Hidden Dangers

With his exceptional talent for disguise, it was incredibly simple for Kabuto Yakushi to blend into a group of genin. As a senior with a wealth of Chunin Exams experience on the surface, guiding the actions of a few genin was effortless. Acting as a spy observing from close range, he could appropriately involve Sasuke Uchiha in combat to test the effects of the Cursed Seal, while ensuring they passed the exam and providing some combat experience along the way.

With the strength of the seven-man squad, and without the interference of Orochimaru or the One-Tail Jinchuriki, they had become an extremely formidable force. Aside from the genjutsu-type ninja from the original story causing them a minor headache at the end, their journey was much smoother than the original. Especially after Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha had both experienced battles similar to the one with Mizuki, they relied on their outstanding talent to quickly find ways to cope. They finished the second stage of the Forest of Death exam much earlier than in the original story.

Not long after, at the place where Sasuke and the Sound Ninja trio had fought, Mizuki, who was cleaning up the battlefield, secretly collected some inconspicuous, tattered, and discarded rune scrolls and sealing tags, ending the mission with great satisfaction.

I hope this harvest can help me understand a few things; solving the hidden danger of the Cursed Seal would be best.

After learning about it over these past few days, Mizuki realized that the Cursed Seal was not as simple as he had originally imagined. Whenever he thought about having such a thing in his body that was beyond his control, a vague anxiety was impossible to shake off.

"Let's end the mission here. I'm leaving first. I'll handle the report; you just take care of these wounded."

After settling things, Mizuki hurried home.

I must deal with these things quickly. If I delay too long and the sealed chakra changes, it will be troublesome.

In the center of the Forest of Death, after the last batch of qualified candidates arrived, the second exam finally ended ahead of schedule. Ignoring the hidden, darker aspects, the Third Hokage was explaining the reasons and importance of the Chunin Exams to the successful candidates, then announced the third preliminary round, with Hayate Gekko serving as the proctor and referee. Just like in the original story, after Kabuto Yakushi discovered that Orochimaru, disguised as a jonin, was also present, he withdrew from the exam.

The subsequent changes were very minor. If Naruto Uzumaki passing the exam had a large element of luck, the rest was a stage for the powerful; in unrestricted, head-to-head arena duels, those lacking strength had little chance. The only change was the match between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. In the original story, Ino Yamanaka held back, resulting in a draw where both lost their qualifications.

This time, the situation was different. Ino Yamanaka had been accidentally injured in the Forest of Death and was in poor physical condition, while Sakura Haruno had not fought a major battle with the Sound Ninja as in the original and was not injured herself. Her situation was much better than Ino's. In the battle of wills between the two kunoichi, Ino Yamanaka's body gave out first, and she was defeated.

In the end, the number of people participating in the third stage of the Chunin Exams differed from the original. Since the number was even, no one needed to fight an extra match. Dosu, who was originally slated for one, was pulled out to face Sakura Haruno, who had unexpectedly broken into the third stage. The winner would advance to the next round of elimination matches against the victor of the Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga bout.

At night, Mizuki, who had been busy all day, was exhausted; after all, his body had not yet recovered to its peak state. After submitting his mission report and storing the chakra leaked from Sasuke Uchiha's Cursed Seal, Mizuki tidied up the room, ate something simple, and fell into a weary sleep. Tsubaki had also been very busy lately and hadn't visited in two days, so Mizuki's life was extremely simple.

Lying on the bed, quietly reading through information on the Summoning Technique for a while, Mizuki suddenly felt dizzy. Feeling slightly fatigued, he tossed the scroll aside and began to ponder slowly.

The Summoning Technique—there is a major problem here.

The Summoning Technique of the ninja world is, more accurately, a type of contract ninjutsu. There are famous ones like the toads, snakes, and slugs of the Sannin, as well as less powerful summoning creatures like the Third Hokage's Enma or Hatake Kakashi's ninja hounds. Of course, there are also some ninjas who slowly cultivate summoning creatures from native animals; these do not have habitats like Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, or Shikkotsu Forest. There are even temporary summons like the jellyfish Mizuki often uses, which are disposable and of little value.

Generally, few people pay special attention to the group of summoning creatures, regarding them only as powerful combat partners.

Of course, Mizuki did not exclude this perspective. For example, Jiraiya had talent, but he wasn't exactly a peerless genius. When Jiraiya was not yet powerful, the toad summons came to him, helping him through his most critical growth period and even teaching him Sage Mode, a technique that even Orochimaru had not mastered. The reason for this remains unknown, only mentioned as being related to the Toad Sage's prophecy, requiring him to find the Child of Prophecy. The hidden details are unclear even to a transmigrator like himself, and presumably, few in the entire ninja world understand these things.

However, even so, Mizuki still saw some improprieties. Setting aside the external aspects like the diverse forms of summoning creatures and their various unique secret arts, there is actually one most important point that everyone has overlooked: the critical process of establishing a contract and the summoning itself.

As for establishing a contract, since Mizuki had never seen it done—only using common, temporary summons—he knew nothing about the contracts of those powerful summoning clans. But from his memories, a contract should be a form of exchange agreement guaranteed by the world's mandatory force; the gains and losses involved would only be known once he saw it for himself.

The other aspect is even more miraculous: during the summoning process, the creature travels through space to fight for the user. If they can win, they fight; if they can't, they can run away, and there are very few instances of them being injured or killed.

The two methods of use, summoning and reverse summoning, are far too convenient as a means of spatial transportation, even in a world where the spatial structure is unstable. This is the point that leaves Mizuki deeply suspicious. Moreover, what worries Mizuki even more is the summoner. In the vast majority of summoning processes, it involves biting a finger and using blood. This is a phrase mentioned in most summoning materials: "Use blood as a guide."

Before the rise of science in his previous life, many religions and philosophers believed that blood was the carrier of the soul. Of course, after thousands of years, his previous world never figured out what the soul actually was, and blood instead lost its mysterious veil. But whether this is a problem in the ninja world is worth debating.