Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

The thought vanished at that moment.

Hongdou closed her eyes, tilted her head to the side, and fell into a deep sleep.

"Phew! Done."

Karin exhaled and withdrew her hand from the surface of the red bean.

At this moment,

Jugo, who had been absent until now, appeared in the snowstorm, striding over to Haku's side. He lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "All the proctors nearby have been dealt with." Unlike Karin and Haku, Jugo's disguise had been removed, revealing his true nature.

After beating down those two unlucky bastards, Izumo and Kotetsu, they...

Under Haku's instructions, they chose to split up. Karin and Haku worked together to capture Mitarashi Anko, while Jugo was responsible for clearing out the remaining Konoha proctors in the surrounding area to pave the way for their escape, although they would certainly encounter obstacles if they wanted to leave Konoha.

But every little bit of this hindrance we can reduce in advance is helpful.

Time is very precious.

They dared not delay for even a second longer. After all, this was Konoha Village, and with someone like Uchiha Shisui present, a large number of skilled fighters could appear before them at any moment if the village's experts discovered the situation. They had to leave the village as far away as possible before that happened.

"Shigego, carry her on your back, let's hurry up and go."

Bai issued new instructions.

Of the three, Jugo is the strongest and most suitable to be assigned the task of carrying things. Karin, as a sensory ninja, needs to constantly scout the route ahead, while Haku himself needs to engage in combat and try to eliminate the enemies that appear in front of him as quickly as possible.

"Yes."

Without saying a word, Jugo hoisted Mitarashi Anko onto his shoulder like a sack.

then,

Karin, who had already determined the escape route, began to run wildly.

Bai looked up at the overcast sky and the heavy snow. The weather was cold and unbearable, but it was also very favorable for their escape. However, he had a vague feeling that someone was watching them. But after Hongdou fell unconscious and all the proctors around them were taken care of, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

This made him start to doubt himself.

really,

Is it just my imagination?

The sense of surveillance he had been vaguely aware of came from the proctors.

Yet, a vague unease still lingered in his heart.

"It's so cold!"

Bai gasped for breath, then leaped up and caught up with Karin and Jugo.

anyway,

At this point, whether he felt at ease or uneasy, he was left with only one option: to grit his teeth and charge out. His own space-time technique, called the "Ice Realm Mirror," was not capable of long-distance jumps. If he were alone, he could escape by jumping continuously.

However, it's impossible to do that when you have prey with you.

We can only rely on our two legs to travel.

In the blink of an eye, the group's figures disappeared into the vast snowstorm, leaving only two torn faces on the snow, which were gradually covered by the snow.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"The goal is red beans!"

The moment he saw Anko being subdued, Zongxian reached out and flicked his wrist, extinguishing the image in the crystal ball. There was nothing left to see. Although they were still wearing the faces of the Grass Ninja, anyone could guess their true identities.

A series of ninjutsu involving snakes.

It's Orochimaru's signature style.

With Orochimaru currently in a 'dead state', the only people capable of such methods are Haku and others, whose whereabouts are still unknown. Moreover, capturing Anko... is this a plan to use the cursed seal on Anko to revive Orochimaru?

really,

Keeping the red beans as 'bait' was a wise decision!

After failing to resurrect Orochimaru with the Impure World Reincarnation technique, he realized that Orochimaru was probably not completely dead. He had paid attention to Anko because of this. However, after some thought, he did not summon Anko to study the somewhat special cursed seal on her body. Instead, he chose to let her be and see if he could catch some small fish or shrimp whose whereabouts were unknown.

Anyway,

Even if Orochimaru were resurrected now, he would be of no use to me.

"Kabuto, go tell Arashiyama that Mitarashi Anko may not be able to continue as the chief examiner for the time being. Tell him to find someone else to take her place. In any case, the Chunin Exams cannot be interrupted. They must be held smoothly."

Zongxian stood up.

He reached out and picked up the Hokage hat, putting it on his head and donning the white cloak embroidered with the words "Sixth Hokage".

"Lord Hokage, what's going on?"

Yakushi Kabuto's eyes widened.

He didn't see the image in the crystal ball, so he didn't know what had happened that required the Hokage to personally intervene.

"Go catch a few naughty little mice."

Zongxian adjusted the Hokage's hat. "By the way, go find Shisui on the way and have the Anbu... well, be prepared for any eventuality. Although I plan to set up the battlefield outside the village, we can't rule out the possibility of encountering some unexpected situations during the battle. So just in case, it's best to have the Anbu ready. An accident is an accident precisely because it's unpredictable."

"······yes."

Dou replied with a serious expression.

"Don't be so nervous, it's just a few mice. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll take care of it quickly."

Looking at Dou's tense face, Zongxian couldn't help but chuckle softly.

however,

Kabuto didn't laugh. It would require the Hokage's personal intervention. This 'little mouse' was probably no ordinary Jonin; even a casualty would get utterly crushed if she went near. And judging from the Hokage's words, Mitarashi Anko had met with some misfortune? If I remember correctly, this was… Orochimaru's disciple?

A jumble of thoughts swirled in Dou's mind, making it impossible for him to laugh!

"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. It was Orochimaru's subordinates who kidnapped Mitarashi Anko. Go and pass on the order! Stop speculating here." Zongxian stopped beating around the bush and directly told the truth. After speaking, he pushed open the window and jumped into the vast snowstorm outside.

Kabuto, who remained behind, did not dare to delay. He immediately formed hand seals and created shadow clones to go and deliver orders to Uchiha Arashiyama and Uchiha Shisui. Although the Hokage said it was "incidentally," the truth was that the two were in a different location, so it was faster to send shadow clones to act separately.

Meanwhile, Kabuto's main body went forward and closed the window.

outside the window,

The wind and snow were getting heavier.

[Chapter 422. Zongxian VS Bai]

"Naruto, what are you looking at?" Sakura rubbed her hands together, her cheeks red from the cold. The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the howling cold wind felt like knives cutting into her cheeks, causing a dull ache. This second round of the test truly lived up to its reputation as primarily testing extreme survival skills.

This damn weather has become a test that the test takers have to face.

"Something seems to have happened outside."

Naruto gazed eastward.

Just now, while sensing the location of the other people in the examination room, I noticed a burst of chakra outside the examination room. It was clear that someone was using ninjutsu, and among the intersecting streams of chakra, there was none other than the examiner named Mitarashi Anko.

After being captured and taken to Amegakure,

Naruto underwent another transformation and growth. His battle with Orochimaru and his brief life as a prisoner all became nourishment for his growth. After returning, he received guidance from Jiraiya and others on Turtle Island, digesting and absorbing all that nourishment.

During this process,

He has mastered the Uzumaki clan's "Kagura Mind's Eye Technique." Of course, he is certainly not yet able to compete with Karin in this aspect, but strictly speaking, after mastering Kagura Mind's Eye, he is indeed a pretty good sensory ninja.

After all, Karin is being compared to one of the top sensory ninjas in the ninja world, even though Karin is only a thirteen-year-old girl.

His perception range was not yet able to cover the entire 44th training ground.

However, the area within a three-kilometer radius of himself is his perception zone.

"problem occurs?"

Sakura blinked in confusion.

"Alright, Naruto, let's not worry about that. This is Konoha, and besides, at this particular time, do you think anyone would dare to cause trouble in the village? Even if some foolish idiot does cause trouble, it's not our place to worry about it."

Sasuke was also freezing cold.

Although it had been snowing for the past two days, the wind and snow had lessened considerably when I woke up this morning. I thought the first snow of this winter was about to end. In addition, I did not expect the Chunin Exams to take so long. As a result of the combination of these factors, I was not prepared for a long period of combating the severe cold.

"Have you found the nearest target yet? Stop dawdling and hurry up and find a scroll of earth so we can go inside the tower to warm up." Sasuke breathed hot air into his palm, trying to dispel the biting cold.

unfortunately,

Such actions are merely a drop in the ocean and cannot truly make him feel warmth.

"...Southwest, about four hundred meters away, there's a group of people." Naruto didn't refute Sasuke's statement because Sasuke was right. It wasn't their place as genin participating in the Chunin Exams to worry about things outside the exam hall. Instead of wasting their energy on such matters, they should focus more on the Chunin Selection Exams.

"Then let's hurry up and leave. Hopefully, they're carrying the Scroll of Earth."

As Sasuke spoke, he darted away like an arrow released from a bow.

Seeing this, Naruto and Sakura quickly chased after him, worried that Sasuke might rush too fast and get hurt. There were still a few formidable opponents in this Chunin Exam, and the teams that grabbed the colored flags around the same time during the first round of the exam were worth being wary of.

but,

They were quite lucky.

The prey is not a monster.

It was just a decent Cloud Ninja team, not the top-tier one, so they were unsurprisingly defeated when faced with Naruto and his team's attack. Sakura didn't even have time to make a move before the Cloud Ninja were easily defeated by Sasuke and Naruto. Then Sasuke found the scroll in the pocket of the Cloud Ninja boy.

However, when he saw the character "天" (heaven) above, his face immediately fell.

"Tsk!"

"All for nothing."

Sasuke clicked his tongue in displeasure.

They were already holding the Scroll of Heaven, so having another Scroll of Heaven now would be completely meaningless.

"Naruto, do you have any other goals?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, we do, but I think we need to get something to eat first. We won't have the strength to fight if we don't eat something." Naruto rubbed his stomach. The second round of the exam started at noon. Although less than twenty minutes had passed, it was lunchtime anyway.

They didn't have any food like rice balls on them.