A Storm Was Brewing

"Manda?"

Ye Fan stroked his chin and examined it closely, then curled his lip. "It doesn't look like much to me!"

Ye Fan's voice wasn't particularly loud or soft, but it was just loud enough for everyone present to hear him clearly.

Sasuke heard him and was left dumbfounded.

Just Manda's exhaled breath had snapped a whole row of trees in half. And he was saying it didn't look like much?

Then a glimmer of hope kindled in Sasuke's eyes.

Facing such a terrifying creature, Ye Fan was still this arrogant and conceited. Perhaps he could exploit that personality to kill him someday!

For a moment, revenge no longer seemed like some distant, impossible dream to Sasuke.

As expected, everyone had a weakness, no matter how strong they were.

And Ye Fan's weakness was his overwhelming arrogance!

"Heh. Uchiha Ye Fan, aren't you a little too confident?" Orochimaru said with an amused smile.

At those words, Manda's temper flared in an instant.

After roaming the ninja world for so many years, he'd never been looked down on by anyone like this.

"Brat, you're asking to die!"

Manda roared and swung his tail, sending it crashing toward Ye Fan.

In an instant, dust billowed into the air, and a crack dozens of meters long split the ground.

The tremendous crash sent countless birds flying.

The Genin taking the Chunin Ninja Exams nearby also heard the commotion.

"Was that an earthquake just now?"

"It seems... it doesn't seem like an earthquake..."

One of the other members of the squad pointed into the distance.

The other two followed his gesture, and their faces paled.

Night had fallen, and they couldn't make out exactly what the enormous thing in the distance was.

Even so, they could still feel an extraordinary sense of oppression coming from it.

Especially its eyes, glowing blood-red in the darkness. The sight left them trembling and weak in the knees.

This monster was the most terrifying thing they'd ever seen in their lives.

"I heard there were all kinds of ferocious monsters living in the Forest of Death, but I never imagined something this terrifying would be here!"

"Run! If it spots us, we won't get away!"

The three hurriedly helped one another and fled as fast as they could.

At that moment, they'd completely forgotten about their mission. All they wanted was to survive.

On the other side of the Forest of Death, Gaara's squad, which had been searching for Ye Fan, also stopped in their tracks.

"Gaara, what is it?" Kankuro asked.

"Killing intent. Such thrilling killing intent. This level of killing intent is utterly intoxicating."

Gaara closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his face alight with excitement.

The sand inside his gourd began spilling out, swirling around him.

Temari and Kankuro saw this and immediately sensed trouble.

Whatever could make Gaara this excited had to be extremely dangerous.

Kankuro knitted his brows and tried to pull Gaara away.

But Gaara's sand flung him away with tremendous force.

Then Gaara sprinted toward the source of the killing intent at incredible speed.

"Gaara!"

Temari shouted and followed without hesitation.

She knew something terrifying lurked where Gaara was headed, but she still followed him without a second thought, because she was his older sister!

Elsewhere, Neji, who was traveling through the night, suddenly stopped. His expression grew grave.

"Neji, what's wrong?" Rock Lee asked.

"Byakugan!"

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked toward where Ye Fan was.

The sight left him stunned.

A vast amount of Chakra appeared before his eyes.

It was the most powerful and immense Chakra he had ever seen.

"A tremendously powerful and immense surge of Chakra suddenly appeared over there. It's the most dangerous force I've ever encountered!"

Neji pointed in that direction, his expression deadly serious.

"Over there? If it's that dangerous, then let's go in the opposite direction!" Tenten said.

Rock Lee nodded in agreement. If Neji said it was dangerous, then it had to be extremely dangerous.

Neji fell silent for a moment, then said gravely, "Naruto and Sasuke are over there, too."

With his Byakugan activated, he could clearly distinguish different kinds of Chakra.

"What? Naruto and Sasuke are over there?!"

Rock Lee was shaken and visibly alarmed.

In these Chunin Ninja Exams, he and Naruto's group were rivals, but they were also comrades.

Now that Naruto and the others were in danger, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. After thinking it over, Rock Lee said firmly:

"We have to go help them. If you say it's extremely dangerous, Neji, then it really is. Naruto and the others can't possibly handle it on their own!"

Neji didn't respond. At that point, he had little concept of what it meant to have comrades.

His heart was filled with something else: hatred for the Main Family.

Rock Lee could see what he was thinking, so he smiled. "Neji, take Tenten to the central tower first. We'll meet up there!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rock Lee headed in the direction Neji had pointed.

As Rock Lee's figure gradually disappeared from sight, Tenten turned to Neji. "Should we...?"

Neji hesitated for a moment, then thought of the days they had spent training together and made up his mind.

"Let's follow him. We absolutely can't let Rock Lee get hurt!"

In one corner of the Forest of Death, Anko had discovered a dead Kusagakure ninja and come to pursue Orochimaru. Now she, too, noticed what was happening in the distance.

Feeling the terrifying presence, Anko froze for a moment, her expression turning solemn.

"Manda?! Why is he here? Is Orochimaru planning to destroy the entire Forest of Death?"

Without hesitation, Anko rushed toward Orochimaru as fast as she could.

Today, she was going to settle things with Orochimaru once and for all!

Other teams taking the Chunin Ninja Exams had noticed the commotion as well.

Some fled in the opposite direction, away from the danger, while others headed toward it.

Among them, Kabuto's team and the Sound Ninja team both raced there at full speed.

They knew that if Manda had appeared, Orochimaru must have encountered someone extremely troublesome.

Otherwise, Orochimaru would never have caused such a commotion.

At the edge of the Forest of Death, Jiraiya, who had been fast asleep on a large tree, suddenly woke with a start. His expression turned slightly grave.

"Orochimaru? What is he doing here?"

Thinking of his former friend—someone who had ended up on the opposite side because their ideals differed—Jiraiya felt a pang of sorrow.

"Orochimaru, if you dare do anything to Konoha, I'll kill you with my own hands!"

Jiraiya clenched his fists, determination in his eyes, and plunged into the Forest of Death.

At the same time, the Third Hokage received Anko's request to deploy the Anbu. The reason she gave made his expression turn grim.

"Orochimaru..."

After assembling two Anbu squads, the Third Hokage decided to head to the Forest of Death in person and capture Orochimaru!