Hokage: You Call This Guy the Savior?!

Keiichi's movements became even more covert and ruthless, silently slipping a paper bomb into the lining of his opponent's clothes.

This time, Kabuto Yakushi's expression finally shifted; he hurriedly stripped off his outer coat, and a moment later, flames completely engulfed him.

However, before the smoke could even dissipate, a figure charged out at high speed, fingers pressed together like a blade, the surface of his skin glowing with the light of highly concentrated chakra.

Keiichi quickly stepped back to create distance, but Kabuto's speed was far superior, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.

How is he this fast?!

I can't dodge it!

Then, that hand-blade, radiating a lethal aura, pressed gently against his shoulder, the chakra energy on it having dissipated without a trace.

"Not good, not good, I almost got carried away..." Kabuto grinned, laughing at himself.

Yet, within that smile, a trace of insane killing intent could be vaguely discerned.

Keiichi broke into a cold sweat in an instant, realizing he had almost played himself into a corner.

Is this the true strength of an official Jonin?

"I went a bit too hard just now, are you alright?" Keiichi asked with feigned concern.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, just burned my clothes," Kabuto waved him off, lying through his teeth. Anyone could see that his body was covered in large patches of festering, charred skin; he hardly looked like a man who was "fine."

"That's good. Seeing you still full of life puts my mind at ease," Keiichi said, putting on a look of relief.

"My skills are inferior," Kabuto chuckled self-deprecatingly, stepping aside to signal that he would no longer stand in his way.

"Since you've admitted defeat, shouldn't you give me your scrolls?"

"..."

Kabuto was grinding his teeth in fury; he had never seen such a thick-skinned guy!

I'll endure this...

Then, Keiichi walked into the tower with satisfaction, carrying both the Heaven and Earth scrolls with a leisurely air.

Kabuto watched his retreating back in silence, lost in thought.

By this point, all the squads that had passed the second exam had arrived at the tower, totaling seven teams. Only Keiichi was alone, a one-man team.

There were nineteen people entering the third exam, the majority of whom were from the Leaf Village.

Of course, since the Leaf Village had the highest number of participants, no one found this particularly strange.

What was truly surprising was that among these nineteen, Kabuto Yakushi was the only one Keiichi had listed as an SSR-level candidate who failed to pass—and the one who eliminated him happened to be Keiichi himself.

As for the remaining ten people, almost all were SR-level, making Keiichi, the N-level, look completely out of place.

Before the second exam began, everyone assumed Keiichi would be the first to be eliminated, considering he didn't even have teammates.

How could you lose a three-on-one?

But in reality, after entering the Forest of Death, he seemed to have vanished into thin air. No squad had run into him, and no one knew where he had been hiding.

It wasn't until the time was almost up that he rushed over, bumped into the "big fraud" Kabuto, successfully looted his items, and advanced to the next round.

That kind of luck was truly legendary!

Of course, his intelligence reports had also been a huge help to many, and the actual combat drills of the second exam had repeatedly verified their accuracy.

Because of this, everyone placed even greater importance on the information on the Ninja Star cards, reading them over and over, scrutinizing every single word to dig out more hidden details.

Seeing everyone value his intelligence so highly, Keiichi revealed a faint smile, his sense of accomplishment peaking.

This is what you call an intelligence tycoon! (Leans back tactically)

Following the broadcast announcement, everyone quickly gathered at the venue. As the proctor for the third exam, Gekko Hayate began to read the rules.

Before that, however, he emphasized repeatedly that this was not a simple exam, but a small-scale war between nations to maintain balance. Therefore, everyone had to give their all, risking their lives to fight for the honor of their village; even dying on the arena floor was a common occurrence.

If anyone felt their strength was insufficient or they were too severely injured, they could withdraw now, otherwise, there would be no room for regrets later.

Many people cast their gazes toward Keiichi, intending to watch a good show, as he was likely the weakest among everyone present.

Yet, Keiichi remained calm, showing no intention of withdrawing.

Even Gekko Hayate, acting as his teacher, was giving Keiichi meaningful looks. The implication was clear: if you feel your ability is lacking, hurry up and forfeit. The Moonlight Sect's Transparent Style really isn't meant for combat.

Wouldn't it be better to keep your life and enjoy the beauty of art together as master and apprentice?

However, until the very end, Keiichi did not choose to withdraw.

The moment time was up, Keiichi noticed quite a few people grinning and cracking their knuckles at him, the intent to provoke him already obvious.

Even Dosu Kinata from the Sound Village walked over and whispered a threat in his ear, claiming he would make him bleed and die on the arena floor.

But he only smiled, not taking it to heart at all.

While you lot are still thinking about how to pass the Chunin Exams, I've already started planning how to turn up the heat on the Leaf Village. We are truly not on the same level!

In my past life, I was a Special Jonin, after all. Among these Genin present, who else can make me feel threatened?

Except for that cheater Gaara, of course!

Just as everyone was discussing intelligence regarding the third-round contestants, the results had already been submitted to the Hokage's office.

However, Hiruzen merely nodded distractedly, as if he had suddenly lost all interest in the Chunin Exams.

The reason was simple: he now had far more important matters to attend to.

Chapter 43: Hiruzen and Danzō

After so many years, Orochimaru had actually returned to Konoha, and judging by his behavior of infiltrating the exam grounds by replacing a student, it was clear he had come to stir up trouble.

If it were only Orochimaru, dispatching the Anbu to tighten surveillance and conduct investigations would have sufficed; even if they couldn't capture him, they could force him into the shadows, too wary to act recklessly.

But the news relayed by the Anbu left him deeply shocked: Danzō had also appeared at the exam grounds and had made contact with Orochimaru.

The two sides seemed to have clashed violently, which was what had exposed Orochimaru's trail.

Yet, for some unknown reason, the area within a hundred-meter radius was a complete wreck, with every trace of the battle wiped clean; even professional forensic ninjas admitted they were powerless to find anything.

This gave Hiruzen an extremely ominous premonition; he felt certain there was an unspeakable secret between Orochimaru and Danzō.

Otherwise, why would you go to the trouble of erasing the traces of a fight?

Could it be that they were afraid of someone discovering something?

Hiruzen desperately wanted to drag Danzō out and interrogate him—to find out what kind of scheme he was plotting and why Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha—and demand he explain everything in detail.

But he couldn't do it.

Ever since he stripped Danzō of his position as the Hokage's deputy and disbanded Root, the man had completely retreated from the public eye into the shadows.

It was always Danzō who sought him out; he had no idea where Danzō was.

Thus, he could only guess in the dark, and the more he guessed, the more anxious he became.

He had once trusted both of these men deeply, especially Danzō; he simply could not believe that his old friend would do anything detrimental to Konoha.

As for Orochimaru, he had trusted him once as well—if you can't trust your own disciple, who can you trust?

That was why he had assigned Orochimaru to Danzō's side, effectively acting as a monitor; after all, no matter how much he trusted him, the authority he had granted Danzō was simply too vast.

But he hadn't expected that when it came time to choose the next Hokage, Danzō would not be on his side, but instead push Orochimaru forward, sparing no effort to consolidate political resources for him, revealing his ambition to seize the Hokage seat.

More importantly, this undoubtedly proved that Orochimaru had completely defected to Danzō.

Orochimaru had never mentioned a word of this to him; in the end, he was the only one kept in the dark, a realization that left Hiruzen feeling chilled to the bone.

He had always known what kind of man Danzō was, but Orochimaru was different—you were the disciple I raised with my own hands, how could you betray me!

From that point on, Hiruzen stopped trusting Orochimaru. Such an ambitious person, colluding with Danzō—if he were allowed to become the Fourth Hokage, he would only end up putting Konoha on the gambling table and losing everything sooner or later!

Later, relying on his seasoned political maneuvers, he successfully pushed Minato Namikaze to become the next Hokage, consolidating his own political standing.

Afterward, he expelled Orochimaru under the pretext of human experimentation, and then suppressed the Danzō faction through the Uchiha Clan massacre, completely kicking both men out of Konoha's political landscape. Only then did he achieve centralized power—oh, no... the prosperous and flourishing Konoha of today.

But now, these two had actually gotten together again right under his nose. What exactly were they trying to do? Did they really think he was senile?

Facing either of them alone, Hiruzen could chat and laugh while resolving the issue with a light touch.

But if the two were to join forces, even he felt a sense of dread.

He was much older now than he had been ten years ago, while Orochimaru was in his prime, and even more difficult to deal with than a decade prior.

Since Orochimaru had gone into hiding, he had to find Danzō, no matter what, and get to the bottom of this.

He truly didn't want to believe that his old friend would act against Konoha, but he had a premonition that something very serious was about to happen in the village.

He had always trusted his intuition.

It looked like it was time to call Jiraiya back...

"Fu Yamanaka!"

"This subordinate is here." A man with orange hair knelt before Hiruzen, bowing respectfully.

The Ino-Shika-Cho clans shared a close relationship with his Sarutobi Clan, and therefore, the ninjas who stood out from those three families were the ones he trusted most.

"Go and find Danzō Shimura and have him come to see me. Remember to keep it discreet; don't let anyone else know."

"Yes!"

"Suzaku Nara!"

"This subordinate is here!"

"Have the Shadow Squad of the Nara Clan report to me."

"Yes!"

No one noticed that when Fu Yamanaka left the Hokage's office, he pulled back his mask in a deserted corner and opened his mouth toward the darkness, whispering something.

One could only vaguely see that his tongue seemed to be inscribed with some kind of Cursed Seal...

Deep beneath Konoha, the real Danzō sat in his office, communicating with an insider via a crystal ball.

Why is Hiruzen in such a rush to find me? Danzō wondered.

He didn't think too much about it; since Hiruzen was looking for him, there must be a reason. He would just go see him and find out.

Just as he was preparing to set off, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Did he really say that?" Danzo asked, confirming it repeatedly toward the crystal ball.

"That is correct, it is the Shadow Squad of the Nara Clan."

Danzo suddenly fell silent, then cut the connection.

The Nara Clan was best known for their Shadow Control Technique, and the Shadow Squad was a special unit built upon this secret art; after all, there were times when one encountered special situations where an enemy had to be captured alive.

Of course, capturing the vast majority of enemies alive was not difficult, but if the target was an elite Jonin or even Kage-level, that was when the Shadow Squad came into play.

Who was it that made Hiruzen go to such great lengths, even deploying the Shadow Squad?

In fact, Danzo did not know that Orochimaru had already infiltrated the Leaf Village.

He did have eyes in the Forest of Death, but those scouts happened to run into the 'fake Danzo,' so they all assumed that Danzo already knew about the matter.

More importantly, their leader was Aburame Tatsuma, a man who had long been hypnotized by the 'fake Danzo,' viewing the real Danzo hidden deep underground as the imposter; naturally, it was impossible for him to report anything about Orochimaru.

Therefore, the more Danzo thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Analyzing it from a rational perspective, this move by Hiruzen was very likely an attempt to lure him to the Hokage office, then smash a cup as a signal for the Shadow Squad to capture him alive.

However, analyzing it from an emotional perspective, Hiruzen could never be so heartless toward his old friend, especially since he hadn't done anything recently to provoke him.

Between reason and emotion, he ultimately chose to trust his reason, so he sat back down in his chair, crossed his hands in front of him, and his gaze gradually darkened.

A person cannot be a machine, not even someone as cold-hearted as he was.

If it weren't for Hiruzen repeatedly protecting him back then, the mere act of excavating the grave of the First Hokage would have been enough to cast him into the abyss, leaving him with no choice but to pay with his life.

Just as Hiruzen had done everything he could for him, he would likewise return the favor.

Thus, he also had his own bottom line, and that bottom line was that as long as Hiruzen remained in power, he would not do anything to harm his old friend, even if he was filled with longing for that seat.

Even when competing for the position of Fourth Hokage, he had used the most upright and honorable methods to compete, rather than resorting to any underhanded or despicable tactics.

But if one day, Hiruzen decided to make a move against him, was he really supposed to sit and wait for death?