Dark Currents Stir, the Chunin Exams Approach

"Sensei Kakashi, when is this ever going to end?" Naruto Uzumaki looked thoroughly bedraggled. He had just finished a D-rank mission helping an old lady catch chickens.

"Isn't this nice?" As a teacher, Kakashi Hatake did not need to do the work himself.

"What's nice about this? Aren't ninjas supposed to risk their lives?" Naruto Uzumaki pouted.

"So that's what you think." Kakashi Hatake closed Icha Icha Paradise. "But your teammates don't seem to think so."

Naruto Uzumaki turned his head and saw Sasuke Uchiha expressionlessly cutting grass with a sickle. With every swing, the chakra he dispersed cleared away all the grass in front of him.

On the other side, Qingchuan Tianming was happily chopping firewood with an axe.

Sakura Haruno was threading needles with the old lady.

"Sasuke, Tianming, don't you have any thoughts on this?" Naruto Uzumaki was baffled. Where had their mutual understanding of facing life and death together gone?

"Naruto, your thinking is far behind theirs." Kakashi Hatake explained, "Although you're all carrying out simple missions, take a good look at how Qingchuan Tianming and Sasuke Uchiha are using their chakra."

At that reminder, Naruto Uzumaki could no longer laugh. Come to think of it, he really was the only one doing actual labor!

"You could've at least told me the trick." Naruto Uzumaki immediately formed hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Before long, ten clones had entered the chicken coop.

More than half a day passed, and the D-rank mission was nearing its end.

"Ding! Sign-in mission triggered!"

"Please proceed to the classroom to sign in within the time limit!"

On the way back to the village, after another month of silence, a new sign-in mission had finally arrived.

Tianming calculated the timing. It happened to be time for the Chunin Exams.

"Starting tomorrow, none of you need to gather at Team 7's meeting spot. Prepare for the Chunin Exams." As they were about to part ways, Kakashi Hatake suddenly gave them this instruction.

"Sensei Kakashi, is it already that soon?" Naruto Uzumaki was shocked. Though he complained of boredom every day, he still found it hard to adjust to the Chunin Exams arriving in the blink of an eye.

"It's always been around this time in previous years." Kakashi Hatake said flatly, "In any case, with your strength, there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Could it be that Sensei Kakashi has some exclusive inside information?" Naruto Uzumaki grinned.

Kakashi Hatake raised a hand and gave him a sharp knock on the head. "You can only rely on yourselves. The examiners are different every year, so pray for your own luck."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi Hatake vanished.

"He ran off fast." Naruto Uzumaki rubbed his head.

"Let's all do our best." Sakura Haruno gave a dry laugh to ease the mood.

Sasuke Uchiha left without looking back, as stingy with words as ever.

"Qingchuan Tianming, good luck!"

Tianming nodded. "All of us, together."

After returning to the Aokawa Clan residence, Tianming took a shower, washed his clothes, and lay down on his large bed.

Tomorrow was the legendary Chunin Exams. From this event onward, the development of the ninja world would begin advancing in full.

"Gaara... the clash of Konoha's twelve rookies... Orochimaru?" Tianming's eyes lit up. In the original story, Orochimaru's first appearance during the Chunin Exams had been for Sasuke.

In the end, he had even left behind a curse mark.

What Tianming did not know was that Orochimaru's chosen vessel had long since changed from Sasuke to Qingchuan Tianming...

At the same time, outside Konoha Village, ninjas from other hidden villages were gradually arriving as well.

In the shadows, Kabuto Yakushi, wearing glasses, looked at the Sound Three before him and said flatly, "During these Chunin Exams, your mission is to bring back one person."

Kabuto Yakushi took out a portrait and showed it to the Sound Three. "Success is your only option."

"Lord Kabuto Yakushi, does a minor character like this really require your involvement?" Dosu Kinuta, the bandaged man among the Sound Three, asked.

Kabuto Yakushi looked harmless enough, but who could tell that such a delicate-looking man was actually Orochimaru's trusted aide?

"You will carry out this mission independently. Also, during the Chunin Exams, my identity cannot be exposed. If anything happens that could expose me, I will kill you without hesitation!" Kabuto Yakushi said coldly before turning and leaving.

"Is he always this full of himself?" After Kabuto Yakushi had gone far away, Zaku Abumi of the trio said irritably.

"Say less." Dosu Kinuta, the bandaged man, narrowed his eyes. "Don't underestimate Kabuto Yakushi."

"In the Snake Cave, many people once refused to accept him. In the end, every last one of them became fertilizer."

The Snake Cave! The collective name for Orochimaru's footholds. It was a sinful place beyond many people's imagination, yet also the place countless wicked people yearned for most.

No one who could enter the Snake Cave was a pushover, especially since Orochimaru possessed inhuman methods of making people even stronger...

That was why so many people placed fulfilling Orochimaru's orders and obtaining rewards above everything else.

"As long as we bring the person back, and Lord Orochimaru gives us some more rewards, our status in the Snake Cave will rise."