Escape From Konoha

Deep in the forest where there are few human traces - a huge underground space like a maze.

Candles burn in serpentine candlesticks, illuminating the passages of the labyrinth.

As there was a knock on the door, a hoarse and deep male voice came from the room:

"Come in."

A boy with six arms walked into the room, holding a cylinder in his hand and wearing a forehead protector from the Otogakure Village ninja on his head.

There are various experimental equipment and human body materials placed in the room. The strange creatures soaked in the glass tube obviously have very strong life fluctuations and are not dead things.

This is obviously an extremely top-secret laboratory.

Although it was not his first time here, the young man couldn't help but shudder every time he saw the strange creatures soaked in the cylinder solution.

It is said that this is an ancient creature called a dinosaur.

The DNA of dinosaurs was extracted from ancient fossils, resurrected using forbidden techniques, and summoned to the present era.

With the supply of chakra, this creature is more ferocious and cruel than the original ancient dinosaurs.

"Lord Orochimaru, Mizuki brought back what you asked for."

The boy walked towards the center of the laboratory.

A man with long black hair and skin as transparent as a candle stood there with a pensive expression on his face, as if he was thinking about something.

"Are you back? Then go make arrangements for him, Kidomaru."

Orochimaru turned his head, glanced at the boy, and ordered him.

Orochimaru didn't expect that an idle chess piece back then could play such a big role today.

But this is good, it can save him a lot of energy.

Even a small role will one day play a vital role.

What's more, this little character also has a strong ambition to climb up.

Even for a civilian with no background, he is an amazing guy.

Now that the other party has proven his worth, he will not be stingy in giving the other party new power.

Such ambitious people will have their uses sooner or later.

"yes."

The boy named Kidoumaru's expression became serious.

As he spoke, he placed the cylindrical chakra storage device on the table in front of Orochimaru. In the storage device, a certain amount of Nine-tails chakra was stored, which was a very important research material.

"In addition, this is something Danzo entrusted Mizuki to bring over. It seems to be a new cooperation content."

Kidomaru also handed over a scroll.

"Put it here."

Orochimaru did not pick it up, but said this casually.

"yes."

Kidomaru put down the scroll and turned to leave the laboratory.

Orochimaru put the scroll aside, having no time to deal with Danzo's affairs for the time being.

He is no longer so enthusiastic about cooperating with Danzo.

Whether it was his own research on the forbidden technique of reincarnation or the forbidden research entrusted to him by Nagato, the information and documents in Konoha's hands could no longer bring him any substantial help.

His path has long deviated from Konoha's original track, and the research mission entrusted to him by Nagato is related to forbidden powers such as the Samsara Eye and the Ten-Tails. No matter which one it is, Konoha is not deeply involved.

The next research can only be done with your own hands.

Or he could look for an ancient country like Lietuo Country. Only by obtaining documents from the Six Paths Immortal Era from that country containing ancient civilization would it be helpful for his research.

However, in this matter, maybe the research system of the Kingdom of Ghosts can also bring him new ideas.

Orochimaru heard from Nagato that Chiba Shiraishi could split his soul and integrate it into the yin and yang attribute chakra to create a powerful individual clone.

These clones have independent minds and possess different systems of spell power. A single clone is not a threat, but once the clones get together, it will become extremely difficult.

The existences such as Akako and Tian Yunu who appeared in Konoha's intelligence system were mistaken for ninjas of unknown origins. The unknown objects that annihilated thousands of Sunagakure ninjas were also suspected of being some kind of mysterious and unknown psychic beast.

But this intelligence information is actually misleading.

That's not a ninja at all, nor is it a psychic beast.

Those existences are all the soul clones of Qianye Baishi. An unknown life form that is similar to humans, but has very different life characteristics from humans.

"Souls... although they are all exploring life, they are completely different from the path I am taking."

Orochimaru was thoughtful.

He understood the true meaning of immortality from the mysteries of the soul.

Qianye Shiraishi, on the other hand, realized the creation of life in the secret of the soul.

Essentially, they are studying the core of life.

The difference is that he focuses on the continuation of life and wants to achieve the state of immortality where he can live forever.

Chiba Shiraishi, on the other hand, pays more attention to the natural development of life itself. The vivid and independent clones are proof.

But no matter which path reaches the limit, it is no different from the so-called "god".

Immortality and life creation are things that only ‘gods’ can do.

A look of regret flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.

The ability involving the soul and the forbidden technique of life is too weird and unpredictable, just like it is impossible for him to share his forbidden technique of reincarnation with others and study the weaknesses of his reincarnation technique from the technique.

Chiba Shiraishi would not be able to exchange his forbidden art of creating life with him and discuss it in harmony with each other.

Because that is tantamount to exposing one's weaknesses to outsiders without reservation.

Once the other party has strange thoughts, especially if the other party has explored the art of life to an extremely deep level, the consequences will be unimaginable.

This is different from the art of Yin Yang Dun, which lays the foundation. This art of life is the source of their life and death.

Unless it is someone close to you who can trust your life, this secret cannot be shared, nor can it be used to trade with outsiders.

For this, Orochimaru could only regret.

However, Orochimaru was not discouraged. After feeling regretful for a while, he regained his composure.

His golden snake eyes turned to the cylindrical storage device that stored the Nine-Tails chakra, and he stuck out his tongue and licked it on his lips, revealing a smile that was horrifying to anyone who saw it.

"I have obtained the Yang-type Nine-Tails Chakra, and now I can officially start the experiment."

◎

I haven't had such a headache in a long time.

Since the Rain Country Conference three years ago, it was the first time in the past few years that Hiruzen had such a headache.

My throat seemed to be blocked by something, so I put down the pipe, then sat down and coughed violently.

Mizuki disappeared.

It should have been possible to use the information in Mizuki's mind to catch a big fish and even deal with more 'nails' in Konoha. However, due to the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Mizuki from the interrogation room of the torture team, the important secrets Mizuki carried have also been left unsolved.

He did not hesitate to use the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki and the Book of Sealing as bait, and an important clue that he finally managed to seduce disappeared in front of his eyes.

To say that you are not willing to give in, it definitely exists. And it is quite unwilling.

There was also anger.

After clearing up the problems in the Anbu Department, problems arose again in the Torture Department.

Next, is it the turn to investigate the people in the Intelligence Class and Perception Class?

For this point, Ri Zhan undoubtedly felt very sad and helpless.

But even so, Hirazan couldn't show any emotion on his face that made his subordinates worry.

He adjusted his mood, endured the humiliation, and asked silently:

"...Are you sure it was Orochimaru who did it?"

"Yes, judging from the traces at the scene, it is Orochimaru's ninjutsu. The residual substance also matches the chakra characteristics of Oroshemaru."

Answered Morino Ihiki, the head of the torture department.

Orochimaru was once a ninja of Konoha. In Konoha, Orochimaru's chakra information is naturally retained. As long as you collect some residual materials at the scene and take them to the research department to match them, you can know what they are. Chakra traces left behind by people.

Although it may be imitated by a certain technique, the characteristics of chakra are the unique marks of each ninja. Even the most sophisticated disguise technique cannot be completely the same. What's more, this point has also been determined by the people in the research department.

"Not only that, but the residual substance seems to be very similar to the power of the curse seal on Mitarai Anko Jonin's body."

In order to give this answer, Yibixi presented more convincing evidence.

Mitarai Red Bean is a member of Konoha's special jonin.

He was once a disciple of Orochimaru, one of the three ninjas.

Before Orochimaru left, he left a curse mark on the opponent's body. Konoha also studied this. However, in the end, due to the lack of core information, he could only use sealing techniques to barely suppress the power of the curse seal on the opponent. He was unable to Complete eradication.

Hiruzen was silent.

His previous guess could be said to be completely wrong.

Mizuki is not a spy of the ghost country, but a team member of Orochimaru who stayed in Konoha. This matter has nothing to do with the ghost country.

Because of being too jealous of the kingdom of ghosts, it must have been negligent in guarding against Orochimaru.

This made Ri Zhan feel quite self-blame.

Although the Kingdom of Oni is a serious concern of Konoha, Orochimaru is also someone who knows Konoha very well, and during his time in Konoha, he was closer to the core of Konoha's management than Chiba Shiraishi and others. In terms of the degree of threat, Orochimaru is not weaker than Ghost Country.

In some respects, it may surpass the Kingdom of Ghosts.

At this moment, Kakashi entered the office after knocking on the door.

Seeing that Yibixi was also here, the two sides nodded to each other as a greeting.

Afterwards, Kakashi didn't care whether Ibiki was present or not, and reported directly: "Master Naruto, Chunin Chietsubaki is missing."

Chie Tsubaki, has been listed as the fiancée of B-rank Konoha defected ninja Mizuki.

It is also Mizuki's only living relative. The two are childhood sweethearts and have been in love since they were teenagers.

The two got engaged a few months ago and plan to get married this year.

Like Mizuki, Chie Chun is also a chunin in Konoha. Unlike Mizuki, who works in a ninja school, he is a logistics staff member of Konoha Hospital and knows some medicine and medicine, but he is not a medical ninja.

"Who is her superior?"

"Masumi Asami, director of the pharmacy department. Chie Chun is in the pharmacy department and is responsible for delivering medicine and moving equipment. She suddenly disappeared while on duty last night."

Kakashi replied.

"Send ANBU to assist Asami Masumi in the investigation, and Mizuki will also send a squad of ANBU to continue the follow-up. If it doesn't work, let it go."

Sun Zhan sighed helplessly.

He also knew that if he sent ANBU to investigate at this time, it would be impossible to find anything useful.

But he didn't express anything, and it seemed that Konoha's handling of this matter was a complete failure.

The only good news is that Naruto, as the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, still has a very strong sense of belonging to Konoha, and there is no irreversible problem.

It is a blessing in misfortune.

If even the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki had uncontrollable problems in this commotion that he deliberately indulged in, Hiruzen couldn't imagine such a situation.

"yes."

"You two should go down, and you can decide on your own to deal with the aftermath."

The ANBU and the Torture Department both had important matters to deal with, and Hiruzen didn't want to delay the work progress of Kakashi and Ibiki.

Kakashi and Ibiki didn't say anything. They seemed to know that Hiruzen was in a bad mood, so they had no choice but to walk out of the office together.

When they got outside, Ibiki sighed: "I always feel that the burden on Hokage-sama is getting heavier and heavier. If the candidate for the fifth Hokage can be decided as soon as possible, the situation may be much better."

"It all depends on whether Tsunade-sama is willing or not. For this kind of thing, we just need to do our job well."

Kakashi replied.

The issue of the Fifth Hokage's appointment is indeed a major event in Konoha.

For jounin at their level, they have some eyes and ears of their own, and it is not difficult to guess what the senior officials think about this matter.

Orochimaru, one of the three ninjas, is already an enemy of Konoha. Jiraiya does not care about political affairs and is responsible for collecting intelligence for Konoha outside. Moreover, with the other party's irresponsible temperament, he is not suitable for the position of Hokage.

Neither Kakashi nor Ibiki dared to imagine what a person like Jiraiya would do to Konoha after he became Hokage.

The only person with the ability and reputation to serve as the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade is the only one left among the Sannin who is qualified.

As for the rest, they are either too old or too young and lack the qualifications to be qualified for the position of Hokage.

"I'm going to trouble you next, Kakashi. To investigate spies, I need your help."

Yibixi turned her head and said.

"Ah, you should discuss this matter with Tenzo. I will temporarily leave ANBU work for a period of time."

Kakashi scratched his head, embarrassed to say.

"Leave Anbu temporarily? What's going on here?"

Yibixi's face was full of surprise.

Kakashi is the head of the Anbu, and strictly speaking, he is also the immediate boss of the Torture Department, because the Torture Department is a branch of the Anbu, just like the root.

Regarding the resignation of the ANBU minister, it was neither a big deal nor a small matter, but there had been no news at all before. Suddenly, Ibiki was a little surprised to hear the news that Kakashi was leaving the ANBU.

Kakashi sighed and said: "Oh, I don't know what Hokage-sama thinks... Among the graduates of this year's ninja school, there is a special student. Hokage-sama hopes that I will personally lead the team and provide guidance."

Ibixi frowned.

Leading the Jonin? No matter how much this happened, it wouldn't be the ANBU minister's turn, Kakashi, to take action personally, right?

"Special students?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke...but now there might be a more troublesome brat."

Kakashi shook his head helplessly.

"The orphan of the Uchiha clan? That's really a bit of a headache."

As for the more troublesome kid... After Ibixi thought about it a little deeper, he knew who this more troublesome kid was.

Nine Tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto.

I heard that the other party learned the multiple shadow clone technique in the Book of Sealings and borrowed the power of the Nine-Tails to defeat Mizuki.

With the tacit consent of the Hokage, he passed the 'make-up exam' and successfully graduated from the ninja school.

Thinking of this, Ibiki looked at Kakashi with eyes filled with pity.

These two, no matter which one they are, are hot potato level existences, and the other jounin are afraid to avoid them and dare not provoke them.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki is okay, but Uchiha Sasuke... might be targeted by the Uchiha clan of the Demon Country because of this.

Ibiki also understood why the Hokage wanted Kakashi to temporarily leave the ANBU.

Among Konoha, Kakashi is probably the only one who can take on this task at present.

"I was born to be a hard worker. Forget it, let's not talk about the internal affairs of the torture department. You go and ask Tenzo. I have already said hello to him. During the time when I am leading the team, just treat it as On vacation."

Kakashi reluctantly convinced himself with such an excuse.

"Thank you. Well, I'll take my leave first. I wish you a happy 'vacation'."

Ibiki patted Kakashi on the shoulder, smiled, and disappeared from the place using the teleportation technique.

◎

The country of ghosts.

The forest at dusk was filled with thin white mist, completely covering the huge forest with a radius of dozens of kilometers, forming a deserted land that no one could explore.

Looking up at the sky that was almost darkening, Feiniao didn't know how many times he had sighed.

There was a lot of dust on his face and clothes, and he looked very embarrassed.

This forest with a radius of tens of kilometers is the examination place for this year's ninja school graduation examination in the kingdom of ghosts.

And this year's ninja school graduation exam topics - survival in the wild, intelligence interpretation and collection.

All the students taking the graduation exam have to survive in the wild for a week in this huge forest.

Before the exam, the examiner confiscated all students' ninja tools and only allowed students to keep one kunai. They also distributed simple survival props to each student, such as antipyretics, tea cups, etc.

In addition, students cannot bring anything outside the rules.

Moreover, during the test, students have to face occasional sneak attacks by examiners who sneak into the forest. If they do not want to be harassed while sleeping, they have to hide in a place where the examiners will not notice.

Once the examiner notices the trace, don't even think about resting peacefully in the forest.

Until I was unbearably harassed by the examiner and gave up the exam.

The second item is to search for the three scrolls that belong to me hidden in the forest despite the pressure of surviving in the wild and being harassed by the examiner.

Each scroll comes with a test question. After opening the scroll, you must interpret it in place.

Unfortunately, the examiners who entered the forest to harass them would take turns squatting at the scroll position from time to time to watch the students arrive.

Therefore, every time you get a scroll, you must quickly interpret the correct information answer in the scroll, and then quickly leave the scene to avoid being targeted by the examiner.

Before entering the examination room, each student carries a map. On each map, the locations of the three scrolls belonging to his/her intelligence test questions will be marked for students to find easily.

Moreover, a large number of monitors will be installed in every area of ​​the forest to observe the movements of each student and prevent students from having any uncontrollable accidents during the exam.

"One day left..."

Asuka gasped tiredly and touched the three scrolls in the ninja tool bag.

The above information has been interpreted, and all that is left is to stay in the forest until the exam time is over.

If it was just intelligence interpretation and collection work, then he could leave the forest at this time and complete the graduation exam.

But intelligence interpretation and collection tasks are only part of the exam.

Surviving for a week in the wild is also a necessary step for the graduation exam.

In view of this, although Asuka complained in his heart, he could not give up at this time.

Asuka smiled bitterly when he thought that a few months later, there would be a more difficult Chuunin exam waiting for him, and it was the so-called Joint Chunin exam.

The genin graduation exam alone was so difficult. It was hard to imagine how difficult the joint chuunin exam would be.

With elite genin from so many countries gathered together, Asuka began to retreat in his heart.

Just when he was lamenting the joint chuunin exams in a few months, the sound of salsa suddenly came to his ears, and someone was quickly approaching his location.

Feiniao's expression changed, and he quickly ran away.

These examiners are really haunted and have noses as sharp as dogs.

He didn't want to live such an uneasy last day.

…

the next day.

When the sun's rays shone on the edge of the forest, the students who were taking their graduation exams in the forest faced the rising sun and returned to the camp along the route they took into the forest a week ago.

In front of the gate of the camp, more than a dozen ninja examiners have been standing there waiting for a long time.

"Congratulations on successfully passing the exam. From now on, you will officially become genin."

One examiner said with a smile.

The students who walked out of the forest seemed to have put down all their burdens and fell to the ground exhausted. When they heard the examiner announcing that they had passed the exam and became genin, there was no joy on their faces. They just lay there breathing heavily and thinking tiredly. Close your eyes, take a good rest for the day, and relieve physical and mental fatigue.

In a forest full of mist, you have to search for scrolls and avoid being harassed by examiners, and survive in the wild for a week.

This is by no means an easy thing for the students of the Ninja School.

Even the joy of becoming a genin must be celebrated after resting.

Seeing that most of the students who walked out of the forest were lying down or sitting in front of the camp to rest by themselves, the examiners did not pay attention.

After all, they had come this way in the past.

Today's students are just repeating what they have experienced in the past.

After all, most of the students here are fifteen or sixteen years old. Compared with the ninjas in other ninja villages, they will graduate from school three years later. Naturally, the difficulty of the graduation exam will also increase.

If you just take an exam like Three Body Technique, it would be too boring and have no reference value.

They understood the students' fatigue at the moment.

Asuka did not lie down and barely kept his standing posture. He came to his younger brother Cai who was taking the graduation exam with him.

There was also dust on the other party's body, but it was almost negligible. His face was not tired and he was full of energy.

"Cai, seeing as you are in such good spirits, haven't you been harassed by the examiner these past few days?"

Seeing the energetic Sai, Asuka couldn't help but asked curiously.

Cai tilted her head, thought for a while and said, "You said this, someone came to harass me at first, but after I knocked out all the harassing examiners and hung them on the tree, it became much quieter around me. Why? , Brother Feiniao, didn’t you pass the exam this way?”

He was puzzled by Asuka asking such a question.

"...Actually, I personally prefer peace and don't like to use violence to solve problems."

There was no trace of embarrassment on Asuka's face, and he answered with a decent expression.