Chapter 3

It was nice being able to move silently, although there were a few things he couldn't hide from. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan came to mind first. He had no way to hide from that Kekkei Genkai besides the luck of not being around anyone who uses it. Its ability to see through almost anything and at long distances made it a powerful scouting tool. He kind of wanted one as well, but he wouldn't give up a Sharingan for one.

Then there were other sensory techniques that might detect him as well. Konoha's Team 8, consisting of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuki, and Hinata Hyūga, was tailor-made to be a sensory team. Shino had his clan's versatile insects, Kiba had his ninken Akamaru and their combined heightened senses, and Hinata had her Byakugan.

The goal was not to be noticed and to head towards the center tower. Avoiding any fights would be best given the potential enemies to encounter. Gaara was the most obvious threat, but shinobi from Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist, would also be challenging to fight, as only the best killers became shinobi there.

Then there was Orochimaru's skirmish with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. He was sure he was nowhere near them, but the fact that once it happened, Konoha would know of Orochimaru's presence in the village lingered in his mind. This would also mean that Yuro would somewhat be known to them as well, since he was on the same team as the disguised Orochimaru. He was pretty sure, though, that no one had seen what he looked like.

It would also draw the attention of the second exam proctor, Anko Mitarashi, who was once Orochimaru's student. He hoped that Orochimaru wouldn't involve him in their strained relationship. He could see that man dragging him into it and creating a misunderstanding that he was her replacement just to rile her up.

Continuing on his way, he thankfully didn't run into anyone else. Whenever there were sounds of a fight or anything nearby, he would go out of his way to avoid them. He did stop when he noticed a place where blood was caked everywhere, mixed with some sand. He knew who had been there, and judging from the blood, it wasn't recent.

It took a total of five hours to get to the center tower. If it wasn't for Gaara and his team, he would have set a new record. They reached the tower in an hour and a half, four hours ahead of the previous record.

Before Yuro arrived, however, someone suddenly appeared ahead by coming out of a nearby tree. He could easily tell that it was Orochimaru. His previous disguise was thrown away after his fight with Team 7 and confrontation with Anko afterward.

"I had hoped you would take first place, but given the competition, second is just as fine. Congratulations Yuro-kun, you have passed!" He started to clap with a smile devoid of anything close to kindness. "Now let us go inside and wait for Kabuto."

He led Yuro inside using some method he couldn't discern. They bypassed all the barriers and seals set up. The hall here was quite empty, and he wondered about the purpose of this tower outside of these Exams.

'The forest is a training ground, so is this just another part of it as well?'

He took off his headband and bamboo hat now that they were useless, pulling down his mask which had been covering his face. There was nothing to do besides waiting for Kabuto's arrival, so Yuro sat with his back against the wall. Orochimaru decided to stand by a pillar for now, and Yuro was all too aware that this man was the only other person inside here.

"By the way Yuro-kun, now that you have passed this test, I think a reward is in order."

Hearing this, he knew that using this time to just laze about wasn't going to be an option. Orochimaru brought out a simple scroll and held it up.

"Throughout your journey here, you must have gone through quite a bit of trouble avoiding others. This should change that." He tossed it over to Yuro, who caught it and turned it over to see its title,

Inmen no Jutsu (Hiding in Surface Technique)

He widened his eyes and became genuinely surprised that Orochimaru would be giving him such a jutsu. This was a supplementary jutsu where one would be able to meld themselves into the environment's surface and travel along it, completely invisible to the naked eye.

The only way one would be able to notice the user would be if something was used to sense their chakra like the Sharingan or Byakugan. Yuro knew that this was a technique that Orochimaru currently used a lot.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama." He gave out without any sincerity. He imagined that this technique was not going to be easy to learn unless he was allowed to watch Orochimaru use it with his Sharingan active, but he refused to even ask the man for any kind of help.

'I'll just learn it on my own.'

Time passed by with him reading and practicing his new technique until over two days had passed. After much trial and error, he was able to completely use it. It still took too long to use during a battle, especially if his concentration was split. More practice was needed.

He would have been wondering about why Kabuto was taking so long, but he already knew and made it seem like he was too busy to care about asking. Kabuto's mission in the Chunin Exams was to acquire information about either Naruto or Sasuke he couldn't quite remember exactly. So Kabuto would arrive when Team 7 arrived.

Orochimaru had passed the time writing down in a notebook which Yuro guessed was him writing down ideas for future experiments. Food was no issue since they both prepared enough food for this exam beforehand and thankfully, the hall for some reason had a bathroom. It made him a little more curious about this tower's true purpose.

Yuro also refused to sleep since he was in the same room as Orochimaru who also didn't sleep. It was quite a disappointment since Yuro would have liked Orochimaru to not occasionally watch him practice while giving no pointers at all.

More time passed and the door to this hall was pushed open, revealing Kabuto and the other two members of his team, Akado Yoroi and Tsurugi Misumi, both of them being canon fodder. After this exam, they would never be seen or talked about again, most likely dead.

"What was the outcome?" Orochimaru immediately asked when the door closed behind them.

"He's already exceeded all projections." Kabuto walked towards us and brought out one of his info cards. "I've kept a careful record of his progress throughout the second exam. I figure you'll need this."

"And how was he?" Orochimaru then asked while taking the card.

"Heh heh, it almost sounds as if you're a bit worried, Orochimaru-sama."

"No, I'm just curious to hear your opinion as one of my sound ninja spies."

"That's not really necessary, is it? Because, just like always, the decision is yours alone."

"Heh, I do enjoy your intelligence. Good work." He turned towards Yuro. "Yuro-kun, go back to where we were staying. In one month, we'll begin." And with that, Orochimaru vanished. Yuro stared at where the man used to be for a few moments before realizing something.

Orochimaru wanted him to use this new technique to leave the Forest of Death. He had just barely started to learn it and now he's going to need to go for a test run through a place where people were looking for Orochimaru who is known to use this technique.

Kabuto gave a glance at the scroll he was reading before chucking. "Heh heh, good luck Yuro-san. Don't get caught." It seemed like he understood the idea while the other two didn't even pay attention to Yuro to which he did the same to them.

The three of them were going to continue on with the exam and he wasn't needed here. He got up and left through the door after looking to see if anyone was nearby and immediately ran up to the nearest tree's upper branches. He didn't want to use the technique while worrying about the three other people watching him.

After taking a few minutes to distance himself from the central tower, he used his new technique. It wasn't mastered yet, but he at least had a few days of practice. Now it was time to gain experience in the field.

-

It took quite a while to get out of the forest. He took some breaks since constantly using the same technique was currently strenuous. He also didn't know if there was truly any surveillance here but he didn't try to risk anything. Hours later he made it to where they were staying while in Konoha. He didn't notice anyone following him or noticing him at all, but to be honest, he hadn't even seen a single person on his way, only animals.

'Does Hiruzen even want to capture Orochimaru? He knows he's in the village and is planning something yet essentially does nothing.'

Yuro stopped his useless worrying. He walked right into the room he had been using and collapsed onto the bed roll. He hadn't slept at all since the test began and felt exhausted. And moments later, he was already asleep.