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

Anko, who was still moving forward, suddenly clutched her neck and collapsed to the ground. It was the Heavenly Curse Mark that Orochimaru had placed on her earlier. People with the curse mark are completely unable to resist Orochimaru.

"Anko, you're a Jonin, for goodness' sake. It's a bit ridiculous of you to use the ninjutsu I taught you to deal with me."

Uchiha style, my style, Rising Dragon Flame

Ye Lan's ninja sword transformed into a fire dragon, roaring as it flew towards Orochimaru, creating waves of heat in its wake. Orochimaru, seeing this, quickly dodged. However, Ye Lan's attack didn't stop; the fire dragon circled in the air, changing direction to continue attacking Orochimaru. Faced with Ye Lan's fierce onslaught, Orochimaru constantly dodged, inwardly marveling at the sheer power of the young man before him.

Finally, Orochimaru had a sudden inspiration. He picked up the corpse of a giant snake and threw it directly at the fire dragon controlled by Ye Lan. The two collided and caused a huge explosion, with smoke filling the sky and obscuring the vision of both sides.

Taking the opportunity, Ye Lan went to Hong Dou's side, keeping a watchful eye while asking, "Captain, how are you?"

"It's okay, I won't die! Damn it!" Hongdou angrily pounded the ground, not expecting that her arrival would not only not help but also hinder her.

As the smoke cleared, Orochimaru's trail had vanished without a trace. Just as Ye Lan was feeling puzzled, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of chakra beneath his feet. He immediately realized Anko's danger and, without hesitation, turned and grabbed her, trying to escape quickly. However, at that moment, the ground beneath Anko's feet suddenly split open, and a large white snake emerged. Terrifyingly, the snake's head bore a striking resemblance to Orochimaru's. The snake swiftly coiled around Ye Lan and Anko.

"Red Bean, you truly are my disciple. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have succeeded so easily." The giant snake actually spoke in human language, clearly Orochimaru himself. Then, Orochimaru, now a white snake, looked at Ye Lan and said, "Compared to Itachi, you're still far behind. The gift I originally planned for Sasuke will be yours this time!" With that, Orochimaru opened his massive jaws and lunged at Ye Lan.

At this crucial moment, Ye Lan's three-tomoe Sharingan rapidly spun, the three tomoe transforming into four sword-like shapes, arranged in a cross around his pupils. Those eyes! Orochimaru, seeing the change in Ye Lan's eyes, felt a surge of intense crisis. His body enveloped Ye Lan and Anko, and flames instantly erupted, the intense heat forcing Orochimaru to loosen his restraints. This was the first time Ye Lan had used his Mangekyou Sharingan since returning to the village—his left eye, Kotoamatsukami.

Chapter 12 Lightning Speed

Wasn't he afraid of burning himself with the flames? Orochimaru's face was dry from the heat of the flames.

Surrounded by flames, Ye Lan remained expressionless, and Hong Dou, who was already unconscious, showed no signs of discomfort.

The Mangekyou Sharingan, specifically Kotoamatsukami, grants the user complete control over all chakra within their body, allowing them to transform it into any shape. This enables them to unleash ninjutsu without hand seals, resulting in greater power. Furthermore, it allows them to cover their entire body with fire or other elemental chakra without harming themselves. During a mission in the Land of Water, a storm at sea capsized their ship. Witnessing the deaths of his comrades, Ye Lan's survival instinct awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan.

The flames on his body slowly died down, and Ye Lan stood unharmed in front of Orochimaru. He put down the unconscious Anko and said calmly, "Now let me get a little serious."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Lan's figure disappeared in front of Orochimaru.

So fast, Body Flicker Technique? Flying Thunder God Technique? Even with Orochimaru's keen eyesight, he couldn't catch Ye Lan's figure, which made him suspect that Ye Lan had used the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Thud—

A sonic boom was generated in the air. This was an effect produced by extreme speed. Ye Lan was able to reach such a speed by using Kotoamatsukami to completely attach the wind attribute chakra in his body to his body surface, making his body completely free of wind resistance in the air, and making all the wind carry him to run. In a sense, his speed at this moment was faster than the Flying Thunder God Technique. After all, the Flying Thunder God Technique requires throwing kunai, while his speed has already exceeded that of the kunai.

Orochimaru, a seasoned ninja, could still sense the approximate location of his opponent's chakra even without visual observation. With the Kusanagi sword clenched in his mouth, he turned in a peculiar posture and swiftly attacked Yelan behind him. However, although the Kusanagi sword successfully sliced ​​Yelan in two, Orochimaru felt no joy. He discovered that the blade hadn't made any real contact with flesh, and not a single drop of blood flowed from the severed "corpse." Like burning paper, it vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

To the left, above… every time Orochimaru swung his sword, he struck a false Ye Lan. Each time he failed to hit the real Ye Lan, he gradually realized something was wrong. Had he fallen into a genjutsu? Just then, in an instant, Ye Lan's figure appeared from all directions, as if countless Ye Lans were simultaneously attacking Orochimaru. Orochimaru revealed a sly smile; he was convinced that only the Ye Lan above was the true one. Therefore, ignoring the other Ye Lan figures, he concentrated his power and thrust his Kusanagi sword towards the Ye Lan above.

Uchiha style, my style, lightning fast!

Ye Lan silently chanted, and the figure stabbed by Orochimaru vanished just as before. Orochimaru looked at Ye Lan's other figures in disbelief. To his astonishment, all of Ye Lan's other ninja swords swung towards Orochimaru. The swords, imbued with wind-attribute chakra, easily sliced ​​through his skin. The white snake-like Orochimaru was instantly cleaved into countless pieces. Finally, Orochimaru stared at Ye Lan in utter disbelief, completely unable to comprehend the jutsu's principle.

“You are utterly worthless before these eyes,” Ye Lan said slowly.

Ye Lan's pupils slowly returned to their original black. He sheathed his ninja sword, turned around and walked towards Anko, who was still lying on the ground. Just as he was about to wake Anko, he suddenly looked at Orochimaru's corpse behind him. The fragments of the corpse quickly gathered together and transformed back into Orochimaru's appearance.

"Can't you kill him even like this?" Ye Lan hadn't expected Orochimaru to be so troublesome. He could only say that he truly deserved to be called one of the Legendary Sannin.

Just as Ye Lan was about to launch an attack, Orochimaru, with a grim expression, activated his summoning jutsu, and several more large snakes appeared between the two of them.

Orochimaru wasn't unwilling to summon Manda; he could actually manage it now, but if he summoned Manda again, he might not even have enough chakra to escape. After using the summoning technique, Orochimaru turned and ran. He knew he couldn't afford to waste any more time; he had other things to do.

After easily dispatching the giant snakes, Ye Lan stopped watching Orochimaru's escape route. Although he could continue the pursuit, he was only a Special Jonin in Konoha, so he left this task to others. Orochimaru shouldn't cause any more trouble in the Forest of Death. Looking at his ninja sword, now riddled with nicks, he sighed. He hadn't expected Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword to be so sharp; it seemed he'd have to find a way to get a new one.

"Captain, wake up!" Looking at the unconscious Hongdou, Ye Lan bent down and gently patted her face.

After a while, Anko slowly opened her eyes, her consciousness gradually returning, though she still seemed somewhat dazed. However, when she was fully awake, she suddenly jumped up as if startled. "Where's Orochimaru? Where is he?" Anko asked seriously, her eyes filled with vigilance and tension. She looked around, seemingly searching for something.

Seeing Hongdou's serious expression, Ye Lan casually said, "Orochimaru has already escaped; I can't stop him."

Ye Lan lied. He thought that if he could defeat Orochimaru, the village would take him seriously. He just hoped to reduce the attention others would pay to him, since he was still not clear about what role the village played on the night of the massacre.

"He ran away?" Hongdou looked at Yelan in surprise. She couldn't believe that Orochimaru had lost. As Orochimaru's former disciple, Hongdou knew very well about Orochimaru's past achievements. Yelan wasn't even born when Orochimaru became famous. How could he have lost to this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy?

"Towards the end, neither of us could subdue the other. I guess they felt that if they stayed here for too long, our people would arrive, so they withdrew," Ye Lan quickly explained, fearing this situation.

"That's still amazing! Besides the Hokage, I can't think of anyone in the village who could stop Orochimaru one-on-one." Even though Ye Lan explained it this way, Anko still couldn't hide her surprise.

"What about the other two Sannin?" Ye Lan asked casually, unaware of the Sannin's situation. Since Orochimaru was one of the former Sannin of Konoha, the other two Sannin should be able to deal with him.

"Sigh, those two lords haven't returned to the village in a long time." Anko sighed. "Never mind, I'll go report to the Hokage. Orochimaru must have a purpose in coming to the village. You can come with me."

The other two Legendary Sannin have been gone for a long time, a fact unknown to Ye Lan. So how much strength does Konoha currently possess? Orochimaru, the Chunin Exams—if something goes wrong in Sunagakure at this time, it could be a devastating blow to Konoha.

Ye Lan didn't trust any so-called allies. According to the records in Konoha's books, Sunagakure and Konoha had been mortal enemies since the Second Shinobi World War. The ninjas on both sides had the blood of the other side on their hands. The hatred between the two sides could not be bound by a piece of paper.

"What about the exam venue? Should we let those genin continue taking the exam?" Ye Lan asked, putting aside his thoughts.

"Orochi is gone, but I'll have the remaining Chunin keep an eye on the Anbu. There shouldn't be any major problems. After all, this joint exam involves ninjas from other countries, so even if we stop the exam, we need to get the Hokage's permission."

"But you've gone too far. Your fire jutsu has almost turned the Death Forest into a Death Plain." Without Orochimaru's pressure, Anko returned to her original personality.

"You know, I can't hold back against a ninja of this caliber," Ye Lan said insincerely. "It seems it will take quite a while to repair."

"It's nothing serious. Someone will fix it, and it'll be back to normal in less than a month," Hongdou said with a smile, trying to reassure her.

Can this forest be restored in less than a month? Ye Lan suppressed her curiosity and did not ask any further questions.

Chapter 13 Undercurrents

"Does the curse mark still hurt, Anko?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, looking at the mark on Anko's neck.

"Thanks to you, I feel much better now."

"I didn't expect you to run into Orochimaru. I heard he's already dead?" said Izumo Kamui, who was with the Hokage.

"Luckily you're all alright. I really don't know what Orochimaru's purpose is in showing up at the exam hall." Where there's Izumo Shingetsu, Kotetsu will never be absent.

"We owe this all to Ye Lan; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to stop Orochimaru at all," Hong Dou said, looking at Ye Lan beside her.

"Hmm?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Ye Lan with a puzzled expression. Orochimaru was his disciple, and he knew his strength better than anyone. He didn't expect that 15-year-old Ye Lan could fight him.

"Orochimaru just didn't dare to stay long, otherwise I might have been the one to lose in the end," Ye Lan explained from the side.

Upon hearing Ye Lan's admission, both Kamizuki Izumo and Kotetsu looked at Ye Lan. They knew the reputation of the Three Legendary Sannin, but they didn't expect Ye Lan to be able to fight them. It seemed that he hadn't suffered any losses.

"I wonder what Orochimaru's purpose is in returning to Konoha," Anko murmured.

“It’s Sasuke,” Ye Lan said directly. “Although I don’t know the specific reason, when I arrived, Sasuke was fighting Orochimaru. It seemed like Orochimaru was about to do something to Sasuke. Now, seeing the cursed mark on the captain, I think that’s why he found Sasuke.”

Upon hearing Ye Lan's words, the others' expressions turned serious. Ye Lan then continued, "When I first arrived, Orochimaru was sticking his head out to bite Sasuke's neck, which now appears to be the location of the captain's cursed seal."

"So that's how it is..." Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually accepted Ye Lan's words. He knew very well that his disciple had a passion for researching certain bloodline limits, and this time he was probably targeting Sasuke. He then asked, "Ye Lan, did Orochimaru successfully plant the cursed seal back then?"

"No, I interrupted his spell."

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief, then said to Ye Lan, "After the second exam, go and keep watch around Sasuke. I'm afraid Orochimaru will make another move. I'll talk to Kakashi about this."

"Yes."

"Should the exam continue?" Anko asked directly, hearing that the Hokage's tone indicated that the exam was not over.

"Yes, let's continue. Keep Ye Lan by Sasuke's side, and with Kakashi, even if the two of them can't beat Orochimaru, they won't lose either. Let's see if he makes any further moves," Hiruzen said, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

After giving Anko a few instructions, Hiruzen dismissed everyone, took his pipe, and went to the window. Looking at the night outside, he fell into deep thought. Although Orochimaru was his disciple, Hiruzen had never truly understood him.

Five days later, the second exam finally ended.

Because there were too many people left after the second round, some had to be eliminated before the third round of exams began. All those who passed the second round of exams had to engage in a one-on-one duel in the tower in the center of the Death Forest, and only the winners could enter the third round of exams.

Before the third preparatory exam, all the examiners and the supervising Jonin came to the examination hall.

Ye Lan stood beside Anko, while the Hokage gave a speech in the center, explaining the significance of the Chunin Exams to the genin who were taking the exams.

After the Hokage finished his speech, the examiner for this exam, who was also the referee for the genin duel, appeared and announced the start of the exam while coughing.

"Looking at him like this, I'm really afraid he might collapse at any moment," Ye Lan complained.

"Well, he's had health problems since he was a child, but his strength is actually quite good," Kakashi said from the side, holding a novel in his hand, which was clearly marked as 18+.

"I didn't know you had this kind of hobby, Kakashi."

"A way to pass the time when you're bored."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all arrived at Kakashi's place.

"Hey! I haven't congratulated you on passing the second exam yet."

"Hehehe—" Naruto chuckled to himself.

"Thank you, Senior Yelan." Sakura immediately bowed to thank Yelan upon seeing him. If it weren't for Yelan, she didn't know how she would have faced Orochimaru. Sasuke also nodded in acknowledgment.

"It's nothing. I'm just an examiner for the second round. It's what I should do," Ye Lan waved his hand casually.

"Huh? Sakura, why did you thank him?" Naruto was still confused.

"Idiot, the Orochimaru we encountered back then was a dangerous ninja, not a genin at all. In the end, it was Yoru-senpai who saved us." Sakura punched Naruto on the head and said.

Watching them playfully bicker, Ye Lan figured Orochimaru probably hadn't left them with any lasting trauma.

"What happened to Orochimaru in the end?" Sasuke asked from the side.

"When he realized he couldn't defeat me, he finally withdrew." There were other Jonin present, and Ye Lan simply stated this.

"A draw..." Sasuke murmured.

"You must be Uchiha Yelan, the one who drove Orochimaru away! I didn't expect young people these days to be so outrageous!" A loud voice rang out, belonging to Kakashi's lifelong rival, Might Guy.

"To say I chased them away is too kind of me." Ye Lan didn't want to attract other people's attention.

"You bravely rescued the lovely genin from the evil ninja, I, Kai, have come to acknowledge you!" Kai said, tears streaming down his face, as if Ye Lan had done something extraordinary.

Seeing Ye Lan's somewhat embarrassed expression, Kakashi said, "That's just how he is, don't take it too seriously."

As they spoke, the large screen displayed the first match: Sasuke versus the Copper Armor.

"Sasuke, it's you!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ugh, I heard that." Sasuke still couldn't stand Naruto. Being the first to appear meant he could get some rest, as five days of wilderness survival had left him completely exhausted.

"Hmph, Uchiha Sasuke, let me take care of you."

After the two entered the hall, the man in the bronze armor spoke provocatively.

"Hmph, what a boastful statement."

After Hayate Gekko announced the start, both sides began to move. Sasuke did not approach his opponent rashly but instead used shuriken to probe him continuously.

The man in the bronze armor gripped his kunai tightly, relentlessly parrying Sasuke's attacks while rapidly closing in on him. As the distance between them increased, he didn't attempt to stab Sasuke with his kunai, but instead freed one hand to grab him. However, Sasuke reacted swiftly, nimbly dodging the grab.

"Kakashi-sensei, will Sasuke win?" Sakura, not understanding the situation, asked directly.