The central tower in the Forest of Death was the finish line for this test.
Sasuke and his two teammates reached the finish line without any trouble along the way. The only battle they had fought had, surprisingly, been the ambush by those Root Ninja.
"Sasuke, are you all right?"
Once they reached the finish line, Haku, who had stayed silent throughout the journey, finally couldn't help asking how Sasuke was doing.
"Me? I'm fine."
"Are you really fine? When Konoha's Hokage showed up earlier, I was afraid you'd lose control and charge straight at him."
"Really? Karin, were my emotions that obvious just now?"
Karin shook her head, looking a little bewildered.
"What's wrong? Wasn't Sasuke acting perfectly normal when the Hokage appeared?"
"It's normal that Karin couldn't tell. She was too well protected in the Land of Grass and hasn't experienced much fighting to the death.
But for people like us, who've seen far too many life-and-death battles, the killing intent you showed was all too obvious, even though you quickly suppressed it.
Still, if even I noticed it, I imagine the Hokage noticed it too."
"Wait, the Hokage noticed? Will he target us, then?"
Sasuke answered unconcernedly.
"No. With the Daimyo here, he wouldn't dare. Besides, these are the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams. If he targets us and people from the other villages and countries find out, Konoha's reputation will be ruined.
As for whether he'll wait until the Chunin Ninja Exams are over to make a move against us..."
As he spoke, the usually stern-faced Sasuke smiled.
"He won't live that long."
Haku and Karin nodded in agreement. They wouldn't need to wait until the Chunin Ninja Exams ended. Once Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush Plan, the countdown to the death of Konoha's Third would begin.