In Konoha, you get one evolution point every day.

Chapter 100: While others come to take exams, you come to have an outdoor barbecue?

Orochimaru, disguised as a Grass Ninja, returned to the ordinary inn arranged for the small ninja village. The Grass Ninja didn't notice anything amiss with Orochimaru at all. He then noticed a red-haired girl among the Grass Ninja group:

She found me! She found me!

Inside the room, the moment the "teammate" entered, Karin Uzumaki clearly realized that this "teammate" was not a "teammate," and that the scent emanating from this "teammate" was exceptionally strong—an aura, an overwhelming killing intent as if it had slain countless people.

Feeling the gazes of her teammates and hearing their arrogant insults directed at her, completely unaware that they were Orochimaru, Karin felt like the weakest person in the room.

As soon as his true teammates left, Orochimaru's voice drifted over: "Be careful, if my plan doesn't go smoothly, a lot of people will die."

Karin's mind went blank upon hearing Orochimaru's voice. As a "blood bag" for so long, and as a member of the Uzumaki clan who had awakened her bloodline early on, her perception would never be wrong—this person possessed strength surpassing that of the leader of Kusagakure!

"I...I understand."

Hearing Karin's agreement, Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction. When the other Grass Ninja returned from the toilet and hugged him with wet hands, Orochimaru gave a kind smile. As darkness fell, Karin, who couldn't sleep, heard a whistling sound coming from the room, and then a chakra blazed brightly and disappeared from the room.

By midnight, Karin couldn't stay awake any longer. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. When she woke up again, she saw her teammates standing in front of her again, along with the teammates who had returned the day before. The two of them were smiling at her and gently telling her that it was time to go have lunch and prepare for the second Chunin Exam. "My god, what kind of overpowered ninjas are these? Their skin has absolutely no trace of chakra transformation technique. They must have peeled off their teammates' skin and used it as their own!"

Karin followed the two to eat with a heavy heart. The guesthouse arranged by Konoha had a special canteen with a fixed menu and some non-fixed menu. However, the non-fixed menu meant that outsiders had to go out and eat on their own. The three of them had not come to Konoha for fun, so Kusagakure had not given them much money for food. They were lucky to have enough for travel expenses and mission funds.

When the three arrived at the cafeteria, there were already quite a few ninjas queuing up to eat. There were several hundred ninjas participating in the Chunin Exams. Although most of them were from Konoha, there were still several hundred ninjas from other places who needed to eat, so the cafeteria was quite crowded.

While the three of them were getting their food, a person suddenly walked up behind them, listlessly rubbing his eyes.

Karin, who was also listless, suddenly sensed a surge of intense chakra behind her. This chakra was incredibly powerful, even more so than the chakra of her teammates who had returned the day before.

She widened her eyes and turned around, only to see a young man with messy hair, wearing pajamas and flip-flops, standing casually behind her... Wait, isn't this the cafeteria where only visiting ninjas from other villages eat?

Seeing the girl staring at his face in shock:

Lin Fan scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly: "Um... your teammate seems to be calling you."

Hearing Lin Fan's words, Karin finally came to her senses:

When I turned to look at my teammates in front of me, I realized that both of them were staring at me with speechless expressions.

It felt like they were saying: Your life is in our hands, and you still have the mood to look at handsome guys?

Knowing she was guilty, Karin lowered her head and followed the line for food.

Lin Fan didn't pay much attention, because he had seen Orochimaru smilingly strangle his teammate to death last night, and then have a ninja from the Hidden Sound Village take his place. Orochimaru even helped the other person put on the skin. After the two discussed going inside, Orochimaru left the team directly, while the "replaced teammate" was free to move around. As for Karin Uzumaki, Orochimaru said that there was no need to kill her, as she would be useful. Lin Fan guessed that Orochimaru had his eye on Karin's physique, after all, she was from the Uzumaki clan.

At noon, the group packed their things and arrived at the outer perimeter of Training Ground No. 44, also known as the "Forest of Death." The iron fence even had warning signs saying "Poisonous insects and ferocious beasts inside." The person who announced the exam rules was Mitarashi Anko, who had entered the classroom through the glass yesterday. She was a spirited young woman dressed in a somewhat sexy manner. Lin Fan clearly felt that when Mitarashi Anko appeared, Orochimaru's aura suddenly changed from the excitement of seeing Sasuke to a gentle calmness, as if he had seen an old acquaintance, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

While Mitarashi Anko was explaining the rules to everyone, following the original storyline, the Konohamaru Army actually conducted interviews with the Konoha genin as part of the school's holiday mission. After the interviews, the examiner took three children away, and Anko continued explaining the rules. Midway through, they saw Naruto recklessly provoking Anko. Anko smiled in response, then instantly drew a kunai and shot it, leaving a shallow cut on Naruto's cheek. Anko then instantly appeared behind Naruto, stroking him and saying some frightening things:

Naruto, seeing the things he had done as a child, covered his face in embarrassment, looked up at the sky, and couldn't bear to look. Bai covered his mouth and laughed. Lin Fan yawned and closed his eyes to rest. Lin Xiaobai was also very sleepy. The reason they were sleepy was that they couldn't sleep last night, so they played cards with someone all night. The other person was Namikaze Minato. As a result, Namikaze Minato didn't get out of bed this morning to take his son to the Chunin Exams. In short, Minato was late again.

As Anko threatened Naruto, Orochimaru suddenly appeared behind her. Anko quickly drew her kunai to retaliate, but suddenly saw a long, slender tongue curl up the kunai she had thrown: "Here you go."

Hearing the voice, Hongdou smiled and replied, "Next time, please don't stand behind me with that murderous look... you'll die very quickly if you do that."

For some reason, Anko felt a strong dislike for this "grass ninja".

"That's because you broke my beloved hair..."

'

"Then I'd like to apologize to your hair."

Red Bean accepted the kunai offered by "Grass Ninja":

Orochimaru chuckled softly and walked back.

"It seems there are quite a few passionate newcomers this time."

Hongdou smiled and returned to her position as the chief examiner.

Naruto: ...If you ask me, you're the most passionate one here, aren't you?

After the chief examiner, Red Bean, finished her explanation, there was one hour to prepare. During this time, the examiners could not leave the area. In short, the examiners were not given the opportunity to go back and buy ingredients or prepare weapons.

So when they saw Lin Fan, Bai, and Naruto carrying backpacks, many genin cursed the conspiracy, and even the genin of Konoha stared at the trio in disbelief, including Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura Haruno:

Naruto: "Did you guys already know it was a five-day survival period?"

Sasuke: "So that's why you guys went against the grain and packed your bags?"

Sakura Haruno: "That's so mean!"

Lin Fan: "Is it possible that we just subconsciously packed our bags, and there was actually no food inside?"

The chakra blade and the heart are inside. He really doesn't feel at ease not carrying them with him. After all, An Lushan is no longer in this world. If they are left inside and Minato and Yamato fail to protect them and they are destroyed, then everything will be over.

Naruto: "?"

Bai: "Brother Lin Fan, didn't you say you brought a lot of instant noodles and potato chips in your backpack?"

The trio from Class 7: "???"

Choji: "What? Who's talking about potato chips?"

Of course, how could Lin Fan really survive in the wild for five days without any food? Experiencing life is one thing, but if he got hungry on the way, he couldn't just eat wild grass and roast insects.

Seeing Lin Fan run away with Naruto and Haku, Sasuke could only angrily punch a tree before asking Naruto, "Didn't he tell you?"

Naruto: "? Who can tell? I've been training these past few days!"

Sasuke took a deep breath: "The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

Naruto: "...He didn't say."

Sasuke:

...Alright then. Neither the father nor the son is reliable. Looks like we'll have to find our own food inside.

On the other side, Orochimaru stood in a certain spot, carefully examining the "larger Naruto" and the "smaller Naruto." His expression became increasingly complex: it seemed that the village's "pawns" hadn't betrayed him. When Orochimaru heard that there were two Jinchuriki and that Minato Namikaze had appeared, he suspected that the pawns had betrayed him and deliberately lured him to Konoha to help Konoha kill him.

However, now that he has seen the appearance of "larger Naruto", he is certain of this fact:

"Large-sized Naruto" is definitely the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.

As a research expert who had studied a few Eight-Tails cells and grown them into the size of a tentacle, he had basically figured out the chakra of the Tailed Beasts, which is why he turned his attention to Sage Chakra.

Orochimaru was sizing up a giant version of Naruto.

The examiner, Anko, was also sizing up all the students taking the exam. There weren't many handsome or good-looking students among them. Kabuto Yakushi's appearance wasn't particularly outstanding; he was just average. The only ones worth looking at were Neji and Sasuke. These spirited young boys didn't arouse any desire in an adult woman. When her gaze fell on Lin Fan, Anko's eyes lit up: This handsome guy is good-looking.

Lin Fan has a refined and gentle demeanor. If he doesn't speak, he appears to be a handsome and gentle man.

As the exam time approached, each team was led to a designated entrance by an examiner, who held the newly received scrolls. Each team waited for the chief examiner, Hongdou, to give the order as the examiner unlocked the door. The moment the order was given, the examiners at each location shouted "Start!" and almost all the candidates rushed in, trying to gain a geographical advantage.

Lin Fan yawned and stood motionless at the door: "Ha! So boring, I suddenly don't want to participate anymore."

Examiner: "?"

Bai: "...Brother Lin Fan, didn't you say we were going to have an outdoor barbecue inside? That's why we brought so much stuff?"

Naruto Uzumaki: "Yeah, I also bought a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables that are easy to preserve!"

Examiner: "???"

Lin Xiaobai: "I want to eat roasted potatoes!"

Lin Fan reached out and tapped Lin Xiaobai's head: "Eat, eat, eat! All you do all day is eat. Look, the examiners are giving you strange looks. Sorry, my rabbit just loves to eat, please don't mind."

Examiner: "...Please enter the examination room as soon as possible."

Why did he suddenly feel like his path to becoming a Chunin was a bit unfortunate? Hearing the examiner's words, Lin Fan curiously glanced down at the fenced area where he had already entered the examination hall. The examiner noticed as well, then, with a slightly flushed face, locked the fence again and stormed off, perhaps to get lunch: "Alright, let's go. Chunin Exams, here comes Lin Fan!!"

"oh!"

Bai: ...Suddenly I feel sorry for these genin.

Naruto Uzumaki: Actually, Lin Fan alone should be able to take on the Hokage, right?

Screams erupted shortly after the examinees entered the Chunin Exams arena. With twenty-seven teams participating, skirmishes were inevitable from the start. Team 7, having brought no food, had to go ahead to find some to avoid running out of energy.

Shikamaru's team encountered a team of their own. When the opposing team provoked Choji by calling him a "fat pig," Choji angrily charged forward. Fortunately, his teammates cooperated and managed to pull Choji away.

Hinata's team had Kiba Inuzuka, eager for battle, and Shino Aburame, a good teammate eager to prove herself. Therefore, the three searched the surrounding area for reinforcements.

Neji's team is similar to Hinata's team; both Neji and Rock Lee are highly competitive.

Everyone wants to prove themselves. One wants to prove that her branch family is no weaker than the main family, and the other wants to prove that even without bloodshed, one can become an outstanding ninja. Another innocent, lazy girl who doesn't want to work hard ends up in a team with two passionate and youthful teammates.

In contrast to the teams of the twelve Konoha Genin, Lin Fan's team, after entering, had Haku and Naruto find a place to set up the iron griddle and charcoal they had bought beforehand to prepare for grilling, while Lin Fan stepped into the sky and looked down at the martial arts arena with a radius of ten kilometers:

When Lin Fan looked down at the training ground:

The genin candidates watching from all over the forest also noticed Lin Fan's presence. Some said, "Isn't this the examiner?" Then a companion interrupted, exclaiming that this person had appeared in the first exam. A flying ninja participating in a Chunin exam? Almost all the genin who saw Lin Fan cursed Konoha for rigging the exam by sending a Jonin-level ninja to participate in the Chunin exam.

Just then, Lin Fan heard an unusual sound. He arrived at a forest clearing and saw countless iron needles flying in the air, as well as three Amegakure genin who were provoking Gaara. These three Amegakure genin were all quite old, looking to be around 20. Shameless! At 20 years old, they still dare to call themselves genin... Their skill in controlling the needles is at least that of a special jonin!

Even though the three of them possessed exceptional Jonin-level skills, in the face of Gaara's Sand Waterfall, all the senbon needles, manipulated with chakra, launched an attack from almost 360 degrees. However, Gaara's sand automatically protected them, easily blocking everything, leaving only the gloomy little face of the Calabash Brothers visible:

This scene terrified the Hinata squad of three who were gathering intelligence. Akamaru didn't even dare to speak loudly. "What are you doing here?" Gaara, who had originally planned to kill the three of them to "enjoy" his mother, suddenly saw Lin Fan in the air.

"Oh, I was looking for the scrolls. After all, we're planning to have a barbecue in the Death Forest for a while. What if we don't find a team? We'll be eliminated!"

Before they could even be shocked that their attack had been blocked, the three Rain Ninja were caught off guard: a barbecue in the wild? ???

Hinata's Team of Three: Holy crap! This guy can fly?! Is this guy really a genin?!

Gaara: "...Can I come with you? Oh right, I forgot to deal with you guys."

As Gaara made his request, he remembered that he was a murderer, and he felt terrible for not killing these Rain Ninja who were trying to kill him.

Sand poured rapidly from the gourd. The three Rain Ninja reacted too late to dodge; they were enveloped in sand. Gaara squeezed his hand tightly, instantly manipulating the sand with his chakra to crush them.

A sand waterfall funeral procession!

Hearing the three screams, Kankuro and Temari both grimaced. Ninjas do kill a lot, but not all ninjas are bloodthirsty. They will not kill if they can avoid it. For example, Danzo rarely kills people indiscriminately. He only kills you because you need to be killed or to become a test subject for some experiment.

After killing the man, Gaara looked up at Lin Fan, awaiting his answer:

Lin Fan: ...

"...You killed three people, what about my scroll?"

Gaara: "...I can kill another squad of people."

Hinata's trio: ?! ! We're doomed!!

Temari stopped him: "That's enough, Gaara. Stop killing people. We have enough scrolls. Let's go to the tower."

Gaara glared coldly at Temari: "You want to stop me too?"

Temari took a small step back in fear. Just as Kankuro was about to step forward, Gaara glared at him, and Kankuro was so frightened that he stood still and dared not move. Then Gaara began to gather the sand back.

When most of the sand had been collected, Lin Fan descended from the sky, and Lin Xiaobai jumped off his shoulder. Shortly afterward, they returned with a scroll of earth.

Lin Fan patted the gravel off the Earth Scroll and smiled at Lin Xiaobai, saying, "Well done. Our team is just like the Heaven Scroll."

Upon hearing Lin Fan's words, Gaara's intention to attack Hinata's team vanished: "Then?"

"Let's go. The barbecue place is a bit far from here. By the way, are the three of you coming?"

While Lin Fan was speaking to Gaara, he heard Hinata's team cautiously retreating. This retreat was easily perceived by people like him and Gaara, who possessed enormous chakra.

Temari: "The three of us? Who are you talking to?"

Kankuro: "...It must have been those three brats hiding in the bushes."

Kankuro, as a puppeteer, is better at observation than Temari.

Upon hearing Lin Fan's question, Hinata's team, like frightened birds, quickly ran off in a more distant direction.

After waiting a while, and seeing the people had run far away, Gaara's voice rang out: "They've run away. Let's go."

Lin Fan said helplessly, "That's rude. I invited you so politely, it's not like I'm going to eat you. You didn't even say a word to me."

Lin Xiaobai: ...Don't you want to see who we're standing with right now... If it weren't for Lin Fan, given her sense of danger towards Gaara, she would have run away immediately.

Gaara's team changed direction and headed towards the open-air barbecue area prepared by Lin Fan's team. After Hinata's team escaped, Kiba Inuzuka boasted about his cleverness, saying that he was lucky he hadn't paid any attention and ran away, otherwise he probably would have been killed without a burial place. Shino Aburame pushed up his sunglasses without refuting, but Hinata clearly knew something. After all, she was the young lady of a large clan, and the Hyuga clan was known for flattering the Hokage. Therefore, the Hyuga clan had specifically told Hinata about Minato Namikaze to make good friends with Lin Fan, Haku, and the "big Naruto." However, Hinata only thought the "big Naruto" was very handsome after going there once, and then forgot about it. But today she remembered it, but because the two of them kept talking, she didn't dare to speak.

Team 7 encountered another group of lone Rain Ninja. This Rain Ninja was not as strong as the adult Rain Ninja Gaara had encountered; at most, they were at the Chunin level. Sasuke saw through their disguise as Naruto and fought them for a few rounds. Then, with Naruto's sudden appearance, the two of them joined forces to defeat the opponent, injuring him. "Damn it! Those damned Konoha ninjas!" The genin wearing a gas mask clutched his arm and quickly retreated from the area.

The three breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the enemy leave.

However, Team 7's encounter with the Rain Ninja was just a minor crisis. A few hours later, Naruto went to the restroom again. This time, Sasuke had prepared a special code. Naruto thought, "Code aside, Sasuke, are you serious about such a long code?" But Sasuke didn't care whether Naruto remembered it or not, so when Naruto returned, he recited the complete code. Sasuke, with a question mark "?", threw a punch forcefully.

With a bang, Naruto was sent flying.

Sakura Haruno asked, puzzled, "Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was getting up, and said in a heavy tone, "Sakura, do you think Naruto would remember such a long code? Knowing Naruto's personality, he'd most likely say, 'Sorry, I don't remember.' But this guy not only recited the code perfectly, but also instinctively dodged my punch. If Naruto were here, he wouldn't have been able to dodge it at all. So, imposter, are you going to keep pretending?"

"I see. It seems I truly underestimated you." Orochimaru canceled his disguise, revealing his "Grass Ninja" form: "If I remember correctly, you should be the Book of Heaven..."

As Orochimaru spoke, he took out the Book of Earth, held it up in front of the two, then opened his mouth and swallowed it. With a terrifying expression, he looked at them and continued, "Alright... let the battle begin..."

Orochimaru is a Kage-level ninja and has killed countless people. Therefore, although his resistance to genjutsu is poor due to frequently changing bodies, it does not mean that his genjutsu attacks are weak.

Sasuke and Sakura Haruno only glanced at Orochimaru, and were instantly stunned by his killing intent, unable to move.

One of them came out of the illusion and vomited:

One was terrified and cried by Orochimaru's murderous aura:

A little disappointed. If that's all... Orochimaru's gaze swept over the two of them, he took out a kunai, aimed at Sasuke, then at Sakura Haruno, his killing intent tinged with a hint of amusement, before finally shooting the kunai:

puff!

The kunai flew past Sakura Haruno and embedded itself in the trunk of a large tree. Orochimaru was somewhat surprised, because Sasuke had actually broken through his killing intent and successfully carried the defenseless little girl away.

Interesting, interesting! This is a genius ninja who inherited the Uchiha clan and possesses extraordinary talent!

Sasuke, panting heavily, hid behind a tree trunk, pulled the kunai out of his left foot, and tried to look at Orochimaru's location. At the same time, he noticed Sakura Haruno was about to speak, so he covered her mouth with his hand. Sakura's eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the enormous python that suddenly appeared from the side. The python was large enough to swallow more than a dozen people whole.

At the critical moment, Sasuke regained his senses, instantly shoved Sakura Haruno aside, and used the momentum to fly away himself.

With a snap, the giant python bit off the spot where they had just been standing.

Sasuke, hovering in mid-air, thought, "Damn it, is fear making me unable to accurately assess my surroundings?"

In the past, if such a large snake appeared next to him, he would have noticed it immediately.

What should we do now?!

When Sasuke was lost in confusion and despair.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan and Gaara's group happened to pass by this place:

Seeing Sasuke in distress, and with powerful opponents nearby, Gaara felt an urge to act, but as an invited guest, he knew it would be impolite to act without permission, and that would be disrespectful to his mother's teachings.

Temari exclaimed in shock, "That ninja... was he really a genin?"

Kankuro:」

Damn it, I thought only Sunagakure was cheating, but I never expected...

'

Gaara's gaze suddenly fell upon them:

Sensing the murderous aura, Kankuro stopped speaking. When he saw Lin Fan tilting his head to look at him, he suddenly realized that Lin Fan seemed to have said something terrible: "...Um, I was just joking. When I said cheating, I was actually talking about the first game. You know, that game was a test of our cheating skills."

Kankuro's disheveled explanation:

Lin Fan didn't care at all. After all, he wasn't a Konoha ninja of this world, so no matter how much Konoha suffered, it had nothing to do with him: "However, we're not in a hurry. Let my clone stay and help out for a bit, and then we'll go have a barbecue."

Wood Release: Wood Clone!

A pitiful wooden clone remained: "Damn the original! He didn't take me with him when he ate the good food, and he didn't even give me the bunny! All he does is order people around." Lin Fan, chin in hand, watched as Sasuke couldn't defeat Orochimaru. Luckily, Naruto intervened to save the day. Afterwards, knowing he was no match for Orochimaru, Sasuke tried to throw his scroll at Orochimaru, hoping to get him to let them go.

Putting aside Naruto, the main character, there's no way Orochimaru came here to participate in the Chunin Exams. He was clearly just there to help you. Why can't you understand that?

Seeing that Sasuke remained too scared to move even after Naruto mocked him for being a coward, Lin Fan yawned and stood up from the thick tree branch to stretch his limbs.

"Grass Ninja" shifted his gaze slightly upwards for a moment, then smiled and said, "Looks like your reinforcements have arrived."

'

With a whoosh, Lin Fan appeared behind Orochimaru. Orochimaru glanced at him and dodged in a flash. Lin Fan punched Orochimaru in the head, and before he could fly far, he was seen in a puddle of mud, about to land on the ground.

With a crack, a pair of hands suddenly appeared. Lin Fan lowered his head, and a powerful, innate strike—the Painful Heaven Kick—stomped on Orochimaru's head, instantly creating a spiderweb-like crack. Orochimaru's aura beneath the tree branch vanished in an instant: "Tch, still a clone?"

Upon seeing Lin Fan, Sasuke and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, while Naruto shouted, "Big Brother Lin Fan! Leave this guy to me!"

Seeing Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra leaking, Lin Fan's eyes turned red. He scratched his head and said, "With your level, you still can't beat him... *whoosh*!"

The fireball, accompanied by a fierce wind and flames, pierced through the trees and struck Lin Fan's position:

Lin Fan used his teleportation ability to land on the tree branch above his head. Before he could rest for even a moment, Orochimaru summoned a giant python that broke through the branch and bit him: "It seems you know I'm a clone."

Lin Fan was about to move when the giant python's skin suddenly burst open, revealing a "Grass Ninja Orochimaru":

The smile on his face was his answer to Lin Fan's words: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

With a deafening boom, the pressure of the wind suddenly surged forth; if it were an ordinary shadow clone, it would shatter instantly upon being struck by this attack.

Even Lin Fan's shadow clone would disappear after being hit by this attack for two or three seconds:

But the wood clone is different.

The very existence of life endows him with independence:

Even if injured, as long as the injury isn't fatal, one can generally continue to maintain their strength for several minutes or more. Not to mention the Wind Release technique after a major breakthrough, which can block most damage simply by using chakra enhancement.

But why should I avoid it!

Instantaneous movement technique!

With a sudden burst of force, the feet stomped on the tree branches:

A blue chakra shield suddenly appeared in front of Lin Fan:

The shield parted the pressure of the wind jutsu:

Orochimaru's eyes lit up, but before he could even rejoice, he heard Lin Fan in the sky clasp his hands together, then slightly separate them, forming a small wooden cube: "Secret Technique: Binding Wood: Four Directions Burial!"

This move still involves a wooden coffin, but Lin Fan considered how to form the coffin if the enemy was not on the ground but in mid-air:

While conducting his research, he thought of Onoki's Dust Release:

So he stored the wooden coffin inside a cube, and when he threw it, the cube formed a giant cube that enveloped the enemy, then he used the coffin's piercing attack to damage them.

However, this move has a drawback.

That means the wooden coffin will be thrown very slowly, and if the enemy moves even a little distance away, even at a distance of tens of meters, they can easily dodge it.

Therefore, this move must be used at a guaranteed hit distance:

That is, within a 20-meter radius:

Therefore, it can only be used by clones!

...The cube flew out, and Orochimaru had no time to dodge. The cube landed in front of Orochimaru and instantly unfolded in all directions like a large net formed from wood and vines. The net rapidly closed itself up, pushing and destroying the surrounding tree trunks and branches, finally forming a huge cube suspended in mid-air:

Lin Fan stood on the cube's floor, his hands clasped together to maintain the cube's rigidity, and then unleashed the subsequent wooden spike attack:

Orochimaru, seeing the scale of the attack and the unprecedented number of Wood Release ninjas, couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hehehe... Hahahaha!! So, Konoha does have Wood Release ninjas like you... No, that's not right."

Orochimaru suddenly stopped smiling and said, "Danzo couldn't even create an experimental subject like you. You must be the one who appeared with Minato, right? Cooperate, young man. You can't handle this kind of power! I can give you even greater power!!"

"Cooperation? I have no interest." Lin Fan almost merged his body into the cube, slowly sinking down as he said, "My current mission is to accept the will of the original body and eliminate you."

"Kill me?" Orochimaru suddenly found it very boring.

The instant Lin Fan merged into the cube, countless wooden spikes appeared inside, shooting towards Orochimaru and the python from all directions.

Orochimaru immediately hid inside the python's body:

The python let out a pitiful howl, and in less than a second, its entire body was covered in wood-style spikes:

The attack of the thorns continued relentlessly, even penetrating the existing spots, forcibly inserting the thorns along with the original wooden splinters.

The snake's skin and flesh were ripped open, and Orochimaru, who was hiding inside, noticed this, but now he was unable to get out: Damn it, what kind of technique is this?! How long will it take to stop?!

Lin Fan's half-body appeared on the cube-shaped floor:

The wooden spikes he can manipulate are only part of it:

Most of the splinters are random, much like the rotation angle of a Rasengan:

So now his head is riddled with splinters from all the flying wood, but he can't stop the attack: "Hey, you'll have to treat me to something nice next time..."

'

The wooden clone's life lasted less than two minutes after the spell began before it died:

The enormous cube burst open with several large holes, and countless splinters of wood fell from the sky, like shards of a broken mirror.

Down below, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had already run far away. Naruto had previously shouted that they had to fight, calling Sasuke a coward, and that he would fight himself if Sasuke didn't. That was because they couldn't escape, so they had no choice but to fight. But now that they could run away, not running away would be pure stupidity.

Wood chips fell, chunks of flesh and blood splattering onto the floor:

A figure emerged from the bits of snake meat mixed with wood chips. A small white snake exhaled heavily, opened its mouth, and a giant Orochimaru the size of an adult emerged from its tiny mouth:

"Damn it, I almost got killed by a clone. Is this the level of the First Hokage?"

Before Orochimaru could continue his exclamation, he sensed a very familiar chakra approaching:

If it were a normal day, and he was in a good mood, he would definitely want to catch up with Hongdou:

But now, having used a secret technique to dodge a fatal blow, his chakra was almost depleted, and his whole body felt weak.

If he were to face Hongdou now, she might actually be able to kill him.

withdraw!

Orochimaru had also fled. Anko arrived late, finding only a scene of utter chaos, but unable to locate the direction Orochimaru had gone. Of course, Anko could find Orochimaru because his spirit within her was deliberately guiding her; otherwise, with Anko's strength, she wouldn't have the ability to pinpoint his location. "He ran away... But who started this battle...?"

Seeing the horrific traces at the scene, and the pile of wood chips that hadn't completely disappeared, if she wasn't mistaken... this must be Wood Release, right? Our village even sent a Wood Release ninja to participate in the exam? Is this some kind of bullying tactic? And why didn't they inform her, the examiner, about this candidate?! That damned Third Hokage is always causing trouble for others!!! Doesn't his subordinates' job count for theirs?!

On the other side, Lin Fan's open-air barbecue stall was already open for business. When Gaara and the other two arrived at the barbecue stall, the larger Naruto and Haku had already set up the grill and divided the ingredients. When the larger Naruto saw Gaara, he went up to him like an old friend and put his arm around his shoulder. Gaara looked at the larger Naruto with suspicion, feeling like he had seen him somewhere before. But he gave Lin Fan face and didn't chop off Naruto's hand that was hugging his shoulder this time.

While barbecuing, Lin Fan received the memories of his wooden clone and learned that the clone had almost killed Orochimaru. He was still somewhat regretful.

Unfortunately, this Orochimaru is different from the Orochimaru of the past. This Orochimaru is too ambitious, and perhaps because Itachi used Kotoamatsukami, he's become like a madman. He raised Sasuke like a father. Normally, wouldn't he have captured Sasuke, threatened Itachi to commit suicide, then used Itachi's body for research, and perhaps even possessed Sasuke's body? If he had done that, he might have been able to develop an even more powerful body on his own, without needing Sasuke's body. If Sasuke knew this, he might even have been happy and called him his adoptive father.

But Orochimaru chose the path of "least efficiency":

The adoptive father was killed in retaliation.

Orochimaru is utterly worthless; his mind is blinded by the desire for power and immortality, and he has no idea where the path lies.

Furthermore, given Orochimaru's condition of possessing a body once every three years, Sasuke's body died after three years. Could it be that Orochimaru's soul could inherit Sasuke's chakra and thus possess Sasuke's bloodline limit?

That's impossible, of course.

In the original work, Orochimaru's possession was like a trial card; he only gained the corresponding abilities by using the "bloodstained ninja's body." Unlike Hiruko's Oni-Garara Technique, at least Hiruko truly fused the bloodstains together, achieving a body that embodied the concept of immortality.

The only downside is that his physical body would turn into a monster, and he would become mentally unstable. For the power of the Sharingan, he even targeted Kakashi... In his time, if he had simply targeted one or two descendants of the Uchiha clan, like Madara Uchiha did, he wouldn't have had to devour a mere half-baked individual.

They only remembered their intention to devour the Uchiha clan's ninjas after their entire clan had been wiped out:

What the hell?!

Lin Fan placed a plate of grilled chives in front of Lin Xiaobai, who then used her "Fortune-bringing Technique" to transform into a little loli bunny girl and ride on Lin Fan's head.

Lin Fan, feeling countless seasoning powders, residues, and oil stains falling on his head: "???"

boom!

Lin Xiaobai had a big bump on her head, and she ran to the side sobbing, eating and crying at the same time, saying "Five ants, woo woo woo, gurgle."

Upon discovering Orochimaru's presence, the Death Forest mobilized its ANBU to search the area.

then:

The secret service team smelled a fragrance wafting from the depths of the forest. Thinking something had happened, they quickly followed.

Moonlight Gale: "?"

Seeing three groups of people having an open-air barbecue—one with a normal grill, one with a wooden grill, and one with a sand grill—in the Chunin Exams area, especially since the ninja playing with sand was a veteran ninja from Sunagakure, a formidable character who had completed an S-rank mission, and now he was actually barbecuing with Lin Fan's team?!

"Captain, have we fallen under Lin Fan's illusion?"

"Yes, it's said that Lin Fan is quite strong. Who knows, we might already be trapped in his illusion."

Moonlight Gale:

7

This is utterly ridiculous illusion! These people clearly brought barbecue food into the exam hall and turned it into a tourist attraction!! This won't do! We must inform the Hokage and have him ban students from bringing barbecue grills next year!!