This is just a promotion exam—people can't actually die, right?!"
Watching the panicked genin, Anko's lips curled into a cruel smile. Her voice lowered, carrying a chilling edge.
"What do you think the Chūnin Exams are? Some kind of game?"
"Listen carefully—this is a microcosm of war between nations. A real battlefield. If you're not strong enough, you die. That's a ninja's fate."
"If you're afraid, you can leave now."
"If you don't have the guts to sign… come back next year."