Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Sakura smiled. The coldness of the plaster on her back contrasted with the warmth of Ino's hands, creating a strange feeling in her.

But soon, the pain from her back wound made her forget that faint, alluring feeling.

"Bear with it, this is a special plaster made from deer antlers by Nara people, it works very well."

"This plaster was specially prepared for me, Shikamaru, Choji, and me by Shikamaru's father, Mr. Shikaku, after he learned that our Team 10 was going to participate in the Chunin Exams."

Ino offered a word of advice.

The Nara clan is responsible for Konoha's medicinal herb industry and is deeply involved in Konoha's medical system.

The antlers of the deer domesticated by the Nara clan are considered extremely precious and top-grade medicinal materials, whether in the Land of Fire or in other countries.

After briefly explaining to Sakura that it was normal to feel pain when applying ointment to a wound, Ino answered Sakura's earlier question.

"Of course I am aware of this, but Sakura is different from others."

Sakura was slightly taken aback when she heard Ino's words.

"Thank you."

After a long while, Sakura finally answered.

Feeling Ino's hand leave her back, Sakura put her clothes back on.

"I need to go check on Naruto."

Sakura was still a little worried about Naruto.

Ino stopped her.

"Naruto will definitely be fine. That guy didn't even care about his injury."

"but……"

However, Sakura was still a little worried.

Looking at Sakura's expression, Ino suddenly uttered something surprising:

"Sakura, I will definitely win Sasuke's love before you do!"

Sakura's reaction was a bit strange...

They no longer argued with Ino like before.

Rather, it's simply that they don't care.

"You really didn't notice..."

Ino sighed softly.

"what?"

Sakura suddenly found it hard to bear the way Ino was looking at her.

"You've fallen for Naruto."

Chapter 44 Karin

After the battle with the Sound Ninja, Team 7 and Team 10 went their separate ways due to their different plans.

Team 10, having collected the "Heaven" and "Earth" scrolls from Naruto, chose to head to the tower in the center of the training ground as soon as possible to finish the second exam and qualify for advancement.

Team 7 rested in the tree hollow for a full day to recover from their injuries and chakra.

Sasuke also took this opportunity to explain to Naruto and Sakura what he had gone through alone after they were separated the previous night.

……

"Kusa Ninja?"

Sakura repeated the key points of Sasuke's words, "Sasuke, you said that the person who attacked you disguised as a Grass Ninja was Orochimaru?"

Sasuke nodded, confirming once again: "That person is Orochimaru, one of the legendary 'Sannin' of Konoha, who has been a defector from Konoha for many years!"

"Why would someone so famous disguise himself as a Grass Village ninja? Could it be that Grass Village has joined forces with Orochimaru to prepare for an attack on Konoha...?"

There are still unresolved questions surrounding Sakura.

Sasuke didn't know the answer either.

If Sakura's guess is true, the seriousness of Orochimaru's infiltration of Konoha will rise to another level.

"No, Kusagakure should also be kept in the dark... Didn't Sasuke just say that when Orochimaru placed the cursed seal on Sasuke, he called himself the 'founder of Sound Village'? The reason we were attacked by the Sound Ninja was because those three received Orochimaru's orders."

"Now that he already has his own village, he won't risk joining forces with Kusagakure again. After all, the more people who know the truth, the greater the chance of being exposed."

Naruto explained, "Orochimaru's choice to disguise himself in Kusagakure is probably related to the structure of the ninja community there. Didn't the teachers at the Ninja Academy mention in their geography class that Kusagakure is a village that excels at learning and researching ninjutsu from other countries?"

"I remember what was taught in class, but what does that have to do with Orochimaru choosing to disguise himself as a Grass Ninja and infiltrate Konoha?"

Sakura turned to look at Naruto, waiting for his analysis.

"Do you two still remember Kakashi-sensei's explanation of the ninja assassination squad back in the Land of Waves? In the ninja world, where intelligence is highly valued, ninjutsu, ninja tools, and even the ninjas themselves, which represent the characteristics of each village, are all important sources of intelligence."

"Even Konoha, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had to painstakingly gather information on other countries' ninjutsu during several Shinobi World Wars. Why is Kusagakure, a small country, known as 'skilled at learning and researching other countries' ninjutsu'?"

Naruto then posed a final question to Sasuke and Sakura.

But before the two could answer, Naruto continued:

"The quality of ninjas in small countries is inherently inferior to that of large countries. If a small country's territory is confined to a corner, it's one thing—but the Land of Grass, where the Hidden Grass is located, is adjacent to the two great countries of Fire and Earth."

"It is surrounded by two small countries—the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Rain."

“The Land of Waterfall was a nation whose ninja power could rival that of the other five great nations during the Warring States period. Although it is now weak, the rich heritage left over from the Warring States period still allows it to stand out from other small nations.”

"The Land of Rain, despite its small size, single-handedly held off three of the Five Great Nations' ninja villages—Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure—during the Second Shinobi World War..."

"The high-pressure crisis from the outside world has made Kusagakure maintain a very open policy on the source of ninjas—accepting rogue ninjas from other countries, wandering ninjas from destroyed countries... in order to quickly strengthen its own strength and prevent powerful neighboring countries from coveting it. It has also made Kusagakure good at learning and researching the ninjutsu of other countries."

"The composition of the ninja in Kusagakure makes it difficult to trace the origins of the ninjas. As a result, the probability of Orochimaru being discovered when disguised as a ninja from another country is extremely low."

In the original story, before the second Chunin Exams began, Orochimaru, disguised as a Grass Ninja examinee, even made contact with the proctor, Mitarashi Anko.

As Orochimaru's former disciple, Anko didn't immediately notice anything amiss with Orochimaru's signature long tongue because of his disguise as a "grass ninja."

It wasn't until Orochimaru activated the "Heaven" curse mark on Anko's body, which was identical to Sasuke's, that the power of the curse mark broke through the suppression again, making Anko certain that Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha.

"and……"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Orochimaru went to such lengths to disguise himself, but his purpose is very strange... Sasuke, you're saying Orochimaru told you that he came specifically to find you?"

"At first, I thought his goal was the scroll, and I was even relieved that you were the one keeping it safe... But even though I knew the scroll wasn't in my possession, Orochimaru, whose strength absolutely crushed mine, still kept pestering me without killing me... just like a snake toying with its prey..."

Sasuke nodded with a gloomy face. His strange emotion was not that he was upset about being coveted by one of the famous Legendary Sannin.

Rather, it was because of—information he deliberately concealed when recounting his encounter with Orochimaru to Naruto and Sakura—that Orochimaru had clearly been in contact with Itachi Uchiha and was very familiar with the suffering of the Uchiha clan back then—more so than Sasuke himself, and perhaps even more so than Itachi Uchiha…

Orochimaru tempted Sasuke with a power of revenge that he could not refuse.

Sasuke was actually... quite tempted.

He considers himself an avenger, and if he can successfully avenge his brother Uchiha Itachi in the rest of his life, he will not hesitate to give his own life.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto's sudden serious voice pulled Sasuke out of his deep thoughts.

"What?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"There are too many mysteries surrounding the power of that cursed seal. Unless you have a way to control it, I don't want you to succumb to that power."

Naruto's sincere concern and advice left Sasuke momentarily lost in thought.

"I'll try my best..."

Sasuke answered, but could not make any promises to Naruto.

……

After Sasuke awoke from his long coma, the three members of Team 7 finally put together the information they each knew.

However, the three, each with their own concerns, failed to reach a good conclusion.

The only option is to continue participating in the Chunin Exams and let things take their natural course.

It wasn't until the third day of the second Chunin Exams, after a full day of rest, that Team 7 set off again to participate in the exams.

At least on the issue of the exam, the three of them agreed on the same goal.

That means quickly entering the tower with the scroll.

"Let's confirm the plan again."

Using Earth Release to renovate the land and eliminate the lingering aura of Team 7 in the tree hollow, Naruto gathered Sasuke and Sakura to confirm the key points before moving.

"Because of the cursed seal, Sasuke's chakra will become uncontrollably activated once it is depleted to a certain extent, and he will be covered in black spots, just like when he fought the Sound Ninja. Although I rested for a whole day and almost recovered my chakra, the wound in my abdomen will take a long time to heal - which means that two of the three members of Team 7 are unable to fight, or rather, cannot fight for a long time."

"And we have already met two of the three conditions for successfully passing the second exam."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura, who were listening attentively to him.

Sakura chimed in: "'Obtained the complete Heaven and Earth Scroll' and 'No members of the Ninja Team were killed'."

Sasuke also said, "What we need to do now is to reach the tower in the center of the Forest of Death within the allotted time for the exam while maintaining the two conditions mentioned above."

Naruto pondered, "Today is the third day of the exam. The lucky and strong groups should have already reached the tower. The remaining two days will be a tug-of-war between the weaker groups."

"Aren't these just best-case scenarios?"

Sasuke interrupted at this moment.

"Well, theoretically, out of the 20 groups of candidates taking the exam, a maximum of 10 will pass. But we can't rule out the possibility that some groups, having already collected all the scrolls, will continue to intercept other candidates and try to eliminate as many opponents as possible in this exam where killing is legal."

Compared to the best-case scenario.

The worst-case scenario described by Naruto is more reasonable.

This is a ninja exam that explicitly allows killing, so no one will be satisfied with just passing, like they were in the first exam.

"So I will plan the direction of our movement toward the tower. I will use shadow clones repeatedly to explore different areas. When I encounter an enemy, the shadow clone will dispel the spell. I will use the information from the shadow clones to define the direction with people as a 'dead end', while the path of the shadow clone that has not dispelled the spell is the 'safe path' without enemies."

"Do you have any objections to us heading to the tower without fighting?"