Orochimaru's return to his "hometown" had only two purposes—to send one person away and to recruit another. The person he wanted to send off was his beloved teacher, Sarutobi, while the one he aimed to recruit was Uchiha Sasuke. The former represented the past, the latter the future. For a pragmatist like Orochimaru, the latter held far greater importance than the former.
However, recruiting Sasuke required careful planning. The "chance encounter" in the Forest of Death had been ruined by Ino's interference, forcing Orochimaru to devise another approach.
The delay dragged on until now.
Despite Orochimaru's profound mastery of ninja techniques and numerous secret arts, he found himself unable to act freely under the guise of "protection" from the Konoha ninja—who were, in reality, keeping him under surveillance.
Using a blatant Clone Technique or Shadow Clone Technique? Ridiculous. Did he think he was the only ninja in the world?
Unable to come himself, Orochimaru had to send Kabuto, who had just risen from his coffin, to persuade Sasuke instead.
Sasuke, ever the loner, preferred secluded spots, making it easy for Kabuto to find an opportunity to approach him.
"Who are you?" Sasuke was immediately wary. The masked man was unfamiliar—at first glance, he seemed like an Anbu ninja from the village, but something felt off.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Kabuto called out his name. "Are you confident about winning your match this afternoon?"
Sasuke scowled. "Get lost. Don't make me repeat myself."
Kabuto sneered inwardly. This brat, who does he think he's fooling?
"That Yamanaka-san possesses her clan's secret techniques, inherits the ninja arts of the Second Hokage and the Second Mizukage, and has recently become the disciple of Tsunade, one of the Three Legendary Sannin. With just your Sharingan and the meager training Kakashi provided, do you really think you can defeat her? This morning, she didn't even use half her true strength and still effortlessly defeated Sunagakure's Jinchuriki. How long do you think you'd last against her?"
Kabuto laid out all the details about his organization's vice-president, and Sasuke's thoughts were practically written on his face.
Truthfully, Sasuke was far less confident than Kabuto made it seem—his situation was even worse. He didn't dare use his Sharingan against Ino, fearing unpredictable consequences.
Even if he could, his Sharingan was only at the two-tomoe stage, offering limited power.
His recent intense training with Chidori was partly an attempt to find an alternative path through ninjutsu.
The fact that Ino had become Tsunade's disciple was known among many clan heads and Jonin, but Sasuke had no idea—no one had bothered to inform him.
Kabuto smiled. "You've probably guessed already. I serve Lord Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. He admires your potential. During your encounter in the Forest of Death, your performance was remarkable. Lord Orochimaru wishes to recruit you as his subordinate. Sasuke, don't refuse just yet. I've heard the Uchiha Clan excels in shurikenjutsu—and this is Lord Orochimaru's gift to you."
He tossed Sasuke a scroll, then, without another word, formed a hand seal and vanished in a puff of white smoke.
After a brief hesitation, Sasuke unrolled the scroll and examined it closely.
It was an A-rank ninja technique—Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
This technique demanded exceptional shuriken-throwing skills, keen insight into timing, lighting, and environmental factors, as well as a considerable level of chakra.
Sasuke possessed all these conditions. After understanding the purpose of this technique, the first person that came to his mind wasn't Orochimaru or Ino—it was Naruto!
The Indra Chakra was influencing him in a subtle, imperceptible way.
His imagination ran wild.
The next time Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique, he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of dealing with each clone one by one. He could simply use this Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to take care of them all!
At this satisfying thought, he finally showed a smile befitting his age.
Since Orochimaru was giving him ninja techniques, he might as well take them. But become his subordinate? Don't be ridiculous!
For Sasuke, defeating Naruto and steadily improving was satisfaction enough. He truly had no other ambitions for the time being.
He had no idea that Orochimaru's offer was full of traps. The Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique was the Third Hokage's signature move. If he used it in public, he would inevitably be accused of possessing an A-rank technique of unknown origin, and there would be no way to explain himself.
Learning an A-rank technique in just one afternoon? Not even Uchiha Itachi could pull that off.
Against Ino's so-called "Water Release," shuriken wouldn't be of much use either. He would have to find a way with Lightning Release.
Sasuke spent his last moments practicing more Lightning Nature Chakra Transformation, skipping lunch entirely.
Naruto didn't eat either.
During the school's lunch break, Iruka came to the Chunin Exams venue to invite Naruto to share the lunch he had brought. Surprisingly, Naruto refused.
Losing to Sasuke had hit him hard.
For some reason, even though he had always been the dead last and losing to anyone else wouldn't have bothered him, losing to Sasuke was different. He couldn't explain why, but it just didn't sit right with him!
This had been a golden opportunity to shine and earn everyone's recognition, yet he had messed it up completely. The thought filled him with frustration.
Jiraiya glanced at him from afar but didn't go over to console him. A little setback was good for a boy. After all, he himself had lost to Orochimaru countless times back in the day. No big deal. He'd rather go gather material with that pretty girl he'd met at the hot springs earlier—a girl named Pink Skin who truly lived up to her name.
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure, they were busy treating Gaara. Several ninjas skilled in sealing techniques had been studying the Five Elements Seal for hours but still couldn't figure out how to undo it.
The five chakra natures cycled endlessly, making it nearly impossible to break the seal through brute force.
The Third Hokage started playing dumb as soon as the match ended. Undo the seal? Had he ever said such a thing?
The "Fourth Kazekage" could have undone it, but with so many Konoha ninjas around, revealing himself was out of the question. He also claimed to be unskilled in sealing techniques.
Seeing Gaara's peaceful expression, Temari gave up on confronting Ino again. Let her little brother sleep a while longer.
Rock Lee had lost to Naruto, partly because, as fellow villagers, he hadn't used many of his strongest moves. But he believed Naruto must have held back too, so it was fair in that regard.
Stubbornly convinced that his training intensity hadn't been enough, he also skipped lunch. With burning passion, he shouted, "I'll run two laps around the Land of Fire! And if I can't do that, I'll jump rope two thousand times!"
Teacher Might Guy made a passionate declaration about "youth and passion never fading," then went running off with his beloved disciple.
Neji and Tenten weren't quite that intense, but the two still dressed in rather Chinese-style outfits as they headed to the training grounds together.