To be honest, faced with the gazes of Soji and Rasa, the Third Hokage's aged face was filled with concern.
This sudden situation had not been part of his calculations!
With the risk that a mishandling could cause Sunagakure and Kirigakure to lose trust in Konoha, the Third Hokage knew he had to make some sort of response.
But the most important thing was to first quell this sudden unrest.
As he looked at the giant snake roaring toward the sky within the crystal ball, a familiar figure appeared in the Third Hokage's mind.
"Orochimaru!"
The grim-faced Third Hokage spoke a single name.
Since Soji had long guessed that Orochimaru was behind this, he did not reveal any unusual reaction.
Rasa, however, froze completely.
His expression suddenly became somewhat unnatural.
That was the result of a guilty conscience!
After all, Rasa had secretly collaborated with Orochimaru as well.
Collaborating with an S-rank rogue ninja from another village was hardly something honorable.
If Konoha found out, Rasa might be the one in the wrong now.
"Cough, cough. Lord Hokage, can you confirm that this was done by your village's rogue ninja, Orochimaru?"
To conceal his guilt, Rasa's expression improved slightly as he feigned two coughs and asked.
"There is no mistake! In the entire Ninja World, Orochimaru is the only person capable of summoning such a giant snake! No matter how dangerous the Forest of Death may be, it could not possibly contain a giant snake this absurdly huge!
"The only questions are how Orochimaru infiltrated Konoha and why he chose to cause trouble during the second stage of the Chunin Exams."
With Soji, his nominal disciple, and Kabuto, his spy, aside from a few critical locations, where in Konoha was not Orochimaru's backyard?
Now that they knew Orochimaru was responsible