"Then we kill him." Minato said bluntly as he looked around the room at the gathered Shinobi. "If he poses a genuine threat then we end him.
Konoha cannot be seen to be weak, if it is our clients will lose confidence in us and the other Villages will being to circle us like vultures.
If Pain attempts something we kill make an example of him, and then the Mizukage will be the one put on the spot."
"As you say Lord Hokage." Jiraiya said with a nod of his head. "I will do It myself if I have too."
...
(Back in the Forest of Death)
Erza groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, her head was ringing and her back was aching. She had no idea not know what the hell just happened. One minute she and the rest of her team, Mito and Sasuke, had been running through the Forest of Death.
Already they had been in the Forest of Death for nearly an hour and had already gained two scrolls, unfortunately though those scrolls had been 'earth', the same as their own was, which meant they had to keep looking.
As they had been moving through the forest, they had been using Mito's sensory abilities, which were far more advanced than Erza's.
To track down other teams so they could get their scroll and hopefully finish this stage of the exam fast so they could rest up for the next stage whatever it might be.
It had been as they were passing through an innocuous part of the forest that they had been attack, from out of nowhere the three of them had been blindsided by a sudden powerful wind jutsu.
Erza herself had been struck full on and had been blown here, who had attacked them and what happened to her teammates though she had no idea.
As Erza pulled herself together, getting to her feet and stretching her aching limbs. She quickly became aware of a large presence coming up behind her.
She could hear the leaves on the forest floor shifting and rustling, just as she could hear a distance hissing sound getting closer and closer.
Twisting around her crimson hair flying out behind her, Erza quickly used her Uzumaki Bloodline, forming her two golden blades made of pure chakra in her hands as she naturally fell into a perfect fighting stance, her twin blades held at the ready, both blades held parallel to each other as she prepared to duel wield them.
Erza's fierce brown eyes soon fell on her opponent, her gaze sharpening as she saw a pair of large yellow eyes and slitted pupils looming form out of the forest.
The head of gigantic serpent soon following, as the beast came into full view, rearing up above her with a loud hissing sound.
The snake was huge, possibly thirty feet in length, with gleaming ivory coloured fangs, and thick lime green scales. Its sickly yellow, slitted eyes were the size of dinner plates and its fangs almost as big as Erza was herself.
The snake's tongue slithered out, its forked end tasting the air for vibrations, heat and various other things to take stock of the prey it had within its sights.
Erza leapt back as she saw the snake's mouth open fully, a great and cavernous maw, a pair of fangs which dripped with venom more than prominent as it reared above her before it prepared to lunge directly at her.
The strike was swift and without warning, despite that though Erza managed to avoid it as she threw herself backwards, her eyes widening at both the snakes speed and at the strength at which it struck, as the patch of ground she had been standing upon had been turned into a small crater.
This was not a normal snake.
Erza's eyes narrowed as she glared at the snake, before with a grunt she leapt into the air, jumping over the snake's thick muscly tail as it swept it around behind her, attempting to wrap it around Erza, not doubt so it could crush her to death.
Gripping her blades tighter, Erza drew on small amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra, grimacing to herself as she felt it corrosive power merging with her own.
Still though she also felt the rush that that sudden power gave her, making her stronger, faster, heightening her senses and sharpening her reflexes.
Keeping her attention locked on the snake, Erza's brown eyes bled scarlet, the irises become a blood red colour as the pupil turned into a slit. Her own canines also elongated, becoming more prominent as they poked out below her lip.
Her crimson hair became a lot wilder and shaggier to as she felt the Kyuubi's potent power influence her body. These were all the outward signs of her drawing on a fraction of the Kyuubi's power.
With a loud yell Erza shot forward, her blades held at her side and her eyes fixed unerringly on the snake, which upon seeing her charge had reared back once again, making a loud hissing sound as t prepared to strike.
As Erza closed on it the snake lunged forward its fangs bared and its gaping maw open wide, the serpents strike was as fast as before, unfortunately for it though, Erza was now much faster than before.
As she closed in on the striking snake, Erza didn't flinch, instead she increased her pace, getting in under the striking snakes guard.
Her right chakra forged blade piercing its thick hide like a hot knife through butter as it tore a great gaping wound down the monstrous snake's side. Not hesitating for a second, Erza pushed herself onto the snakes writhing body and ran up its scaly hide.
With a loud shout Erza slashed with her blades again, not giving the giant snake a chance to react as this time she sued both blades, cutting through the snakes hide and muscle, extending her blades as she did so.
The two blades made of her chakra were each now nearly five feet in length as followed through with her attack, sheering through the snake's broad muscly neck, killing it instantly.
Pushing herself off of the now headless snake's bodies, Erza's eyes once again turning back to their usual colour as she released her hold on the Kyuubi's chakra, falling back to the ground and landing firmly on her feet as she did so.
Turning back to look at the snake's dead body, her eyes widened as she saw the body exploded into a cloud of smoke, proving that she had been right, this was not a normal snake but instead had been a high-level summoning.
"A snake summoning?" Erza muttered to herself as she watched the cloud smoke disperse. She only knew of two people who could summon snakes.
One of which was Anko, who might be a bit mischievous and sadistic, but who Erza trusted enough to know wouldn't send such a strong summon to attack her, especially when she was in the middle of such an important exam.
The only other snake summoner she knew of though was Orochimaru, a traitor to the Village of Konoha and someone who from what Erza had heard would be more than capable and willing to do her harm.
Still though what would the Konoha's most infamous traitor be doing in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams, and also where was Mito and Sasuke, the rest of her team?
Erza's eyes widened at that though, twisting around on the spot, her gaze fixed on the surrounding forest. Erza soon found what she was looking for, a trail of broken branches and damaged trees, likely caused by the wind jutsu that had sent her flying.
Now she just needed to trace the path of destruction back to its source, and hopefully she would find the rest of her team.
With that in mind Erza leapt up into the trees and began to head in the direction she had come from, she could only hope that Mito and to a lesser extent Sasuke were alright.