Escape From Konoha

It was a few hours before Yiji and others returned to the central control tower of the Demonic Desert.

At this time, it was just getting dark.

When returning to the central control tower area, Maki also returned with a group of Sunagakure's jounin.

Seeing Ichiji and others coming back, Ma Ji couldn't wait to come up and asked: "Miss Ichiji, Mr. Kakashi, how is the situation over there?"

Maki was asking about Orochimaru.

A dangerous S-rank ninja with the ability to conquer small countries suddenly sneaked into the examination room of the joint Zhongnin exam. This is not a major event that can be fooled at will.

If there was a problem with any of the links, Sunagakure's international reputation would be completely ruined.

Even if Orochimaru is found and destroyed afterwards, it will not help. What's more, Orochimaru is an S-level rebel who can get away with it in Konoha's wanted career for nearly ten years. Konoha has nothing to do with Orochimaru, and his military strength is inferior to Konoha's Sand Hidden. He wants to deal with Orochimaru It's even more impossible.

It's not that Maki is afraid of Orochimaru, but that the trace of Orochimaru is unpredictable. If you want to wipe out ninjas of Orochimaru's level, you need to dispatch a large number of elite johnin to have enough confidence to kill Orochimaru. But Orochimaru was obviously not stupid enough to fight Sunagakure alone, and he wanted to hide in the ninja world. Sunagakure could only stare.

Ichihime shook her head and said, "I didn't see any trace of Orochimaru. He had already left when we passed. However, he attacked Konoha's ninja team."

Saying that, Ichiki glanced at Kakashi.

Maki frowned: "The genin team attacking Konoha? Could it be that Miss Ichiki is talking about..."

As far as he knew, there were two jinchūriki among the genin taking part in the joint chuunin exams this time.

One is Gaara of their Sunagakure Village, the son of the Fourth Kazekage, and a very important tailed beast weapon in Sunagakure Village - the one-tailed jinchūriki.

The other one is Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto, who has the strongest tailed beast Nine-Tails sealed in his body and is the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki.

According to Maki's guess, the Konoha genin team that Orochimaru attacked was probably the team where the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki was.

Kakashi said: "You are right, the team that attacked was indeed Naruto's team, but Orochimaru's goal was not the Jinchuuriki."

"Not a Jinchuuriki?"

Marky was stunned.

"Yes. Orochimaru left a curse mark on my student Uchiha Sasuke and then left."

Kakashi replied.

"The target is not the Jinchuuriki...but the orphan of the Konoha Uchiha clan?"

Marky crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"How's the situation over there?"

Kakashi asked.

Maki put down his arms and replied: "Gara has no problem. Looking at it now, Orochimaru's purpose is indeed not Jinchuriki. But, what is his purpose of looking for Uchiha Sasuke?"

This is where Markey is puzzled.

According to the information, Orochimaru is inextricably linked to the mysterious organization that secretly hunts tailed beasts, and there are two Renzhuriki in the examination room. Logically speaking, Orochimaru will not let go of such a good opportunity. right.

Could it be that the purpose of that organization is not only to create tailed beasts, but also to collect the blood of the Uchiha clan?

However, no matter how you look at the bloodline of the Uchiha clan, it is impossible to compare with the value of the tailed beasts.

In Maki's view, Orochimaru's move was undoubtedly a stupid thing that involved picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, and it was not in line with the organization's long-standing purpose.

"I don't know the specific situation. Now is the critical Chunin Exam period. Even if you want to investigate, you can only wait until later to investigate."

Kakashi said.

"Indeed, if we can't figure out Orochimaru's purpose, our actions will become very passive. But please don't worry, I have asked Lord Kazekage to dispatch five hundred elite ninjas from the village. Today It will arrive at noon, and several tight defense circles will be formed outside the Demonic Desert. Even if Orochimaru comes back, he will not be able to break into the examination room again."

Marky said confidently.

"I hope so, but I only thought of dispatching reinforcements in the middle. Your Sunagakure's awareness of prevention is too slow. If you do this from the beginning, Orochimaru will have no chance to sneak in. Even if he sneaks in, he can be stopped in time. Catch him for his behavior that endangers candidates."

Yi Ji lectured Ma Ji with a straight face.

"What Miss Yiji said is true."

Marky said with a wry smile.

After all, Sunagakure must bear the main responsibility for such a serious accident during the second exam.

Even though he knew that this was Kazuhime mocking Sunagakure's weak strength, Maki was unable to refute this.

Nowadays, the power of ninja villages in all major countries has basically recovered from the sequelae of the Third Ninja War. Backed by the powerful Fire Country and Thunder Country, Konoha and Kumogakure not only restored their original strength, but even expanded their armaments year by year. The number of ninjas also increased year by year, and their military strength far exceeded that of the Third Ninja War. Even Iwagakure and Kirigakure, who had lost their strength due to internal fighting, were the same. From being severely damaged to resuming production, they began to strengthen their military strength.

Only Sunagakure was still recovering.

The reason was that during the Wind Country War four years ago, thousands of Suna ninjas died on the battlefield, and the strength they had finally recovered after the Third Ninja World War was wiped out. Compared with other countries, the economy and production capacity of the Country of Wind are slightly weak. Compared with other shinobi villages, Sunagakure's development period is too short.

In this chaotic era where one step is fast and one step is fast, a one-year lead in development can already widen a certain gap. Sunagakure, which has been in a state of slowness and stagnation for several consecutive years, has a different relationship with the military strength of several other ninja villages. , there is a certain gap.

Nowadays, Sunagakure Village is short of manpower and needs soldier supplies everywhere.

In addition, the Chuunin Examination was held jointly by various countries. At first, I didn't think that anyone would be bold enough to come and cause trouble, so this was the reason for this negligence.

"It's good that you know that if there is an accident in the second exam and the third exam cannot go smoothly, then our Demon Country military will hold Sunagakure accountable for his negligence."

Yiji's tone still sounded stern.

Marky nodded with a heavy expression.

In the wrong situation, he could not refute Yiji's words.

What's more, if Orochimaru leaves and comes back later, he will still need to rely on Kazuki's strength. At this time, patience is the best way.

Anyway, this is not the first time that he has been embarrassed in front of the Kingdom of Ghosts.

As the saying goes, once makes you familiar again, Markey can only try his best to make up for his previous mistakes.

"Miss Yiji, please rest assured that similar accidents will not happen again."

Yiji scoffed at Ma Ji's promise, but fell silent, acquiescing to Ma Ji's meaningless promise.

◎

For the next two days, Markey lived in fear.

In order to prevent a dangerous rebellious ninja like Orochimaru from returning, or other accidents, he basically only slept for an hour in the last two days of the second exam, and spent the rest of the time arranging personnel to work under the devil. patrol outside the desert to prevent something like this from happening again.

At the same time, he also wrote a letter to Konoha Village to apologize to the Sandaime Hokage.

Because of Sunagakure's personnel negligence, a genin team in Konoha was attacked by Orochimaru, for which he apologized to the Hokage on behalf of Sunagakure.

Although this apology is meaningless, what Markey wants to show is just a good attitude among the alliance.

Similarly, a letter was also sent to the military of the Kingdom of Demons, as well as the shadows from other countries, also expressing their apologies.

Fortunately, in the next two days, there were no more accidents in the examination room. In addition, the 500 Sunagakure ninjas who came to support also formed a certain deterrent force, giving Ma Ji the confidence to deal with any accidents. The remaining two days passed uneventfully.

It also means that the second exam ended successfully.

At the moment the exam ended, Ma Ji, who was sitting in the office, breathed a sigh of relief and lay down with his back on the seat. He felt that he was suddenly relieved and no longer had to work hard for the twists and turns that might occur in the exam room.

In the past two days, he only had one hour of rest time. Apart from that, he was in a state of high-intensity vigilance. Even as a jounin, he couldn't stand it.

However, it is not time to rest yet. As the examiner of the second exam, he still needs to summarize and praise the genin team that has passed the level.

Although it was only a formal matter, Markey had to deal with it.

As long as this matter is dealt with, he can truly sit back and relax.

Even if there were any accidents in the examination room, it would be a matter for the Kingdom of Demons to consider and had nothing to do with Sunagakure.

After all, if something unexpected happens again in the second exam, he, as a Jonin, will be done. Even if he is trusted by the Kazekage, he will be marginalized and sent to work in a remote area far away from the core of the village.

"Lord Markey."

A female Sunagakure chuunin walked in, holding a stack of documents in her arms.

"Has the team for customs clearance been determined?"

Marky tried his best to cheer up and not look tired.

It is now nine o'clock in the morning. According to the seventy-two-hour examination time, the end time of the second examination is seven o'clock in the morning. It has already ended two hours ago.

The arriving genin team rested in the lounge inside the control tower to relieve the fatigue of the exam.

"Yes, Mr. Markey, please take a look."

The female chuunin placed the document in front of Maki.

Ma Ji picked it up and flipped through the pages. When he saw the end, his face suddenly darkened.

There is no other reason, because there is only one group that clears Sunagakure in the end.

That was Gaara's group, and the rest of the groups were wiped out. Although two groups got the scrolls of heaven and earth, they arrived at the control tower an hour ago. In other words, it was past the exam time and they could only be treated as failed.

This kind of thing doesn't only happen to Sunagakure, this phenomenon exists in genin groups in various countries.

Because this exam only lasts seventy-two hours, and it is still in a desert with a harsh environment. For ninjas who are not familiar with this environment, it is inevitable that they will waste time for various reasons when facing it for the first time.

Ma Ji can understand these reasons, because ninjas from all countries are probably not very good at dealing with environments like the desert.

But there was only one Sunagakure team that cleared the level, which Ma Ji never expected.

Thanks to him bragging in front of Ichiki, Sunagakure will definitely shine this time.

Although the group that passed the exam now is the strongest group in Shinobu Shinobi, it is obvious that Sa Yin's overall strength is weak, and he can't even refute it.

Because the desert environment is the most conducive environment for the performance of Sunagakure ninjas.

This made Maki wonder if these Sunagakure genin who failed to pass were really from Sunagakure Village.

If you perform so 'excellently' in your own home, wouldn't it be even worse in another country?

"..."

After reading all the clearance group information, Markey fell into self-doubt.

Seemingly seeing Maji's entanglement, the female Chunin comforted: "Don't worry, Master Maji, the results of the Ghost Kingdom this time are not very good, only two teams passed."

"..."

Maki looked at the female chuunin in front of him as if he were an idiot.

More genin were invested than in the Kingdom of Demons, but the number of teams that cleared the level was smaller than in the Kingdom of Demons. Is this something worthy of celebration?

The most important thing is that this is in your own home, with the most conducive environment.

"Lord Markey, what's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing... I'm just feeling sad that there are actually five teams to clear Konoha..."

Maki looked at the list of groups that passed the test. There were five groups of Konoha genin who passed the second test.

One of the groups was attacked by Orochimaru, the group where Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were.

Although it was an hour before the end of the exam, he came to the central control tower with injuries all over his body, but after being attacked by Orochimaru, he was able to pass the exam. The strength of Konoha genin.

"But in terms of the overall pass rate, Konoha's pass rate in the second exam is only less than 30%."

The female chuunin replied.

There are a total of sixteen groups of Konoha genin taking part in the second exam.

As a result, only five groups of genin cleared the level. It can be said that the clearance rate is very low.

In comparison, Ghost Country, which has cleared two groups, is slightly better than Konoha.

"Even so, it's surprising. Konoha's talents are so outstanding in every era."

Maki sighed, expressing pessimism about Sunagakure's future.

Once upon a time, he had secretly ridiculed Konoha for not being able to retain real talents.

However, Konoha's new generation of talents is too numerous to count. After leaving a group, they can pull up another group in a short period of time. The cycle is endless, and they will soon become Konoha's new pillars, burning A new will of fire.

In comparison, there are only a handful of new generation ninjas in Sunagakure Village who have been able to stand alone over the years.

It can be said that, except for the relatively mysterious Oni Land military, the depth of which is unknown for the time being, Konoha is called the cradle of geniuses, and it is not for nothing.

Even if it declined, its stamina was still so abundant, which made Ma Ji feel fearful and sighing at the same time.

But for now, having such a growing ally is a good thing.

After all, Konoha's aggressiveness is much lower than that of the Demon Country's military.

In the eyes of various countries, the behavior of the Demon Kingdom's military is not much different from that of Kumogakure.

It's just that the military of the Kingdom of Ghosts prefers to use evidence to speak out, hold on to others' leverage, and then continue to be aggressive.

"Let's let the group that cleared the customs take a short break. There is still some time before the third exam. After lunch, gather them in the hall. The rest of the groups that have not passed the exam and came here, please entertain them, don't Neglect."

Marky considered it for a moment and gave the order.

"yes."

The female chuunin nodded heavily and left the office.

Ma Ji rubbed his brows, looked at the clearance candidate documents left by the female Chunin on the desktop, still did not fall asleep, picked up the documents with energy, went to the conference room, and held a meeting.

◎

noon.

The ninja team that passed the second test had already had lunch here, and then, led by the person in charge of Sand Hidden, came to the central hall of the control tower.

It's said to be a hall, but it's actually just a relatively large vacant room.

The lower ninjas who passed the test entered the hall one after another. The hall was empty, and the upper ninjas who were the chief examiners had not yet arrived, so the candidates who passed the customs did not care, but moved freely here.

"I didn't expect there to be so many groups clearing Konoha."

Xiang Rin was slightly surprised to see that fifteen genin from Konoha passed the second exam.

In contrast, the Demon Country's military, which had only two teams clear the level, was less conspicuous.

"The more people they put in, the more people will go through customs."

Asuka didn't pay attention, and his eyes lingered on one of the Konoha ninjas for a while. That Konoha ninja was Sasuke.

The other party's face was pale, and the aura in his body was a little unstable. It was strong and weak, which made Asuka feel extremely strange.

But he didn't rush forward to ask anything. In the final analysis, Sasuke is not from the Uchiha clan who was born in the kingdom of ghosts. The two sides belong to different camps. If they meet at that time, he will not show mercy because of Sasuke's identity. .

Because they had rested in the lounge in advance, all the candidates were in good spirits.

In addition to the five groups of Konoha and the two groups of genin from the Kingdom of Demons, there is only one group of genin that cleared Sunagakure.

The remaining clearance groups become very interesting.

As powerful Iwagakure and Kumogakure, the genin team was completely wiped out in the second exam, with no one passing.

In contrast, Kirigakure, which only sent out one team, also passed the second exam smoothly just like the first exam. Judging from their status, the second exam was very easy for them.

The final group to clear the level is from Otogakure Village.

They are also the only group of ninjas from small countries besides big countries.

The other ninjas from small countries, such as Amegakure, Kusagakure, Tsukigakure and other village ninjas, were all wiped out in the second exam, just like Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

In total, there are ten groups with a total of thirty people who passed the second exam.

Konoha's genin occupied half of them.

The ninja forces of various countries are clearly divided. They all stand together in a group and are hostile to each other.

"It's really troublesome. As expected, the witch from the Kingdom of Ghosts has also cleared the level."

Shikamaru, who was in the Konoha camp, glanced towards the gathering place of the Demon Country with vague eyes.

Among the six Genin from the Kingdom of Demons who cleared the level, the Genin Miko from the Kingdom of Demons that he had encountered in the examination room was also among them.

The other party still kept her eyes closed, surrounded by a quiet and mysterious atmosphere, as if she sensed that someone was staring at her, she turned her head slightly and glanced at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru immediately looked away, and when her face came to her, his eyes felt extremely stinging.

It was really bad. If she was brought along for the third exam, she would just choose to surrender. Shikamaru thought helplessly.

Being able to forcibly decipher his own shadow imitation technique by virtue of his own strange ability means that no matter how powerful the scheme is, it will be useless in the face of such absolute strength.

According to the previous rules of the Chunin Examination, the third exam was a one-on-one elimination match.

Anyone who comes across this strangely capable miko from the Kingdom of Ghosts will consider themselves unlucky.

"What, you are still so afraid of women, Shikamaru. It's so shameful that you even think about escaping."

Hearing Shikamaru's muttering, Ino angrily lectured Shikamaru.

"Even if you escape shame, as long as you can save your life."

Shikamaru ignored Ino's scolding.

In this exam, there are obviously several monsters with extraordinary strength.

The strength of the other ninjas from the Demon Country is unknown for the time being, but that miko is definitely the one he least wants to face at the moment.

Not only is his ability strange, but his murderous aura is also very strong.

He probably came to this Chunin Exam with the idea of ​​killing his opponent directly.

She doesn't seem to be a compassionate traditional witch.

"That witch? I remember that her name is Hibiki, a witch who grew up in the land of ghosts. In the first exam, all the candidates around her were eliminated by her alone. She is a very scary guy Yeah. She should be a battle miko who belongs to the Demon Country's military."

Kabuto, who also passed the first exam, pushed up his glasses and said with a mysterious smile.

"Battle Miko? What is that?"

Kabuto's explanation attracted the attention of the others.

"It is a very rare martial arts faction among the witches in the kingdom of ghosts. Unlike ordinary witches who slay demons and demons, these combat witches are not only good at slaying demons and demons, but also executioners among witches. They are ghosts in recent years. The country's military, specially cultivated fighting professions. They are not only proficient in witches' witchcraft, but also learn from the ninja system, and their abilities are changeable and powerful. If you encounter them, you can't be too careful. The so-called witches Techniques, just like curses, can kill ghosts invisible, and they can also kill people invisible."

Kabuto slowly started to popularize science.

"Yeah?"

Shikamaru was slightly surprised and looked at Kabuto deeply.

For some reason, he always felt that Kabuto-senpai was a little different from ordinary people.

But Shikamaru couldn't tell what was strange about it.

It's just that he feels that this person should definitely not be as simple as he appears on the surface. It seems that you need to be careful when you come into contact with him in the future.

Just as the candidate group was whispering to each other, footsteps suddenly sounded, the footsteps of more than one person.

The candidates collectively turned their heads and saw more than a dozen jounin walking in from outside the hall, led by none other than Sunagakure jounin Maki.

Behind him were the instructing Jonin of the customs clearance team, and Kazuki, who was the receptionist for the third exam, also following them.

Ichiki, who was in the crowd, glanced at Asuka and saw that there were only two groups in the Kingdom of Demons, with six genin standing here, frowning slightly.

She was a little dissatisfied with the number of people who had passed the level.

The bottom line she accepted was three groups, or nine genin. Now it seems that for the cultivation of the new generation, the way of the ninja school is still too gentle. Going back this time, she needs to be pampered by her "senior sister" who has graduated from the ninja school.

Although I really wanted to go over and ask about Asuka and the others, considering that the occasion was a bit inappropriate, I temporarily endured it.

Afterwards, he glanced at Wuyin Village again, nodded his head imperceptibly, and said hello to them, and followed Ma Ji and walked forward.

Coming to the simple high platform constructed in front of the hall, Markey stood at the front of the team with a microphone in his hand, speaking as the chief examiner of the second test:

"First of all, congratulations to all of you who have passed the second exam. Here, on behalf of all the invigilators of the United Chunin Exam, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to you. Next, let me briefly explain some rules of the third exam... "