Orochimaru's expression stiffened for a moment. Ignoring Hinata, the idiot, he stuck out his tongue, rolled up the scroll, and forcefully stuffed it into his mouth.
Orochimaru licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with a sinister light, and said, "Then let's begin, the battle for the scrolls... I'll go all out!"
Hinata's eye twitched slightly. One of the Legendary Sannin had come to bully an elementary school student. Was there any justice in this world?
"Etc!"
Hinata shouted, pointing a finger at Orochimaru, and asked aggressively, "Since this is a battle for the scrolls, tell me, is it Civil Combat or Martial Combat?"
Orochimaru asked with slight interest, "Oh? How about Civil Combat? And Martial Combat?"
Hinata explained, "This kind of Martial Combat is just us all fighting randomly, and whoever's people are still standing at the end wins."
"As for this Civil Combat... we'll use a Ninjutsu technique, and you'll have to figure out how to counter it. Then you'll use another Ninjutsu technique, and we'll counter it."
"If we can't crack it, then we've failed!"
Orochimaru thought to himself, "Although ninjas have never had the concept of 'Civil Combat,' with my strength, if I go all out, they really won't last long. Besides... this little girl from the Hyuga Clan... might have some secrets."
Orochimaru, who was already obsessed with Ninjutsu, was slightly intrigued when he heard Hinata's method of "Civil Combat," and said playfully, "Then let's do it according to your rules of 'Civil Combat'!"
"Good!"
Hinata pushed Naruto forward and shouted, "Naruto, you go first!"
"Watch me!"
Naruto, equally imposing, Hand Seals and shouted, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Orochimaru chuckled inwardly. Shadow Clone were one thing to deal with ordinary Genin, but he was Legendary Sannin, one of the Orochimaru!
They were indeed three innocent children.
'BOOM——'
In the forest, Naruto created Shadow Clone, generating a large amount of smoke that filled the surrounding area. Through the smoke, one could vaguely see hundreds or thousands of Naruto, some standing and some hanging upside down on tree branches.
Hundreds of Naruto were talking at once, creating a chaotic mess, and no one could understand what he was saying.
Orochimaru thought to himself, "Interesting, this kid has a lot of Chakra!"
Orochimaru was about to say something when he saw hundreds of Naruto split into groups of three and flee frantically in several directions...
Hinata and Sasuke transformed into Naruto's appearance and, together with Naruto's real body, mingled among countless 'Naruto' as they raced towards the Central Tower.
Hinata and her two companions were already very close to the tower, and after running a few steps, the tower came into view.
Hinata glanced back at Orochimaru's direction and sneered inwardly, "You call yourself one of the Legendary Sannin? Your name sounds impressive, but you were still fooled by me?"
As expected of the naive Orochimaru.
Orochimaru: "..."
Orochimaru never imagined Hinata would run away.
Hinata possesses the strength of Jonin, placing her at the very top of the food chain in this Forest of Death.
Who would have thought Hinata would be so shameless? She ran away, but instead of trying to fool him with her intelligence.
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes swept around a few times.
Even the Byakugan cannot see through the flaws of Shadow Clone, but the Transformation Jutsu is different.
However, the area was densely forested with strangely shaped ancient trees, and Orochimaru, lacking the Byakugan, naturally couldn't find Hinata and the others.
"Hehehe... How interesting, I actually got tricked by a little brat."
"Did she discover my identity... or did she sense the danger?"
"What a vigilant little brat."
Forty seconds later, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke arrived at the tower entrance.
Hinata wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, feeling completely exhausted. She sighed, "Phew~ I'm so lucky to have survived. I actually made it out."
Naruto looked at Hinata with some suspicion and asked, puzzled, "Hinata, was that person very strong?"
Sasuke's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Very strong!"
Naruto and Sasuke know Hinata very well. If they encounter a team weaker than theirs, Hinata will definitely go up and unleash her ultimate attack without hesitation.
Hinata's unusual behavior after encountering Orochimaru was naturally noticed by the two of them.
Especially when Hinata used the excuse of "Civil Combat" to push Naruto away, Hinata's desire to escape was all too obvious.
What Ninjutsu does Naruto know?
He only knows one move: Shadow Clone Technique.
Sasuke looked at Hinata and asked, "What do we do now?"
Hinata's face was also dark. With Kiba and Neji's two teams, as well as the other three teams of Konoha Ninja, Hinata wouldn't have to worry about food for the next seven months.
Kiba and his team were going to treat Hinata to three months of lavish meals, while the other teams would only treat her to one month's meals.
But now...
Looking at the dozen or so scrolls left in my hand, if I use them well, this could be a feast for more than a year!
We really lost a lot of money this time!
There may not be another chance like this to rip someone off.
Hinata looked back at the eerie Forest of Death. Could Orochimaru still be waiting in there?
Hinata shivered.
I absolutely do not want to fight that disgusting guy, Orochimaru.
Losing is no big deal; the Heaven's Curse Mark can even make you stronger.
What's truly terrifying is that Orochimaru might suddenly stick out his long tongue and bind you up, or summon a giant snake and swallow you whole...
"Let's go! Let's pass this exam first!"
Pushing open the doors of the Central Tower, Hinata and her two companions walked in side by side.
The room was empty; there was no one there. On the wall hung a calligraphy scroll written by a 'Third' that was quite incomprehensible.
Hinata looked around a few times and said, "They probably want us to open the scroll!"
Naruto and Sasuke took out two scrolls, 'Heaven' and 'Earth', from a dozen or so scrolls and unrolled them at the same time. The scrolls seemed to be a Summoning Technique formula, with a large 'human' character written in the very center.
A puff of smoke appeared...
Sasuke yelled, "Naruto, throw away the scroll!"
The two threw the scrolls at the same time, and a large amount of smoke billowed out from them. Iruka stood in the smoke, looking at Naruto with a look of satisfaction, and said lightly, "Hi! Long time no see!"
Naruto grinned widely, revealing an exaggerated smile, and shouted, "Iruka-sensei —how did you end up like this?"
Iruka laughed and said, "We Chunin were originally here to welcome the candidates for the second round of exams... Congratulations on passing the second round of exams."
"To celebrate..." Iruka touched his nose, seemingly a little shy, and said proudly, "After the exam, I'll treat you all to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate..."
Naruto immediately threw himself on Iruka, shouting, "Hooray..."
After playing around for a while, Iruka pointed to the calligraphy on the wall and continued, "Our orders are to convey the Lord Hokage's insights on Chunin's to you."
Hinata scratched her cheek with her finger and asked doubtfully, "Iruka-sensei, are you Shadow Clone now?"
Naruto looked at Iruka curiously. Could Iruka also use Shadow Clone?
Iruka scratched his head and said, "Haha, yeah! What's wrong..."
'Bang!'
Hinata shattered Iruka's Shadow Clone with a single blow, tossed her hair, and said calmly, "A little celebration is enough; I don't want to hear any long-winded explanations!"
Naruto and Sasuke nodded in deep agreement.