Of Course It Was Danzo's Fault

Training Ground 44.

The deep forest blotted out the sky and sun, and even in the afternoon, it remained cool and dim beneath the trees.

Bang!

"Who hit me?" The Grass Ninja lying atop a massive tree trunk rubbed the back of his head and shouted, "Haoxue, this kind of prank is going too far at a time like this!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?! I'm so far away from you—how could I hit you?"

Bang! Bang!

"Will you cut it out already?"

This time, no one answered him. The surroundings were deathly silent.

"Haoxue? Chiwu?"

"Hey? You've got the scroll, right?" An unfamiliar voice rang out from the treetops.

The Grass Ninja's pupils instantly constricted. His breathing quickened, his muscles suddenly tensed, and he leaped away.

"Who's there?"

After landing, the Grass Ninja nervously scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't spot anyone.

"Where the hell are you looking, idiot?" An extremely impatient, flippant voice sounded above him.

"What?"

The Grass Ninja looked up, his heart pounding wildly.

A figure stood in the shadow of the canopy not far away, wearing a white animal mask. A pale yellow robe, black trousers, fingerless tactical gloves, and a katana strapped across his back. A faintly icy gleam shone from the two eyeholes in the mask.

"You!" the Grass Ninja cried in panic. "Wh-where are my two companions?"

"What did you do to them?"

"Killed them." Naruto's expression remained blank.

He had found that set of Root Ninja clothing in the space. The Nine-Tails didn't eat clothes, so it was a perfect chance to put it to use.

"You're not an examinee! Is Konoha trying to break the rules of the competition?"

"So what if we are?" Naruto replied in a completely indifferent tone. "Why is some little ninja village even taking the Chunin Exams? Hand over the scroll if you know what's good for you, then get the hell out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Grass Ninja did not even see the masked man move. He only felt a sharp pain at the back of his head before passing out cold.

Naruto crouched beside him and searched through his clothes, eventually finding the scroll.

"A Heaven Scroll. It's a duplicate," Naruto muttered. Even so, he tucked it into his robe before vanishing from the scene a moment later.

None of the three Grass Ninja were dead. They had merely been knocked unconscious. It wasn't that Naruto couldn't bring himself to kill them; there was simply no need. Bloodstains could easily be detected by scouting ninjutsu.

Besides, Naruto had not come for the three Grass Ninja in the first place. He had merely happened to pass by and triggered a small option.

Ding. Lightning Release ninjutsu *Lightning Strike* successfully issued.

Lightning Strike was a minor Lightning Release ninjutsu, somewhat useless to Naruto. But he happened to lack Lightning Release techniques, so he spent ten minutes completing the task option, taking the scroll and receiving the reward.

Wearing his pale yellow robe, Naruto raced through the forest, bounding recklessly from trunk to trunk as he searched ahead.

After sizing things up, not a single examinee in this Chunin Exams seemed worth worrying about.

Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation vessel was abnormally incompatible, leaving him unable to wield his original strength at all. As for Gaara, he could basically be ignored. To cooperate with Sunagakure's Konoha Crush Plan, they would definitely hold back.

The reason Naruto insisted on dealing with the three Sound Ninja first was, firstly, to strike first and eliminate potential trouble. Secondly, he clearly remembered that the three Sound Ninja carried an Earth Scroll. Since casualties were permitted in the Chunin Exams, things became much simpler.

For the five days in the Forest of Death, the area was completely sealed off. Unless an emergency such as Orochimaru's invasion occurred, Konoha's ANBU would only intervene temporarily.

From the moment he entered the Forest of Death, Orochimaru's only target had always been Sasuke.

But considering that Snake Uncle, who loved planting strawberries, did not have any particularly malicious intentions, Naruto simply left, planning to deal with the three Sound Ninja first before circling back to reunite with Sasuke and Sakura. The advantage was that it kept him from being forced into a passive position. As for Sasuke's safety...

It was only a strawberry, after all. No big deal.

Sasuke would only go hungry nine meals out of every three days if he stayed in Konoha. Following Snake Uncle was a path Sasuke was bound to take sooner or later. In any case, everyone in the Uchiha Clan was strange. Naruto had no idea why Itachi Uchiha had wiped out the clan, or what the point was of leaving Sasuke alive.

Since Itachi was already such an absurd monster, why not simply take Sasuke away and teach him himself? In the end, it was revenge for family, revenge against the village, then indiscriminate revenge. Everyone was getting revenge, killing anyone they saw like fucking lunatics. Every last one of them wanted to destroy the world.

Even their spiritual mentor, Eren Yeager, would give them a thumbs-up.

In this world where lunatics were everywhere, Naruto's thoughts were simple. Respect other people's fates and give up the urge to save them. He still wanted the system to refresh an option soon so he could pull that Nine-Tails thing out of his body.

As for who would possess the Nine-Tails afterward, that had nothing to do with him.

"Someone nearby?"

Naruto, who had been racing forward, stirred inwardly. He immediately held his breath and carefully crept toward one direction.

Pushing aside the leaves, he found three ninja standing in the grass below—two men and one woman. The three looked around as though searching for something. After watching for a while, Naruto recognized the three Sound Ninja: Dosu with his long hair, Zaku, and the female ninja Kin.

"Damn it, where's Lord Orochimaru's marker?" Zaku said anxiously.

"It was clearly around here." Kin gritted her teeth and looked around. She was clearly just as nervous about the marker Zaku had mentioned.

"Find it quickly." Dosu, the long-haired, bandage-wrapped man with a hunched back, spoke in a raspy voice. "Without the marker, we can't receive Lord Orochimaru's next instructions."

"Shut up!" Kin said impatiently.

"What did you say?" Dosu flared up, shooting the female Sound ninja a cold glance.

As the two stood on the verge of fighting, Zaku suddenly spotted something off to the side. His eyes lit up, and he ran toward a patch of bushes, shouting as he went.

"Come quickly, you two! I found what Lord Orochimaru left behind—"

Before he could finish, a katana abruptly pierced his throat with a wet squelch.

The sudden turn of events left the other two stunned. Everything had happened far too quickly. Naruto, who had been lying in wait within the bushes, sprang up with the force of a cannonball, driving the blade in his hand deep into Zaku's throat.

Not understanding what had happened, Zaku's eyes widened as his black pupils locked onto Naruto, who wore a Root mask.

"Zaku!" Without hesitation, Dosu chose to stab his teammate in the back. Waves of sound burst forth, launching an indiscriminate attack toward Naruto and Zaku.

Option One: Eliminate the Sound ninja trio. Reward: Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

Option Two: Obtain information about Orochimaru through interrogation. Reward: Wind Release: Wind Blade.

The mechanical synthesized voice rang out. Before Naruto had enough time to react, the translucent panel popped up with a new set of options.

They were both ordinary ninjutsu; there was not much difference whichever he chose.

But Naruto glanced at the remaining male and female Sound ninja, and immediately had his answer.