I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"Ha, I don't think about what will happen next. I'm already a dead man."

After delivering the intelligence, Shuang relaxed considerably; the rest was no longer his concern.

"Anyway, thank you for the information. I probably won't bother you again. Is there anything else you need my help with?"

Having obtained this information, Ye Lan didn't mind helping out with some small favors. Shuang wouldn't contribute much to his combat power, not to mention that this half-finished Edo Tensei technique would probably not be used again in the future.

Shuang remained silent for a while, then finally sighed.

"It's nothing serious, let me rest a bit. I'm tired after all these years..."

There are many things I want to do, but none of them are things Ye Lan can help with. Rather than clinging to unrealistic fantasies, it's better to let them go from the start.

Having already revealed Xiao's information, the last weight was lifted from my heart, and I stopped thinking about anything else.

"I understand."

Ye Lan formed a hand seal to directly dispel Shuang's impure earth reincarnation. Without Shuang's cells, Ye Lan could no longer impure earth reincarnation of Shuang.

Thank you...

The body was glowing, and the skin on the body was peeling off piece by piece. Shuang understood what Ye Lan had done, and her consciousness was fading away. From then on, the legend of the eighth sword of the Hidden Mist Village was no more in the ninja world.

Frost's soul vanished completely, leaving behind a body that resembled a bandit, as if nothing had happened.

"Sasuke, let's call it a day. We still have a mission. If we stay out of everyone's sight for too long, it will arouse suspicion."

"And I still need to prepare the materials for the Impure World Reincarnation."

This time, it was precisely because both of them were out on a mission that they seized the opportunity to come to the laboratory to conduct the Impure World Reanimation experiment. Now, as ninjas of Konoha, they still need to hurry back to their posts.

"Understood, I'll be leaving now."

Sasuke suppressed his doubts, knowing that now was not the time to waste. He took out an Anbu mask, put it back on, and disappeared into the cave with a Body Flicker Technique.

"The Chunin Exams are such a long and boring mission, it's impossible to refuse them even if you want to."

A year has passed since Tsunade took office. She issued a statement to hold a joint Chunin Exam. Sunagakure, as her lackey, immediately agreed, and Kirigakure, as an ally, also sent several genin to participate.

Other villages like Kumogakure and Iwagakure did not participate, but some smaller ninja villages did, and their scale was even larger than last time.

Because it's a joint exam, the exam venue is different each time.

The first test will be a written exam in Konoha, and the second test will be held in Sunagakure, a place similar to the Forest of Death, which Sunagakure calls the Desert of Demons.

"Speaking of which, Sakura and the others are participating this time too. I guess they'll all become Chunin this time."

Ye Lan packed up and left the laboratory. He was heading to the second examination room, where most of the candidates who had passed the first exam had already arrived.

...

The climate of the Land of Wind was still difficult to adapt to. The desert was as boundless as the sea, with no end in sight. The sandstorms kept blowing on our faces, making them sting.

"Ye Lan, where have you been? Why are you only arriving now?"

Asuma stood at the gate of Sunagakure and greeted Yelan, with Kurenai following beside him.

"No need to rush, the candidates shouldn't have arrived yet."

Ye Lan gave a casual reply.

"I can't stand you. I wonder how Ino and the others are doing."

Asuma was just asking casually, not paying attention to Ye Lan's answer. He was still a little worried about this exam. Shikamaru, who had become a Chunin, couldn't participate with Ino and the others, so he could only have Sakura, who was still a Genin, team up with them.

Everyone knows the relationship between Sakura and Ino. On the surface, they've made up, but they're still secretly competing with each other, which makes Asuma somewhat worried.

"You should at least have some confidence in your students."

Red looked at Asuma with some dissatisfaction. Their relationship was pretty much clear, and they were almost always together whenever they met.

"I'll go into Sunagakure first; I'll leave this place to you."

Seeing Ye Lan slacking off, Asma complained.

"Ye Lan, it's not appropriate for an examiner to just leave like this."

"The second exam hasn't even started yet. Do you expect me to just stand here watching you two being all lovey-dovey?"

After the first exam, the genin set off from Konoha to Sunagakure. Only a portion of them could participate in the second exam, and those who arrived late would be eliminated, so it was not a problem for Yelan to leave.

"What do you mean by 'jiji jiji'..."

Asuma and Kurenai blushed. Were their expressions really that obvious? Even a teenager like Ye Lan could see it.

Ye Lan gave the two of them a disdainful look, shook his head, and left. This time, Asuma was too embarrassed to stop him.

Although Asuma was the Hokage's son, he had a fairly good impression of him, and his relationship with the Konoha leadership was one of passive interaction.

In other words, Asuma was self-aware and rarely asked for favors from higher-ups. Even when the Third Hokage was in power, he only rebelled a little and joined the Twelve Guardian Ninja before returning to being a Konoha ninja.

Asuma was a qualified Jonin of Konoha, so Ye Lan naturally wouldn't have any ulterior motives towards him and would just treat him as a normal friend.

"Asuma, I think Ye Lan is really quite unpredictable..."

Hong also regained her composure. As Hongdou's best friend, she had heard Hongdou praise Yelan in front of her many times, and she had noticed Hongdou's unusual expressions at times.

However, the two were not a good match in any way, and Hong did not reveal the truth to her best friend.

Moreover, the conflict between Ye Lan and the higher-ups was no secret in their circle, and Hong, who came from a common background, intentionally kept a certain distance from Ye Lan.

"He is indeed hard to read, but he is a rare and reliable companion in missions. We don't need to worry about anything else."

Asma may look rugged, but he is actually quite shrewd inside.

After spending time with him, you'll realize that Ye Lan is a person with his own ideas and doesn't need you to say much. As a Konoha ninja, Ye Lan's performance is outstanding no matter how you look at it. If he weren't from the Uchiha clan, he might have even become Hokage.

However, if things continue like this, even if he doesn't become Hokage, there's a high chance he'll become a Hokage advisor.

All I need to do is maintain a calm and normal mindset.

"If only things could stay this way..."

Kurenai whispered in a voice that Asuma couldn't hear, sensing that Danzo's words in the village gave her a premonition of an impending storm.

Chapter 99 Changes

Ye Lan was alone in the rest room prepared for him by Sunagakure when a loud noise came from outside.

When I opened the window, all I could see was sand and dust. The temperature in the Land of Wind would drop sharply at night, and the storms would become even stronger.

Sensing that several ninjas had already gone there, Ye Lan, as the examiner, decided not to rest and went out to see what had happened.

Upon arriving at the outdoor area, they saw several Konoha Jonin, including Guy, as well as a group of Sunagakure members. At this time, Gaara had not yet officially become the Kazekage, and it seemed that the previous Akatsuki attack had left the Sunagakure leadership somewhat uneasy about him.

However, it seems to be only a matter of time. Without a capable leader from Sunagakure, Gaara will definitely take over as Kazekage.

Where did Kakashi go? Ye Lan found it strange that Kakashi wasn't involved in this mission; he wondered what secret mission he was carrying out.

"Hey, Ye Lan!"

Kai greeted Ye Lan upon seeing her, and Ye Lan nodded slightly in response before coming over to the group.

Now we see the corpse of a giant scorpion lying on the ground, with a dark-skinned girl with short, bluish-green hair sitting on it. Judging from the headband she's wearing, she's a ninja from Takigakure.

"Brother Ye Lan!"

When Ino saw Ye Lan, she went up to greet him. Compared to before, her hair had grown out completely and was even longer than before. She had also grown quite a bit taller.

"What exactly happened?"

Ye Lan was still a little confused. All he had seen was the corpse of a scorpion. This kind of scorpion was a common monster in the Land of Wind. Apart from being a bit big, its strength was not even as good as that of a Chunin.

"Choji wasn't full, so he came out to find something to eat..."

Sakura then said somewhat embarrassedly that the examinees from several villages had just gotten into a fight in the cafeteria and hadn't even had a chance to eat much. They were alright, but Choji, being a big eater, hadn't eaten enough and had to come out to find food.

A group of people, feeling uneasy, ran out and encountered a giant scorpion. Fortunately, it wasn't some powerful monster, and the ninja from Takigakure village subdued it in no time.

"As ninjas, you won't die if you don't eat, so what excuse do you have for wasting food?"

Guy immediately reprimanded several genin, saying that the food prepared by Sunagakure was more than enough, but they were so busy fighting that they wasted the food.

"But I'm so hungry!"

Choji said with dissatisfaction that he was just caught up in it, and that he wasn't the one who started it.

"I just can't do anything with you..."

Asuma walked over, clutching his head. He knew that if he didn't appease Choji, more trouble would follow. So he took out a bento box from his pocket, which contained food he hadn't eaten yet, and handed it to Choji.

"Thank you, teacher!"

"Keep your voice down!" Asma quickly ordered. In principle, as an examiner, he should not provide any assistance to the candidates, and his actions were already a violation of the rules.

Seeing that Dingci's problem was solved and everyone was preparing to return to their dormitories, Ye Lan couldn't help but glance at the girl a few more times.

Gaara then stepped forward and asked Fu about it.

"Why save the others? Wouldn't fewer people mean fewer competitors?"

Fu jumped off the giant scorpion and said with a smile, "What does it matter? I came here to make 100 friends."

Would you like to be my friend?

Fu then walked up to Asma and the others, leaving them somewhat bewildered.

At this moment, Fu's companions finally arrived. Each of them grabbed one of Fu's arms and took her away. As Fu was being dragged away, she still said that she wanted to make friends.

"How could there be such a ninja?"

Hong found it somewhat unbelievable; it was just like a child's behavior.

Ye Lan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the fluctuations around him.

The chakra in the air is very faint, but this special chakra is from a tailed beast.

Ye Lan was quite certain; having dealt with many tailed beasts, he could easily distinguish them.

Takigakure is the only village that is not one of the Five Great Ninja Villages but possesses a Tailed Beast.

So that girl is the Jinchūriki of the Seven-Tails? Ye Lan had some doubts in his heart. Just as he was about to end his perception, he noticed that there was another person in the crowd staring at Fu, who seemed to be the Jinchūriki.

Looking at Ye Lan, she saw a girl with short, curly purple hair tied in a distinctive bun. The headband she wore on her forehead indicated that she was a ninja from Amegakure.

Ye Lan recalled that the headband that Tendou used to wear was also from Amegakure, but it had scratches from a rogue ninja, indicating that Tendou had once been a ninja from Amegakure.