Bang!
Obito's forehead, adorned with his headband, slammed against the desk, startling several candidates around him.
They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw his blank exam paper.
If Motomu had the power of telepathy, he would have undoubtedly heard their silent complaints about Obito.
'My foolish little brother, let your big brother lend you another hand.'
Feeling somewhat helpless, Motomu instantly cast Hypnosis on Obito.
Inside the dream.
Obito was running hand-in-hand with his goddess, Nohara Rin, under the sunset when a flying test paper suddenly slapped onto his face.
"What the heck is this!"
Tugging at the paper with all his might, Obito struggled to peel the sheet off his face.
"Wait, this is?"
"The exam paper from just now?"
"Wait, holy crap!"
"Why are the answers already filled in?"
Obito's hands trembled as he looked up from the paper, a momentary flash of brilliance crossing his eyes.
"As expected, I'm a genius."
"I can actually solve problems in my sleep."
"But why does this handwriting look just like my brother's?"
After a brief thought, Obito's wise brain pushed that question to the back of his mind.
Ring!
"Time's up! Hand in your papers."
"The results of this exam will be announced tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM."
"Candidates who pass will proceed to the second test."
As the room emptied, some were joyful while others were despondent.
Having filled his paper, Obito walked over to Kakashi with his hands behind his head, his gait extremely arrogant.
"Hey, hey, Kakashi! Do you have any idea?"
"My score this time will definitely be higher than yours!"
"Hmph. Childish."
"What did you say!?"
Outside the examination hall.
Rin stood there with a maternal smile, looking like she had been waiting for a long time—clearly enjoying the dynamic between Obito and Kakashi.
Anko was also standing beside Rin.
Motomu was about to step forward and say hello.
Suddenly.
A familiar sensation of a summoning omen appeared in his perception.
Frowning, Motomu bid his friends farewell and hurried back to his small courtyard.
With a poof, Motomu was reverse-summoned to Ryuchi Cave. He turned to look at the Cobra in her small cave nest, who looked noticeably unnatural.
The Cobra snapped out of her memories, her body shivering as if she had seen something terrifying.
"Motomu, do you know who I just saw?"
Still wondering why she had called him, Motomu's gaze turned serious.
A guess formed in his mind.
"Was it your male snake ex-husband?"
The Cobra's watery eyes widened, and she immediately shook her head.
"No, something much scarier."
"The kind that gets snakes killed."
Motomu's expression shifted slightly as he thought of the worst-case scenario.
"Don't tell me... one of the Three Snake Himes sought you out?"
"Yes, Motomu, it's really terrifying."
After this period of unlimited food supply, the Cobra's size was no longer inferior to a mid-sized snake, yet her face now showed a human-like fear.
"Just now, Lady Tagitsu Hime came to me with a scrap of cloth that smelled like you."
"She asked if I knew a weirdo who flies around on a giant eyeball."
"The way she looked at me when she said that was too scary for a snake!"
"Luckily, I reacted quickly and said I didn't know her to get through it."
"Motomu, what... what on earth did you do!?"
Hearing this, Motomu didn't reply immediately.
Thoughts raced through his mind.
She found me!
Is Tagitsu Hime's influence really this vast?
She literally came to camp right at my spawn point.
In all likelihood, Tagitsu Hime had already confirmed his origin.
He wasn't discovered this time, but there was no guarantee for the next.
Now, the simplest way was to eliminate her.
Borrow another Kusanagi Sword from Orochimaru?
No, that wouldn't work. Even if he could borrow it, he couldn't make full use of it inside the cave.
Aside from that.
The strength required for a direct confrontation was not something he could master in a short amount of time.
For now, the only option was to avoid her and have the Cobra, who served as the teleportation anchor, go into hiding.
"Little Black, go into hiding for a while to avoid the heat."
"This matter is a bit serious."
Upon hearing this, the Cobra's glasses slipped down her face.
She stared at Motomu with an expression of disbelief.
"You... you provoked a Snake Hime?"
Knowing he had brought trouble to the Cobra and feeling somewhat guilty, Motomu nodded in silence.
"This is a death sentence!"
"A death sentence! A death sentence! A death sentence!"
The Cobra coiled herself into a ball, her body writhing uneasily.
She looked at Motomu and gave a bitter smile, showing a spot near her tail where a scale was missing.
The new skin there was still pink; it had just been plucked out.
Clearly, Tagitsu Hime had pulled it out to track the Cobra's scent.
"Where... where can I even hide?"
"I finally learned Senjutsu, and I finally made a home here."
"Wahhh! It's all gone!"
"You're all the same, you rotten human! This is all your fault!"
Looking at the sobbing, tearful snake.
Motomu estimated his remaining Chakra and said after a moment's thought.
"Go hide in the Ninja World first."
"I'll summon you over."
"Given your small size, it won't consume much Chakra anyway."
A flash of hope flickered in the Cobra's eyes.
Just as she was about to agree.
A sinister, sand-paper rasp of a voice echoed from the darkness outside the cave.
"Worm... I've finally found you."
Silently, the half-human, half-snake figure of Tagitsu Hime slithered into the cave, her tongue flickering menacingly.
Her bloodshot vertical pupils, terrifying to both man and snake, glared fixatedly at Motomu and the Cobra.
The Senjutsu Chakra rolling off her like a mountain exerted a pressure so intense that both the boy and the snake felt like they were suffocating.
Under the threat of death, the Cobra's mind was instantly flooded by the natural fear of death.
It's over. It's all over.
Her life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
She remembered back when she was just a small snake, witnessing how Lady Snake Hime dealt with traitors.
That snake had been crushed and swallowed inch by inch by Lady Snake Hime.
The screams had echoed through Ryuchi Cave for three days and three nights.
Now, it was her turn.
She had only wanted to find a stable summoner to get free meals.
At most, she wanted some nice books to read.
She had been so careful.
But there are no free lunches in this world, only deadly traps.
When that rotten human gave her free food...
She should have known.
"If I had known, I would have just stayed a country snake."
"If I had known, I would have just kept catching mice to eat..."
Driven by instinct, the Cobra hissed uncontrollably in a threatening manner.
The Senjutsu Chakra she had just learned surged wildly through her body, but she couldn't even muster the courage to resist.
She wanted to run, but the pressure from the Snake Hime's Senjutsu weighed her down, rendering her helpless.
She found herself actually hoping Motomu could really summon her to safety.
'Please succeed! You rotten human, I haven't lived long enough yet!'
The Cobra and Motomu exchanged a glance.
"Motomu, remember! You... you must summon me!"
Poof!
The smoke cleared.
Motomu's figure vanished from Ryuchi Cave.
Tagitsu Hime's vertical pupils widened instantly. The worm she had been searching for so long had escaped right under her nose again.
The fury of being toyed with, combined with old and new grudges, surged into her heart.
"Brat! You! Must! Die!"
Tagitsu Hime's ventless rage shifted entirely toward the Cobra, who was gradually slipping into a daze under the overwhelming Senjutsu Chakra.
Tagitsu Hime's human face distorted and transformed, and then her white snake mouth, reeking of stench, snapped shut around the middle of the Cobra's body.
Bones dislocated with a sickening crack.
The Cobra trembled.
Foul, black blood, clearly poisoned, overflowed from her mouth.