Special Audience

"Alright, complaints won't solve anything." Funeno Daikoku tapped the blackboard.

"Everyone, gather up now. We're moving to the training grounds as a group."

With that, Funeno Daikoku began organizing the students into a long line to assemble on the training grounds.

At the Konoha Ninja Academy, on the training grounds scarred with countless battle marks.

The students lined up in orderly fashion, listening to the teacher explain the relevant matters.

"After all that talk, probably not many of you actually took it in." Funeno Daikoku paused his relentless lecturing, his tone turning serious as he gave his instructions.

"Just one requirement: this is a spar, not a slaughter. Settle who's better without going too far. Save your ruthlessness for future enemies, not your classmates beside you. Understood?"

"Understood!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Good. But before we officially begin, I've got a surprise for you little brats." Funeno Daikoku's tone shifted, and he looked at the students with a strange expression.

"What? Teacher Funeno has a surprise? No way, really?"

"What kind of surprise, Teacher Funeno? Don't keep us guessing!" A few lively students quickly took the bait and started asking.

Hearing this, Funeno Daikoku rubbed his nose and pointed mysteriously to one side.

"The surprise is that a special guest will be observing this exam."

The students followed the direction of his finger and saw someone they never expected.

The newcomer wore a sleek combat uniform, with soft hair casually draped over both shoulders. The faint smile perpetually on his lips matched well with his pale skin.

"No way?" "Is that Lord Orochimaru?!"

"Lord Orochimaru! We admire you!"

The moment Orochimaru appeared, the students on the field fell into a frenzy. After all, in the current Konoha, from eighty-year-old grandmothers to three-year-old toddlers—

Who didn't know this great hero who had just won the Battle of Kikyo Mountain, the legendary ninja who crushed the Sand Ninja's schemes—Orochimaru?

"Ha, hello. I am indeed Orochimaru. I've come on behalf of the Third Hokage to see Konoha's fresh blood. Such lively children..." Orochimaru's tone was calm with a hint of hoarseness.

If someone who didn't know him saw him, they'd probably take him for a sinister villain. But this was Konoha, and under the glow of his hero halo, such trivial flaws were as good as nonexistent.

Hearing the visitor's response, the students erupted completely, everyone shouting all sorts of things.

Only Uchiha Kai and his two companions, who had long since distanced themselves from the crowd, remained relatively calm, not yelling like the others.

"Orochimaru..." Uchiha Kai repeated the man's name in a heavy tone, his face practically written with worry.

After all, this man who had suddenly appeared was Orochimaru.

As a legendary figure who ran through almost the entire original Naruto story, a villainous role model with countless epithets—the Sannin, Ninja Scientist, Abductor of Lonely Youths, Dream Fulfillment Master.

Orochimaru perfectly embodied the two words "villain" and "dream," and the pressure he brought was something Naruto fans remembered vividly.

Uchiha Kai was no exception. He widened his eyes and carefully scrutinized the smiling man.

"Hmm... at this stage, Orochimaru probably hasn't fully fallen yet, hasn't started researching immortality..."

Just as the boy was pondering, Orochimaru, surrounded by the crowd, suddenly turned his head and followed the boy's gaze.

"! That keen?"

In that instant, Uchiha Kai felt his blood run cold, even his breath seemed stifled. Though the feeling passed in a flash, it still sent cold sweat down the boy's back.

The next moment, Orochimaru, noticing the boy's stare, showed a gentle smile, as if nothing had happened.

"Are you alright, Kai-kun? Why did you suddenly freeze?" Hyuga Rei, who seemed to have been watching the boy the whole time, noticed the moment he showed something off.

She gently patted his shoulder and asked softly.

"Ah, I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered something."

Uchiha Kai quickly suppressed his strange expression and explained.

"Really? You seem off, though... You're not scared of Lord Orochimaru, are you?" The girl's eyes rolled, her tone teasing.

"!" Uchiha Kai was startled, then saw the funny face the girl made.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop messing with you. Looks like things are about to start over there." Hyuga Rei playfully stuck out her tongue and quickly walked toward the crowd.

"Huh? What were you two talking about? I didn't get it at all?" Morino Kei looked utterly confused, his honest expression almost making Uchiha Kai laugh.

"Nothing. Go play." "Alright..."

Over at Orochimaru's side, the stern man scanned the youths surrounding him, handling their questions with practiced ease.

Outwardly gentle and amiable, but inwardly utterly unruffled.

"When did I start feeling nothing for scenes like this?" He couldn't help but wonder.

"If this were in the past, I'd probably have been quite happy..."

Suddenly, he felt a different kind of gaze.

A gaze without worship or admiration, even somewhat scrutinizing. He instinctively suppressed it with his aura before realizing the other party was just a student.

"An interesting child... The Uchiha Clan, huh? So many talents..." Casually glancing at Uchiha Kai, Orochimaru felt a flicker of surprise. Then, as if a thought struck him, the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Now we will begin the random drawing to select the first match." Funeno Daikoku announced loudly.

At the same time, information only he could see appeared before Uchiha Kai's eyes.

[Quest Triggered: Startling the World]

[A fine sword is honed from grinding, the plum blossom's fragrance comes from bitter cold. After a decade of relentless training, the solitary prideful one who refuses to be second to anyone—go claim what you deserve. Defeat your opponent in this exam with absolute crushing dominance.]

[Reward: Energy +20, Special Reward "Proof of Sweat"]

"Hah~ Finally triggered a quest again, huh? Startling the World? How interesting. Even if you hadn't said it, I was going to do this anyway..." the youth murmured to himself, a strong sense of anticipation rising in his heart.

"Hyuga Tetsu versus Hyuga Rei! Both sides, prepare." Funeno Daikoku's voice rang across the training ground.

Hearing her own name, Hyuga Rei looked utterly shocked. After glancing at Uchiha Kai, she stepped forward.

"Good luck. You've got this." Uchiha Kai said quietly.

"Mm! I'll do my best." Hyuga Rei nodded solemnly and quickly walked toward the center of the training ground.

On the other side, Hyuga Tetsu, with his oddly styled high ponytail, also arrived beside Funeno Daikoku.

"Both sides, prepare." Funeno Daikoku gave the order.

The two simultaneously raised their fingers to form the Opposing Seals, and in the next moment, the battle officially began.

Hyuga Tetsu kicked off the ground, closing in on Hyuga Rei at great speed, intending to engage in close-quarters combat. He was confident he could outmatch her in hand-to-hand fighting—after all, as fellow clan members, everyone's training level was more or less known to each other.

Hyuga Rei, however, was clearly aware of this and had no intention of letting Hyuga Tetsu achieve his goal so easily.

The girl retreated, then threw out several shuriken aimed at the path Hyuga Tetsu had to cross.

"Hmph, a useless effort." Hyuga Tetsu snorted coldly, his eyes locked onto the incoming shuriken. He sidestepped with a flash, dodging them, then accelerated again, already in front of the girl.

"Rei, you still rely so much on external tools. You'd rather waste your energy on these little tricks than settle down and cultivate the secret techniques of our Hyuga Clan." Hyuga Tetsu spoke.

"Hmph, so much useless chatter. Win against me first before spouting that worthless crap." The girl shot back without mercy, her tone icy cold.

"Then let's settle this with our skills! Hah!" Hyuga Tetsu roared, swinging his palm forward.