Konoha Crush Plan: Epic Enhancement (9)

Ninja Academy.

examination room.

When Shion, Hikari, and Taichi entered the classroom, most of the seats were already filled with examinees. At a glance, there were already more than a hundred examinees present.

Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane mainly stopped Konoha's Genin, while the ninja from other villages entered the examination hall early because they were unfamiliar with Konoha's internal layout.

This exam is jointly organized by Sunagakure and Konoha, and its brutality far exceeds that of the past. Therefore, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane raised the entry requirements in order to filter out candidates who are just trying their luck and prevent them from making unnecessary sacrifices during the exam.

Shion, Hikari, Taichi walked toward the empty seats at the back of the classroom.

"Look!"

"He's Genin from Uzushiogakure."

"Those three little devils are quite pretty."

"Looks good, but they're not necessarily useful!"

"She looks so delicate and fair-skinned, I wonder how strong she is?"

"It's best not to provoke those three. Didn't you hear that yesterday, the Uchiha Clan's genius ninja Uchiha Sasuke, was defeated in a single blow?"

"It seems the Uchiha's geniuses aren't all that great after all."

When the students in the class saw Shion, Hikari, Taichi, they immediately started talking amongst themselves.

However, the ninjas who were making a fuss were mostly from small countries outside the Six Great Ninja Villages, and they were very dissatisfied with the ninjas from the major countries.

Most of these people were adults, and some looked to be in their twenties. They were dressed in various ways and carried all sorts of strange weapons. Among them were a few Genin carried spiked clubs that were taller than a person.

As for the ninjas from the other Five Great Shinobi Villages, they mostly remained silent, coldly observing Shion, Hikari, Taichi, already regarding them as formidable rivals in the upcoming exams.

Because it was Chunin Selection Exam jointly organized by Sunagakure and Konoha, Sunagakure had the most Genin, with ten teams and a total of thirty Genin taking the exam, in addition to the Konoha candidates.

The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, even sent his own children to participate in the competition. Gaara, Kankuro, Temari each possess combat power approaching that of Special Jonin.

Especially Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki. If he uses the One-Tail- Chakra to enter the Tailed Beast Transformation state, even Elite Jonin might not be able to defeat him without the help of a large Summoning Beast.

At this moment, Gaara Shion, Hikari, Taichi with great interest, his eyes filled with bloodlust, and he seemed somewhat restless.

"Gaara, calm down! We can't afford to mess with these three. It's best not to get into a conflict with them."

Kankuro was standing nearby, put his hand on Gaara's shoulder, signaling him not to act rashly.

As Rasa's children, the three of them naturally possessed far more information than other ninjas. In particular, Rasa and Orochimaru were currently 'cooperating,' so they naturally knew that Shion, Hikari, and Taichi were Shiraha's children.

Although the strength of Shion, Hikari, and Taichi is unknown, Shiraha's reputation is known to everyone in the Shinobi World.

What they feared most in this operation was that the Uzushiogakure would interfere, so regardless of whether Shion, Hikari, Taichi were their match, it was best to avoid a conflict.

In particular, Rasa repeatedly reminded them to be careful of Shion, Hikari, Taichi.

"If you utter another word, I'll kill you!" Gaara's face turned cold, and the murderous intent in his eyes was no joke.

Kankuro was startled, and his face instantly turned pale. His younger brother's mind was becoming increasingly unstable.

"Gaara, we're all family, there's no need to say things like that. Let's just talk things out," Temari quickly tried to smooth things over and ease the tension.

However, Gaara turned and glanced at her, then snapped, "Shut up!"

Temari's expression stiffened, she gave an awkward smile, and said nothing more.

Temari was afraid that if she really angered Gaara, causing him to lose control and unleash the power of the One-Tail, then things would be in big trouble.

There's still some time before the plan begins, so we can't afford any unexpected situations with them. Otherwise, even if they are the children of the Fourth Kazekage, they can't bear such a heavy responsibility.

Seeing that Kankuro and Temari had both shut their mouths, Gaara turned back to look at Shion, Hikari, Taichi.

Hikari noticed Gaara's bloodthirsty gaze, her already irritated mood, fueled by the noisy discussions of the other examinees, worsened.

As soon as Hikari's eyes narrowed slightly and met Gaara's gaze, her originally dark eyes turned crimson, and her black vertical pupils, resembling those of a demon fox, flashed by.

"Ah!" Gaara suddenly clutched his head and growled, his face contorted in pain.

"It's that stinky fox's Chakra! Damn it!" The roar of Shukaku, the One-Tails Shukaku, echoed from within Gaara. Shukaku began to attack the seal within Gaara's body and continuously released astonishing killing intent, directly affecting Gaara's spirit.

Gaara's unusual reaction startled the Sunagakure ninjas around him.

"Gaara, what's wrong?"

"What happened? How are you?"

Kankuro and Temari, who were sitting next to him, immediately checked on Gaara's condition.

"It actually worked?! It seems Kurama wasn't bragging." Hikari was slightly taken aback, and her crimson eyes immediately returned to normal. She ignored Gaara because she sensed that she was being watched, which meant that a powerful ninja was observing the area. Therefore, she didn't want to cause trouble for Shiraha and had to give him some basic courtesy.

According to Kurama (the Kurama), it is the strongest of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts, One-Tail is the weakest. Encountering Kurama is like a mouse encountering a cat.

At first, Hikari didn't quite believe it, but now he does.

However, what she didn't know was that although the amount of Chakra of the Tailed Beast was arranged according to the number of tails, their strength was not calculated in this way. The One-Tail was not the weakest among the Nine Great Tailed Beasts, but rather ranked high.

In particular, the One-Tail Chakra has a sealing effect. If the Jinchuriki were to fight and both sides only used the Tailed Beast Chakra, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki might not necessarily be able to defeat the One-Tail Jinchuriki.

Seeing that Shion and Taichi were looking at her, Hikari simply shook her head slightly, indicating that they didn't need to pay attention.

The three of them went to the back and sat down.

In fact, Hikari did not use the Innate Spell "Petrifying Gaze" or the mental attack spell, but instead used the Nine-Tails Chakra within his body.

Because Kushina possessed the Perfect Nine-Tails within her body and was Perfect Jinchuriki, she, with the Kurama ' cooperation, attempted to seal some of the Kurama ' refined pure Chakra for both Hikari and Taichi.

However, the more talented Hikari has mastered the power of the Nine-Tails Chakra and can control it precisely.

Although Taichi can control the Nine-Tails Chakra, he can't do it to the same extent as Hikari.

When Hikari noticed Gaara's unsettling gaze, she sensed a chakra within Gaara that she instinctively loathed through the connection between the tailed Chakra Tailed Beast Chakra. She immediately remembered what Kurama had once said: Kurama and One-Tails Shukaku were mortal enemies with an extremely poor relationship. That's why the Chakra within her reacted so strongly.

This Gaara is the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Beast, so at the very least, he possesses a large amount of the One-Tail Chakra within him.

So, Hikari made a move to test Gaara a lesson.

Just as Hikari predicted, Gaara was not Perfect Jinchuriki. In fact, it's almost impossible for Jinchuriki of that age to become Perfect Jinchuriki, as he couldn't even skillfully control a portion of the Tailed Beast's Chakra.

So she used the Nine-Tails Chakra, instantly stimulating the already restless One-Tails Shukaku within Gaara.

Gaara's suffering didn't last long, because Rasa had specifically strengthened Gaara's seal before arriving, so the One-Tail's struggle was quickly suppressed by the seal.

At this moment, Gaara's face showed deep exhaustion. Because of the One-Tail's rampage, he was soaked to the bone, as if he had been pulled out of the water.

Soon after, the Konoha Genin entered the classroom one after another.

Following that, the Chunin instructors arrived at the examination hall one after another. The one leading them was none other than Shiraha's junior from back then, the Konoha Special Jonin, Morino Ibiki. He was the head of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Department. He had been briefly captured by the enemy and subjected to severe torture, so his face was covered with scars left by the enemy's torture.

Morino Ibiki's cold and fierce appearance instantly silenced the whispering Genin in the room.

Soon, the first exam began. All candidates received a test paper with nine questions. Apart from the first three questions, the remaining six questions were completely beyond the scope of the exam. For many Genin, these were questions they had never even heard of. Many of these questions were only accessible to Jōnin.

At this time, two Chunin teachers had already disguised themselves as students and mingled in the classroom. They would memorize the standard answers, write them on the test paper, and wait for other candidates to copy them.

This exam requires either writing out these strange questions based on your own ability, or copying without getting caught. Gathering intelligence is extremely important for ninjas. In short, it tests the ninjas' comprehensive abilities.

However, these questions are not difficult for a few academic geniuses.

In particular, Shion, Taichi, Hikari, who received comprehensive education from Shiraha, learned a great deal of knowledge at a young age that ordinary people could not learn in a lifetime, thanks to the powerful Mental Power brought by Meditation Method.

Even Taichi, who was the least studious of the three, finished all eight questions and completed most of the remaining question.

Shion and Hikari solved all the problems early on.

"Huh?! This guy!" After finishing the question, Taichi glanced at the area to his right with a strange expression. He noticed something unusual about a bald candidate from the Otogakure. The candidate was emitting a special Energy Field, a special radiation field that only Wizard possess.

After pondering for Taichi activated "Serpent Spirit Sense".

The ANBU Headquarters.

Yakushi Kabuto, dressed in a black robe and wearing Animal Mask, walked through the dark and cramped passageway.

Soon, he arrived at the lowest level of the Anbu's underground base. It was even darker here, very damp, and the air smelled of decay.

Each cell is an independent cage, with sturdy metal bars as thick as an arm and powerful seals on them, making it virtually impossible for these prisoners, whose Chakra is sealed, to escape.

Unless someone has their Chakra sealed, they can still unleash pure physical power capable of instantly breaking the seal—which is, of course, impossible.

This is where Konoha detains death row inmates and serious criminals.

The ninjas who stayed here either trampled on the Will of Fire and killed their comrades, or they were traitors or spies of other countries. They were basically sentenced to decades of imprisonment or even life imprisonment. In many cases, this was worse than death.

Yakushi Kabuto walked steadily and slowly toward the innermost part of the prison. The prisoners he passed all looked dazed, some leaning against the wall, some lying down, and everyone's expression was numb. Only when Yakushi Kabuto passed by would their eyes twitch slightly.

Perhaps they were thinking that their sentences were up and they could be released, or perhaps they were thinking that someone was so lucky that they could go straight to the afterlife.

In the dark and sunless underground prison, many people initially try to remember the time by carving marks on the walls, but as the repetitive daily life wears down their last hope, they become obsessed with death and eventually become numb.

However, the prisoners here are all ninjas, including some Jōnin, so the Anbu ninjas are very careful and will not be careless.

Kabuto Yakushi Kabuto through the cells on both sides and came to the end of the corridor. He pushed open the iron door in front of him and entered a separate cell. The space here was much larger than the other cells, and it was clean and tidy. Even the smell of decay and mold had disappeared without a trace, and instead, it was filled with a faint fragrance.

Danzo, dressed in casual clothes, sat cross-legged on the bed with his back to the prison door, seemingly meditating facing the wall.

When he heard the noise from the cell, it took him a while before he slowly turned around.

Yakushi Kabuto removed his mask, approached Danzo, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said, "Danzo."

"I am no longer the leader of Root," Danzo said calmly, his face expressionless.

Yakushi Kabuto lowered his head slightly. "For us Root ninjas, we will always be loyal to only you."

"Speak, what is your purpose in coming here?" Danzo calmly. After being imprisoned for several years, he was much calmer than before he came in. In the past few years, he had been reflecting on himself, wondering why he had failed so miserably. When everything seemed to be about to succeed, why did he always fail at the crucial moment?

"This Chunin Selection Exam is unprecedented in scale, so Lord Jiraiya has returned to the village. According to intelligence, Orochimaru has also returned."

The Yakushi Kabuto replied.

For the past few years, he has been acting as Danzo's informant, helping Danzo and Orochimaru maintain contact.

Of course, the Third Hokage knew this too, but they just turned a blind eye.

After all, Danzo was treated so differently from other prisoners that no one would dare to do it without the Third Hokage Hokage's tacit approval.

Danzo remained relatively calm when he heard that Jiraiya had returned, as this was quite normal. However, upon learning that Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha, he immediately lost his composure and exclaimed in shock, "Orochimaru dares to come to Konoha at a time like this? Does he really intend to attack Konoha and seek revenge against the Third Hokage?!"

"Orochimaru is preparing to create chaos in Konoha, and that will be your chance to make a comeback!" Yakushi Kabuto said, sounding slightly excited.

"Does the Third Hokage know about this?" Danzo, his brows furrowing slightly.

Yakushi Kabuto explained, "Based on the current situation, the Lord Third Hokage should have discovered Orochimaru's whereabouts from some clues, but he doesn't know Orochimaru's specific purpose. Now, ninjas from various countries have gathered in Konoha, and many dignitaries are watching the Chunin Ninja Exams. The Lord Third Hokage probably won't stop the exams because of Orochimaru."

"That's true," Danzo murmured, falling into deep thought.

What exactly gives Orochimaru his confidence?