Chapter 27: Chunin Exam (2)

“No, no, no! Please, Gyaaaaa”

That’s the last sound the Genin can make after being eaten wholly by a snake summon from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru smiles widely while licking his lips, and move along the way to gather other Genin, from the bloodline clan in Konoha. He especially thought off kidnapping the Uchiha, since the Hyuuga had caged birds seal on them, making it impossible to take their body without startling the spell…

He wandered, collecting the unlucky Uchiha, even if the Uchiha had yet to awaken their Sharingan, he still picks them.

Lucky only 3 Uchiha is entering the exam including Sasuke, and only 1 of the diluted blood Uchiha taken by him, even that’s something he does only to have a collection and experiment indifference of pureness in the blood affect the awakening in Sharingan…

He wanted to know, is there any difference between the pure-blooded Uchiha and the diluted blood Uchiha in the first place?

The thought of kidnapping Itachi occasionally happened in his head, but knowing the Anbu and third are protecting him, he’d, of course, stay out of the idea for now…

At least, until the Coud’état succeeds, and the 3rd dies.

He plans it carefully, knowing that Danzo hates the 3rd and the Uchiha will soon break out of the confinement, he carefully crafted his plans, upon being here, he smelled the fishiness of the village.

How could Danzo and Fugaku quarrel so blatantly in the day, and how could he be called wasabi ramen, and the reason why a once stall became a shop. All of that pointing to a brat, that can’t even enter the Chunin exam with a nothing to note Jonin as their leader.

However, he felt more doubtful about the person that taking care of the orphanage in Konoha, the one where the 3rd leave the Fox in…

There, laid an influential person that even he needs to be wary off…

“Step your foot inside, and your head will fly off…”

Is what he heard when he wanted to abduct some child from the orphanage, with ‘adopting’ as his reason.

The line suddenly heard by him, even when he can’t see the person himself. The sound heard with clarity, as if, the person saying that is right before his ears, whispering the line from both sides of his ears.

Scared?

Of course, he is…

Even in his battle against Hanzo the salamander, and his runaway from Akatsuki feel less scary compared this experience of his.

Thus, knowing an influential person lay in hiding, in the orphanage. He turned his body and went away with a stiff smile.

Knowing the horror, he believes the person in the orphanage had a deal, with the things that happened in Konoha. He once, asking the place in question with some hint to Danzo and other spies, but they said nothing to him, and just let his question drifting away…

“I don’t know why a powerful person likes him hiding there, but I guess, there’s a need to reform the plan…”

Orochimaru murmuring, while glancing at the Root ninja, that surrounding him ever since he entered the forest.

“They act suspicious… I need to be wary… Although it’s seemed to be impossible for Danzo and Hiruzen to making up, it’s not entirely impossible either… the worst-case scenario, they will act together to catch me up…”

He then vanished with a flicker startling the root-Anbu ninja, and cover his presences, while counter tailing the other.

However, as if knowing where he is. One of the Anbu, with a red dot in his eyes, looking nonchalant and signal the other root-Anbu to do nothing, and continue to act in hiding, without startling the target.

…

“Damn it, Cat!”

“Meow!”

The cat is running away while the boy tries to catch it. It leaped through the boy, and jump along the wall, thus runs away from the ninjas that try to find it.

“Argh! This is why I hate the damn catching the pet missions! -zo”

“You need to stop acting so blatantly distracting, or overly enthusiastic… you do know that don’t you? Hiura…”

“But it’s so annoying! You know that damn cat always went from its owner, right?! -zo”

“Yep… been the 7th time this week the cat running again from its owner…”

“See! Even Hotaru agreed with me! -zo”

“Stop with that -zo, zo, zo thingy! So annoying!”

“Hey! They say adding a catchphrase at each end of your line make you more famous ya know!”

“Ah, you forget the -zo, Hiura…”

“Oh, right! -zo”

“Why you need to remember him that Hotaru!”

It took them a while until they catch the cat, and bring it to the mission center. They always do the mission in their day, as a training for them, while Hayate has gone to the Chunin exam as a proctor. Flynn also encourages them to do more of the auxiliary mission so that they can know more about the village.

Erika, knowing she needs to adapt to her newly acquired Byakugan, know that she needs to learn to use them while tracking the cat. While Hiura, that someway learn to add additional words to his line, in order to make him easier to remember to add some weird -zo after he ends his parts of words.

While Hotaru, obviously needs to recuperate, and having an auxiliary mission rather than rest in the bed or helping out with the store, relaxing his body more to work, while giving the shop some advertisement along the way.

“where’s Hotaru?”

“Oh, he’s there with some of his past classmates… -zo”

“Argh… dumb kid, and dumb -zo… ”

Erika, that curious at who’s the girl, went through the crowd and sought for Hotaru, and found him conversing with an Uchiha girl.

“Oh… that’s…”

Erika squints her eyes as if focusing more on the girls.

“Oh, it’s Erika!”

The girls call her.

“Shizuka!” She then waved at her and come to her.

“What’s up! Have you been well?”

“Of course, I am. The other officer in the police has trained me, and you don’t want to believe how amazing our patrol in the day is…”

Shizuka Uchiha, she’s one of Hotaru’s close friend in the academy. Of course, as a girl, she had many friends herself, aside from Hotaru.

Unlike Hotaru and the others. Many choose a different path, other than becoming a ninja, and they want something else altogether.

It might not be possible if they’re still in the warring era, but, since peace happened since the time Kyuubi run amok, there’s no sign of nearing war or disaster will strike them. Thus, many choose a different path, like Erika choosing to be police rather than the ninja.

“although they seem different, whether being ninja or police, has the same core in them…”

“eh, they do?”

“Of course, silly Hotaru… we have a different area of expertise. If the ninja does things mostly out of the village, we the police do thing inside the village. We keep those insides safely from insider’ threat, while you keep those inside are safe from those outsiders’ threat…”

“Hmm, but, when the war occurred, won’t the police be forced to stand in the battlefield?”

“They do… although it’s not compulsory, it’s needed for them to help either in supply, or medic, even as a soldier in the battlefield…”

“Yes, Erika’s right…”

“Hm… then, won’t the police have an easier job than the ninjas?”

“They did! That’s why I choose this job, but, since the leader opened the job for others than Uchiha, it’d be harder to enter the police force than before, since space will decrease…”

“A good facility won’t be overpopulated huh…”

“Well, it’s a good thing, though! Since we’d get an easier job with more force, and easier to take care of some ‘undisciplined’ ninja… right? Mr. disciplinary committee founder…”

“pfft…”

“How’s the wound?”

“it’s better…”

“is that so? Aruru, Ginki, Subaru, and Ruu has been worried about you, and visit Ichiraku, right? I’m sorry that I can’t get there for some time since the police became more hectic than normally…”

“It’s okay. The feeling is enough to get me better…”

“Oy! What took you guys so long! We need to get it done fast, you know! -zo”

“Hiura call…”

“Okay, Shizuka! We’ll meet up again later… visit me at… no, I’ll visit you sometimes while bringing some ramen to your post!”

“Sure! Don’t bring those killer ramens though!”

“See ya later, Shizu!”

“‘ kay! See ya later Erika, good luck with that dumb dense guy!”

“Sss!”

“Chuckle”

After waving their goodbye, Hotaru confusedly stares at Erika while seeing the chuckling Shizuka.

Not long after, they gathered outside the mission building and found Hayate stand there, waiting for them.

“Hey sensei -zo!”

“Good day, sensei.”

“Hi sensei, sorry to make you wait.”

In a profession there’d always be grade even in each rank, in ninja’s job there is such grade:

Special grade ninja is a ninja that being upgraded, or raised with a unique condition, it could either be something happen and the ninja’s rank increased, or he pulls some strings to get raised.

Then, there’ll be an average ninja that raised through rank in the usual way.

While there’s also an elite ninja, where are the best of the rank graded…

Although they’re being classified, the status itself isn’t really that much helpful. Especially in case the ninja beautifully hid his capability and regularly raised through rank, or even raised his skill without knowing how amazing his abilities are.

However, it’s not entirely useless… as they are…

“We’ve already found nine elite rank anbu and two special rank anbu, that’s betraying us… Hokage-sama…”

Said Itachi to Hokage, in his office.

“That’s higher than we expect…”

“Yes… Even I’m astonished by the number…”

In the Hokage office, aside from giving Itachi the mission to act as Orochimaru’s overseer, he also needed to act as a spy for other anbu.

As to how, could Itachi know about the spy hidden inside their anbu rank.

“I’ve found the mark in Orochimaru’s clothes, and I’m already giving the order to not converse with Orochimaru for more than 1 minutes, the same also being told by Danzo-sama…”

“That’s not telling the reason why could you know about them…”

Itachi then closed his eyes for several minutes, and let his Mangekyou Sharingan out of his eyes.

“I see… you use their mind, to mark Orochimaru’s clothes…”

“Yes… I gave them illusion, each of the anbu officer to gave Orochimaru mark in his clothes if they talk more than a minute…”

“And Orochimaru won’t suspicious with that?”

Itachi smiles, and tell him “it’s a funny idea I get from my friends you see, he said there’s this kind of plants that have no smell, can be seen with a kind of glass…”

“Hoo, that’s intriguing…”

“Funny that he has the plant, and use that to make ramen… it’s not one of the killer ramens, but this plant can increase the taste of the ramen itself…”

“So, you use that plants’ sap to mark Orochimaru down?”

“No, sir… I use the plant itself, to mark him down…”

“Using the plant?”

“Yes… the plant can easily be found on the forest where the chunin exam being held, and I make a shape of the plant’s body, and gave each of them a different shape of plants, with my hypnosis I told them to stick the plant itself to him after they talk to Orochimaru…”

“then, when Orochimaru found the plant, he’d move the plant away then there’d only be it sap left…”

“most will presume so, but, the plant itself will melt when it touches the surrounding air and felt the decreasing degree, sir…”

“That’s a magical plant…”

“Indeed sir…”

“Okay, bring the traitor down… tell the torture and interrogation force to dig the information from these traitors…”

“As you wish, sir…”

“now then, let’s watch the 3rd exam battle…”

Not long after, Hokage left the office and head to the exam site, the building in the center of the forest in disguise…

…