After the Third Hokage finished explaining the purpose of the Chunin selection exams, Kaede Kitahara finally stepped forward and said, "I am the Proctor for this exam, Kaede Kitahara! But before I explain the specific rules of the Final Round, you still need to complete a screening. Only half of you will be able to take part in the next round of battles."
"What? What do you mean, screening?"
"Isn't this the Final Round? Why is there another one?"
Everyone began talking at once.
"Quiet!"
Kaede Kitahara shouted, then said, "Perhaps because the first and second exams were too simple, too many of you are left. The real Final Round will have Daimyo from various nations, nobles, and major figures of the Shinobi World in attendance. At that time, there won't be enough time for all of you to take the Final Round, so half of you must be eliminated here first. However, all of you participated in the second exam, so most of you have injuries to some degree. If any of you feel unwell or don't want to continue, you may raise your hand and withdraw now to spare yourself the suffering."
After a burst of discussion, Yakushi Kabuto finally stepped forward and stated that he was withdrawing.
Kaede Kitahara merely swept a blank glance over Yakushi Kabuto and said nothing.
The Third Hokage, however, watched Yakushi Kabuto's departing figure with a deep look in his eyes. He remembered that Hatake Kakashi had reported to him before about Yakushi Kabuto being Orochimaru's spy.
At the time, he had not ordered Kabuto arrested immediately. Instead, he had wanted to lure the snake out of its hole.
Now that Orochimaru had also appeared inside the village, there was even less need to move against Yakushi Kabuto right away.
To him, what did a mere Yakushi Kabuto amount to?
He was a child from an enemy nation brought back during the war years, later adopted by Yakushi Nono, a Jonin from the medical corps. Originally, that relationship was not complicated, and the matter would not have been difficult to handle.
Unfortunately, his old friend Shimura Danzo was involved.
Judging from the intelligence they had obtained, Yakushi Nono had been taken into Root and later sent out as an undercover agent. The report Root sent back stated that Yakushi Nono, who had been working undercover, had died during a mission.
As for Yakushi Kabuto, he had also been recruited into Root. After that, why he became Orochimaru's spy was already quite obvious.
Because back then, Orochimaru had been Root's number one General. The first owner of Root's letter A was Orochimaru.
So it was perfectly normal for those two to end up connected. It was also perfectly normal for Orochimaru to cultivate one or two spies of his own inside Root.
"I'm still concerned about what Orochimaru said. As for Sasuke, let him continue competing. But if he shows signs that his power is going out of control, stop him," the Third Hokage said.
"Yes!"
Kaede Kitahara replied.
He did not care whether Uchiha Sasuke continued competing or not. Even if Uchiha Sasuke went berserk, Kaede could suppress him with a casual move. There would be no difficulty at all.
"Then the exam will begin now. You will fight in pairs. There are no specific rules. We will use an actual combat format, and the match will continue until one side dies or admits defeat. So if you don't want to die, hurry up and surrender." Kaede Kitahara explained, "However, if I judge that victory and defeat have already been decided, then to avoid pointless casualties, I will also call a stop to the match. I may even intervene directly and stop you. Your opponents will be determined by the names randomly displayed on the Electronic scoreboard. When your name appears, come down and fight. Understood?"
Everyone nodded one after another, and soon, the first pair had already appeared.
"Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi!"
Kaede Kitahara called out their names, exactly the same as in the original history.
"Hmph. Didn't expect it to be this soon."
The corner of Uchiha Sasuke's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a faintly satisfied smile. But right afterward, he felt the power of the Cursed Seal on his back stab at his nerves without warning.
He knew from Kaede Kitahara's diary that this was the power of the Cursed Seal. Although it was said to be a degraded version of Sage Mode, in terms of how much it boosted combat strength, it was not inferior to ordinary Sage Mode.
This was the power he needed for revenge.
Back in the Forest of Death, when he had awakened for the first time, he had already verified it. Those Genin from Otogakure, sent by Orochimaru to cause trouble, could barely withstand even one move from him.
In the state of Cursed Seal Level 1, even if he fought a Jonin-level expert, he had confidence. It directly raised his combat strength by a small step.
And that was only Cursed Seal Level 1. If he could develop the Cursed Seal into Cursed Seal Level 2 like the version of himself in Kaede Kitahara's diary, then even against an Elite Jonin, he would probably have the strength to fight for a certain amount of time.
He had suffered a major loss at Orochimaru's hands earlier and had been branded with the Cursed Seal. Part of that was because he wanted to test Orochimaru's strength and see how far he currently was from a Kage Level powerhouse like him. But part of it was also because he wanted to give Orochimaru the chance to plant the Cursed Seal on him.
It was somewhat risky, because although he felt Orochimaru should want to use Possession / Body Snatching on him and would not kill him too early, that kind of thing was not one hundred percent certain. What if Orochimaru changed his mind on a whim?
Even so, for a revenger like him, it was impossible to simply watch an opportunity to strengthen himself slip away.
Fortunately, everything had gone very smoothly. He had successfully obtained the power of the Cursed Seal from Orochimaru. Of course, he also knew the Cursed Seal was troublesome. There was even a fragment of Orochimaru's soul hidden inside it. If he was careless, Orochimaru might use Possession / Body Snatching on him.
Kaede Kitahara's diary had mentioned this, and Sasuke was well aware of it.
But he had no choice. He had to obtain the power to fight Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi had the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke had to have enough trump cards of his own. Otherwise, it would be just as Kaede Kitahara had mocked, that Uchiha Itachi had held back, that Sasuke had taken advantage of Itachi being sick, crippled, and disabled.
He wanted to kill Uchiha Itachi fair and square.
It was just that the power of the Cursed Seal was becoming harder and harder to control. Conveniently, the first round was his. After he defeated his opponent, he would immediately go find Kakashi and have him help seal it.
"I should see Orochimaru again then."
Uchiha Sasuke remembered that the very first video in Kaede Kitahara's diary had been Hatake Kakashi fighting Orochimaru. He had not expected that as time gradually passed, they would finally arrive at the point in time shown in the first video from Kaede Kitahara's diary.
This feeling was a little like personally witnessing something destined to happen unfold before his eyes. It was extremely strange.
"How could this happen? Why does it have to be Sasuke?"
Sakura Haruno looked at Uchiha Sasuke, shocked and worried.
"Those whose names were called, come forward. Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi. Do either of you have any objections?"
Kaede Kitahara looked at the two of them and asked.
"No!"
"No!"
"Other than the two combatants, everyone else, please move upstairs!" Kaede Kitahara said.