After doing all this, Araki did not enter the laboratory, but quickly moved along the outer ring of Konoha in another direction.
His thoughts are now very simple.
He needed to return to Konoha via a route that no one would notice, so that whatever the villagers discovered would be irrelevant to him.
At times like these, all he could think of was Uchiha Mikoto.
Mikoto is a member of the Uchiha Clan, a fact that brings her some trouble, but also gives her many opportunities to exploit.
If Mikoto can testify for him, then such testimony will have a very strong effect within the Uchiha Clan, or rather, with Uchiha Fugaku, and will be extremely persuasive.
" Mikoto should be with Kushina!"
Araki silently speculated in his mind as he swiftly ran through the forest. Green Chakra flowed continuously through his body, dispelling his fatigue and healing all his wounds, allowing him to reappear before everyone in the village completely unharmed.
That way, no one will doubt him!
after all...
Even if we count the missing persons afterward, there were only four people missing from Konoha.
Three of them were members of the Anbu Directly Under the Hokage: one captain and two members.
The other one is Konoha Sannin, one of the Orochimaru of Konoha.
A battle between ninjas of this caliber is simply beyond the reach of Araki, who has just graduated from the Ninja Academy and become Genin.
He wasn't even among the suspects.
And if he handles the remaining cleanup properly...
That would make everything seem flawless, allowing him to continue accumulating strength without worry and ultimately become the true winner behind the scenes of this event.
Not long after.
Araki then returned to his home.
No one is home right now.
Without hesitation, he quickly changed into a new set of clothes, put on his Konoha ninja Forehead Protector again, and adjusted his facial expression to make himself look like someone who had just passed the graduation exam, showing no sign of anything unusual.
"It should be fine now."
Chapter 1 I want to be in the same group as you!
The people of Konoha all sensed this extraordinary day. First came the sudden earthquake, then dark clouds gathered, and a series of resounding sounds echoed from the depths of the forest, making them gaze into the distance, yet they could see nothing.
The sound didn't stop completely until some time later.
Gradually.
With a host of questions lingering in their minds, the villagers returned to their normal lives.
It was as if everything that had happened before was just a minor incident that had not had a significant impact on their daily lives.
The Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood with his hands behind his back, a pipe dangling from his mouth, staring at the Hokage Rock outside the window, his expression quite complex as he looked at the statue on it.
"Why did it take you so long?"
A sense of foreboding crept into the Third's heart. He had sent out members of the Anbu Directly Under the Hokage, whose abilities, whether in stealth or intelligence gathering, were among the best in the village. If something went wrong, they could have easily escaped unscathed, so it was unlikely that they would have been gone for so long.
The complete lack of news only fueled his unease, intensifying his sense of foreboding and making him feel that something might have gone wrong.
"Smack!"
The Third immediately snapped their fingers.
As the voice rang out, three more figures suddenly appeared in the Hokage's office, each wearing a mask, but all dressed in black robes.
"There's no movement over in the woods. Go check it out and report back to me immediately if you find anything," the Third Hokage instructed.
"Yes."
After responding, the three figures vanished in a flash.
The Third still faced the window, trying his best to keep his expression calm. He took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and looked somewhat weathered.
After returning to the house, Araki did not wander around. Instead, he sat down in a chair and slowly closed his eyes, as if he were resting.
Only he himself knows.
Right now, he is digesting the energy brought by the Hashirama Cells, which contains many fragments of memories that do not belong to him. However, he finds that he can feel something special from these images.
This situation surprised Araki somewhat, but ever since he witnessed green Chakra on the First Hokage's Necklace, nothing has affected him much. As long as he's sure he's alright, it doesn't matter, since it's something beneficial to him anyway.
that's all.
Araki was captivated by that extraordinary scene.
Time has been completely forgotten.
"Crunch..."
After an unknown amount of time, the door opened, and two beautiful figures walked in one after the other, still talking about what had happened not long ago.
" Araki?"
As soon as Uchiha Mikoto entered the house, her dark eyes immediately fixed on Araki, sparkling with undisguised joy.
She hadn't seen Araki for quite some time.
Since she left last time, he has been busy with many things and has had less time to see Kushina, let alone Araki.
Not only that.
After being targeted by Orochimaru, Araki had very little free time, spending most of it dealing with matters in the laboratory.
Even when they had some free time, they would be practicing rapidly, squeezing every last drop of time into their practice.
Araki in this state can be described as having entered "King of the Hill" mode, wishing he could make every second count as two, and putting himself in an extremely tense state.
Under such circumstances, even Kushina, who was relatively close to Araki, didn't see Araki very often, let alone Uchiha Mikoto.
"Huh?"
Kushina hadn't looked inside at all until she heard Mikoto's words, at which point she immediately looked towards the chairs in the hall and saw Araki's figure.
"You actually came back!"
Kushina's voice was filled with surprise; she had never expected Araki to appear here, it was completely beyond her expectations.
"Graduation exams just finished today, so I'm giving myself a break and resting." Araki slowly opened his eyes, ceasing his exploration of the images and instead focusing his gaze on Kushina and Mikoto.
Very good!
Just as planned!
Now that I have these two witnesses, it's as if I have nothing to do with what happened in the woods.
As for what will eventually happen over there...
Araki no longer cared. No matter how the villagers investigated, even if they dug up Orochimaru's base, it wouldn't be of any loss to him at the moment, since there was no trace of him there.
His time in Orochimaru's laboratory was a secret, Orochimaru forbade him to reveal it, and he didn't want anyone else to know either. Now that Orochimaru had died, this secret was taken directly to the Pure Land by Orochimaru.
Or rather...
Perhaps even the Pure Land is gone!
Araki wasn't sure if the Spirit Transformation Technique looked exactly like what he had used, but he had a very strong feeling that he had truly devoured Orochimaru's soul.
Can the souls he devoured enter the Pure Land?
Araki himself wasn't sure about this either. He had a vague feeling that it was unlikely, just like how a soul Reaper Death Seal couldn't be summoned using the Impure World Reincarnation because the soul wasn't within the Pure Land. And he was like a living Grim Shinigami, devouring Orochimaru's soul piece by piece.
Perhaps, strictly speaking...
Orochimaru might be inside him, but he's just a dead soul and can't do anything to harm him.
"It's good for him to rest for a bit." Kushina nodded. She knew that Araki had been undergoing grueling training all along, and even though she didn't know the specifics, she still had some understanding of it.
"Exactly, you can't overexert yourself. The way you train is terrifying just thinking about it. Look, Might Duy is already in the hospital. You should be careful!" Mikoto said with concern.
"Um."
Araki smiled slightly, seemingly without any problem, then looked at Kushina and asked, "How did the graduation exam go?"
"Of course it passed!"
Kushina raised her slender hand, pointed to the Konoha ninja Forehead Protector on her forehead, and pouted, looking rather reproachful. After all, her ninja Forehead Protector was already on her head, and anyone with normal eyesight could see it clearly.
"That's good." Araki nodded.
"Oh, speaking of which, Ibuki-sensei asked me to tell you that we have to go to school at 9 a. m. tomorrow for class assignments," Kushina quickly said.
"Oh." Araki nodded, not too surprised. He already knew about the class and group assignments from watching Naruto.
Team 7, to which Naruto belonged, was so remarkable that almost everyone who had watched Hokage was familiar with its mechanics.
Each graduate of the Ninja Academy is "randomly" grouped.
Three people per group.
Such groups will form lasting bonds in the future; they may not be best friends, but they will definitely be close companions.
At the same time, there will be a supervising Jonin will specifically teach this group, leading the newly graduated students to complete missions and make a true transition from school to ninja, fully transforming the theoretical knowledge they have learned into practical abilities.
These supervising Jonin will only return to their original positions after these students have become capable ninjas.
Who is my mentor Jonin?
When Araki thought of this, a big question mark popped into his head. However, just as he was wondering, Orochimaru's words echoed in his mind again.
The Konoha Sannin will all become his teachers.
Now all that's missing is Jiraiya.
Could it be Jiraiya?
Logically speaking, Jiraiya should indeed become the Jonin this year's students, as Minato Namikaze was Jiraiya's student.