In Konoha Hidden Leaf Village, within a training ground.
Orochimaru quietly observed the three people before him, who were his students.
"You've been with me for several months now, and I've seen your growth with my own eyes." Orochimaru swept his gaze over Tengen, Uchiha Shuren, and Anko. "The Chunin Exams are about to begin. Do the three of you wish to participate?"
"Let me tell you in advance, this Chunin Exam will not be simple. This time, ninja villages from the other Four Great Nations will come here to participate. It can be called a feast of strong individuals, so the difficulty will be particularly high."
"I want to participate," Tengen said. Only by raising his ninja rank could Tengen gain more freedom in the future, allowing him to undertake missions alone.
"Me too," Uchiha Shuren quickly nodded in agreement.
In just a few months, Uchiha Shuren's strength had also improved significantly.
"Then I'll participate too," Anko also raised her hand.
"Anko, your strength is still quite lacking," Orochimaru said slowly upon hearing Anko's words.
In a matter of months, Anko's strength among genin was decent, but she was still a bit short of chunin level. Perhaps in another year, it would be about right.
"Orochimaru-sensei, haven't the Chunin Exams not started yet?" Anko quickly said, "So Orochimaru-sensei can train me."
"Hmm, alright." Orochimaru thought for a moment and nodded. "The Chunin Exams will begin in half a month. Tengen, Uchiha Shuren, what are your thoughts?"
"Orochimaru-sensei, I won't be training," Tengen said. "With my strength, passing the Chunin Exams shouldn't be too difficult."
"That is true." Orochimaru smiled slightly. With Tengen's current strength, passing the Chunin Exams would indeed be easy.
Because at this moment, Tengen already possessed the strength to defeat a chunin, of course, this was the strength he displayed in front of Orochimaru.
But even that was already an exaggeration. To possess chunin-level strength at nine years old was truly the mark of a genius.
"Orochimaru-sensei, during this time, I want to find my clan members to train me. I feel like my Sharingan is almost ready," Uchiha Shuren said.
"Sharingan," Orochimaru revealed a hint of a smile. "Good, no problem."
"Anko, you must work hard," Tengen encouraged Anko.
"Don't worry," Anko Mitarashi nodded.
Immediately after, Tengen and the others left the training ground.
Not long after Tengen left, he encountered an Anbu, who stated that the Hokage wished to see him. This left Tengen somewhat puzzled as to what the Third Hokage wanted with him.
As for the Root's past investigations being uncovered, Tengen didn't believe that, because so much time had passed. If they could have found anything, they would have long since done so.
During this time, Tengen had been diligently carrying out missions, and occasionally, he would still go alone to eliminate rogue ninja or ninja from other villages.
Of course, Tengen wouldn't let anyone see his Konoha forehead protector, which was so easily recognizable.
Moreover, many times, Tengen would directly kill those ninja; situations like the one with Sasori of the Red Sand were extremely rare.
With Tengen's current jonin-level strength, he had the opportunity to defeat them, as long as they weren't elite jonin with established reputations.
Although Tengen's chakra level might still only be at the chunin level, his overall strength was incredibly formidable.
Naturally, some things still couldn't be used, such as the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
If such a thing were exposed, there would be no way to explain it. Of course, he could claim to be an Uchiha clan member, but who could verify whether Tengen's ancestors truly had Uchiha blood?
However, at this moment, Tengen had not yet faced the power of this clan or even the ninja village, so he would not expose it for the time being.
To be honest, although the Sharingan could increase Tengen's strength now, the increase wasn't that significant.
Well, the main thing was that Tengen had too many abilities he could use now.
At the same time, Tengen's strongest aspect was his taijutsu.
"Tengen-genin, please come in," the Anbu member said, stepping aside.
"Oh." With a puzzled expression, Tengen walked in and saw the Third Hokage alone. He immediately said, "Old man, what do you want with me?"
"Cough cough, Tengen, how have you been with Orochimaru lately?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"It's fine. Orochimaru-sensei still has a very deep understanding of ninjutsu, and he is one of Konoha's Three Sannin after all," Tengen said nonchalantly. "Old man, just tell me, what do you need me for?"
"Do you still have those cigarettes?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked softly.
"Old man, you called me here just for that?" Tengen was startled. Hiruzen Sarutobi had asked Tengen for cigarettes before, and Tengen had naturally given him some. Could they have finished them so quickly?
"That's one thing," Hiruzen Sarutobi said awkwardly. "There's also another question: did you give Asuma those cigarettes too?"
"No, absolutely not," Tengen shook his head. "It must have been someone else. But I only gave them to you, old man, and Jiraiya."
"Is that so?" Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment.
He had this question because he found that Asuma had become addicted to cigarettes. Although Asuma's performance had improved since he started smoking, he seemed to be acting more and more like a hooligan.
"I'll give you those cigarettes tomorrow. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving," Tengen grumbled.
For such a trivial matter, Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent an Anbu to invite him over. Was that really necessary?
"Oh, nothing much." Hiruzen Sarutobi came to his senses, then, as Tengen was about to leave, he said, "Oh right, Tengen, go find Tsunade more often."
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