Chapter 9

Taro had his genin calm and collected by five the next morning. He signaled that they were leaving to eat. Naruto had them in a deserted training ground five minutes later.

He pulled out a small scroll and unsealed a massive quantity of food. He pushed a reasonable quantity of food off the sealing scroll and then collapsed the storage seal again.

"Eat. It may be the last normal meal you have in some time," Taro said.

None of the genin objected. None of them spoke until the food was gone. They had all been trained to take food when it was offered; to take sleep whenever possible. Their questions could wait.

Taro ate little and started speaking once Number 3 finished eating. "I have not heard about any cancellations, so I have to assume that the decrepit Hokage did nothing with my warning. They may have people patrolling the exam area, but it would take a large group of trained ninja…or a group with highly complementary skills, like you three…to even budge a Sannin who didn't want to leave. Thinking back over the situation yesterday, you were lucky that the Sannin didn't pull out his major techniques. He must have been trying to be 'subtle' with his infiltration. Inside that forest…or in other places, who knows? Whatever happens is not going to be anything good.

"He could pull out a technique strong enough to burn a quarter of that forest, I have no doubt. Or he could summon Manda, the boss snake. The damage that particular summon could inflict would be massive. We were lucky yesterday. He underestimated you once; he won't do it again. Okay? Warning over."

The three shared looks.

"What should we do, Number Four, if he returns?" Number One asked.

"The risk is low you'll run into him again. His plan, whatever it is, is bigger than three genin from Grass. So, try to ignore this threat for now. Strike fast, strike hard, hamstring everyone you come across. But, if you come across anyone with the feel of Orochimaru's chakra, flee. I had hoped this wouldn't be necessary, but it seems it is."

Taro reached into one of his pockets and pulled out three small carved blocks of wood.

He handed a rhinoceros sculpture to Number One; a wolf sculpture to Number Two; and dragon sculpture to Number Three.

"These are of my creation. In a dire emergency, channel chakra, as much as you can spare, into these. The more chakra you pour into it, the larger and more powerful these guardians become…."

Number Three looked confused. "Is this a summon animal?"

Taro shook his head. "No, this is an autonomous puppet that expands and activates when you channel chakra into it. It will follow simple instructions from the one who activated it. It was inspired by summoned creatures, but it doesn't require a contract…."

Number Two turned her sculpture over and over. "How big will it get?"

Taro looked up and saw it was still an hour until daybreak. "I have another in my pocket. Why don't I show you."

Taro pulled out a carved statue of an orangutan and channeled his chakra into it. As it began to expand, he threw it thirty feet away at the edge of the clearing. Fifteen seconds later it stopped growing. It was easily as tall as the tallest trees, more than thirty meters tall.

The orangutan had long, razor sharp claws and its face looked angry terrifying with a mouth full of teeth.

Taro looked up and yelled, "Attack that tree." He pointed. A second later the tree was uprooted and being used as a toothpick in the construct's mouth.

The genin were shocked into silence, but not for long.

Number One got in the first question, "How hard is it to damage?"

Taro smiled. "A determined S-class opponent could take it down in a few minutes, maybe six or eight. Attacking tiny ninja isn't the strength of these creatures, though. I'm giving them to you more to protect you from giant summons. Orochimaru is known for using summon animals in many of his techniques."

The rest of the morning passed in training and discussions regarding how best to handle the Forest of Death. Taro had heard several hints from Konoha jounin about this segment; the fools couldn't keep their lips shut even during a test.

Taro walked his students to the test beginning. They didn't notice it but he left a few hundred micropuppets scattered on his students. Half of them were loaded with chakra poison seals; the other half were loaded with a paralysis solution.

Such an arsenal could give his students a needed advantage in an ambush.

He left his genin at the staging area. He would be tracking their progress through his micropuppets. High levels of chakra in an area vibrated right down the chakra strings, like a primitive form of communication.

Taro had prepared them and equipped them with emergency protections. They would do well.

Taro had to ponder the bigger issues. What exactly was going on in this stupid village?

Security had always been relaxed, after all Naruto had escaped at the age of eight and returned without notice at age nine. But not to notice a Sannin entering the village…not to up the readiness of the ninja corps when foreigners were in town. Did they want to be invaded and conquered?

It certainly seemed like dereliction of duty.

It didn't take long for Taro to find where some of the other jounin were waiting out the second exam, a dive bar near to the largest ninja store in Konoha.

Taro took in the various hita-ites. Only a couple from Konoha; Rain had a few; Suna had one; a few of the smaller villages, like Waterfall and Tea; and one was a musical note, which Taro didn't recognize. The one wearing the note scowled at Taro before schooling his expression.

Interesting.

Taro ordered a beer and sat down. He was going to get a reading of the room. It didn't take long.

The Suna jounin walked over to Taro's table and sat down.

"I hear you're one tough son of a bitch," the jounin stated.

Taro laughed. "Bunch of gossipy old women, instead of ninjas."

"About damn right. I'm called Paku, sensei to the most ragtag group of genin I've ever seen."

"I'm Taro of the River. My students will do well."

Paku swallowed some beer and then smirked. "Tell me, is it true you ran into a certain snake-like man yesterday?"

Taro raised his bottle and smiled.

"I see. I'd be real curious how a guy like you can drive off someone like Orochimaru."

Taro realized this was more than idle gossip now. The man was fishing for a reason. He had the slightest tone of desperation about him.

Taro began to open his mouth to respond, when he felt vibrations of a sort come down his chakra strings. His genin were nearing something…unnatural. He took direct control of a dozen micropuppets that flew out of the clothing they were hiding in. A hundred meters away, the Suna genin team, or their smallest team mate, was destroying another team. A bloodbath.

The chakra was wrong. It was demonic and it came from the small ninja.

What was it? As Naruto watched more and more of the horror, he had an awful realization. The red head was jinchuuriki. Not only that, he was directly accessing demonic chakra and skills. A shiver went down Naruto's back.

Suna had brought an undeclared demon container.

They were up to something. The way this jounin was unsubtly probing for information. Curious; disturbing.

"If such a thing did happen, you'll have to read about when I finally get around to publishing my memoirs."

Taro smiled. Paku laughed. Very few ninja lived old enough to sit down and write memoirs.

"I like I like you, Grass Guy. You tell your genin how to get through the Forest?"

"No. I didn't get a copy of the plans. Did Konoha hand those out?"

A shake of the head. "Just to their jounin, it sounds like."

"Well, cheating is a tradition, isn't it?"

Paku finished off his drink and stood up. "The only ones who yell about cheating are the losers."

Taro nodded and tilted his beer back. "I'll drink to that."