XX-level Hokage

"I only went to register, and you two have already gotten into trouble." Temari scolded Kankuro. Kankuro glanced at Gaara, but had nothing to say and could only silently endure the insult.

Shouhan pulled Gaara over and said to Sasuke and his group, "My two younger brothers have had some misunderstandings with you all, please don't mind them." Then he left with the two of them.

“Gaara of the Sands, that guy gives off a scary vibe,” Shikamaru said, unusually serious.

"Sasuke, can you defeat him?" Ino asked. "I don't know," Sasuke replied.

I might not be able to defeat him on my own, but with them in tow, it's a different story. Sasuke looked at the shadows on the ground.

“I’ll handle defeating him,” Naruto suddenly said after a long silence. “Don’t overthink it, let’s go eat,” Shikamaru said helplessly.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Forest of Death

On the day the Chunin Exams began, the participating ninjas from each village gathered at the competition venue. As usual, there was a round of provocation and face-slapping. Then Kabuto appeared and introduced the powerful participating ninjas of this Chunin Exams to the Konoha ninjas.

Once everyone had gathered, the first match began.

The written test consists of 10 questions. One point is deducted for each incorrect answer, and two points are deducted for each attempt, until a score of 0 is reached, at which point the student and their partner are eliminated. As the only subject-specific subject, the written test is both the easiest and the most difficult. It's easy because there's no danger involved, but it's difficult because...

It's because this match is unlikely to happen.

Of course, culture is not essential for ninjas. In order to prevent the elimination of skilled but illiterate ninjas, this real test is their ability to gather intelligence and their teamwork under great pressure, as well as their unwavering will as ninjas.

After Morino Ibiki distributed the exam papers, the exam officially began, and the candidates began to show off their skills.

Inside the examiner's office, the third generation used a monitoring crystal ball to project footage of the first exam. Examiners like Mashiro, who were currently not busy, were...

They monitored every move in the classroom through the screen.

Gaara's Sand Eyes, Namino's Mind Transfer Technique, Shino's Insects, Neji's Byakugan, Sasuke's Sharingan, Sound Ninja Dosu's Sound Literacy, Kankuro's Crow of Shame.

Kiba's beloved dog Akamaru, Akatsuchi's Rock Seal Technique... all sorts of cheating methods emerged one after another. Even Mashiro found it amazing.

Of all the contestants, only a handful truly knew how to answer these questions: Sakura, Tian, ​​Tehan, Kurotsuchi, and Shikamaru. The exam time quickly ended, and the real test began.

After being intimidated by Ibiki Morino, many ninjas gave up, and then Anko appeared.

Seeing this, Mashiro said hello and left the monitoring room. Strolling to the stands, Mashiro walked over to Kurenai's side.

"What? Are you worried about Hinata and the others?" Mashiro asked softly. "Maybe," Akane replied, gazing into the distance.

“You seem to have come to terms with it.” Mashiro placed her hand on Kurenai’s waist.

“There’s nothing to think about or not think about. Maybe I’m really scared of you, but that’s all.” Red turned to look at Mashiro and said, her eyes serious and deep.

"I like you just the way you are. It would be so boring if you were too lifeless. See you later." Seeing Hong's appearance, Mashiro said with a smile. Then she kissed Hong's neck, leaving a deep kiss mark, and then turned and left.

Red remained standing there, lost in thought. A moment later, Asuma approached.

"Sorry, Kurenai, I was a little late because of some things at the Hokage's place," Asuma said apologetically. "It's alright," Kurenai replied woodenly.

For some reason, Asuma vaguely felt that Kurenai's attitude was a bit strange, but he didn't pay much attention to it, assuming that it was because he was late that Kurenai was angry.

"Why are you suddenly wearing a scarf today? I remember you said you didn't like wearing scarves." Asuma asked, noticing Red wearing a red scarf.

"It's nothing, I just saw one at home and brought it with me," Hong said, tightening the apron around her neck.

"Hongdou is in charge of the second round this time. I wonder how many candidates will pass." Seeing that Hongdou didn't want to answer, Asma quickly changed the subject.

"I'm sorry, Asuma, I'm not feeling well, I'll go back to my room first," Kurenai said suddenly, her eyes lowered. During the Chunin Exams, the village assigned temporary rooms to each ninja in charge.

"Alright, Red, take good care of yourself and get plenty of rest. Let me know if anything comes up, and we'll make another appointment when you're feeling better," Asuma said with concern. "Okay," Red managed a weak smile.

On the way back to her room, Hong was extremely listless. Ever since discovering that Mashiro was Zero, she had been on edge, completely unresponsive even when the other person wrote the word "thickness" on her body. It took her a whole night to pull herself together, constantly telling herself that it was just...

Meng has her own life, and she doesn't need to fear anyone.

Therefore, she came here specifically to wait, wanting to settle things with the other party. But when she actually saw Mashiro, she still couldn't resist. Fear, curiosity, and affection—a strange mix of feelings surrounded her.

What should I do?

Red punched the wall, and blood flowed out, staining the wall red. Mashiro arrived at Richiu Manor.

"Mashiro, you're here. Aren't you in charge of the Chunin Exams?" Yakumo said happily when he saw Mashiro arrive. "This is only the first day of the Forest of Death. It's not my turn to appear yet," Mashiro said, patting Yakumo's head.

“You always seem so busy.” Yakumo said, resting her chin on her hands and looking at Mashiro. “Really?” Mashiro didn’t think so; she was actually quite free every day.

"Your brow always seems tense," Yakumo said, touching Mashiro's brow. Because of her bloodline limit, she was much more sensitive to emotions than the average ninja.

"I hadn't even noticed until you said so," Mashiro said, touching Yakumo's hand.

She was indeed constantly on edge. Time kept ticking away, and countless enemies awaited her in the distance. Constantly scheming and plotting would eventually tire her. "Yakumo, do you have a dream?" Mashiro asked, resting her head on Yakumo's lap and gazing at the azure sky.

Yakumo looked at Mashiro and replied after a moment, "Perhaps not." "I suppose so."

Bathed in sunlight, a chilly autumn breeze ruffled her white hair, and she felt the soft touch beneath her head. The tip of her pen seemed to brush against the girl's barely perceptible body.

Xiang, Zhenbai gently closed her eyes.

After a long while, Yakumo looked at the sleeping Mashiro, glanced around, and then hesitantly lowered his head to kiss Mashiro's lips. The kiss was brief; as soon as Yakumo's lips left hers, Mashiro quietly opened her eyes.

"What were you doing just now?" Mashiro asked softly. "Nothing," Yakumo replied shyly. "I'm going to get my revenge," Mashiro said with a smile.

Then, she hooked her arm around Yakumo's neck, stood up, and kissed Yakumo's eyes, then moved down to kiss her cheeks, finally reaching her lips, where their lips met.

Their breaths mingled. (A few items.)

Yakumo's breathing gradually became heavier.

After a long while, a magpie came to the tree and chirped. That evening, Mashiro went to the street to buy some food.

Autumn colors caressed the stars, fleeting and without a trace. The sky was filled with countless stars, forming a galaxy. The withered leaves rustled in the cool breeze. Suddenly, Yakumo covered Mashiro's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Mashiro asked, somewhat puzzled. "There are fireworks," Yakumo whispered in Mashiro's ear. Then he reached out and covered Mashiro's eyes with his hand.

Mashiro looked ahead, and a few small but still dazzling fireworks quietly bloomed. Just as Mashiro was about to ask a question, she noticed the fireworks on the drawing board beside her.

“My chakra isn’t enough, otherwise the fireworks could have been bigger,” Yakumo said. “They were beautiful.”

"It's incredibly gentle," Mashiro said, her pure white eyes reflecting a dazzling light. (Author's note)

Chapter 23: Orochimaru

The Death Forest, Day Two.

Group Seven still hadn't obtained the Heavenly Scroll. As if it were deliberately arranged, Naruto and his group didn't encounter any other contestants from any other group. "Why is nobody here?" Naruto shouted loudly.

"Naruto, don't shout, it'll give us away." Sakura said this, her heart filled with anxiety as time ticked by.

Sasuke was also quite frustrated; they hadn't expected their biggest problem to be finding no opponents. "? It's fogging up," Naruto suddenly said, puzzled.

Because of the Land of Waves, Naruto is now extremely sensitive to fog.

In the Land of Waves, Team 7 encountered Zabuza and Haku. However, because of Mashiro, Gato no longer cared about a mere bridge and entrusted its affairs to one of his subordinates. Thus, although Team 7 fought Zabuza and Mashiro, the bridge was abandoned due to Gato's orders, and the battle was mediated in time without any casualties.

However, Zabuza's Water Mist Technique left a deep impression on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Mist?!

Sasuke noticed this as well and began to use his Sharingan to look into the mist.

Suddenly, a giant snake lunged out and swallowed Naruto whole. Immediately afterward, three Sound Ninja emerged from the mist. "Naruto!"

Sakura cried out as she saw a large snake swallow Naruto.

"Sakura, go save Naruto, I'll deal with these Sound Ninja." Sasuke's face darkened as he coldly addressed Sakura after seeing the giant snake bring Naruto down.

The two Sound Ninja charged straight at him. Sasuke was about to meet them when he realized they were bypassing him and heading towards Sakura.

Just as Sasuke was about to unleash a ninjutsu on the two Sound Ninja, an incredibly terrifying killing intent descended upon him. The chilling killing intent pressed down on Sasuke, almost rendering him unable to move.

Two Sound Ninja faced off against Xiaolou. In a two-on-one situation, Sakura could only barely dodge.

Suddenly, the giant snake's belly swelled up and then burst open, releasing dozens of Naruto clones. It turned out that Naruto had used the Shadow Clone Technique to rupture the snake's belly.

Naruto came out and saw the situation, so he quickly ran to help Sakura fight the two Sound Ninja. With the help of Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, the two Sound Ninja were quickly defeated.

Just then, Sasuke suddenly shouted, "Naruto, quickly take Sakura away and go find Kakashi-sensei." "What are you talking about?" Naruto turned his head and asked, puzzled.

Then a terrifying killing intent spread to the two of them. Under this killing intent, Naruto's body stiffened, and Sakura almost fainted.

The source of this murderous aura was the female Sound Ninja not far away. She was watching Sasuke intently, seemingly observing something.

Sasuke looked at his companions not far away, and then he thought of Itachi on the night of the massacre of his clan. Mashiro's words echoed in his ears again.

"Sasuke, there's nothing to fear. Whether it's the Uchiha's destiny or the enemy's strength, remember this: only when you truly face death can you perceive the meaning of yourself and life."

Sasuke activated all three tomoe, looked at the female Sound Ninja in front of him, and formed hand seals. "Fire: Great Fireball Technique"

A huge fireball hurtled straight at the female Sound Ninja.

The female Sound Ninja simply formed a hand seal, and a huge stone gate appeared in front of her. The fireball touched the stone gate and quickly dissipated.

After the fireball disappeared, the stone gate sank to the bottom. At this moment, the female Sound Ninja looked directly at Sasuke, her eyes full of admiration. Seeing Sasuke break free from the killing intent, Naruto suppressed his inner fear and used multiple shadow clones to run towards the female Sound Ninja.

But just as Naruto ran over, two giant snakes appeared out of thin air and began fighting with him. "Sakura, go find Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto, realizing the seriousness of the situation, spoke to Sakura. Sakura snapped out of her daze, turned, and quickly ran into the forest.

After running for a while, a wide-open flat area appeared ahead. Perhaps they could find someone to ask for help.

A spark of hope ignited in Sakura's heart, and she ran faster to the flat ground.

At this moment, three ninjas had been waiting on the ground for a long time. Sakura saw the headbands on the heads of the three ninjas and realized, "Oh no, the Sound Ninjas."

Sakura hurriedly tried to turn around, but the three Sound Ninja quickly surrounded her. Unable to dodge, one of them grabbed her hair. "So, she's just a frail little girl," said the Sound Ninja who had grabbed Sakura's hair.

"Should we kill her, or leave it to the adults to decide?" a Sound Ninja asked from the side. Sakura was filled with despair at that moment.

Just then, a voice she knew all too well came over.

"My friends from the Sound Ninja, it's not right to bully our Konoha ninjas." Sakura looked up and saw Mashiro standing not far away, speaking expressionlessly.

“So it’s just another young girl. Tie, go and bring her here.” Simple and straightforward, the three of them didn’t take it to heart.

Mashiro stretched out her hand and drew a line in the air. Three Sound Ninja were instantly beheaded.

Sakura was startled again and stood frozen in place, too afraid to move. "It's alright now."

Mako gently hugged Sakura.

Feeling the warmth of Mashiro's embrace and hearing her comforting voice, Sakura instantly burst into tears.

After crying for a while, Sakura suddenly remembered that she needed help and hurriedly said to Mashiro, "Quickly go help Sasuke and Naruto! They've been attacked by a strange sound attack!"

Mashiro stroked Sakura's hair and said softly, "I already know."

On the other side, the female Sound Ninja had now revealed her true identity; it was none other than Orochimaru.

He easily caught Sasuke's various attacks and said in a hoarse voice, "I should have come here on the first day, but I was afraid that the person Sasori mentioned to me might make a move because of his clan identity. So I secretly investigated for a long time and found that the person doesn't seem to be in Konoha at all. Maybe he doesn't even exist."