A Gathering of Heroes

Without caring what Sasuke thought, Zi Xu and the others quickly left. He generally didn't bother with the wails of the defeated; it was good enough that he hadn't let Rock Lee injure him. Zi Xu had no idea how Sasuke dared to challenge them again.

Since the Chunin Exam had been a stage for villages to measure each other's strength since ancient times, every village took it very seriously. After all, it determined how big a slice of the pie they'd get in the future, and that was tied to their own interests.

Zi Xu could also feel the subtle changes in the village brought on by the approaching Chunin Exam.

"There are more seals around now, and the barriers are layered like nesting dolls. This cautious?" Zi Xu knew this caution wasn't unfounded. The village was already filled with many ninja whose attire was clearly different from Konoha's residents.

They were all ninja coming to participate in the Chunin Exam, arriving early in Konoha to "familiarize themselves with the environment." But without even thinking, Zi Xu knew these bastards had no good intentions and were definitely scheming to cause trouble behind the scenes.

The Third Hokage had no idea what he was thinking, actually letting these ninja from other villages stay in Konoha. Zi Xu couldn't figure out the old man's thoughts.

With nothing better to do, Zi Xu wandered the streets, both to relax and to see if he could pick up any intel from the foreign ninja.

But who would've guessed that those ninja from other villages were all accompanied by quite a few Konoha ninja? It was called protection, but it was really just surveillance. Still, the ones who got this treatment were generally weak. The truly strong foreign ninja sat openly on the streets without any Konoha ninja stopping them. In the end, it was strength that determined the difference in treatment.

"Hm? Where's that snake smell coming from? What a pain..." As Zi Xu passed by a dango shop, his nose twitched slightly, as if he'd caught a familiar scent.

Zi Xu walked toward that dango shop, but when he entered, he found only a silver-haired young man in glasses eating dango inside. That familiar snake smell seemed to be wafting from around him.

Zi Xu pretended to be casual as he sat down next to the young man and ordered a serving of dango himself. He didn't say a single word to the young man the whole time, looking like just an ordinary customer.

After eating a few servings of dango to fill his stomach, Zi Xu confirmed who the owner of that scent was.

It wasn't the white-haired young man in front of him. He'd just picked up some snake smell from prolonged contact with the scent's owner. As far as Zi Xu knew, there were only a few people with that snake smell, and he hoped it wasn't the worst possibility.

"This guy in front of me is definitely that person's right-hand man, otherwise he wouldn't have picked up so much of the scent... but then again, not necessarily..." Zi Xu didn't want the scent's owner to be Orochimaru, but he had a feeling that was almost certainly the case.

Zi Xu slipped away quietly without disturbing the snake, continuing to scout for traces of other ninja. But scouting was fine—he actually caught familiar scents on many of the foreign ninja, especially the team from Otogakure. The smell was so strong he started to doubt his own "Energy Scent."

"Orochimaru... what exactly are you planning..." The ominous feeling in Zi Xu's heart grew stronger. That bastard Orochimaru definitely had no good intentions. But... what did that have to do with him? As long as he didn't pull off some large-scale indiscriminate massacre.

At the same time, on the outskirts of Konoha, a figure shrouded entirely in shadow appeared. In his hand was a small snake. He ran his calloused fingers over the snake's body a few times, and then the snake transformed into a small, delicate scroll.

The man opened the scroll, carefully read its contents, then destroyed it, muttering something under his breath.

"The time has come. You will pay for this..."

Konoha's nights were always pleasant. Moonlight falling on a person naturally gave a lazy, comfortable feeling. Anyone would want to yawn. This kind of moonlight was perfect for lulling someone to sleep.

But one person was completely unmoved by it. He was also a teenager of about ten, with heavy dark circles under his eyes that looked like permanent eyeshadow. He had red hair too, and a red character like "love" on his forehead.

It looked as if it had just been dyed by blood. This man, like Zabuza, had no eyebrows. On his back was a gourd about as tall as he was, like a real-life Gourd Baby.

But right now, he was nowhere near as friendly as a Gourd Baby. His eyes were bloodshot, and the sand around him was whirling wildly, cutting apart anything that tried to get close. His gaze was filled with nothing but coldness and killing intent.

"Gaara, he..." A yellow-haired girl carrying a huge fan watched from a distance. Beside her was a boy covered in strange stripes, carrying a human-shaped prop on his back.

"Leave him alone." The boy shook his head, pulling back the yellow-haired girl who wanted to do something.

"The Chunin Exam... Orochimaru-sama, the opportunity you've been waiting for is coming..." In a dark underground cave within Konoha, the white-haired man put down the report in his hand and stretched tiredly. This was the same guy Zi Xu had encountered at the dango shop earlier.

"Uzumaki Zi Xu? He doesn't look as strong as Orochimaru-sama said... In the end, he's just a Genin..." The man pushed up his glasses. This thought of his would soon be overturned by his own hands.

"Damn it..." Sasuke Uchiha fell to the ground over and over again in his own courtyard. The two guys from earlier had dealt a severe blow to his pride. He, the genius of the Uchiha Clan, had actually lost to two nobodies. He felt like he had brought shame to the Uchiha Clan.

Sasuke Uchiha kept practicing dodging, using his Sharingan to recall the movements of Rock Lee and Zi Xu, trying to copy both of their Taijutsu.

Rock Lee's was manageable. There were techniques in his Taijutsu application. Even if he couldn't learn them right away, he could grasp the principles and execute them later once his body was up to standard. But Zi Xu's moves left him baffled.

Because when simplified, his moves came down to two steps. Step one: get between the two of them. Step two: block both of their attacks. That was it. Nothing more.

In the Hyuga Clan, another major family, the clan head Hyuga Hiashi sat upright, his expression serious as he stared at a small snake in his hand. After hesitating for a long time, he finally seemed to make a decision and let out a deep sigh.

"The tragedy of the Uchiha Clan is right before our eyes. We must be on guard..." He released the small snake in his hand and watched it disappear into the distance before letting out a breath.

Far away in Sunagakure, a figure wearing a bamboo hat, a white cloak, and a veil seemed to sense something. He curled the corner of his mouth toward a certain direction, extending an unnaturally long tongue in a chilling smile.