Mitaraishi Anko saw scraps of snake skin drifting slowly down from the sky and stopped in her tracks.
Lin Fan, you little brat. You again?
Were you targeted because you made too much of a spectacle in the first exam?
And what's with all that snake skin flying through the air? Who were you just fighting?
Anko asked Lin Fan urgently, her face full of concern.
Earlier, outside the Forest of Death, she had seen the three Grass Ninja corpses, their faces peeled off in a gruesome manner.
Instinctively, she connected the act to that perverted man with long black hair draped over his shoulders,
dark purple eyeshadow,
and a habit of flicking his tongue.
So she had hurried into the forest to check what was going on.
Lin Fan shook his head calmly. "I don't know him. I only know he's very good at snake jutsu. He's a powerful ninja."
Then he and Naruto helped the unconscious Sasuke over to a tree trunk so he could rest.
When Anko saw the black mark on Sasuke's neck—the exact same one she had—her eyes widened in shock.
At the same time, the same spot on her own neck began to ache faintly.
This is...
The Heaven Curse Mark!!!
It really is him. That man actually came to Konoha.
Lin Fan watched Mitaraishi Anko muttering to herself in the distance, looking as though she was half laughing and half crying, and shook his head with a smile.
The tangled love and hate between Anko and Orochimaru really was beyond the understanding of ordinary people.
"Lin Fan, you don't have that mark on your neck, do you?"
Anko pointed at the Heaven Curse Mark on Sasuke's neck and asked sternly.
She had more or less figured out Orochimaru's ultimate goal in coming to the Forest of Death.
And Lin Fan and Sasuke, the two prodigies, were surely the vessels that pervert wanted most.
"No. He did try to bite my neck twice, but I stopped him before he could."
"After that, I beat him and sent him running. Before he left, he said we'd meet again."
Lin Fan shrugged and answered honestly, his expression calm.
"What?"
"You made him run?"
Anko couldn't help but freeze at Lin Fan's words.
As one of the Konoha Sannin, Orochimaru was among the most powerful people in the Shinobi World.
And this young boy in front of her was saying he'd driven him off?
This kid could grow into a monster like the First one day.
Anko looked around Lin Fan's neck again and confirmed there were no signs that Orochimaru had placed a Cursed Seal on him.
She knew that man. He never gave up until he got what he wanted.
Only then did she believe Lin Fan.
Konoha's peerless genius absolutely couldn't be allowed to have that pervert ruin him by giving him a Heaven Curse Mark.
There was no time to waste.
After giving Lin Fan a few more instructions, Anko hurried toward the edge of the forest.
She had to report to the Third Hokage that Orochimaru, an S-rank rogue ninja, had visited Konoha and might be planning to make another move.
The second exam continued as before.
In a clearing in the Forest of Death,
Gaara stood motionless, his face as cold as ice.
Nearby, Temari and Kankuro watched him closely,
afraid that if Gaara became agitated, he might suddenly lose control and go on a rampage.
Standing in front of Gaara were three adult Rain Ninja, glaring at him with hostility.
"Those little Sand Ninja brats actually dare challenge us?"
"Heh, kid, hand over that Scroll of Earth, and we'll let you leave this Chunin Ninja Exams alive."
One of the Rain Ninja pointed a senbon at Gaara and said with a sneer.
"Heh heh, enemies have finally shown up? I'm going to kill every last one of you!"
Gaara's face was cold, and murderous intent surged in his eyes.
For some reason, Gaara had come across nothing but people who had been defeated and left unconscious—or dead—on the ground.
It had left him rather displeased.
"Big words!"
"Ninja Art: Rain Needle Shower!"
The Rain Ninja at the front shouted. He pulled five umbrellas from his back and sent them flying into the air.
The next moment, thousands of senbon appeared and shot straight toward Gaara.
Bang!
When the dust cleared, Gaara's Shield of Sand had blocked the attack from all thousand senbon.
"So this is your so-called needle rain? Then I'll give you a rain of blood!"
Gaara's eyes shifted slightly as he spoke coldly.
He slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers curling in an instant.
His chakra poured steadily into the gourd on his back.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
At once, the sand inside the gourd surged toward the three Rain Ninja's feet.
It wrapped around them tightly, leaving only their heads exposed.
As the sand squeezed around them and choked the breath from their lungs, the three Rain Ninja were so terrified that they wet themselves.
How could their first opponent in the forest be this terrifying?
They all had the same thought: What the hell is this?
As Gaara slowly raised his right arm, the three of them rose into the air.
"Sand Waterfall Funeral!"
Bang!
Gaara clenched his fist, and the sand crushed them with ease.
"Ah!"
As the three Rain Ninja screamed in agony,
a rain of blood fell right on cue.
"Heh, now we have both scrolls. We can head to the Central Tower."
Kankuro said, looking relaxed.
Then he picked up the Scroll of Heaven that the Rain Ninja had dropped before they died, and the three prepared to leave together.
At that moment, the four members of Team 8, hiding in the nearby bushes, stared in shock as they recalled the bloody scene they had just witnessed.
"That Sand Ninja is so cruel!"
Hinata frowned as she spoke.
"Heh, there are others?"
Gaara heard the sound and whipped around.
"Gaara, forget it. We've already got the scrolls. There's no need to bother with these little flies."
Temari stood in front of Gaara and pleaded with him.
"Get out of my way. Do you want to die?"
"I said I'd kill every enemy who showed up!!!"
Gaara shoved Temari aside, his face dark.
Sand shot out of the gourd and streaked toward Hinata.
Just as Hinata saw the sand racing toward her to kill her and stood there helplessly,
a tall, handsome figure suddenly appeared and pulled her into his arms.
Who else could it be but Lin Fan?
Bang!
Lin Fan quickly raised his left hand, and the sand that had been rushing toward Hinata shot off to the side instead.
A moment later, it vanished completely into the wind.
Although he had just fought Orochimaru,
with his Uzumaki Constitution and the support of a hundred Lord Kakashis' worth of chakra,
he still looked completely calm.
He looked down at Hinata in his arms and spoke gently. "Hinata, sorry your big brother got here late!"
Then he slowly let Hinata go.
"Gaara, if you want to fight, I can play with you."
Lin Fan smiled at Gaara as he spoke.