He's in the Marvel universe, and his first step is marrying Scarlet Witch.

Chapter 138 Chasing Orochimaru (Fourth Update)

Upon hearing that the Prince of the Land of Fire had come to cheer them on, the examinees immediately focused their attention on Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"Brother Chuan, we will definitely win!"

Seeing that Li Chuan had come specifically to cheer them on, Naruto immediately jumped up on the spot, full of energy.

From childhood to adulthood, everyone else had their parents and family members accompany, encourage, and cheer them on when they went to and from school and took exams, but he was the only one who didn't. So, he was naturally very happy that Li Chuan had come all the way to cheer them on.

Sakura blushed, looking as if she wanted to disappear into the ground.

Her reaction was quite normal; most children from relatively happy families would have a similar reaction to this kind of situation.

As for Sasuke, he turned his head away with a touch of arrogance, but a smile was clearly visible on his lips, which quickly turned into killing intent.

He's similar to Naruto; after his clan was wiped out, he became an orphan all alone. Naruto was always lonely and hated, while he experienced the happiest and most fulfilling family life before becoming an avenger burdened with a deep-seated hatred.

So at first, he was happy, just like Naruto, but then he suddenly thought of his brother Itachi because of Li Chuan, this warm older brother.

Upon hearing that Li Chuan had come to cheer on Naruto and his friends, Anko nodded and then continued explaining the rules of the Chunin Exams.

She knew that Li Chuan and Naruto had a good relationship, which was understandable.

After all the rules were explained, teams from each ninja village began sending people to draw scrolls, and then each team entered through one of the twenty different entrances.

"It seems that nothing has changed."

Shortly after Naruto and his two companions rushed into an entrance, Li Chuan noticed out of the corner of his eye that the three members of the Grass Ninja Village also quickly followed.

"Your Highness, the candidates have all entered the examination hall. Would you like to come with me to the tower to await the results, or would you like to return first and wait until the preliminary examination begins in five days?"

Seeing that the last examinee had also entered the forest, Hongdou turned around and asked Li Chuan.

Li Chuan smiled:

"Let's go now. I'd like to see which group arrives first. But before that, could we buy some glutinous rice balls and red bean soup?"

"Of course! I mean, glutinous rice balls with red bean soup are the best food."

Upon hearing about her favorite glutinous rice balls and red bean soup, Hongdou was so excited that she almost revealed her true nature in front of Prince Li Chuan.

"It's my treat. I'll also bring some for the Hokage and Kakashi; they should be at the tower right now."

About half an hour later, Tianzang and Hongdou, carrying a large bag of packaged glutinous rice balls and red bean soup, followed Li Chuan back to the entrance of Forest No. 44.

I deliberately took half an hour to buy glutinous rice balls and red bean soup, mainly to time it perfectly.

Otherwise, if they had gone directly to the tower, Orochimaru might not have had a chance to attack Sasuke and the others before they arrived at the tower, which would not have been in line with his plan.

Now, it should be about time.

Choosing the same entrance Naruto and the others had just entered, Li Chuan and his two companions leaped through the trees and ran towards the tower.

"Let's slow down, so we don't spill the red bean soup."

After entering the Death Forest, Li Chuan deliberately slowed down his pace.

Hongdou, whose mouth was already stuffed with a string of glutinous rice balls and whose face was beaming with happiness, and Tianzang, who looked somewhat helpless, quickly nodded.

Although Li Chuan was the one treating, as a prince, he certainly wouldn't be asked to do things like carrying things.

So now Hongdou is carrying over two hundred skewers of glutinous rice balls, eating them as she jumps, while Tianzang is carefully carrying over one hundred cups of packaged red bean soup, trying to maintain his balance while jumping.

"Hiss~~"

Not long after entering the Death Forest, Hongdou, who was jumping and eating glutinous rice balls, suddenly had her pupils shrink and stopped moving forward instantly. The large bag of glutinous rice balls in her hand also fell down to the ground with a thud.

Li Chuan, who had been keeping a close eye on his surroundings, noticed something amiss behind him. He turned around, caught the glutinous rice ball, and looked at Hongdou with feigned surprise, asking:

"Anko, what's wrong?"

Tianzang also stopped warily and quickly stood protectively beside Li Chuan.

Red Bean touched the faint, slightly stinging curse mark on her neck and murmured:

"I can feel it, it's him, he's here, he seems to be nearby, not too far from here!"

"Who is it?"

Li Chuan's eyes lit up.

Hongdou's gaze sharpened, and a serious expression appeared on her face. She then spoke to Li Chuan and Tianzang:

"Orochimaru, an S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha, is in this forest. He's an extremely dangerous individual. I can sense his approximate location. Go intercept him first. You all immediately go to the tower and inform the Hokage to send reinforcements!"

Without waiting for their reply, he rushed off in one direction.

"Tenzo, go and inform the Hokage immediately. I'll go see if I can help."

Li Chuan tossed the glutinous rice balls in his hand to Tianzang, who hadn't yet reacted, and left a message before chasing after Hongdou in the direction she had gone.

Tianzang, carrying over a hundred cups of red bean soup in one hand and less than two hundred skewers of glutinous rice balls in the other, was momentarily stunned.

As someone who had been with Root and Anbu for so many years, he certainly knew how dangerous Orochimaru was. After all, he was one of the test subjects that Orochimaru and Danzo had tried to recreate Wood Release, and he was the only one who survived.

For the sake of Konoha's safety, he should indeed follow Anko's advice and immediately go to the tower to inform the Hokage, and then send a large number of skilled fighters to capture Orochimaru.

This was to prevent Orochimaru from harming the examinees in the examination hall, or perhaps he simply wanted to assassinate the Third Hokage.

However, according to the task given to him by the Third Hokage, his most important task now is to follow and protect Li Chuan's safety, because if Li Chuan, as a prince of the Land of Fire, were to die here, it would be very detrimental to Konoha.

So he's really in a bit of a dilemma right now.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he decided to go to the tower first and tell the Third Hokage about Orochimaru.

Because he had read Li Chuan's intelligence, he learned that Li Chuan had demonstrated the strength of a Special Jonin during the battle in the Land of Waves, and Anko was also a Special Jonin.

Even if the two of them together couldn't defeat Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, they could still manage to stall for time and escape.

Therefore, the safety of all candidates and their families in the examination room should be the top priority.

Thinking this, he jumped down from the tree, placed the red bean soup and meatballs under the tree, and ran as fast as he could towards the tower.

Not long after he left, a girl with red hair, dressed in the Kusagakure uniform, walked up to the vicinity of the big tree with a mournful face after getting separated from her teammates.

When she saw the red bean soup and glutinous rice balls under the tree, she immediately showed an incredulous expression.

(End of this chapter)