Kakashi left with Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna.
Only Zuo Hao and the hundred-odd samurai and ninja frozen by Genjutsu remained in the clearing before the bridge.
Zuo Hao walked up to Gato, raised his foot, and prodded Gato's greasy, bloated face with the tip of his shoe.
Gato still wore the terrified expression he'd had the instant before the Genjutsu took hold. His sunglasses sat crooked, and drool ran from the corner of his mouth. He looked like a statue of a fat pig frozen in time.
Zuo Hao lowered his foot and leaned against the bridge's steel framework, as though waiting for someone.
A faint sound of space warping came through the air, as if something had been torn apart and was being pieced back together.
A swirling rift slowly opened before Zuo Hao.
Obito stepped out of the Kamui Dimension.
He still wore his black cloak with red clouds and an orange spiral mask that revealed only one crimson Sharingan.
His gaze swept over the hundred-odd frozen samurai, settled on Gato's vacant face, then finally turned to Zuo Hao by the steel framework.
"You sent Kakashi away just to wait for me?" Obito asked from behind his mask, amusement in his voice.
"What else?" Zuo Hao said. "I've got a gift for you."
The lone Sharingan visible through Obito's spiral mask narrowed slightly. "Gato? That rich man from the Land of Waves? He's just an ordinary man with some money. What kind of gift is that?"
"Ordinary?" Zuo Hao laughed. He walked over to Gato and patted his plump face. "This man controls all shipping in the Land of Waves. Even merchant ships from the Five Great Nations have to pay him protection money to cross his waters. By a conservative estimate, his assets come to at least this much."
Zuo Hao held up three fingers.
Obito said nothing. His visible Sharingan betrayed no reaction.
Thirty million ryō was an astronomical sum to an ordinary person, but to the Akatsuki, it was merely a decent amount of seed money.
Zuo Hao watched Obito and smiled a little wider.
"Billion."
At last, a subtle change appeared in Obito's Sharingan.
Three hundred billion ryō.
That was enough to keep a midsize nation running for an entire year.
Zuo Hao took his hand off Gato's face and wiped it on his pants, as if cleaning off something filthy. "Gato has monopolized shipping in the Land of Waves for over a decade. His declared assets are just the tip of the iceberg."
"He has secret accounts at major banks across the Five Great Nations and three underground vaults in the Land of Iron."
"That should keep the Akatsuki going for a while, shouldn't it?"
Obito fell silent.
Zuo Hao was right.
The Akatsuki was still growing. Recruiting members, gathering intelligence, planting spies in the ninja villages, preparing to capture the Tailed Beasts—every part of it demanded enormous funds.
Obito's tone remained calm, but there was a rare note of gravity in it. "All right. I'll remember this favor and repay you."
Zuo Hao smiled faintly, though a trace of urgency flashed deep in his eyes.
He needed to strengthen his Bond Link with Obito.
But even after five years, his bond with Obito had only reached level two.
He had no idea how to raise it further.
With no better option, he had decided to help Obito this way, hoping it would strengthen their bond faster.
Zuo Hao's thoughts raced. Should I help Obito capture a few Tailed Beasts? Would that make it rise faster?
Before he could settle on the idea, Obito seemed to sense something and suddenly asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Zuo Hao quickly composed himself and waved a hand with a casual smile. "Nothing. I'll leave Gato to you. I'm heading out."
Obito nodded. "All right. Go on."
A day later, Team 7 returned to Konoha.
For Konoha, the days they had been away had been utterly ordinary. No one knew what had happened in the thick fog of the Land of Waves.
No one knew a twelve-year-old Genin had trapped more than a hundred people in Genjutsu.
And no one knew he had personally handed Gato's three-hundred-billion-ryō fortune to the Akatsuki.
With his hands in his pockets, Zuo Hao strolled home along Konoha's main road.
The Chunin Exams.
If the timeline was still on track, the Hokage's Office should announce them in the next few days.
Orochimaru would place the Cursed Seal of Heaven on Sasuke in the Forest of Death.
The combined forces of Sunagakure and Otogakure would attack on the day of the finals.
And all I had to do was find Orochimaru amid the chaos and complete that hidden mission.
Zuo Hao pushed open his front door. The living room was empty.
Sasuke wasn't back yet. Naruto had probably dragged him to Ichiraku Ramen again.
He tossed his ninja tool pouch onto the coffee table, fell backward onto the sofa, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The system's mission panel appeared in his mind.
[Hidden Mission: Konoha Crush Plan] [Objective: Work closely with Orochimaru and personally kill the Third Hokage.] [Rewards: Scroll of Seals, Ryūchi Cave contract scroll, Bond Link with Orochimaru.]
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's Office.
Smoke hung thick in the Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, holding the pipe that never left his side. His aged face appeared and vanished behind the smoke.
A document lay open before him. Konoha's flame emblem was printed on the cover, with a neatly inked title below it.
"Joint Chunin Selection Exam Implementation Plan."
More than a dozen people stood in the office, all Jōnin and Chunin—the cream of Konoha's fighting force.
"Everyone. The Chunin Exams will officially begin in Konohagakure three days from now."
The office fell quiet for a moment. Then everyone burst into conversation.
"At last!" Might Guy slammed a fist into his palm, his eyes blazing. "This is the moment for youth to burn bright! My students can't wait!"
Asuma took the unlit cigarette from between his lips and chuckled. "There are some promising rookies this year. The next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho is all on my team: Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Each of those kids has his or her own personality problems, but they're no pushovers."
Kurenai Yuhi nodded slightly, pride in her voice. "Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga. Team 8's tracking and reconnaissance abilities are among the best of any Genin squad. Shino in particular will have the perfect environment for his insects in the exam forest."
Hiruzen nodded and looked over the Jōnin before him, a faint, gratified smile on his face.
This year's Chunin Exams were being held jointly with Sunagakure, so some of its Genin would naturally participate. As Hokage, he was delighted that Konoha had so many rising talents of its own.
His gaze came to rest on the silver-haired Jōnin in the back row.
"Kakashi, what about you?"
Kakashi closed Icha Icha Paradise and looked up, his dull eye as languid as ever.
"Ah, I'm recommending Team 7 too. Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sahiro Uchiha."
The office suddenly went quiet.
It lasted only two or three seconds, but that was long enough for everyone to notice something was off.
The first to speak was Iruka, a Chunin standing in the front row.
Iruka's brow furrowed. His lips moved as he searched for the right words, but in the end he forced himself to say it.
"Kakashi, I understand you want to give your students a chance to test themselves. But Team 7... isn't it still too soon?"
Before you continue