45 Persevere and Overcome

Not only was Orochimaru, the elusive and murderous snake, lurking in the Forest of Death, but Kabuto Yakushi, observing Sasuke Uchiha's performance, also posed a significant threat.

Daimaru wouldn't have spread the fake scrolls if he hadn't successfully collected the Heaven and Earth Scrolls first; otherwise, he'd be shooting himself in the foot. Fortunately, there were no such worries now.

Watching his two teammates sleep, Daimaru's face lost its usual frivolity as he gazed in the direction of gate twelve, where Orochimaru was attacking Sasuke Uchiha, and where Kabuto was likely prowling nearby.

"Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro must have reached the central tower by now! Ninety-seven minutes to complete, beating the historical record by over four hours. The team with the tracking specialist Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga came second to the tower, not bad at all."

Besides Kabuto's team, the other teams didn't have it so easy.

Sooner or later, most of the genin candidates would sense something was amiss.

Daimaru's direct goal wasn't to eliminate more teams but to drain the strength and chakra of those capable teams who lacked certainty, like Team 7 with the son of destiny, Team 10 with Shikamaru Nara, the Sound Trio, Neji Hyuga, and Rock Lee—those stronger contenders.

This would give Daimaru, lying in wait, an edge in the third exam's preliminary individual matches, even against formidable opponents.

With the genin exhausted and covered in wounds, arriving at the central tower only to face individual matches in five days was an excellent opportunity he intended to exploit.

As for the official third exam a month later, in the arena stained with ninja blood and valor, that's where the real carnage would happen, rivers of blood included.

No matter how he thought about it, the chances of Sunagakure's victory seemed slim, with the deceitful Orochimaru as an ally, they were already half-defeated.

In his memories, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari all survived unscathed. But could it go so smoothly this time?

Could Sunagakure manage to fall gracefully and present the corpse of the cheap father-in-law, Rasa, to win the Leaf's sympathy?

Crafting a narrative that painted them as victims of evil influence, with Orochimaru as the villain, was a delicate task.

But first, he had to ensure Temari and Kankuro survived until Sunagakure's unconditional surrender.

How much blood would it take to pave the way to so-called peace again?

Daimaru only hoped that he, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and all his acquaintances would emerge unscathed.

The butterfly effect had begun the moment Daimaru was reborn. After striving for survival for over a decade, Daimaru wouldn't place his hopes on the unreliable "original story," nor would he overestimate the mercy of Leaf's ninjas.

...

The night deepened, and Gaara, who had sacrificed a team of fairly strong Rain ninja, obtained the Heaven Scroll he desired and reached the central tower early with Temari and Kankuro.

Orochimaru, having toyed with Team 7 of the Leaf genin, successfully implanted the cursed seal on Sasuke Uchiha and, after casually adding a Five Elements Seal to Naruto Uzumaki's Eight Trigrams Seal, vanished after giving Anko Mitarashi, the proctor who sensed something was wrong, a lesson and warning her not to halt the Chunin Exams.

Sakura Haruno, who had hidden the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke in a hollow tree, was unaware that their hiding spot had been exposed and that enemies awaited the dawn to launch their attack.

The Sound team, taking turns on watch, had an uneventful first night.

Before dawn broke and the first glimmers of morning light appeared, Yome and Chiyo, yawning and prompted by Daimaru, followed his lead.

"We're moving out this early? We've already got our scrolls; there's no need to rush, right?"

Chiyo complained a bit.

Yome looked in the direction they were heading:

"Gate sixteen, that's the weaker group of Leaf genin. Daimaru, after injuring that female ninja with the mind techniques yesterday, now you want to go after them again? Don't tell us you plan to apologize..."

"Did we do anything that requires an apology? Don't be naive..."

Daimaru, leading the way, called back without turning his head,

"Hurry up and keep up. In the Forest of Death, finding a worthy opponent isn't easy. It's not bad to have a fair fight before the next round of matches..."

"I always feel you have an ulterior motive..."

Yome began to observe their next unlucky target,

"But it's good, that team of Grass ninja was too weak; they're not a good reference!"

Yome and Chiyo had joined the joint Chunin Exam reluctantly at Daimaru's insistence, without much hope, but now, their chances of passing the second exam were high.

They would need to consider whether to continue with the individual matches.

The Leaf's Team 10, unaware of the upcoming challenge, needed to worry not about the future but about escaping Neji Hyuga's grasp.

"Come out; you can't escape my eyes. Since we've met, let's have a fair fight. Even if you stand no chance, losing to me won't be too embarrassing!"

"How scary, Shikamaru!"

Choji Akimichi, too frightened to even snack, placed all his hopes on the brilliant Shikamaru Nara,

"What do we do?"

"How should I know? If he agreed to settle it with a game of shogi, maybe. Fight against last year's top graduate? Forget it, we stand no chance..."

"You really can't count on you guys! Looks like it's up to me..."

"Hey, Ino, what's your plan? Don't make things worse..."

"A beauty strategy is all I've got left to try..."

Ino Yamanaka, acting coquettishly in front of the stoic Neji Hyuga, only to be scorned mercilessly.

"Get lost! Taking your scrolls would only make me a laughingstock among the others."

Ino, the self-proclaimed unparalleled beauty of the Yamanaka clan, had always been the center of attention among her peers and had never been so humiliated.

"You jerk, are you blind? Can't even tell beauty from ugliness..."

Shikamaru, hiding in the bushes, quickly stood up and covered Ino's mouth as she rambled on:

"Don't listen to her; we're getting out of here!"

With Choji's help, they pulled the persistent Ino away and made a swift exit.