The Seventh Class camp.
When Uehara Naraku returned, he casually brought back a few fish.
Perhaps the three little guys in the Seventh Class were extremely hungry, because Uzumaki Naruto was woken up by hunger, they prepared their own meal and also left a portion for Uehara Naraku.
When Uchiha Sasuke saw Uehara Naraku, he raised his eyebrows and asked softly, "You're finally back. I took a walk around and didn't find any trace of you."
"I ran into Orochimaru again."
The expression on Uehara Naraku's face immediately became somewhat heavy. Watching the expressions of the Seventh Class change dramatically, he laughed secretly to himself before continuing, "Just now, he was around you guys, bullying our Chunin Examination proctor..."
Haruno Sakura's face instantly turned pale with fear, and she nervously swallowed her saliva: "...Even the proctor couldn't defeat him?"
Next to her, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's faces didn't look good either.
Clearly, Orochimaru cast quite a shadow over them.
Uehara Naraku nodded and continued in a deep voice, "Orochimaru is one of the legendary Sannin, once among the few who stood at the pinnacle of Konoha. Our Chunin Examination proctor, Mitarashi Anko, is just his student."
Recalling Mitarashi Anko's performance, Uehara Naraku added another sentence: "Probably his least promising student..."
"..."
The Seventh Class collectively fell into silence.
Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke instinctively turned to look at Uzumaki Naruto, clearly Uzumaki Naruto had always been the least promising student among their group.
Uzumaki Naruto immediately turned back angrily: "Hey, hey, hey, Sasuke, Sakura, what do you guys mean by that!"
"Nothing."
Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura slowly retracted their gaze, speaking in unison, then gently shook their heads, their movements unexpectedly synchronized.
"Alright, alright, let's rest for now!"
Uehara Naraku laughed, patting Uzumaki Naruto on the head, and said softly, "Tomorrow you still have to continue to snatch the enemy's scroll! Who's on night watch tonight? I'm feeling pretty good, I can keep someone company."
As expected by Uehara Naraku.
Uzumaki Naruto, having slept all afternoon, eagerly raised his hand: "Me, me, me... I'll do it! I've rested for a long time and can stay up for a while!"
Just as a smile crept onto Uehara Naraku's lips, Haruno Sakura shook her head from the side, rejecting his proposal: "Naruto, you and Sasuke might still have to fight tomorrow, let me do it instead!"
After she finished speaking, Haruno Sakura rather awkwardly clenched her fists: "Besides, I didn't do anything for you guys in today's battle..."
The smile on Uehara Naraku's face gradually stiffened.
What's up with this little girl Haruno Sakura, now learning to consider her teammates?
Uchiha Sasuke patted Naruto's shoulder, gave him a wink, and said softly, "Naruto, let's let Sakura take the night watch..."
Sasuke was somewhat worried about Haruno Sakura feeling guilty; rather than letting her team up with guilt, it was better to let her do something within her capability and be at ease. Uzumaki Naruto, after rambling for a while, could only agree to Haruno Sakura's request.
Uehara Naraku looked at Haruno Sakura with a puzzled expression.
Showing up when she shouldn't, not showing up when she should.
What's the use of taking the night watch with Haruno Sakura?
Uehara Naraku genuinely wanted to chat about life with Uzumaki Naruto, but his plan was disrupted by Haruno Sakura, who wanted to take on some responsibility!
The night was a bit tranquil.
Haruno Sakura actually wanted to chat more with Uehara Naraku. As a new ninja, Haruno Sakura was quite eager to gain some experience from a senior.
Uehara didn't really feel like talking to her since she spoiled his plan.
Besides, what is there to talk about with a pink-haired little girl? It would've been nice to have a heart-to-heart with Uzumaki Naruto, or even Uchiha Sasuke!
Perhaps Haruno Sakura's emotional intelligence was lacking, as she didn't notice Uehara Naraku's indifference. She merely thought that strong ninjas tend to be a bit arrogant. Sasuke, the strongest rookie of this class, is usually quite indifferent to his classmates.
"Senior Uehara, what's it like in The Hidden Rain Village?"
"It's raining every day..."
"I really like rainy days!"
Haruno Sakura's face flushed slightly, and with some longing in her eyes, she said, "If I could walk under the same umbrella with Sasuke in the rain every day, it would certainly be romantic, wouldn't it?"
Uehara Naraku listlessly responded, "From the look of Konoha's drainage, I estimate that after a week's rain, Konoha would be flooded..."
"..."
Haruno Sakura's expression instantly froze.
However, she didn't get discouraged and quickly changed the subject: "Senior Uehara, do you have someone you like? I once saw a very cute senior in your team..."
"..."
Uehara Naraku slowly lifted his eyelids, staring straight at Haruno Sakura, scaring the little girl who instinctively shrank back a bit.
Looking at Haruno Sakura, Uehara Naraku's tone became a bit eerie: "Though he's prettier than you, but he's a man. Are your thought processes from another dimension?"
"Sor... sorry."
Haruno Sakura quickly wiped the sweat off her forehead and continued in a small voice, "Then where did your two teammates go, Senior Uehara?"
Upon hearing Haruno Sakura's words, Uehara Naraku's gaze gradually turned peculiar, as if he saw through Haruno Sakura's thoughts: "When you three get your scroll and reach the central tower, you'll see them."
"Re... really?"
Haruno Sakura cautiously nodded.
A rare smile appeared on Uehara Naraku's face, as he kindly squinted his eyes: "Were you trying to gather intelligence on me? It seems you're starting to look a bit like a ninja, Miss Haruno Sakura!"
"No... no, not at all."
Haruno Sakura quickly shook her head, nervously explaining, "I just thought if your teammates weren't around, Senior, wouldn't you feel a bit uncomfortable? And since you saved us, how could I possibly doubt you, Senior!"
"Is that so?"
Uehara Naraku looked down at Haruno Sakura, his fingers lightly twitching.
Perhaps he could try to subtly probe through Haruno Sakura?
After pondering for a while, Uehara Naraku decided to steer the conversation: "Hey, Miss Haruno Sakura, when I saw Uzumaki Naruto fighting Orochimaru today, his state seemed a bit off."
"Mm."
A worried expression appeared on Haruno Sakura's face, and she continued, lowering her head: "I don't know what's up with Naruto either."
"..."
Uehara Naraku's topic immediately hit a snag.
He vaguely had a feeling that Haruno Sakura's naive and uninformed state about ninja affairs seemed to perfectly disrupt his rhythm.
After painstakingly thinking up a bunch of strategies, she just says she knows nothing, and it leaves him completely bewildered!
Damn, what a rookie to counter a genius!
As a genius ninja, encountering someone like Haruno Sakura who knows nothing, unless he directly leaks information, this pink-haired girl wouldn't think in another direction at all.
Uehara Naraku felt he was about to explode in anger!
"Senior, what's wrong with you?"
Seeing Uehara Naraku's mood wasn't quite right, Haruno Sakura softly continued, "Did I say something wrong?"
Suppressing his urge to swear, Uehara Naraku turned his head and flashed a polite and elegant smile: "No, I just want some peace and quiet now."
Uehara Naraku felt a slight sense of unease in his heart.
Given the intelligence of the Seventh Class group, trying to use some strategy on them might be a bit difficult.
Except for Uchiha Sasuke, who is easily fooled, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura are unlikely to fall for it.
It's not because their intelligence is too high.
It's because they're too dumb right now.
Luckily, there's something else to entertain him tonight.
Uehara Naraku quietly opened the display function of destiny; nothing had gone wrong with Kaguya Kimimaro and Haku, and no one had yet breached their defenses.
Even the strongest Gaara stayed away, resting with his brother and sister outside the tower, seemingly waiting for an opportunity.
Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto were meeting secretly.
Besides that.
Sarutobi Hiruzen personally led a large number of Anbu ninjas and Jonin to station outside the Forest of Death, gathering almost all of Konoha's elite ninjas.
The fleeing Mitarashi Anko and Maruboshi Kosuke successively reported the situation to Sarutobi Hiruzen, praising Uehara Naraku, which slightly eased Hiruzen's mind.
"It seems like this little friend from The Hidden Rain Village has helped us quite a bit!"
When Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived, he had already taken off his Hokage attire and donned a battle robe, although his expression was still somewhat grave: "Many allied nations are participating in this Chunin Examination, and it can't be stopped now. The Anbu and Barrier Team must constantly monitor any irregularities in the Forest of Death and report to me every hour!"
Mitarashi Anko said in a deep voice, "But Lord Hokage, if we don't go in and capture Orochimaru now, he will soon escape!"
"More important than Orochimaru is maintaining the stability of the allied nations."
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, gave a glance at Mitarashi Anko, and said in a deep voice, "After the Chunin Examination is over, I'll send people to continue tracking him."
"Lord Hokage."
Mori Ibuki also followed, and he asked, "What about Uehara Naraku? He is an unstable factor interfering with the Chunin Examination!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and said softly, "According to the information from Kakashi, that little guy is supposed to be the future leader of The Hidden Rain Village and the genius they want to promote in this Chunin Examination, so it's not easy to deal with him for now."
Moreover, he's the only one to actively extend goodwill to Konoha. Not only is his identity important, but he's also very powerful.
For Konoha, once Uehara Naraku ascends to power, The Hidden Rain Village will naturally become an ally of Konoha, so they can't easily offend him. Konoha is hoping The Hidden Rain Village will help hold off pressure from The Hidden Rock Village to the northwest!
Mori Ibuki turned to look at Hatake Kakashi and said in a deep voice, "Kakashi, do you think that guy is reliable?"
Ibuki had been tricked by a Konoha Traitor who defected to The Hidden Rain Village, so he didn't have a favorable impression of the place.
"Not reliable personality-wise."
Hatake Kakashi thought for a while, considered Uehara Naraku's every move in Konoha, and said softly, "Character-wise, probably reliable?"
"Cough cough cough..."
After Maruboshi Kosuke coughed a few times, he responded: "This little guy's personality is indeed quite nasty, but he is quite trustworthy."
"He's a good person."
Mitarashi Anko picked up the conversation: "If it weren't for him, I might have died at Orochimaru's hands."
Mitarashi Anko didn't know that inside the Forest of Death, right after Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto completed their plan, they secretly cursed her again.
Before leaving, Orochimaru carefully instructed Yakushi Kabuto once more: "Kabuto, stay away from that Uehara Naraku guy, don't be like that idiot Anko. If you get too close to him, he's unpredictable and might take your life..."
"Yes, I've noted it, Lord Orochimaru."
Yakushi Kabuto nodded with a smile, watching as Orochimaru gradually disappeared, he adjusted his glasses with an even broader smile on his face.
Doesn't he know his new boss well?
Thinking of Uehara Naraku, Yakushi Kabuto felt a slight pain in his neck.