Chapter 13 Undercurrent

"Does the curse seal still hurt, Red Bean?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked while looking at the mark on Red Bean's neck.

"Thanks to you, I feel much better now."

"I didn't expect that you would meet Orochimaru. I heard that he is dead?" said Kamatsuki Izumo who was with the Hokage.

"But fortunately you are all fine. I really don't know what Orochimaru's purpose was in showing up in the examination room." Wherever Kamijou Izumo is, Gang Zitie will not be absent.

"This time it's all thanks to Ye Lan, otherwise I wouldn't be able to stop Orochimaru on my own." Hongdou said to Ye Lan who was standing aside.

"Hmm?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Ye Lan in confusion. Orochimaru was his disciple and he knew him best. He didn't expect that the 15-year-old Ye Lan would be able to fight with him.

"Orochimaru just doesn't dare to stay for long, otherwise I might be the loser in the end." Ye Lan explained on the side.

Hearing Ye Lan's admission, Shen Yue Chu Yun and Gang Zitie both looked at Ye Lan. They knew the name of the Three Ninjas, but they didn't expect that Ye Lan could fight with them, and it seemed that he had not suffered any loss.

"I don't know what Orochimaru's purpose is in returning to Konoha." Red Bean murmured.

"It's Sasuke." Ye Lan said directly, "Although I don't know the specific reason, but when I arrived, Sasuke was fighting with Orochimaru. At that time, he seemed to want to do something to Sasuke. Now seeing the curse mark on the captain's body, I think he found Sasuke for this purpose."

When the others heard what Ye Lan said, their faces turned serious, and then Ye Lan continued, "When I first arrived, Orochimaru was just stretching his head out to bite Sasuke's neck. Now it seems that this is the location of the captain's curse seal."

"Is that really the case..." Sarutobi Hiruzen gradually agreed with what Ye Lan said. He knew very well that his disciple was obsessed with researching certain blood boundaries. This time, he might have targeted Sasuke. He then asked, "Ye Lan, did Orochimaru successfully plant the curse seal at that time?"

"No, I interrupted his technique."

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Ye Lan: "After the second exam, you go to Sasuke to keep watch. I'm afraid Orochimaru will attack again. I will tell Kakashi about this."

"Yes."

"Should the exam continue?" When Hongdou heard that the Hokage's tone did not indicate that the exam was over, she asked directly.

"Well, let's go ahead and let Ye Lan stay with Sasuke. Together with Kakashi, the two of them will not lose even if they can't defeat Orochimaru. Let's see if he makes any further moves." Hiruzen said, taking a deep puff of cigarette.

Finally, Hiruzen gave Red Bean a few instructions and then dismissed everyone. He came to the window with his pipe and looked at the night outside and fell into deep thought. Although Orochimaru was his disciple, Hiruzen had never really understood him.

Five days later, the second exam was finally over.

Because there are too many people left after the second round, some of them need to be eliminated before the third exam begins. All those who pass the second exam need to have a one-on-one duel in the tower in the center of the Death Forest, and only the winner can enter the third exam.

Before the third preliminary exam, all the examiners in the examination room and the guiding jonin came here.

Ye Lan was standing next to Hongdou, while the Hokage was giving a speech in the middle, explaining the significance of the Chunin Exam to the Genin taking the exam.

After the Hokage finished his speech, the examiner of this exam and the referee of the Genin duel, Gekko Hayate, appeared and announced the start of the exam while coughing.

“Looking at him like this, I’m really afraid that he will fall down at any time.” Ye Lan complained.

"Well, he has had poor health since he was a child, but his strength is actually quite good." Kakashi said on the side, holding a novel in his hand, which clearly stated that it was restricted to 18+.

"I didn't expect you had such a hobby, Kakashi."

"To kill time when you're bored."

"Teacher Kakashi!" Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all came to Kakashi.

"Yo! I haven't congratulated you on passing the second exam yet."

"Hehehe—" Naruto grinned foolishly.

"Thank you, Senior Ye Lan." Sakura bowed and thanked Ye Lan immediately after seeing him. If it weren't for Ye Lan, she wouldn't know how to face Orochimaru. Sasuke also nodded.

"It's nothing. I'm the examiner for the second round, and it's my job." Ye Lan waved his hand casually.

"Ah? Sakura, why did you say thank you to him?" Naruto still didn't understand what was going on.

"Idiot, the Orochimaru we met back then was a dangerous ninja, not a Genin at all. In the end it was Senior Ye Lan who saved us." Sakura said as she punched Naruto on the head.

Watching them playing around, Ye Lan felt that Orochimaru should not have left any shadow on them.

"What happened to Orochimaru in the end?" Sasuke asked from the side.

"When he saw that he couldn't defeat me, he finally withdrew." There were other senior ninjas here, so Ye Lan just said this.

"No one wins..." Sasuke whispered.

"You must be the Uchiha Yalan who chased Orochimaru away! I didn't expect young people nowadays to be so exaggerated!" At this time, a loud voice came over. It was Kakashi's lifelong rival Might Guy.

"It's too much of a compliment to say you beat me away." Ye Lan didn't want to attract other people's attention.

"You bravely saved the lovely Genin from the evil ninja. I, Kai, have recognized you!" As Kai said this, tears couldn't stop flowing out, as if Ye Lan had done something great.

Looking at Ye Lan who was a little embarrassed, Kakashi said: "He is just like that, don't take it too seriously."

As they were talking, the big screen showed the first match, Sasuke versus Akado Kabuto.

"Sasuke, it's you!" Naruto shouted.

"It's so annoying. I heard you." Sasuke still couldn't stand Naruto. He was the first to appear so he could rest early. Five days of survival in the wild made him exhausted.

"Hmph, Uchiha Sasuke let me deal with you."

After both parties arrived at the hall, Chi Tong Kai said provocatively.

"Hmph, you are not ashamed of your words."

After Gekko Gale was announced to begin, both sides began to act. Sasuke did not approach the opponent rashly but kept probing with shuriken in his hand.

Chi Tong Kai held the kunai tightly in both hands, constantly resisting Sasuke's attacks, and quickly approached Sasuke. As the distance got closer, he did not choose to stab Sasuke with the kunai, but freed one hand to try to grab Sasuke. However, Sasuke's reaction was extremely fast, he nimbly dodged the grab easily by moving sideways.

"Teacher Kakashi, will Sasuke win?" Sakura couldn't figure out what was going on, so she asked directly.

"Well, as long as Sasuke is not careless, there should be no problem." Kakashi said, looking at the two people off the field.

"The opponent's intention is too obvious. His free hand should be performing some ninjutsu. If Sasuke understands it, he will win." Ye Lan explained on the side.

"Is that so?" Naruto turned to Kakashi and asked.

"That should be the case." Kakashi said casually.

"Yoshi." Naruto took a deep breath and said loudly, "Sasuke, be careful of the enemy's free hand, that hand should be the enemy's ultimate move!"

"You bastard!" Kakashi, who didn't care about other people's eyes, felt embarrassed and stopped reading the book and just covered Naruto's mouth.

"You are in Gan Shenmo, Kaka Si Lao Si." Naruto, who was covered, was speechless.

"Don't interrupt others when they are taking exams. Do you want Sasuke to be disqualified from the exam?" Kakashi whispered.

Everyone else looked at Naruto, and Kakashi quickly raised his hand and said, "Don't mind the kid who doesn't know how to talk nonsense."

"It seems like your companion is a little crazy." Ye Lan had never seen such a weird boy, and he complained to Haruno Sakura beside him.

"Naruto...is like this sometimes." Sakura said awkwardly, touching her head.

The two people who were fighting in the examination room paused for a moment when they heard Naruto's words on the stage. Sasuke also looked at Naruto awkwardly. In fact, without him saying anything, he felt that there was something wrong with the opponent's attack method.

When Akadoun heard that someone had revealed his past, he became anxious, so he decided not to hold back and attack with all his strength, trying to succeed before Sasuke could react. Akadoun's attacks became more and more fierce, and although Sasuke tried his best to resist, he was still caught by the flaw and grabbed by the shoulder.

Just when Akadoun Kai thought he was about to succeed, he happened to meet Sasuke's eyes, and a pair of two-magatama Sharingan were staring at him. Akadoun Kai suddenly felt his consciousness blurred, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Illusion, this is not the magic

Akadoun Kai suddenly lost consciousness, and then Sasuke finished off his opponent with a series of Lion Bullets.

"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke." Then Gekko Hayate announced that Sasuke advanced.