Chapter 454: Escape Exam
Akio said he would cook for Rin for a month.
So he did.
When Kushina had been pregnant, he'd taken meticulous care of her. It wouldn't be fair to play favorites.
During that month, he also caught up on everything that had happened in Konoha while he was away training.
The first major development concerned Otogakure.
Just as Akio had expected, nearly everyone in the village was still there except Guren and Hidan. Most of them knew nothing about Orochimaru's assault on Konoha. Some didn't even realize Orochimaru had been the village's founder.
Given the circumstances, the ever-softhearted Jiraiya, accompanied by Itachi and Kumohatsu, carried out a limited purge of the village leadership before sparing everyone else.
Jiraiya didn't return to Konoha afterward.
His latest novel, Violence Paradise, was finally finished, so he headed off to find a publisher. At the same time, he hoped to track down Tsunade.
He needed someone to talk to.
Orochimaru's death had left him with emotions he still hadn't sorted out.
Otogakure itself, however, wasn't so fortunate.
Seeking revenge for the assassination of the Fourth Kazekage, Sunagakure launched a campaign that wiped the Sound Village off the map.
Life in Konoha remained largely unchanged.
Kimimaro's sparring sessions with Might Guy turned out to be neither exciting nor particularly enjoyable.
Against Kimimaro's nearly unbeatable Shikotsumyaku in close combat, Guy couldn't win without opening at least the Sixth Gate.
But he couldn't rely on the Eight Gates every single day.
Kimimaro found that frustrating.
On the other hand, if Kimimaro refrained from using his kekkei genkai and fought with taijutsu alone, he had little choice but to rely on Akio's signature martial arts style to keep up.
That annoyed Guy even more.
After all...
Kakashi fought exactly the same way.
Eventually, Kimimaro changed targets and began challenging Itachi instead.
As a result, Karin spent plenty of time acting as Kimimaro's walking first-aid kit after each fight.
Haku's situation was quieter.
After temporarily serving as Team Eleven's jonin instructor for a few days, Haku stepped aside once Kumohatsu returned.
From then on, Haku simply became Team Eleven's sparring partner.
The kind-hearted youth had no intention of interrupting Kimimaro and Karin's growing bond.
Apart from that, life in Konoha carried on as usual.
Once Rin's recovery period was over, Akio suddenly remembered someone.
Konoha Orphanage
"So the rumors were true."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses.
"You really have become young again. It's been more than five months since the Chunin Exams. I was honestly hoping you never noticed me back then."
Akio smiled.
"My boy, nothing escapes this old ancestor."
He looked directly at Kabuto.
"Why did you choose to follow Orochimaru?"
Kabuto answered without hesitation.
"Lord Orochimaru saved me."
"When I was a child, Elder Shimura Danzo recruited me into Root for... certain special assignments."
"It was Lord Orochimaru who took me away from him."
"Danzo…"
Akio narrowed his eyes.
"You're saying Orochimaru personally got you out?"
"Perhaps it was some kind of exchange."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses again.
"To be honest, I wasn't much use to him afterward. I mostly gathered ordinary intelligence. The only time I played an important role was during the Chunin Exams... and that mission ended with Lord Orochimaru losing his life."
He smiled bitterly.
"I imagine taking me in was the worst investment he ever made."
Kabuto answered every question openly.
He hid nothing.
"A bad investment..."
Akio remained silent for a long time before letting out a slow sigh.
"Orochimaru never makes bad investments."
"When he told me about the five choices destiny had supposedly led him to make, recruiting you wasn't one of them."
"Don't tell me that's just a coincidence."
Kabuto's story forced Akio to accept a possibility he didn't want to believe.
Orochimaru had been hiding something from him.
Something important.
The room fell silent.
Akio replayed every interaction he'd ever had with Orochimaru, carefully analyzing every detail with both halves of his newly enhanced brain.
After a long while, he finally muttered,
"Orochimaru... what an actor."
"If there's an Academy Award for deception, you've earned it."
"Senior...?"
Kabuto looked completely bewildered.
Akio simply smiled.
Then he disappeared in a flash.
Kabuto stood there, utterly confused.
"What did that mean?"
"Was he letting me go..."
"Or expecting me to turn myself in?"
Hokage Tower
This time, Akio finally found the Fifth Hokage, Obito.
Hiruzen had at last been allowed to enjoy retirement.
"Huh?"
"Master, shouldn't you be at my house right now?"
Akio sighed.
"You've started treating me like your family's nanny?"
"Rin has practically recovered already."
Obito immediately waved his hands.
"No! That's not what I meant! I just... uh..."
He gave up.
"Good afternoon, Master."
"Good afternoon to you too."
Akio deliberately dragged out the greeting.
"I came to ask about the Sound Four."
"Them?"
Obito blinked.
"They're still imprisoned in Konoha's detention facility. They've tried escaping several times, but every attempt has been stopped."
"Trying to escape..."
Akio fell into thought.
The village had already extracted every useful piece of intelligence from them.
As far as Orochimaru was concerned, they were abandoned pawns.
Even if they escaped, he probably wouldn't come looking for them.
Then a memory suddenly surfaced.
"Hidan!"
Akio's eyes widened.
Back when Orochimaru had assassinated the Fourth Kazekage, Akio had noticed a hint of tension in Orochimaru's expression.
At the time, he'd assumed Orochimaru feared his experiments involving Jashin's curse would be exposed.
Now he realized something else.
Hidan must have known something Orochimaru desperately wanted to keep hidden.
Something important.
"Master?"
Obito asked again.
"What is it?"
"How did I miss something so obvious?"
Akio frowned.
"I should've realized sooner."
"With Orochimaru's personality, once he learned about this so-called power of destiny, there was no way he'd resist researching it."
"And the only source of research material..."
"...was me."
A trace of worry appeared on his face.
He truly didn't want Orochimaru to become an enemy.
But events seemed to be moving in exactly that direction.
"And what if Tenten's attack wasn't just coincidence..."
"What if Orochimaru had a hand in that too?"
"Master?"
Obito called again.
"Are you alright?"
Akio took a slow breath.
"I'm fine."
His gaze drifted toward the stack of documents on Obito's desk.
"Preparing for another Chunin Exam already?"
Obito nodded.
"This one will only be for Konoha. No allied villages this time, and there won't be many participants."
Akio looked surprised.
"Really? I thought there were still plenty of genin left."
Obito smiled.
"Everyone has seen how strong Naruto and the others are."
"They're almost guaranteed to participate this time and have an excellent chance of becoming chunin."
"Most of the remaining genin would rather wait than compete against them."
"I see."
Akio rubbed his chin.
"You're not thinking about bringing back the preliminary rounds again, are you?"
"No."
Akio smiled.
"I've got something much more interesting in mind."
"What if we held a special Chunin Exam exclusively for the students from those five teams who still haven't earned promotion?"
"A special exam?"
"That way they won't take away opportunities from the other genin."
He grinned.
"And since the Sound Four are so eager to escape..."
"Why don't we let them?"
Obito stared.
"Let them escape?"
"Wouldn't that be incredibly dangerous?"
Akio chuckled.
"Not at all."
"Leave the planning to me."
He was already thinking about one of the most memorable arcs from the original story.
If he could lure Orochimaru out, all the better.
And if not...
He'd simply direct a new version of Naruto and Sasuke's fateful showdown himself.
"An escape attempt..." he murmured with a knowing smile.
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