Karin

After their battle with the Sound Ninja, Team 7 and Team 10 went their separate ways due to their differing plans.

Having gathered the "Heaven" and "Earth" Scrolls from Naruto, Team 10 chose to head to the tower at the center of the training ground early, conclude the second exam, and secure their qualification to advance.

Meanwhile, Team 7 remained resting in the tree hollow for the entire day, recovering from their injuries and restoring their chakra.

Taking this opportunity, Sasuke also told Naruto and Sakura about what had happened to him after he had been separated from them the previous night.

"Grass Ninja?"

Sakura repeated the key point from Sasuke's account. "Sasuke, you're saying the person who disguised himself as a Grass Ninja and attacked you was Orochimaru?"

Sasuke nodded and confirmed it once again. "That man was Orochimaru, one of Konoha's legendary 'Three Sannin,' who defected from the village years ago!"

"Why would someone that famous disguise himself as a Grass Ninja? Could it be that Hidden Grass Village has already joined forces with Orochimaru and is preparing to do something to Konoha..."

Sakura still had doubts she could not sort out.

Sasuke did not know the answer either.

If Sakura's guess was correct, then the severity of Orochimaru infiltrating Konoha would rise to another level.

"No, Hidden Grass Village should have been kept in the dark as well... Didn't Sasuke just say that when Orochimaru placed the Cursed Seal on him, he called himself the 'founder of Hidden Sound'? The three Sound Ninja attacked us because they had received Orochimaru's orders."

"Since he already has his own village, he wouldn't take the risk of joining forces with Hidden Grass Village. After all, the more people who know, the more likely he is to be exposed."

Naruto spoke up with an explanation. "The reason Orochimaru chose to disguise himself as a Grass Ninja probably has something to do with the composition of Hidden Grass Village's ninja population—didn't our geography teacher at the Ninja Academy mention this? Hidden Grass Village is known for studying and researching ninjutsu from other countries."

"I remember that from class too, but what does that have to do with Orochimaru choosing to disguise himself as a Grass Ninja to infiltrate Konoha?"

Sakura turned toward Naruto, waiting for his analysis.

"Do you two remember Kakashi-sensei's explanation about ninja assassination squads back in the Land of Waves? In a ninja world where intelligence is valued, the ninjutsu, ninja tools, and even the ninja themselves that represent each village's characteristics are all important sources of information."

"Even Konoha, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, had to painstakingly obtain intelligence on other countries' ninjutsu through several ninja wars. So why would Hidden Grass Village, a small country, be described as 'skilled at studying and researching other countries' ninjutsu'?"

Naruto ended with a question for Sasuke and Sakura.

But before either of them could answer, Naruto continued.

"The quality of ninja in small countries already lags behind that of major countries. That would be one thing if the country were tucked away in some remote corner—but the Land of Grass, where Hidden Grass Village is located, borders the two major nations of Fire and Earth."

"The two smaller countries surrounding it are the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Rain."

"During the Warring States Period, the Land of Waterfalls possessed ninja forces capable of rivaling the other Five Great Nations. Although it has since declined, the rich foundation left behind from that era still allows it to look down on other small countries."

"The Land of Rain, meanwhile, had relied on its own strength during the Second Shinobi World War to contend against Konoha, Sunagakure, and Hidden Stone Village—three ninja villages among the Five Great Nations—despite being a small country..."

"The immense pressure from outside forced Hidden Grass Village to maintain an extremely open policy toward the origins of its ninja. By taking in defectors from other countries and wandering ninja whose nations had fallen, it could quickly strengthen itself and prevent powerful neighboring countries from eyeing it greedily. That was also what made Hidden Grass Village skilled at studying and researching other countries' ninjutsu."

"A ninja population like that makes it difficult to trace the original backgrounds of Hidden Grass Village's ninja. As a result, Orochimaru had a far lower chance of being discovered while disguised as a Grass Ninja than he would have had posing as a ninja from another country."

In the original story, before the second Chunin Ninja Exams began, the Grass Ninja examinee Orochimaru had disguised himself as even approached the chief examiner, Mitaraishi Anko.

As Orochimaru's former student, Anko Mitarashi had faced his distinctive long tongue. Yet because Orochimaru had disguised himself as a "Grass Ninja," she had not immediately noticed anything unusual.

It was only when Orochimaru activated the "Heaven" Cursed Seal on Anko, identical to Sasuke's, and the seal's power broke through its suppression once more that Anko became certain Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha.

"And besides..."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Orochimaru went to such lengths to disguise himself, yet his goal is strange... Sasuke, you said Orochimaru told you that he had specifically come for you?"

"At first, I thought he was after the scrolls, and I was relieved that you were the one holding them... But after he learned the scrolls weren't with me, Orochimaru, whose strength completely surpassed mine, still kept pestering me without killing me... Like a snake playing with its prey..."

Sasuke nodded with a dark expression. The strange emotion within him was not distress over being coveted by one of the famous Legendary Sannin.

It was because—when recounting his encounter with Orochimaru to Naruto and Sakura, he had deliberately concealed something—Orochimaru had clearly met Itachi Uchiha, and he knew a great deal about the Uchiha Clan's tragedy from back then—perhaps even more than Sasuke himself, perhaps even more than Itachi Uchiha...

Orochimaru had offered Sasuke a power of revenge he could not refuse, tempting him with it.

Sasuke had actually... been tempted.

He saw himself as an avenger. If he could one day successfully take revenge on his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, he would not hesitate to give up his own life.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto's suddenly solemn voice yanked Sasuke out of the thoughts he had sunk into without realizing it.

"What?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"There are too many unknowns about the Cursed Seal's power. Unless you have a way to control it, I don't want you to lose yourself in that power."

The genuine concern and persuasion in Naruto's words made Sasuke momentarily lose focus.

"I'll try..."

Sasuke answered, but he could not make Naruto any promises.

After Sasuke awoke from his long coma, the three members of Team 7 finally put together all the information each of them knew.

But with all three of them harboring their own concerns, they failed to reach any good conclusions.

They could only continue participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams and let everything proceed naturally.

It was not until the third day of the second Chunin Ninja Exams, after spending an entire day recuperating, that Team 7 set out once more to rejoin the exam.

At least when it came to the exam itself, the three of them shared the same goal.

That was to bring their scrolls into the tower as quickly as possible.

"Let's confirm the plan again."

Using Earth Release to restore the soil and erase Team 7's lingering scent from the tree hollow, Naruto gathered Sasuke and Sakura to review the key points before moving out.

"Because of the Cursed Seal, once Sasuke's chakra drops to a certain level, the seal will activate uncontrollably, and his entire body will become covered in black markings like during our fight with the Sound Ninja. Although I rested for a whole day and have mostly recovered my chakra, the wound on my abdomen will take a long time to heal—in other words, two of Team 7's three members can't fight, or at least can't fight for long."

"And we have already fulfilled two of the three conditions for passing the second exam."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura, who were listening attentively.

Sakura picked up where he left off. "'Obtain a complete set of Heaven and Earth Scrolls' and 'have no casualties in the ninja team.'"

Sasuke added, "What we need to do now is reach the tower in the center of the Forest of Death within the allotted exam time while maintaining those two conditions."

Naruto pondered aloud, "Today is the third day of the exam. Teams with enough luck and strength should have mostly reached the tower already. The remaining two days will likely be a tug-of-war among the weaker teams."

"That's only the best-case scenario, isn't it?"

Sasuke interrupted at that moment.

"Yeah. In theory, up to ten of the twenty teams participating in the exam can pass. But we can't rule out the possibility that some teams, after gathering their scrolls, will continue hunting down other examinees to eliminate as many opponents as possible in an exam where killing is legal."

Compared to the best-case scenario—

the worst-case scenario Naruto described was far more plausible.

This was a ninja exam where killing was explicitly permitted. No one would be satisfied with merely getting a "passing grade" like in the first exam.

"So I'll plan our route to the tower. I'll repeatedly use Shadow Clones to scout in every direction. If a clone encounters an enemy, it will dispel itself, and I'll receive its information at the same time. I'll mark any direction where a clone dispels as a 'dead end,' while the routes where clones remain active will be 'open paths' free of enemies."

"We'll avoid battle like this and head for the tower. Any objections?"

After explaining how they would advance toward the tower, Naruto's eyes shifted between Sasuke and Sakura.

Both Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads.

"Then let's move!"

With that, the three members of Team 7 vanished from the ground and moved stealthily through the forest's towering trees.

Their formation had changed slightly from the first night.

Naruto, who was leading the way, was at the front.

Sasuke, who could not freely expend chakra because of the Cursed Seal, stayed at the rear along routes that had already been checked for danger.

Sakura, the weakest of the three, remained in the middle, where Naruto and Sasuke could immediately protect her if danger arose.

Naruto's route was not the fastest straight line, but rather a winding path built around one.

The several Shadow Clones he had sent out would occasionally dispel themselves and relay information to the original. If a clone that dispelled happened to be on Team 7's current route, Naruto would immediately change direction.

Though this route would take more time to reach the tower at the finish, it allowed Team 7 to travel without encountering any danger.

After moving like this for some time, Naruto suddenly stopped.

Noticing Naruto's movement, Sakura and Sasuke came to his side.

"What is it?"

Sasuke asked.

"All the Shadow Clones I sent out just dispelled themselves."

Naruto frowned as he answered.

"All of them?!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto in surprise.

Sakura said nothing, but her silence conveyed her concern.

"They were all near the tower... Just as expected, someone chose to ambush people on the routes leading to the tower in order to eliminate more opponents."

Naruto's expression was grave. It seemed they had encountered the worst-case scenario.

"So we can't avoid fighting now?"

Sakura asked Naruto.

Naruto nodded, then immediately shook his head.

"Naruto, what does it mean when you nod and then shake your head?"

Sasuke was puzzled by Naruto's strange reaction.

"There's one direction where there's an enemy, but only one person. I can't see the other two teammates, so they should be examinees who have already lost their qualifications. Since the second exam doesn't allow withdrawal during the exam, that person is probably near the tower waiting for the five-day exam to end. Other than examiners and examinees, the beasts in the Forest of Death don't go near the tower."

Naruto explained why he had first agreed and then disagreed.

"In that case, can't we just head straight toward the eliminated examinee? Naruto, what are you hesitating over?"

At first glance, Naruto's explanation seemed to mean they could still avoid battle and reach the tower.

But Sasuke had also noticed Naruto's attitude and realized things were not that simple.

"That lone examinee is a Grass Ninja."

That was the reason for Naruto's hesitation.

Orochimaru had previously disguised himself as a Grass Ninja.

"However, Sakura and I saw her before the exam. She should indeed be an examinee sent by Hidden Grass Village."

Sakura was stunned when she heard this, not expecting Naruto's words to suddenly involve her.

But after considering what Naruto had just said, Sakura quickly remembered.

"It's that female Grass Ninja named Karin we met at the barbecue restaurant!"

Once again, Sakura pictured the red-haired girl who had been bullied by her teammates.

"Yeah, I think that was her name. I didn't pay much attention to her at the time... I'm impressed you still remembered, Sakura."

An unnoticed flicker of something strange passed through Naruto's eyes.

Yet his tone truly sounded as though Sakura's reminder had only just made him remember Karin's name.