After taking care of some necessary administrative matters, Anko returned immediately to the monitoring tower.
"How is it possible that three genin vanished from seventeen cameras at the same time? Don't tell me it is a technical glitch, because I will not believe you."
The surveillance system operator had beads of sweat trickling down his neck. His fingers moved quickly over the control panels, making the images rewind and fast-forward in a loop.
"I do not have a logical explanation, Anko-san. I was following the Sound team. One second they were there, crossing the clearing in sector nine, and the next instant the image filled with static on every camera covering that area."
"Static does not appear by magic," Anko said, hitting the table with her fist. "Check the chakra sensors. If they used a high-level concealment jutsu, there must be a trace. Look for any fluctuation in the ambient energy."
"I already did it three times. There are strange residues in the area, but they do not match any technique in our database. It is as if something absorbed the natural flow of the forest at that exact point. The energy simply stopped."
Anko clenched her teeth as she felt a sting of irritation. The Sound team has kept me on edge since the exam started.
"Activate the protocol immediately. I want every ANBU we have in reserve in tracking positions around sector nine. Have them surround the area, but do not let them enter yet. I do not want them walking into a trap without knowing what we are facing. And find Kurenai, I need to talk to her."
"Kurenai-san is in the west sector," the operator replied, talking while he typed. "She is monitoring the movements of Kabuto Yakushi and his team."
"Tell her to leave that to the secondary trackers and get here. I need her analytical skills. If there is a large-scale genjutsu blocking our cameras, she will be able to see through it without wasting time."
The operator began talking into the radio to coordinate the encrypted frequencies. Anko walked away from the console and approached the holographic map floating in the center of the room. Small blue dots represented the genin teams. Each dot had been assigned through the use of chakra based on ANBU monitoring to mark their approximate locations. The forest was a dangerous place and the kids knew it. Except in sector nine. There, the hologram showed an absolute void.
The control room door slid open with a metallic sound. Kurenai entered walking at a fast pace. She did not look tired, but her expression was one of absolute seriousness. She closed the door behind her and approached Anko.
"They told me the situation is critical. What happened?"
"The Sound team disappeared and sector nine has gone blind for us. Seventeen cameras went out of service at the same time."
Kurenai stood by the map to observe the void. "Have you sent anyone to investigate on foot?"
"I made the necessary preparations. The ANBU are on the way, but I ordered them to maintain the perimeter. I do not like how this feels. The Sound team is not made of normal genin."
"Do you think they are infiltrators?" Kurenai asked, crossing her arms.
"I know they are. The problem is who sent them and why they decided to disappear right now. What about Kabuto? They told me you were watching him personally."
"That boy is a problem," Kurenai admitted, shaking her head. "They act as if they are on a walk in the countryside, ignoring that they are in an exam where people die."
"Has he done anything suspicious? Any external contact?"
"Nothing. And that is what bothers me. If he is a spy, he should be sending information or looking for someone, but he limits himself to following the exam protocol. He is too perfect. No one is that normal under these circumstances."
Anko nodded, sharing her companion's concern. "Unless his mission is simply to be there as a distraction while something else happens elsewhere in the forest."
The radio on the control desk exploded in static before a tense voice cut through the noise. It was a long-range communication.
"Anko-san! This is ANBU unit seven. We are at the edge of sector eleven, near the dry riverbed. You need to see this. We cannot report it over open radio."
Anko grabbed the communicator. "What have you found? Speak clearly."
There was a long silence. Only the wind blowing on the other side and the agent's heavy breathing could be heard.
"Bodies. They are three ninjas from Kusagakure. They were on the participant list, but there is something wrong with them. Their faces are gone. Someone has torn the skin off their faces. There is no sign of a struggle, Anko-san. It seems they did not even have time to scream."
The air in the tower seemed to turn cold instantly. Anko felt a chill while Kurenai tensed beside her, her red eyes fixed on the radio.
"Orochimaru," Anko whispered. The name weighed more than anything else in the room.
Anko squeezed the communicator so hard her knuckles turned white. "Seal the area immediately. No one touches those bodies or gets closer than five meters. I want a total perimeter. If you detect any strange movement, attack with intent to kill. Do not ask questions."
"Understood, Anko-san. But there is something else you should know. We found marks on the nearby tree trunks. Deep grooves, as if something large had crawled through here. The trail is fresh and leads directly toward the sector where the Sound team vanished."
Anko closed her eyes for a moment to try to control her racing heart.
"Kurenai, go to sector eleven right now. Take two tracking teams with you. I need you to analyze those bodies and tell me if there are residues of his chakra. If Orochimaru is using his face-swapping techniques, he must have left a signature."
"And what are you going to do?"
"I am going to find the guards following Kabuto. If that boy has anything to do with this, I will interrogate him until he tells me the truth. I do not care if I have to break the exam protocol."
Kurenai put a hand on Anko's shoulder. "Be careful. If he is here, he will not play fair. You know what he is capable of."
"I know it better than anyone," Anko replied with a bitter smile. "That is why I am the only one who can hunt him."
Kurenai nodded and vanished in a whirlwind of leaves, exiting through the roof hatch. Anko turned to the operator, who was looking at her with terrified eyes.
"Contact the Hokage's office. Tell Hokage-sama we have a confirmed Class S infiltration. Orochimaru is in the forest."
"Should I order the immediate suspension of the exam?"
"No. If we do it now, panic will spread and it will be easier for him to hide in the crowd. Besides, if we stop everything, Orochimaru will know we detected him and might attack the genin indiscriminately. For now, maintain surveillance, but double the ANBU teams in the shadows. Make sure every Konoha group has a protector nearby without them noticing."
Anko did not wait for an answer. She jumped through the open window of the tower, plummeting toward the tree canopy. The wind whipped her face as she descended. Halfway down, she threw a kunai with a wire string to slow her fall, swinging before landing softly on a thick branch.
The Forest of Death looked different under the twilight. Anko began to run, leaping from tree to tree with a speed that made her look like a blurry smudge.
Five minutes later, she reached the position of the ANBU watching Kabuto. They were two agents with wooden masks, one shaped like a hawk and the other like a bear. They were crouched among the thick foliage.
"Status report. Where is the target?"
The agent with the hawk mask pointed down toward a small clearing where three figures sat around a small campfire that barely produced smoke.
"Kabuto Yakushi and his team have been there for the last fifteen minutes. They are checking their supplies and consulting a map. They have not made any suspicious moves since we arrived."
"Have you detected any communication signals or hidden data transmission techniques?"
"Nothing, Anko-san. We have kept the frequency sensors active. There are no radio signals or chakra fluctuations indicating the use of messenger animals or mental techniques. Their behavior is consistent with a team planning their route for the next day."
Anko watched Kabuto from above. The boy adjusted his glasses with a calm gesture while talking to his teammates. He looked so harmless it was insulting.
It is too good to be true, Anko thought. "What about the other important teams? The Sand team?"
"They reached the tower on the first day," the bear agent replied. "They were the first. Their arrival time broke all previous records. They moved in a straight line from the starting point."
"Incidents with Gaara?"
"Brutal efficiency. He did not waste time with games and eliminated four teams that tried to ambush them."
"That boy is a time bomb," Anko said, scratching the mark on her neck. "But right now he is not my biggest concern. Keep following Kabuto. If he makes a single gesture that does not look like a scared genin, I want him immobilized. Use poison if necessary."
"Understood."
Anko launched herself north again. Sector eleven was a couple of miles away. She needed to see those bodies with her own eyes. When she arrived at the site, the atmosphere was heavy. Kurenai was kneeling next to a tarp covering the remains.
"What have you found?" Anko asked, landing without a sound.
Kurenai stood up. Her face was pale under the light of the ANBU lanterns.
"It is worse than what they said over the radio. The technique used to remove their skin was precise. Whoever did it wanted the bodies to be recognizable by their structure, but not by their faces. It is a way of telling us that he can be any of us now."
Anko approached and lifted an edge of the tarp. She looked away immediately. "A common ninja does not do this. It takes incredible chakra control not to damage the underlying muscles."
"Exactly. And look at this," Kurenai said, pointing at marks on the ground. "A summoning snake at least ten meters long passed through here. It transported something toward the center of the forest."
"Where exactly?"
Kurenai pointed northeast. "Toward sector eighteen. It is a dense hunting zone, full of vegetation that blocks aerial views."
Anko felt her blood turn cold. "Team Seven is in that direction."
"Naruto and the others?"
"Yes. Sasuke Uchiha is there. If Orochimaru has returned to the village, it is not for the exam. It is likely for him or Naruto."
Anko activated her radio again. "Priority one! Locate Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. I need their exact position and an immediate status report."
Seconds passed like hours before a response came.
"Anko-san, this is the secondary surveillance unit. Team Seven is camping in sector eighteen, near a stream. They had an encounter with a team an hour ago, but they won without problems. They are resting now."
Kurenai approached Anko, worried. "If you send so many troops at once, Orochimaru will know we are coming for him. He could use the kids as hostages."
"I prefer an open fight to him finding them alone in the dark," Anko replied, already preparing to jump. "Kurenai, you go to the sector of Team Eight. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino are near the conflict zone."
"And what about the other supervisors?"
"Kakashi is covering the north zone. Asuma is with Team Ten. Everyone is on alert. I will return to Kabuto and send the Jonin to Naruto's position; this time I will look for answers."
Kurenai nodded, although it was clear she wanted to say more. She knew Anko was acting on impulse, moved by a mix of duty and a past that never truly closed, but there was no time for therapy.
"Do not die, Anko. The Hokage needs you alive to testify later."
"I will try not to give the old man that pleasure," Anko said with a forced smile before disappearing into the shadows of the trees.
*****
Meanwhile, deep in a hidden underground complex beneath Konoha's residential area, Danzo Shimura sat on a stone throne. Before him, three figures dressed in the gray Root uniform waited in absolute silence.
"The Chunin Exam is an opportunity that will not present itself again," Danzo said. His voice was a raspy whisper that filled the cold room. "All the attention of the Hokage and his regular forces is focused on exterior security and the forest cameras. They are blinded by logistics."
The agent in the center, whose mask had no distinctive markings, stepped forward. "What are the orders, Danzo-sama?"
"The primary objective is to secure the future of Konoha. Tsunade and Hiruzen are weak. They believe they can protect the youth with hope and pretty words. They do not understand that power must be controlled and cultivated in the darkness."
Danzo struck the floor with his cane. The sound echoed off the stone walls.
"I want you to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno."
"And the Uchiha?" another agent asked.
"Sasuke Uchiha is not a priority at this moment. With the exams in progress and the attention on the village's outer points, we have a clear path to take the Nine-Tails container and the Hokage's apprentice. Both possess information and anomalous abilities that Root needs."
"What do we do if the watchmen interfere?"
"Eliminate them, but do it in a way that looks like the work of foreign teams. Use weapons from the Rain or the Grass. If there are witnesses, make sure they do not live to tell what they saw. Confusion is our best tool."
The three agents bowed their heads in unison.
"Leave now. Use the infiltration routes of the east sector. Surveillance there is thin due to the lack of genin activity. You have six hours before dawn. Bring the targets back alive. The rest is optional."
"Understood, Danzo-sama."
With a fluid movement, the three men vanished into the darkness. Danzo remained alone, looking at a map of the forest on his table. He leaned back in his chair, closing his only visible eye. The darkness of the room seemed to wrap around him, merging with his figure.
********
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