"Everyone, it's nothing serious. Let's pause the match for ten minutes and resume afterward," Ye Liang announced loudly before picking up Obito.
This guy had merely exhausted his chakra but was otherwise fine. Ye Liang carried him directly to the rest chamber, confident there wouldn't be any complications.
The following matches became much fairer.
Considering the previous incidents, Ye Liang immediately banned anyone over twenty from participating. Extra personnel were also dispatched due to earlier injuries, significantly improving security.
Thus concluded the first trial of the Chunin Exams.
Two more trials remained—one written exam and one practical test. Since supervision wasn't required during the written portion, Ye Liang naturally had some free time.
"Hey, is the village always this crowded nowadays?" Ye Liang asked while eating at the ramen shop.
"You bet! Ever since the Chunin Exams started, more and more ninja have gathered here to watch the matches from Hidden Leaf. But most of them are from smaller hidden villages—they don't even take the exams, yet they keep causing trouble. It's a real headache," Otsutsuki Ichiraku sighed helplessly as he shook his head.
Clearly, these past couple days had been tough on him too.
"Isn't the village doing anything about it?" Ye Liang asked.
While most ninja had been assigned to monitor the competition arena, Konoha still maintained its own security forces.
"The village?" Kaguya Otsutsuki hesitated momentarily before nervously whispering into Ye Liang's ear, "Mr. Ye Liang, please don't say things like that again. The Konoha Security Division is under Uchiha control—how could we trust them now?"
Ye Liang froze.
He had completely forgotten about that!
For years, the Konoha Security Division had been commanded by the strongest clan—the Uchihas. But after Danzo's failed assassination attempt against the Uchihas, they barely survived, let alone continued protecting the Hidden Leaf Village!
Furthermore, all Uchiha members had been relocated outside the village nearly half a month ago and were now resting peacefully in retirement.
"Ahh! Such unpredictable times."
Ye Liang sighed heavily. He originally wanted to change the Uchiha clan's fate, but somehow they still ended up clashing with Konoha. If his guess was right, though the Uchiha were still officially part of Konoha, they were operating independently now.
"Maybe I should start my own kingdom too!" Suddenly something occurred to Ye Liang.
He had become Danzo's top threat now!
And because of the Uchiha incident, even Sarutobi Hiruzen had grown distant from Ye Liang. Staying in Konoha wasn't safe anymore. If Danzo sent assassins after him, could his worldly experience really protect him from highly trained ninja?
Poison? Assassination?
These underhanded tactics could endanger Ye Liang anytime—especially while he slept.
Thinking along those lines, Ye Liang began considering new possibilities.
He made his way back to the testing grounds.
The written exam had finished, and the third Hidden Leaf Exam would begin in the afternoon.
A practical test!
Also known as [Forest Pursuit Match]!
This test operated in squads, with three participants forming each team. Each team concealed a specific marked imprint—either [Heaven] or [Earth] type!
The participating teams only needed to seize the required seals from other squads to ring the victory bell in the center of the jungle and claim triumph.
Of course, countless jonin had been deployed throughout the jungle, practically covering every squad, so safety concerns were unnecessary.
Ye Liang moved through the forest.
This was the first place where Ye Liang had previously fled from Orochimaru. At that time, he had run to every corner, so he was relatively familiar with this area.
"Where did that kid Obito run off to?"
Ye Liang glanced around. He wasn't the assigned jonin responsible for watching over Obito; he was just an additional ninja overseeing all the squads.
"Hey kid, you seem pretty strong!"
Just then, a young brat approached from behind.
It was Yagura, the Mizukage!
In addition to Ye Liang, the supervising ninja included jonin from various villages and even Kage-level masters. After all, not everyone felt comfortable entrusting their safety solely to Konoha.
"Oh, it's Mizukage-sama. Any business?" Ye Liang's pupils constricted slightly, showing cautiousness toward the Water Shadow.
Actually, there were deep-seated tensions between Konoha and Kirigakure. Besides Ye Liang's indirect role in the death of Biwa Juzo, during the Third Great Ninja War, Duy—the father of Guy—had directly slaughtered all the Mist jonin!
The Seven Swordsman of the Mist were completely wiped out!
Though at that time there were only six left...
"No particular reason. I just heard from Terumi Mei that you're a rare talent, so I wanted to get to know you a bit."
"Terumi Mei?"
Ye Liang was taken aback. He also noticed that Yagura didn't seem to show any hostility toward him. However, he had no interest in conversing with this young Mizukage because Ye Liang already knew how Yagura would grow up to be—exceedingly ruthless!
In his previous life, Ye Liang had read about Yagura's upbringing.
He placed numerous children into a fog-filled chamber, intensively training them until they became familiar with each other, and then ordered them to kill one another.
By that point, these children had already formed bonds of friendship. Such orders meant forcing them to abandon their friendships.
That was essentially poison breeding!
Ye Liang naturally understood this method—it was similar to ancient Chinese practices where poisonous creatures were locked together until only the strongest remained, becoming the deadliest among them!
Yagura was exactly such a poison king.
"We don't really know each other, so let's just part ways here." Ye Liang laughed casually and immediately prepared to leave.
Come on, who would want to hang around with someone who has no feelings? If Ye Liang got stabbed in the back by Yagura, he'd be done for.
"Aww, don't go! I wanted to chat more!" Yagura shouted desperately as Ye Liang disappeared into the distance.
Actually, Ye Liang's departure wasn't merely due to this.
He suddenly sensed Kyuubi stirring within—a restless impulse threatening to break free!
"Could it be because of the Three-Tails?" Ye Liang grew suspicious.
Because inside the Mizukage Yagura was also sealed a tailed beast—the Three-Tails Isobu!
Meanwhile, from the distant shadows, Yagura glared coldly at Ye Liang's retreating figure. His expression turned sinister, and his eyes gradually revealed chilling killing intent!
Yagura clearly held no real affection for Ye Liang; everything before had simply been an act.
And the craziest part? Ye Liang hadn't even noticed it!
"I was gonna get a read on you first, but I'll just make my move now. To be honest, I'm quite interested in your Tailed Beast," Yagura said calmly, showing absolutely no change in expression when talking about murder.
In the distance, Ye Liang finally spotted Obito.
The Jonin watching over him like a babysitter was Kakashi…
Wait!
Seeing how desperately Obito tried to shake off Kakashi, Ye Liang naturally figured out his thoughts. We're from the same team, so why am I the student while he's the supervisor?
Obito felt deeply wronged—was his talent really that bad?
Kakashi watched him quietly from among the tree branches, keeping his eyes on him even after realizing that Obito had already sensed his presence!
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