Naruto: Mikoto and Tsunade, don't let either of them go.

Orochimaru allowed Nawaki to succeed earlier simply because he wasn't mentally prepared, but now he is.

Facing Orochimaru's imminent charge, Nawaki gripped his kunai tightly, his eyes fixed resolutely on the approaching figure, ready to fight to the death. Even if it meant dying in battle, he didn't want to be captured by Orochimaru for experiments.

Just as Orochimaru was about to approach Nawaki with a smile on his face, he seemed to sense something, his expression changed drastically, and his entire body bent into an arc that defied normal physical curvature before he finally stopped his forward momentum.

"呲~~"

Just as Orochimaru stopped his charge, a bamboo skewer with a bright blue halo flashed past him in the path he had just taken and then plunged into the ground not far away.

Boom~~

The bright blue bamboo skewer looked like a cannonball loaded with high explosives. As soon as it hit the ground, it exploded with a loud bang, leaving a large crater after the smoke cleared.

"This~~"

Looking at the huge crater, Orochimaru broke out in a cold sweat.

Although his body has undergone multiple modifications, making him like a soft-bodied creature, he is immune to most physical attacks.

But he also knew very well that if he had actually been pricked by that bamboo skewer, he would have been seriously injured, if not killed.

Chapter 462 Inviting Orochimaru

Orochimaru no longer cared about the giant crater; instead, he turned his gaze towards the direction from which the bamboo skewers had been shot, and said in a deep, grim voice:

“Uchiha…Kuyama…”

Although Orochimaru had been avoiding meeting Uchiha Kakuzan, he had already collected his appearance information, so when he saw the imposing figure not far away, he recognized him immediately.

At this moment, Nawaki naturally noticed Uchiha Kakuyama's arrival, and his face lit up with joy. He rushed towards him while calling out:

"Brother-in-law, you're here!"

Uchiha Kakuzan merely nodded slightly upon seeing Nawaki's expression, but his eyes remained fixed on Orochimaru not far away. He then spoke:

"Orochi, one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, I have been looking for you for a long time. But for some reason, whenever I found your base, you were always not there. So it is a great pity that I am only seeing you now."

Orochimaru was already somewhat uneasy when he saw Uchiha Kakuyama, but upon hearing his words, his heart tightened, and his expression turned grim. He then said in a low, hoarse voice:

"Kiu Shan-kun, you control both the entire Hidden Leaf Village and the Uchiha clan, the most powerful clan in the ninja world. You have countless powerful subordinates. Why would you need to seek out a loser like me who fled the Hidden Leaf Village?"

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Kakuzan narrowed his eyes, sensing something else in Orochimaru's tone.

However, after a moment's thought, Uchiha Kakuyama shook his head and said with a smile:

"Mr. Orochimaru, please don't underestimate yourself. In my heart, your value is unmatched by anyone, and even comparable to that of any ninja village."

Upon hearing Uchiha Kakuzan's words, Orochimaru was slightly taken aback, and asked with interest:

"What do you mean, Lord Qiushan?"

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Kakuzan's expression turned sincere, and he earnestly addressed Orochimaru:

"Therefore, I hope that Mr. Orochimaru will surrender to me. If you agree, I will use the power of Konoha and the Uchiha clan to build the best laboratory for you."

Upon hearing Uchiha Kakuzan's words, Orochimaru's eyes flickered slightly, and he then asked:

"What about the conditions?"

"The condition is that we hope to share the results of your experiments."

Upon hearing Uchiha Kagami's answer, Orochimaru hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and refused in a hoarse voice:

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Qiu, but I'd rather not. I prefer to do my research on my own."

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Kakuzan was not surprised. Given Orochimaru's pride, there was no way he would side with him just because of a word from him. He was just testing him. If he succeeded, it would be like getting a great deal.

Therefore, upon hearing Orochimaru's refusal, Uchiha Kakuzan simply nodded, saying with some regret:

"Alright, Mr. Orochimaru, if you ever want to join us, the Uchiha clan's doors are always open to you."

Upon hearing Uchiha Kakuzan's words, Orochimaru's expression revealed a strange look. After glancing at Uchiha Kakuzan and then at Nawaki beside him, a hint of regret appeared deep in his eyes. After nodding to them, the color on his body seemed to disappear, and he turned into a substitute made of mud.

Seeing Orochimaru transform into a mud substitute, Nawaki finally reacted, glanced at Uchiha Kakuzan beside him, and said:

"Brother-in-law, it seems that Orochimaru-sensei has already escaped."

Uchiha Kakuyama nodded, his eyes seemingly glancing casually in one direction, before calmly nodding and saying:

"know."

Seeing his brother-in-law's calm expression, Rope Tree was still somewhat puzzled and asked curiously:

"Brother-in-law, with your strength, you should be able to keep Orochimaru-sensei here, right? How come you..."

Upon hearing Nawaki's words, Uchiha Kakuyama raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and continued:

"Don't underestimate your master. His strength may only be at the peak of the Shadow level, but his greatest strength is his ability to survive. In this world, there are very few people who can completely kill him."

At this point, Uchiha Kakuyama glanced at Nawaki's thoughtful expression and continued:

"Furthermore, I was only trying to persuade Orochimaru; I didn't mean to force him. After all, if I forced him, even if he truly submitted to me, it wouldn't be genuine."

At this point, Uchiha Kakuzan sensed that Orochimaru was already heading in the direction of leaving the Forest of Death, and muttered to himself:

"Have they already given up on Sasuke?"

Uchiha Kakuzan thought that Orochimaru would test Sasuke's side after escaping, since Sasuke could be considered his most suitable vessel. However, he did not expect that Orochimaru would be so decisive. After encountering Uchiha Kakuzan, in order to avoid any accidents, he even abandoned Sasuke. It is unknown whether he abandoned him temporarily and will deal with it later, or whether he has completely given up and is now looking for other targets.

Thinking about this, Uchiha Kakuyama shook his head, feeling a bit bored. Without Orochimaru's involvement, this Forest of Death was really quite dull.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Kakuyama glanced at the rope tree beside him and then asked:

"Nawaki, Orochimaru has left the Forest of Death. What about you? Are you coming with me to your sister's place, or will you continue the competition?"

Hearing his brother-in-law's words, Rope Tree scratched the back of his head in annoyance, and still said:

"Brother-in-law, I think I should continue participating in the competition. After all, my sister has already taken care of me so much that I was able to participate in this Chunin Exam. If I don't perform well, my sister will be sad."

Upon hearing Nawaki's words, Uchiha Kakuzan nodded without saying anything more. He simply patted Nawaki on the shoulder and then vanished from the spot.

Seeing his brother-in-law leave, Rope Tree's eyes flashed with determination. After quickly tidying up his equipment, he once again headed towards the center of the Death Forest.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Kakuyama went straight back to the Hokage's office.

Tsunade was still working here at the time. When she saw Qiushan-kun arrive, she asked with some surprise:

"Qiu Shan Jun, didn't you go to the Forest of Death? Why are you back?"

At this moment, Uchiha Kakuyama was sitting in a chair without any regard for his image. After hearing Tsunade's words, he stretched and said:

"I just encountered Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. Seeing that he was interested in the Rope Tree, I stepped in and sent him away. Since there was nothing else to do, I came back first."

Chapter 463 Inspection

Upon hearing Uchiha Kakuzan's words, Tsunade stopped writing, glanced at Uchiha Kakuzan beside her, and said:

“I know, I’ve already read the intelligence you sent me before,”

At this point, Tsunade paused slightly, moved closer to Uchiha Okayama, and then asked thoughtfully:

"Weren't you very interested in Orochimaru? Why didn't you keep him around?"

Tsunade was well aware of Uchiha Kakuzan's abilities. If she really wanted to keep Orochimaru, no matter how good Orochimaru was at escaping, he wouldn't be able to escape Kakuzan's control.

Upon hearing Tsunade's words, Uchiha Kakuzan shook his head and said:

"Let's forget about it. It would be a loss to the world if a scientific genius like Orochimaru had his mind restricted by me."

I don't lack a peak Kage-level ninja under my command, and the ninja world would truly be rather dull without Orochimaru.

Upon hearing Qiu Shanjun's words, Tsunade shook her head and, while resuming processing the documents, said:

"Then you shouldn't have come back. I remember you promised Hinata that you would watch her match. If Hinata doesn't see you in the next match, she will be very sad."

Hearing Tsunade's words, Uchiha Kakuzan slapped his forehead in frustration and sighed:

"Yes, I promised that girl that if I wasn't there, she would secretly be sad again."

After Uchiha Kakuyama finished speaking, he greeted Tsunade and then returned to the stone tower in the Forest of Death.

However, just as Uchiha Kakuzan returned to the stone tower, he saw a figure rushing past it, seemingly searching for something.

Upon seeing this, Uchiha Kakuzan seemed to remember something, a smile appearing on his face, and then he shouted loudly:

"Red Bean, what are you doing?"

Mitarashi Anko was patrolling the Forest of Death and had just passed by the stone tower when she heard Qiushan-kun's shout. After a slight pause, her eyes lit up and she turned around and ran towards him.

Huff, huff...

At this moment, Hongdou was in a rather disheveled state, not only panting heavily, but also with some sweat on her forehead.

However, Anko didn't care about any of this. Her gaze towards Uchiha Qiushan was somewhat intense. Just as Uchiha Qiushan was puzzled, Anko quickly spoke up:

"Lord Qiushan, I have received definite news that Orochimaru has entered the Forest of Death, but we have not yet found any trace of him."

At this point, Anko looked at Uchiha Kagami with considerable eagerness and said:

"Lord Qiushan, this Orochimaru is an S-rank rogue ninja from our Konoha Village, and he is extremely dangerous."

He's already inside the Forest of Death. If he attacks the other contestants, the consequences will be unimaginable. Could you help us find Orochimaru?

As Orochimaru's former disciple, Mitarashi Anko naturally knew how terrifying he was. Even now, deep in Anko's heart, there is still a deep fear of Orochimaru.

Therefore, upon seeing Uchiha Kakuzan, the strongest ninja in Konoha and the head of the Uchiha clan, Mitarashi Anko felt as if she had found a powerful backer and wanted him to take action, at least to drive Orochimaru out of the Forest of Death.

However, upon hearing Mitarashi Anko's words, Uchiha Kakuzan merely yawned lazily before shaking his head in refusal:

"I don't want to go."

Originally, Mitarashi Anko was quite looking forward to Okayama-kun's intervention, but after hearing his words, she was first stunned, then a hint of anger appeared on her face, and she said:

"Lord Qiushan, you are the head of the Anbu in our Konoha Village. The Hokage appointed you to such an important position because he hoped that you would be able to take responsibility at critical moments, instead of shirking it here."

Upon hearing Mitarashi Anko's words, Uchiha Kakuzan readily nodded and continued:

"I know."

Hearing Uchiha Kagami admit it so readily, Anko was slightly taken aback before continuing:

“Orochimaru has already entered the Forest of Death. Why don’t you take action, find him, and even if you can’t keep him here, expel him?”

Upon hearing Mitarashi Anko's words, Uchiha Kakuzan merely glanced at her and continued:

"But I just drove Orochimaru out of the Forest of Death. I don't know where he's gone now, but he probably won't be coming back."

Upon hearing Uchiha Kakuzan's words, Mitarashi Anko's anxious expression faltered slightly. Looking at Uchiha Kakuzan's calm demeanor, she exclaimed in surprise:

"They've already driven them away?"

Uchiha Kakuyama nodded readily, his eyes fixed on the distant scenery. He sensed Hinata should be in that direction:

"We originally wanted to keep him, but he ran too fast, so we let him get away in the end."

At this point, Uchiha Kakuyama shook his head with some regret.

When Mitarashi Anko heard what Okayama-kun said, she blinked twice, then finally breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and said thankfully:

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why I couldn't find Orochimaru after searching for so long. Turns out he's not here."

At this point, Mitarashi Anko seemed to remember something, and her expression turned serious again. She continued:

"Although I don't know why Orochimaru came to Konoha at this time, it's definitely not for anything good."

Orochimaru himself is far too dangerous; the Hokage should prepare accordingly as soon as possible.

Upon hearing Mitarashi Anko's words, Uchiha Kakuzan smiled and shook his head, saying:

"Don't worry, I just came back from the Hokage's office. The Hokage knows what's going on. You just need to focus on doing your job well."

At this point, Uchiha Kakuyama seemed to remember something, and directly reached out and took out a bag of three-colored dumplings from his spatial storage, casually handing it to Anko, and said with a smile:

"There's still some time before the other contestants arrive, so take a break first. I'll take care of things here."

Hearing Uchiha Kakuyama's words and glancing at the three-colored dumplings in his hand, Mitarashi Anko was slightly taken aback. A blush suddenly appeared on her face, and she stammered, "..."

"Okay, thank you, sir."

Seeing this, Uchiha Kakuyama simply nodded, lightly tapped his foot, and slowly flew towards the direction he had just been looking.

"Red Bean, you take a rest first, I'll go and patrol in your place."

Chapter 464 Supporting Sakura

"Splash!"

As Sasuke slowly released his hand, a lowly ninja fell to the ground with a splash, like a dead fish. Small, bright blue lightning bolts occasionally crackled around his body, causing him to twitch slightly.