By the time Obito arrived at the Tower of Death, his team was the first to complete the test.
"All right! I never thought we'd be the first to finish the test!" Kiba Inuzuka said excitedly.
Hinata, on the other hand, remained quite calm and was not nearly as excited.
While they were talking, voices suddenly came from outside.
"So this is our destination?" Gaara's Team strolled in from outside.
They had also collected both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, but Gaara clearly paid little attention to the people in front of him.
Or perhaps, now that he had collected the scrolls, he had no desire to fight.
After glancing at Obito and the others, Gaara and his two teammates prepared to leave. They were now getting ready for the Third Exam.
The One-Tail inside Gaara, however, sensed the presence of the Sharingan immediately. It would never forget that deeply evil presence for as long as it lived.
Although the One-Tail could not sense what was happening outside, it could feel the Chakra of the people there.
The One-Tail was now afraid that Gaara would suddenly provoke the member of the Uchiha Clan. After all, none of the people in that clan were quite right in the head, and the One-Tail had no desire to experience being controlled by the Sharingan again.
Not long afterward, Naruto's team also completed their task. Since Kakashi had stepped in to help them obtain the other scroll this time, they did not run into Kabuto Yakushi as they had in the original story.
"Naruto!" Obito called out excitedly when he saw him.
Naruto recognized Obito too. He hadn't expected Obito to have come along with Kakashi this time.
"Obito, it's been a long time!" Naruto said happily.
From Naruto's perspective, a long time had passed, but for Obito, it had only been a few days.
Sasuke and Sakura also greeted Obito.
"So, what's your mission this time?" Naruto asked curiously.
But Obito still hadn't figured out his own mission. He didn't yet know that Orochimaru had assassinated the Fourth Kazekage and was preparing to carry out the Konoha Crush Plan in Konoha.
Before they could catch up, the Exam Proctors were ready to take them to rest.
Kakashi suddenly pulled Obito aside, and the two slipped away while the others weren't looking.
"Kakashi, I didn't expect to see you here," Obito said excitedly.
"How is your mission going, Obito?" Kakashi asked.
Obito had no choice but to tell Kakashi about his mission. Kakashi pondered it for a moment and roughly understood what the mission involved.
From Orochimaru's speculation, he had a rough idea that Orochimaru of this time and space might be planning to use the opportunity to carry out some sort of plan in Konoha.
After hearing him out, Obito immediately declared that he would save Konoha.
Kakashi was speechless. Obito didn't even understand the situation yet.
The people from the other ninja villages who had come with them had probably received missions as well. Kakashi guessed those missions would be detrimental to Konoha.
They might suddenly make their move during tomorrow's Third Exam.
For now, he and Obito needed to build up as much strength as possible. A fierce battle would probably await them tomorrow.
A storm was brewing over Konoha.
The next day.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, and Orochimaru Disguised as the Fourth Kazekage were in the stands, watching this year's competition.
The current match was supposed to pit Sasuke Uchiha against Gaara, but for some reason, Sasuke still hadn't arrived.
"Lord Hokage, we can't delay the match any longer," the Hokage's Assistant, Shikaku Nara, said.
Orochimaru was also very curious why Sasuke, who should have shown up, still hadn't arrived for the match.
As it turned out, after Sasuke passed the second round, Orochimaru had begun giving him special training to strengthen his fundamentals in both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.
Obito and Kakashi had immediately sought out the Kakashi of this world to ask for his help.
The Kakashi from the future looked at his past self in some surprise. From him, Kakashi learned that Obito had chosen to resurrect his father, Hatake Sakumo.
If possible, Kakashi also very much wished he could be like the Kakashi from the past. That way, he would not have had to experience the pain of losing his father, his friend, and his teacher.
After hearing Obito say that someone might make a move during the Chunin Ninja Exams, Kakashi immediately thought of Orochimaru. He had already spotted signs of Orochimaru at the Chunin Ninja Exams venue.
Just as Kakashi was preparing to report to the Lord Hokage, a massive explosion erupted at the place where Sasuke was undergoing special training.
"This is bad. Sasuke's in danger!" the Kakashi from the past realized at once.
He rushed toward the explosion, and Obito and the Kakashi from the future hurried after him.
"Orochimaru!!" At the site of the explosion.
Kitsuchi and Shu stared in horror at the man before them. Their scroll mission was to eliminate Sasuke Uchiha, but they had never imagined that Orochimaru would be at Sasuke's side.
Sasuke stood behind Orochimaru, looking like he had narrowly escaped death.
The two people before him had planted a large number of Explosive Tags nearby. If Orochimaru hadn't arrived in time, he would probably have already...
What was more, the strength of the two was unfathomable, especially that big man. Sasuke's Fire Style had struck him without seeming to do anything at all.
"Kitsuchi? I didn't expect it to be you." Orochimaru gave the two a meaningful look. He hadn't expected Iwagakure's mission to target his own disciple.
"Earth Release: Earth Moving Core!"
Kitsuchi thrust his hands into the ground, and the earth beneath Orochimaru immediately began rising, until it was more than twenty meters high.
"Shu, retreat," Kitsuchi said to Shu beside him.
But how could Shu be willing to give up the mission? The first time, it was because of him that the village had come away with nothing. With such a golden opportunity before him now, how could he give up?
"If we retreat, we'll still fail the mission. We won't really die anyway, so let's fight him with everything we've got," Shu said, unwilling to give up.
Shu's reminder brought Kitsuchi to his senses. The two of them wouldn't die anyway. If they fought desperately and took Sasuke down with them, they could still complete the mission.
Kitsuchi shouted with a resolute expression, "Earth Release: Fissure!"
Kitsuchi concentrated Chakra in his palms, then struck the ground, splitting the earth open to attack Orochimaru.
The stone pillar, over twenty meters high, collapsed in an instant. Orochimaru jumped down with Sasuke, both of them unharmed.
"Sasuke, you deal with the ninja who uses Explosion Release," Orochimaru said.
After training Sasuke for several days, Orochimaru wanted to see the results.
The four split into one-on-one fights: Orochimaru against Kitsuchi, and Sasuke against Shu.
Orochimaru brought his hands together.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A fierce wind swept toward Kitsuchi. His strength had only reached the level of an Elite Jonin at most, and there was still a considerable gap between him and Orochimaru.
Kitsuchi tried to block the powerful Wind Release with an Earth Style Wall.
But the gale forced his eyes shut, leaving him unable to see what was in front of him. Orochimaru took advantage of this, transforming into countless snakes that rushed straight at Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi was at a loss against Orochimaru's Ninjutsu and could only hope Shu would finish his fight quickly and come to help him.
But after several days of special training under Orochimaru, Sasuke's strength had grown tremendously. His Taijutsu alone already overwhelmed Shu, who could only rely on his advantage in Chakra to keep using Explosion Release.
But Sasuke seemed to have eyes all over his body. No matter where Shu attacked him from, Sasuke dodged with ease.
"I told you, nothing can remain disguised before these eyes," Sasuke said confidently.
Under Orochimaru's guidance, Sasuke could now use a little of the Cursed Seal's power without falling into a frenzy.
Shu was finding it even harder to hold his own. Every kick Sasuke landed felt like being struck by a rock.
Shu could only keep dodging. Now it was Sasuke's turn to attack.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Sasuke spat several enormous dragon-shaped flames from his mouth at his opponent. Their power was tremendous.
With the Cursed Seal's power, Sasuke's Chakra reserves had also increased significantly, by at least 0.5 Ka of Chakra.
As a result, using Fire Style was not as draining. Sasuke had known Fire Style before, but his Chakra had not allowed him to use it too often. After all, not everyone had Chakra to spare like Naruto.
The enormous fire dragons flew toward Shu, who could only use the last of his Chakra to defend himself with Explosion Release.
But unexpectedly, the Fire Style missed Shu. Just as he thought Sasuke had aimed wrong, the fire dragons changed direction at a bizarre angle.
Caught completely off guard, Shu was struck by the fire dragons. Even as he died, he could hardly believe such a Fire Style existed.
Orochimaru was very gratified to see that Sasuke had defeated his opponent. His training over the past few days had not been in vain.
He then looked at Kitsuchi. In that case, it was time to finish him off too.
The snakes coiled around Kitsuchi squeezed harder. No matter how powerful his Earth Release was, it could not withstand Orochimaru's constriction.
Before long, Kitsuchi also lost his life under Orochimaru's attack.
[Ding! Iwagakure's Kitsuchi and Shu have failed their mission.]
The two announcements rang out, and everyone outside understood that Iwagakure had once again been the first to be eliminated.
Poor Iwagakure. The village hadn't had many powerful ninjas to begin with, and Deidara was probably its most outstanding one in recent years.
Even he had been ruthlessly trafficked away by the Akatsuki. Nowadays, they would definitely be convicted of the child trafficking crime.
The village's younger generation had also been wiped out during the Third Shinobi World War. No wonder someone of Kurotsuchi's strength could become Leg Kage later on.