"Does the Cursed Seal still hurt?"
"No, thanks to you, it's almost fully healed."
By the time the picture came up, the exam had already ended. This time it cut back to Anko's side once more.
Standing behind Anko, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo were classic background players.
"Speaking of which, Orochimaru's one of Konoha's three legendary Sannin, right?" Kotetsu said. "An S-rank ninja in the bingo book—someone even ANBU can't lay a hand on, isn't he?"
The newer generation of ninja didn't know much about the Sannin of the past, but they'd at least heard some of the rumors.
"I heard he was already dead—so why has he shown up here again?" Kotetsu found it strange.
"More than Orochimaru, what I care about is who exactly that person who fought him was…" The Third set his pipe down beside him. "If it were just Orochimaru, that'd be one thing. One reason he came back to Konoha… is probably because of Sasuke."
"Eh? Not that Hyuga?" Anko thought Hanabi was the likelier bet.
"The Hyuga, hm…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered it. Because he had an informant no one else knew about—Uchiha Itachi.
No one knew that Uchiha Itachi was, in fact, a spy for Konoha.
And several years earlier, Orochimaru had once come into some degree of conflict with Itachi.
If there was anything Orochimaru wanted to get his hands on, the Third figured Uchiha Sasuke was the most likely answer.
But Hanabi's strength and talent were just as remarkable. Could Orochimaru have come for Hanabi?
"And who would the other person who fought Orochimaru be? Even ANBU couldn't dig anything out of the battle traces at the scene after investigating." Kotetsu was preoccupied by the signs of the earlier fight.
"Going by the combat traces left at the scene, it really is unfamiliar…"
That said, the Third had picked up a certain familiarity from the state of the scene.
And within that chakra, there had seemed to be an ominous power—just like the Nine-Tails' power.
But the matter was strange precisely in this way.
Because Hanabi had brought Team 7 to the Central Tower so early, it had given the Third the impression that Team 7 had gotten lucky—stumbling onto an enemy the moment they entered the training grounds, picking up a scroll that happened to be the one they were missing, and so heading straight for the Central Tower the instant they had it, with no time for anything else.
"But it's come to this. Now that Orochimaru has shown up in Konoha, we can't allow him to keep running wild." The Third made up his mind.
Just then, a staff member's voice came through the television—or rather, the monitor.
"Second exam: twenty-one candidates have passed. Per the Chūnin Exam regulations, the third exam will use a format that hasn't been run in five years. The second exam is now concluded."
"For now, let's just observe."
Having finished the video, Hanabi turned her attention back to what was happening in front of her.
"No wonder no one could find that Uchiha Sasuke—he'd already made it into the tower…"
The three Sound ninja had been keeping their eyes fixed on Sasuke, who was off to the side resting with his eyes closed.
Orochimaru had once given the three of them an order: to fight Sasuke.
But the Sound ninja could never manage to find him, and with the exam about to end, they'd had no choice but to come over here first.
As the exam ended, the examiners filed in one after another.
Then came the squad-leader Jōnin and the Third Hokage.
The Genin began lining up, waiting for the next set of instructions.
"What a shame, really."
Earlier, Hanabi had snatched the three Rain genin—Shigure, Baiu, and Midare—right out of Gaara's hands. Unfortunately, even after being saved by Hanabi, the three of them still hadn't passed the exam.
These three hadn't just been given throwaway appearances—even their names were tossed-off afterthoughts.
No matter, though. Hanabi decided she'd go "collect interest" from them later.
Amegakure was Nagato and Akatsuki's turf, after all. If the need arose, wouldn't it be only right to drop by and say hello?
If we're talking about stirring up trouble, then Nagato—the one who truly blew Konoha sky-high—is the real master of making things happen.
"Ara, ara, ara~"
As the squad-leader Jōnin filed in, Hanabi noticed one outrageously brazen individual.
—Orochimaru.
That Sound Village "instructor Jōnin"—without a doubt, this was Orochimaru in disguise.
No—it didn't even count as a disguise, because the most Orochimaru had done was make his face a shade paler before strolling out into the exam hall in plain sight.
Even Hanabi was floored.
This was way too bold.
"Mm… so that's how it is."
This Orochimaru was indeed Orochimaru—but this Orochimaru also wasn't quite Orochimaru.
Because Orochimaru had used Living Corpse Reincarnation, his body was already different from before.
Should she stir things up—get master and student to recognize each other ahead of schedule?
No. The premise of stirring up trouble was stealing the spotlight.
Having Orochimaru and the Third fight right now, beyond disrupting the pacing of the story, didn't seem to accomplish anything in particular—it would just feel awkward, ending the story abruptly before it could climb to a higher peak.
But not stirring up a little trouble, not stealing a little spotlight—Hanabi herself felt restless.
Right now Naruto was already squared away by her, and Sasuke… mm, Sasuke had his own fate set too. Which meant next, of course, it was finally her time.
"That Hyuga, hm?"
The moment Orochimaru walked in, a certain presence locked onto him.
That smile that wasn't quite a smile, exactly as it had been the first time he'd laid eyes on her.
The Naruto beside her, by contrast, was like an idiot, completely oblivious to his presence.
And the Sasuke he'd wanted all along stood cold and aloof among the crowd—handsome, stylish, perfect!
"There were some obstacles earlier that kept me from planting the Cursed Seal, but now the timing's just right."
"Your squad did a solid job, huh." Guy, beside them, hadn't noticed the Orochimaru over here at all; he sidled up next to Kakashi. "Threw the whole examiner corps into chaos. But even so, you're still no match for me~"
"Mm… what are you talking about?" Kakashi turned his head.
"Oh my God! Kakashi! You truly are my eternal rival!"
For no clear reason, Guy suddenly got fired up.
"Ah…"
Kakashi scratched his head.
His gaze rested on Sasuke and Naruto.
In just these few days, Sasuke and Naruto's presences had become completely different from before.
Over these few days, had these two undergone some special transformation?
Or—was this actually Hanabi's doing?
More than himself, Hanabi was really the truer teacher to these two.
"Once this exam wraps up, I'll go and give them some proper instruction."
He'd let his own body go for too long; he needed to train it back into shape too.
And Mitarashi Anko, seeing that everyone had assembled, began to call out: "Now then, let the Hokage introduce the third exam—everyone, listen carefully!"