From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Sakura stopped writing, glanced at the exam paper, nodded slightly, and felt a little disdainful.

'Anyone who isn't an idiot could solve this kind of problem, right?'

'Surely no one can't solve this kind of problem, right? Surely not? Surely not?'

While pondering this, Sakura's gaze inadvertently fell upon Naruto in the distance.

He was covered in sweat, holding a pen and staring blankly at the exam paper on the table.

"Won't......"

Upon seeing this, Sakura's breath caught in her throat, and her mind went blank.

Chapter 127 Who is the prey? Who is the hunter?

'Is this kind of exam even meant for humans?!'

After scanning the test paper in his hand for a while, Naruto's expression quickly changed from full of confidence to looking troubled, and then to looking dumbfounded.

We're doomed! We're doomed!

I can't do a single question!

Naruto could already imagine Sakura's murderous glare when he got zero points, causing the entire Team 7 to be eliminated!

You'll die!

Sakura will definitely kill me!

Naruto shivered, quickly took a deep breath to calm himself, closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and muttered to himself, "Stay calm, don't panic!"

"Teacher Chen once told me that the human body has limitless potential, and that by awakening one's potential, one can achieve anything!"

Naruto firmly believed that people are capable of anything when pushed to the limit.

Just like the time he punched through a 50-meter-long steel plate, that's a demonstration of human potential!

'Naruto-kun, what are you doing?'

Hinata, standing to the side, looked at Naruto with a surprised expression as he clasped his hands together and muttered something like a religious prayer.

"Yoshi!"

Naruto reopened his eyes, revealing a confident expression, and looked at the test paper again with great anticipation.

"........."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I still can't!

Naruto's heart quickly roared in despair!

"Naruto-kun".

Just as Naruto was falling into despair, Hinata's soft murmur came from beside him.

"I can show you my answer."

Ok?

Naruto was taken aback, looking at Hinata, whose face was flushed and whose expression was somewhat awkward.

Why would someone do such a thing?

Could it be some kind of combat plan?

Hinata shouldn't be that kind of person, but it's also possible that Kiba and the others instigated her!

Yes, that must be it!

Seeing Hinata's hesitant and stammering manner, Naruto became even more certain of his judgment.

Do you want to use underhanded tactics to eliminate me, but then feel guilty about it?

Hmph, too bad I've already seen through your little tricks!

Thinking of this, Naruto, who considered himself incredibly clever, said righteously, "No need, Hinata, this kind of simple problem is no challenge for me at all. I can handle it myself!"

"Um... okay."

Hinata was taken aback, then blushed and replied in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Will Naruto really do it?

Hinata glanced cautiously at Naruto's still blank test paper, her heart filled with worry.

'Naruto is such an idiot!'

Sakura, sitting in the back, was secretly getting anxious. Seeing Naruto looking like he had no brains, she wanted nothing more than to go up and beat him up.

Sasuke doesn't need her to worry; he can finish the problem in less than ten minutes, and she can do it even faster.

After thinking for a moment, Sakura quietly formed a hand seal.

What should I do?

Naruto stared at the test paper in his hand in frustration when suddenly a sharp pain shot through his arm. He froze, looked down, and...

It turned out that a liquid doll resembling a miniature Sakura had kicked him.

"Small...."

The water doll glared at him and made a shushing gesture, and Naruto quickly shut his mouth.

Immediately afterwards, the water doll walked to the pen in Naruto's hand and transformed into a stream of water, merging into it.

The pen started writing on the test paper on its own, and Naruto quickly pinched it gently with his hand, pretending that he was the one writing it.

"Don't underestimate me, I will never back down in the face of battle..."

The first written test finally came to an end amidst Naruto's bold words.

..............

After finishing the first exam, all the candidates gathered around Mitarashi Anko, who looked quite dashing.

Later, Mitarashi Sweet Potato and Mitarashi Potato led the way to the Forest of Death, located outside Konoha Village.

The area is lush with trees and foliage, and is also home to various wild beasts, venomous snakes, and traps.

When they arrived, it was nearly evening, and the sun was only a faint afterglow in the sky.

'Finally, I've met you, Sasuke-kun, hehe....'

Orochimaru, who had somehow disguised himself as a female genin examinee from Kusagakure, looked at Sasuke's retreating figure in the distance, licked his lips, and his cold eyes were filled with intense longing.

'You've finally arrived, Orochimaru!'

Sensing the gaze behind him, like a venomous snake eyeing its prey in the darkness, Sasuke's lips curled into a slight smile.

Orochimaru saw him as his prey, and so did Sasuke.

Whether it's the First Hokage's cells in his possession or his research on the Sharingan and various secret techniques, these are things that Sasuke desperately needs.

kill him!

He will seize all of his research, resources, and intelligence, and maximize his own strength within the next three years!

As for the idea of ​​cooperating with Orochimaru, Sasuke never even considered it.

Although Orochimaru is gone, some research will inevitably be much slower.

But Orochimaru is a venomous snake in the dark; cooperating with him could mean getting bitten and retaliated against at any time.

Sasuke, who likes to have everything under his control, doesn't want to take that risk.

I don't want to waste time and energy playing mind games with this venomous snake.

Killing him and taking everything from him would be the most suitable option for Sasuke.

Just like that saying from a past life, only a dead bear is a good bear.

For Sasuke...

Only a dead Orochimaru is the best Orochimaru!

'However, not now. Right now, I still need to put on an act with you.'

Sasuke wants to kill Orochimaru, but not now, because Orochimaru is at his peak right now.

Sasuke with the Mangekyou Sharingan might be able to defeat him, but he definitely couldn't kill him completely.

Moreover, killing him here would be a thankless task, eliminating a major enemy for the Third Hokage and Danzo for nothing, and the two would also turn their wary gazes toward him.

Since his plan to kill Danzo in the near future would also fail, he might as well let Orochimaru fight the Third Hokage like in the original timeline.

When he is severely injured, his soul shattered, and he can no longer restrain himself from coming to find you, just kill him.

Sasuke wouldn't mind putting on a show with Orochimaru later, since he'd been traveling through time anyway.

He has always been acting, and he is already very skilled at acting.

You can't hit it too hard, or it will make the venomous snake wary and afraid.

Just like when he was defeated by Itachi Uchiha, he didn't dare to appear in front of Itachi Uchiha for many years.

If this old viper really wanted to hide, probably no one in the entire ninja world would be able to find him, which didn't align with Sasuke's plan.

He couldn't be too weak either; Sasuke didn't want this venomous snake to leave any mark on him.

Just enough to arouse the snake's intense desire and curiosity.

'Who is the prey and who is the hunter is still hard to say...'

"hehe....."

Sensing the increasingly intense prying from behind, Sasuke chuckled and walked into the Forest of Death with Sakura and Naruto.

Chapter 128 Encountering a Snake

As evening fell, after entering the Forest of Death, the three members of Class 7 headed towards the central tower along a river.

As it was nearing evening, the three of them stopped to prepare food.