After taking Black Zetsu away, Black Zetsu used his various clones to continue compiling detailed information about the Konoha Crush.
With Black Zetsu deliberately searching, even Orochimaru's technology was thoroughly infiltrated by the omnipresent White Zetsu, turning it into a sieve.
In the Shinobi World, there's really no news that White Zetsu can't find out.
Therefore, once it was determined that the Konoha Crush would indeed be unlikely to cause too much damage to Konoha, Gawain naturally allowed the plan to proceed as scheduled.
And so, finally, the Chūnin Exams arrived as scheduled amidst the tense atmosphere of countless Genin.
Of course, the pacing can't jump straight to the climax, and the Chūnin Exams can't be completed in one go.
First and foremost, Naruto and the others will have to go through the academic exam.
Before this, Naruto had never investigated the exam content. After undergoing considerable training, Naruto, who believed he was improving rapidly, never thought he could fail the exam.
Result...
The moment Naruto stepped into the examination room, he fully experienced the horror of exam-oriented education.
Why is it that I've learned so many ninjutsu techniques, shed my "loser" reputation in actual combat, and even become a match for that arrogant Byakugan Neji Hyuga?
So I actually have to take an academic exam?
I've never been to school!
Wait, no, it seems I've already passed the six years of exam-oriented education in Konoha Village.
So where did I learn all those six years?
Naruto, shocked by the written test, did not do what he did in the original work, shouting that he would not give up.
In the original storyline, Naruto was still seen as a loser, and he desperately craved recognition, so he preferred to create grand scenes.
But now, Naruto, who is pampered by Gawain, is only worried that he will embarrass Gawain if he does not do well on the exam.
Ultimately, despite not being able to answer a single question, Naruto persevered and stayed in the exam hall, sweating profusely, which unexpectedly broke the last rule of the written exam.
After all, Naruto has Gawain protecting him now, so Naruto is only worried about embarrassing Gawain, but not about him really causing his teammates to lose their qualifications to become Chunin forever.
After all, Grandpa Gawain loved him the most.
Oh, and Sasuke, Grandpa's second favorite, hmph!
Leaving aside Naruto's experience in this written test.
After the written exam, Naruto and the other Konoha 1s naturally went to the exam hall for the second exam.
Although the examination hall in the Forest of Death was full of danger, Orochimaru ultimately did not come to disrupt the examination hall himself due to Gawain's unexpected rise to prominence.
Although Orochimaru didn't truly believe that Gawain was as powerful as rumored, at the very least, someone entrusted with such an important task by his teacher should be at least at the level of Minato Namikaze, his junior.
In addition Jiraiya is still staying in the village.
Therefore, Orochimaru abandoned his plan to cause trouble in the Forest of Death, and Naruto's team successfully passed the second test.
After the second exam, the next step was the arena battle, and undoubtedly, the result was no different from the original storyline.
After the first stage of the arena battles ends, there will be a waiting period of up to a month!
The Chūnin Exams were less of an exam and more of an alternative youth version of the Olympia ninjutsu competition held between the five nations.
Regardless of which village hosts the event, they are willing to extend the duration, as the merchants who travel during this time alone can bring substantial profits to the hosting village.
For a whole month, Naruto and the other Konoha 1s didn't train together, and each of them was holding their breath.
Aside from Sakura Haruno, each of the other main characters has their own family behind them, so naturally they would return to their families to participate in targeted training.
After all, the upcoming battles will be all-out arena fights, and if any of the top fighters are drawn against each other, a winner and a loser will have to be determined.
Even Sasuke privately sought out Kakashi Hatake for extra lessons on Lightning Release. Jiraiya was famous, Sasuke learned from his inquiries that Kakashi Hatake was second to none in Lightning Release.
And so, the Konoha 1s went their separate ways, and during this time, Naruto signed a summoning contract with Mount Myōboku.
Jiraiya had always wanted to take Naruto his disciple, and even though Gawain appeared and recognized Naruto as his Sun Tzu, Jiraiya's mind would not change because of external changes.
Just like in the original work, after successfully mastering the ninjutsu to summon various toads, Naruto had the confidence to continue his journey in the exams.
As for Orochimaru and the others...
During this period, Orochimaru and the others also began their respective plans.
Danzo raised his hand and gently combed his hair.
Today, Orochimaru will, as promised, launch an attack on Konoha together with the Fourth Kazekage.
Now, although he was still sitting on the ground, Hiruzen was actually in danger under the light above!
Indeed, Danzo, as one of the initiators and executors of the plan, still doesn't know that the Fourth Kazekage was actually taken care of by Orochimaru in secret.
If Danzo had known, he wouldn't have allowed the Konoha Crush Plan to proceed smoothly.
Because the Sand Shinobi, having lost the Kazekage, couldn't possibly cause any significant damage to Konoha, and with Orochimaru alone, the damage would only be to Hiruzen at most.
After Gawain's arrival, the Fourth Kazekage had become a tool for Danzo to use against him. Danzo didn't believe Gawain 'Hiruzen claims. How could a young man like Gawain be as strong as the First Kazekage? It was just Hiruzen creating momentum for his successor. Danzo had seen similar things many times before.
In the original storyline, if the Fourth Kazekage hadn't led the Sand Ninja to inflict considerable damage on Konoha, Danzo wouldn't have been able to direct his hatred towards Tsunade was in danger but not in the village.
If Konoha is badly injured enough, then after Danzo to help those in distress, he can stand on the moral high ground and criticize everyone who failed to end the disaster.
Therefore, if Danzo knew that the Kazekage was actually dead...
Then he'll probably have to send his Root members to deliberately create more trouble for the village...
In short, Danzo, who knows nothing, is still dreaming of becoming Hokage, a dream he could keep for the rest of his life without ever getting tired of.
Meanwhile, he was talking about Orochimaru with a look of anticipation on his face.
He sat down next to Hiruzen as the Fourth Kazekage, just like the real Rasa, and greeted his teacher indifferently before continuing to look indifferently at Gawain, who was in charge of everything at the front of the arena.
Originally, this competition was supposed to be hosted by Hayate Gekkō.
But in order to let Gawain meet more people in the village and leave a good impression on them.
Therefore, this time the presiding duties were handed over to Gawain, who was assisting the Hokage.
In this respect, Hiruzen did not want to waste his talents, but since it was Gawain's initiative to propose the plan, Hiruzen naturally had no reason to refuse.
What were Gawain's thoughts?
Looking at the children earnestly waiting for their battles, Gawain gave Gaara a deep look.
If nothing unexpected happens, Orochimaru Gaara the Third Hokage, Gawain can take care of Shukaku.
On the one hand, this would prevent Shukaku from causing too much damage to Konoha. On the other hand, Gawain could also use Shukaku to simply prove his strength and lay the groundwork for becoming Hokage.
Of course, the popularity of the Shukaku is only average.
If he wants to be promoted to Hokage legitimately, then he must not only subdue the Tailed Beast, but also capture Konoha, one of the Legendary Orochimaru who has become a rogue ninja.
The fastest way to become famous is to step on the coattails of your predecessors.
Isn't that right?
In short, with a smile on his face, Gawain sorted out his thoughts and gave the order to start the match.
In an instant, all the heroes used every trick in the book, and they fought each other like in the original story.
And unsurprisingly, Shukaku burst forth from Gaara's body during this time!
Originally, at the moment Shukaku unleashed its power, the Sand Ninja should have cast a genjutsu on the audience.
However, on the one hand, Maki didn't have the opportunity to attack Gawain, the Hokage's assistant, which meant he couldn't take over the hosting position from Hayate Gekkō.
On the other hand, Gawain also didn't want people to be unable to see the scene of him showing off in front of others.
In short, there were no illusions to put people to sleep this time. Shukaku's enormous body and the Sand Ninja who had ruthlessly started the war successfully terrified all the spectators and civilians present.
Meanwhile, near Gawain, Kakashi Hatake, who was intently watching the match, frowned.
The next moment, he and a group of elite Jonin, including Guy, arrived in front of Gawain at top speed.
Gawain waved his hand gently at them.
"I'll deal with the Tailed Beast. You all subdue the Sand Ninja attackers. All Chunin and Anbu Chunin present, evacuate the civilians together."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi Hatake and the others bowed and prepared to leave.
On the high platform where the Hokage and Kazekage sat, Hiruzen had already been looking at the Fourth Kazekage, whose face was full of sinister smiles, with his old eyes filled with anger.
Originally, he wanted to rebuke the Fourth Kazekage.
I Hiruzen, stunned, at the smile on Kazekage's face...
How familiar he was with that smile! In this era where disciples were sometimes even more important than sons, Hiruzen Sarutobi only had three disciples!
As for why the disciple surpassed the son?
As you can see throughout the Shinobi World, countless disciples of Kage have inherited the position of Kage.
But aside from the special cases of Gaara from the Kumogakure and Sand Ninja ninja, which other Kage's son has ever inherited the position of Kage?
In other words, aside from the Kumogakure, for the Kage of other ninja villages, disciples are, in some ways, more important than sons as successors.
Therefore, it's easy to imagine just how much Hiruzen loved his disciples back then.
But now...
His beloved disciple has returned, in the very way he least wanted to see!
Looking at Orochimaru, who maintained a malicious smile but seemed to have endless things to say, Hiruzen's lips trembled twice before he let out a difficult breath.
"So it's you, Orochimaru. But... why do you choose this way to bid me farewell?"
You... there's no way you can win.
Even though I am old and frail, Konoha has already found an incredible new successor who surpasses all previous Hokage!
Why did you come back at this moment!
So, they'll come back to seek revenge on me in the future!
Or do you truly wish to die in Konoha?
At this point, Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru with a pained expression.
He deliberately let Orochimaru go back then because he truly loved his disciples more than his own sons; he simply couldn't bring himself to harm them!
If it weren't for his indulgence, in an era where obedience to superiors was the basic rule for ninjas, how could the Sannin have developed such willful habits?
But now...
Now that you've become a rogue ninja and even established your own ninja village, wouldn't it be great if you could just live a safe life somewhere before the next Hokage sees you?
But now...
Looking at Orochimaru, who knew absolutely nothing, Hiruzen heartbroken beyond measure.
How could he possibly spare the life of this good-for-nothing disciple in front of Gawain?
If only I had nurtured Gawain like Minato Namikaze did, I might have been able to save Orochimaru's life if I had been willing to decisively relinquish all of the former Hokage's political legacy.
But I'm not one of them!
I have absolutely no right to speak in front of Gawain!
This disciple of mine probably won't survive this time!
Thinking of this, Hiruzen's gaze toward Orochimaru grew increasingly sorrowful.
Noticing the teacher's gaze, Orochimaru finally realized that something was amiss.
The teacher looked at himself with a sorrowful expression, as if looking at a dead person, but why?
An aging teacher is no match for him, and Shukaku, is more than enough to entangle Jiraiya's hands and feet.
So, the teacher thinks he was killed by that brat named Gawain?
Oh!
The teacher must not know that I have already Impure World Reincarnation!
I can handle the teacher by myself. The First, Second, and Fourth Hokage are just extra gifts I prepared to assist the newly appointed Hokage!
Moreover, he had been trying his best to respect that brat, because he had used the Fourth Kazekage's body as a vessel to summon the First Hokage back to life through Edo Tensei!
Using the village's Kage as a vessel for the First Hokage's Impure World Reincarnation technique, at least eight-tenths of the First Hokage's power could be unleashed.
In addition, he specially created clone ninjas with a large amount of chakra, incorporating certain Uzumaki Clan genes, to serve as vessels for the Second and Fourth Hokage.
Even if Gawain is incredibly strong, can a young man secretly nurtured by his teacher really overcome such a lineup?
Of course, he wouldn't kill Gawain, after all, Gawain was the junior brother that his teacher had secretly cultivated over the years.
But I must at least use the power of the First Generation to truly broaden my junior brother's horizons!
In that case, even after the Fifth Hokage was beaten up, he wouldn't underestimate the Shinobi World anymore.
Perhaps after our teacher is gloriously recorded in Konoha's history as a hero, the newly appointed young Fifth Hokage will, through his own hard work and self-discipline, achieve even greater feats than his teacher!
With this thought in mind, Orochimaru revealed a contemptuous smile. "Master, you've changed so much in just a few days. You would never have imagined that I, Orochimaru, have finally mastered all the forbidden techniques left behind by the Second Hokage, and even managed to secretly collect the flesh and blood of the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage."
After you witness that mythical power from the past.
Will you still show me such a sorrowful expression?
Ha ha ha ha!!!!