Edo Tensei

"Don't look at me like that. Be careful, or you'll fall in love with me!"

Mirai hooked a finger beneath Temari's chin with his right hand and looked at her with a smile.

Temari's cheeks flushed red. She snorted and turned her head away.

"Let's go!" Mirai turned to leave.

"What about them...?"

Hinata was clearly worried about Naruto and the other two lying on the ground.

"Konoha's ninja will be here soon. Don't worry about them!"

Mirai took Hinata's hand and left with Temari.

After the three of them left, Konoha's ninja arrived.

They were Anko Mitarashi, Hatake Kakashi, and Morino Ibiki.

"These look like tracks left by Manda crushing through here!"

Anko Mitarashi spotted a clear crushed trail on the ground and guessed who had been here moments ago.

"Looks like Orochimaru really did sneak into the village!"

Kakashi searched the surrounding area but found no trace of Orochimaru. "He should have left already!"

"Let's take these three back first!"

Morino Ibiki picked up Naruto, Kakashi carried Sasuke, and Anko Mitarashi took Sakura. The three of them then left.

As for Mirai, he leisurely walked along with Hinata and Temari.

He was in no hurry at all. After all, Gaara was busy working for him.

Along the way, Mirai either flirted with Hinata or took the opportunity to educate Temari under all sorts of pretexts.

Of course, this education was no ordinary education. It was the spanking education Mirai was best at.

Yet strangely enough, after receiving such special treatment from Mirai, Temari actually developed a favorable impression of him.

Who knew whether this was part of Mirai's plan or whether Temari's character setting had changed.

And so, the three of them began living in harmonious enjoyment.

As for whether they would encounter other ninja along the way, they did not run into a single one.

As for the reason, Mirai was to blame.

Mirai had only told Gaara and Kankuro to bring scrolls in exchange for Temari. He had never said how many.

As a result, the two of them went mad, rushing to snatch scrolls whenever they saw a ninja team.

Afraid they would not gather enough scrolls and Mirai would refuse to release Temari, the two did their utmost to seize as many scrolls as possible.

Other than the people Mirai had specifically pointed out, nearly everyone fell victim to the two of them.

Of course, Mirai did not know this yet.

In the blink of an eye, the fifth day arrived.

At the end of the Forest of Death lay an open plain, and on that plain stood a pavilion.

The moment Mirai emerged from the Forest of Death, he saw Kankuro and Gaara, their eyes bloodshot and their bodies filthy and disheveled.

The sight gave Mirai a fright. What the hell had happened to them?

How had they ended up like this?

Temari was also startled by the sight of the two.

"Release her!"

Gaara threw all the Heaven and Earth Scrolls he had collected to Mirai.

Aside from one set for his own team, Kankuro also tossed all his other scrolls to Mirai.

"What a bountiful haul. You two really worked hard!"

Mirai happily accepted the scrolls and pulled Temari, who stood beside him, to the front.

"There, here's your reward!"

Kankuro hurried forward and pulled Temari over to his side.

He was afraid Mirai would capture her again and use her to threaten them.

As Kankuro dragged Temari away, she also glanced back at Mirai.

Meanwhile, Hinata was pulled away by Kiba and Shino, who had been waiting nearby.

They claimed that since they were not on the same team and would be opponents later, she could not defect to the enemy.

And just like that, the second exam ended.

After the exam ended, there were still twenty contestants who had passed.

Because there were too many contestants, the third round directly adopted a combat elimination format.

The remaining twenty contestants would engage in one-on-one battles.

The winners would continue fighting, while the losers would be eliminated. The final victor would be the champion.

As the challenge matches were about to begin, Kabuto Yakushi among the contestants acted just as he had in the original story.

Fearing that he would be unable to control his power and expose his identity, he chose to withdraw voluntarily.

After all, he had come to Konoha with a plan, not truly to take part in the Chunin Exams.

By this time, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had also awakened.

Thanks to Mirai, the three of them had also advanced directly into the challenge matches.

The competition proceeded as normal, and Mirai easily made it into the top ten!

What surprised Mirai, however, was that Naruto had also made it into the top ten. That was truly a little hard to imagine.

The first top-ten match: Uchiha Sasuke versus Gaara of the Sand Waterfall.

Mirai had originally been looking forward to seeing how Sasuke would get a harsh lesson from reality.

But before that lesson could come, Orochimaru's plan began.

With a deafening boom, an enormous summoned beast suddenly smashed through the walls of the arena.

Battles broke out throughout Konoha, while summoned beasts also appeared in two other locations one after another.

All the summoned beasts were the same—once they appeared, they immediately began wreaking havoc.

"Hayate, go evacuate the civilians and rescue the injured ninja. I'll lure this summoned beast away first."

In a flash, Kakashi had already appeared before the giant centipede summoned beast.

"Lightning Release—Chidori!"

With his Sharingan activated to assist him, lightning covered his right hand as he brought it down on the giant centipede's head.

Clang!

The giant centipede's carapace was incomparably hard. Kakashi's Lightning Release: Chidori could not break through it and could only deal some minor damage.

Even so, it enraged the giant centipede.

Roar!

The giant centipede let out an angry roar, its hundred legs like steel needles and sharp swords as they clawed and slashed toward Kakashi.

With the aid of his Sharingan, Kakashi easily evaded the giant centipede's attacks.

Gradually, he lured the giant centipede away.

Mirai looked at the devastated surroundings, gave a wry smile, and vanished from where he stood.

When he appeared again, he was already at the entrance to the Hyuga Clan compound.

The instant Mirai appeared, a fierce gust of wind swept toward him.

Manda was fighting a giant toad, and the shockwave had been caused by the clash between those two colossal creatures.

At the entrance to the Hyuga Clan compound, besides members of the Hyuga Clan, stood a white-haired man.

"Who are you?!"

Seeing Mirai suddenly appear, Jiraiya cautiously moved to surround him.

"Now that you're back, I'm no longer needed here!"

Mirai's figure instantly vanished before Jiraiya's eyes.

When he reappeared, he was already in another part of Konoha.

The summoned beast here was the Wind Hunting Hawk, and no one had been able to stop it.

Seeing the Konoha ninja around him able only to defend passively, Mirai stepped forward.

"Come back! It's dangerous ahead!"

One of the ninja saw Mirai move forward and immediately grew anxious.

In his eyes, the Wind Hunting Hawk was not something Mirai could handle.

Yet what happened next left him dumbfounded.

"Wind Release—Great Breakthrough!"

Mirai first used Wind Release on the ground. Using the wind's thrust, he shot into the air in an instant.

"Super Big Ball Rasengan!"