Clearly, Orochimaru had acknowledged Sasuke. During the fight, Sasuke had calmly exhausted Anko's Chakra, using the simplest Substitution Technique to evade her attacks.
Most crucial of all was his use of those eyes. Though they were only Two-Tomoe, they had been sharp enough to detect Anko's movements.
Orochimaru was very pleased with Sasuke's performance.
Anko, on the other hand, was a little embarrassed. He had been Orochimaru's student for so long, yet someone who had not even become his student had just taught him a lesson.
But Anko was straightforward by nature, so she immediately put her defeat by Sasuke behind her. She also greatly admired how strong Sasuke already was at such a young age.
Although Orochimaru thought he could only stay in this world for a while, that was no problem for him.
Besides, the Orochimaru of this world would never give up on a vessel as promising as Sasuke. While sealing the Cursed Seal just now, he had also taken the opportunity to figure out what it did.
Now that he thought about it, his future self was already very impatient. Had something happened?
With that, Sasuke had successfully become Orochimaru's student. Naruto still looked wary, as though he feared Orochimaru would steal Sasuke away.
"Hey, aren't you going to finish your mission?" Kakashi asked, pointing at the scroll in his hand.
"Oh, right." Naruto hurriedly opened the scroll left by the three Sound Ninja, unable to wait any longer. Sure enough, it was the Earth Scroll they needed.
"That's great! Now all we have to do is reach the Tower of Death in the center of the forest, and we'll have completed the mission," Naruto said happily.
Kakashi had completed half his mission by now. He had no intention of appearing openly from here on out, planning instead to hide and keep watch over Naruto and the others.
Orochimaru had achieved his goal. He still could not appear openly in Konoha, so after teaching Sasuke some Ninjutsu, he planned to infiltrate Konoha first and give Sasuke special training during the Third Exam.
It was time for them to part ways. Naruto's team headed for the Tower of Death, while Kakashi protected them from the shadows.
Meanwhile, Hinata's team was also making its way quickly toward the Tower of Death. They too had found the scroll they needed early on.
"By the way, how do you know Naruto?" Kiba Inuzuka asked Obito as they traveled.
Obito did not know how to explain it to him, so he could only say they had met on a mission.
Kiba Inuzuka did not doubt him. After all, some missions were carried out jointly by multiple teams, and he had encountered similar situations before.
Hinata, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.
"There's something up ahead." After activating her Byakugan, Hinata spotted Shinobi from other teams ahead.
"It's not like we can't beat him. We can just charge straight through," Kiba Inuzuka said confidently. He did not think any of the remaining teams were worth fearing.
But Akamaru, nestled in Kiba Inuzuka's arms, looked terrified, as though he had seen something horrifying.
Hinata noticed Akamaru's strange behavior and asked with concern, "What's wrong with Akamaru?"
Kiba Inuzuka grew very cautious too, his earlier confidence gone.
"Akamaru has a talent for sensing other people's Chakra!" Kiba Inuzuka explained.
He then looked ahead and said gravely, "From Akamaru's reaction just now, the group ahead is very strong."
"His Chakra is so powerful that Akamaru doesn't even dare move," Kiba Inuzuka continued.
"Ah, is it that serious?" Obito also realized how serious the situation was.
Hinata used her Byakugan again to observe what was happening ahead.
A team of Sunagakure Shinobi was fighting a team of Amegakure Shinobi. The Sunagakure Shinobi in the lead had short red hair and the character for "love" carved into his forehead. Most conspicuously, he carried a large gourd on his back.
He had not expected this person to frighten Akamaru so badly.
"I suggest we take a detour," Kiba Inuzuka said.
"But this is the shortest route to the Tower of Death," Shino said.
There was no other choice. Gaara was fighting the Amegakure ninja ahead, and they could not take a detour, so Kiba Inuzuka led the others into the nearby bushes to hide and wait for Gaara to finish.
It turned out that Gaara had begun seeking out fights like mad as soon as he entered the Forest of Death. He did not care whether his opponents had the scroll he needed, and he hit extremely hard.
As luck would have it, the Amegakure team thought their opponents would be easy prey, relying on the fact that they were much older.
The Amegakure team set its sights on Gaara and his two siblings.
Killing intent was already showing on Gaara's face. Most of the people who fought him ended up dead or injured. Clearly, the people before him did not know how formidable he was.
"Kid, I suggest you hand over the scroll now, unless you want to get hurt," the Amegakure Shinobi said as they closed in with ill intent.
Gaara clearly paid the small fry no mind. Forget Genin—even Chunin who exchanged a few blows with Gaara probably would not be his match.
Seeing no reaction from Gaara, the three Amegakure ninja thought he was afraid and moved to rob him.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
Sand poured continuously from Gaara's gourd, tightly enveloping the bodies of all three opponents.
The three had clearly never encountered such a powerful Shinobi and immediately intended to give up.
One of them hurriedly said, "I'll hand over the mission scroll. Spare me."
But he seemed to have mistaken the situation. Someone else might have spared him, but the person before him was Gaara, who killed without batting an eye.
Gaara waved both hands. "Sand Burial!"
The sand began to squeeze. The three Amegakure ninja could barely breathe, and as the sand pressed ever tighter, they felt as though their bodies were about to burst.
Then, with a bang, their bodies were crushed to pieces by the sand. Even Gaara's older brother Kankuro and older sister Temari could not bear to watch.
"Hey, Gaara, can't we look at their scroll before you attack? And why do you have to do this every time? They already—" Before Kankuro could finish, Gaara fixed him with a stare, as though he would kill him too if he said another word.
Seeing that things were going badly, Temari hurriedly intervened. "All right, let's hurry and look for the scroll."
They had been rather unlucky so far, and several scrolls they had come across were not the one they needed. Only after hearing Temari's words did Gaara slowly lower his hands.
He then continued searching for the scroll without looking back.
Damn it, can't he think about how his own brother feels? Why does he act like he's going to kill me too every time? Kankuro thought resentfully.
This was how Gaara was before Naruto saved him. Because he could not gain anyone's acknowledgment and his own father had sent people to assassinate him, Gaara was already a little unstable.
Obito, secretly watching from the side, was stunned by what the person before him had done. His opponents had already handed over the scroll, yet he still had not spared them. How cruel was that?
Obito was not that much of a "saint," but the situation clearly had not been so serious. Weren't they just fighting over a scroll? Why did it have to end in bloodshed?
Kiba was also relieved that he had not gotten into a conflict with Gaara's group. Otherwise, he might well have met the same fate just now.
But Kiba Inuzuka did not know that Obito's current strength was enough to handle Gaara with ease. After all, what Jinchūriki feared most was the Sharingan, let alone Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kiba Inuzuka waited a long time after Gaara left before finally poking his head out.
"I didn't expect there to be such a powerful opponent in the Chunin Ninja Exams. Let's hurry to the Tower of Death too."
Hinata and Shino readily agreed. Obito, for his part, said he did not mind; if they ran into a powerful opponent, he would step in.
They then picked up the pace, hoping to reach the Tower of Death ahead of time.
Counting Naruto's group, two teams had now collected both scrolls. The competition among the remaining teams would only grow fiercer.
Little did they know that Gaara's group was also about to reach the Tower of Death. They would all meet in the end.