"Swish, swish! Swish, swish!"
The faint rustling sounds of leaves and grass suddenly rose at the edge of the Forest of Death.
One by one, agile figures gradually emerged, led by two elite jounin of Konoha Village—Kakashi and Might Guy.
"This is an astonishing amount of power, almost like that released by a Tailed Beast."
Kakashi gazed at the Forest of Death ahead, one corner of which had been mercilessly shaved away, the exposed earth and broken trees telling the story of the fierce battle that had just occurred.
"Could it be Naruto... has the Nine-Tails gone out of control again?" A sudden sense of foreboding surged in Kakashi's heart, his eyes sharpening instantly as the terrifying scene of the Nine-Tails rampaging through Konoha Village years ago involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Hearing this, Guy frowned deeply, quickly turning to exchange a look with Kakashi; no words were needed.
An indescribable sense of urgency spread between them.
"Split up. We must find the source of this incident!" Kakashi ordered decisively. Following his command, a group of ninjas in ANBU uniforms swiftly responded, dispersing silently to search for any possible clues.
Yet, deep within this forest, in an unknown corner, a small but exceptionally agile white snake was moving at incredible speed, its goal clear as it slithered directly toward a concealed tree hollow.
There, a silver-haired man with glasses perched on the bridge of his nose waited quietly—he was Kabuto Yakushi.
As the small snake suddenly began to expand, eventually transforming into a human form, Orochimaru slid out from its molted body, his expression one of exhaustion and dishevelment.
Seeing this, Kabuto was utterly shocked, staring at the scene before him in disbelief.
"Lord Orochimaru, what exactly happened?" Kabuto's voice trembled slightly; it was clear he had also felt the earth-shaking wave of power just now.
Orochimaru did not answer immediately. He took several deep breaths, moving his somewhat stiff body, and only after confirming he had regained a bit of strength did he slowly turn to Kabuto, a look in his eyes that held both coldness and deep contemplation.
As if realizing something, Kabuto lowered his head.
Orochimaru opened his mouth and bit directly into Kabuto's neck—a primitive method to quickly replenish chakra.
After a moment, when Orochimaru felt his chakra had recovered somewhat, he released Kabuto, whose face was pale but still forced himself to remain upright.
"Lord Orochimaru, was that battle... something you were engaged in?" Kabuto's voice carried a note of uncertainty, mixed with a trace of fear of the unknown.
Orochimaru's gaze turned toward the distant horizon, where remnants of the battle still seemed to linger.
"Heh heh, I encountered a true monster. Its power... is beyond imagination." Orochimaru laughed self-mockingly, his tone containing both helplessness and unwillingness, as he realized that even a strong fighter like himself appeared so pathetically insignificant before that unknown existence.
"Heh heh, old man, you so-called strongest Hokage, how long could you last against such a monster?"
Orochimaru thought of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Based on his understanding of the Third Hokage, he would likely be dealt with swiftly as well.
"I never imagined that a being so powerful could truly exist in this world."
Orochimaru's voice was filled with amazement, and Kabuto caught a hint of understanding from it, becoming curious about who exactly possessed such awe-inspiring power.
"It seems the legends about the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha—their strength might not have been exaggerated."
Orochimaru muttered to himself, recalling the tales of the First Hokage he had read about before.
Thinking of the terror of Hashirama's cells, he now had an even more frightening estimation of the First Hokage's true power.
...
On the other side, ANBU members darted through the forest, leaving no suspicious clue unchecked.
However, after a thorough search, aside from finding traces of the battle, they had little substantial to show for it.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, filled with tension and worry, finally located Team 7 deep within the Forest of Death.
He quickly scanned the area, and only after confirming that Naruto was merely in a deep coma, with the Nine-Tails' power still firmly sealed with no signs of breaking free, did he let out a long sigh of relief.
"The man who summoned the giant serpent?"
Kakashi frowned deeply.
As Sasuke described their harrowing encounter to him, mentioning how they had managed to escape from the enemy capable of summoning a colossal serpent by sheer luck, Kakashi's pupils unconsciously contracted slightly, a flicker of barely perceptible fear flashing in his eyes.
The figure of Orochimaru involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
If it truly was Orochimaru orchestrating all this behind the scenes, then things would undoubtedly become even more troublesome and complicated.
Sasuke, standing by, watched Kakashi's heavy expression and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had wisely chosen to conceal the truth, hiding Roy's existence and skillfully deflecting everything onto Orochimaru.
This approach protected both himself and Roy while avoiding the greater chaos that might have ensued.
Kakashi, meanwhile, was lost in his own thoughts, constantly trying to piece together how Orochimaru could have infiltrated Konoha so silently and caused such massive destruction.
He was utterly unable to imagine that the true instigator of it all was actually a mysterious visitor from another world—Roy.
As time passed, the progression of the Chunin Exams was not interrupted by this sudden upheaval.
After a round of urgent inspections and deployments, the exams continued in an orderly fashion.
Although Naruto and Sakura Haruno were not in ideal physical condition, thanks to Sasuke's outstanding abilities, they still managed to secure a scroll and successfully reach their destination.
...
In Konoha Village, inside the small Ichiraku Ramen shop, steam rose, and the aroma filled the air.
Roy sat in his seat, once again thoroughly enjoying a bowl of the signature ramen, the delicate noodles paired with rich broth and perfectly balanced toppings making him close his eyes in blissful satisfaction.
After finishing his meal, Roy slowly stood up and strolled to a quiet corner at the village's edge.
From his inner pocket, he carefully produced two small bottles. The vials were crystal clear, and the liquid inside shimmered with a strange light under the faint illumination—they were unmistakably the blood of Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
These two samples had been obtained by Roy not long ago, using his superhuman speed to collect them from the two without a sound.
The situation had been critical at the time, with both Sasuke and Naruto lying unconscious and covered in blood, leaving no one to notice his actions.