Nagato wasn't a total moron. He and Konan had both registered for the exams under their Akatsuki codenames: Zero and White Tiger. Pain, however, just used his real name. As far as Jiraiya could tell from the registration lists, everything looked fine. He didn't see any red flags.
"Pain..." Jiraiya murmured, lost in thought.
"They're moving awfully aggressively," Kakashi noted, his eyes fixed on the monitor. On the screen, the top-performing team from the Rain Village was tearing through the Forest of Death.
It was obvious. Either they had incredible sensory skills, or they just didn't give a shit about their opponents. Maybe it was a bit of both.
Just then, one of the proctors burst in with the first major incident of the exams.
"Lord Jiraiya, we have a situation!"
Yeah, a bad one. A really bad one.
A Konoha patrol had found three dead ninjas. The scariest part? All three of their faces had been melted off by a unique jutsu.
"The Face-Stealing Jutsu."
The moment Jiraiya arrived on the scene, his expression turned grim. He immediately thought of an old teammate.
"This jutsu... it's Orochimaru's."
The Face-Stealing Jutsu lets the user literally wear someone else's face, making it the perfect tool for infiltration. Only a handful of people in the entire ninja world could use it, and Jiraiya had only ever seen his former friend, Orochimaru, pull it off.
A wave of fear washed over the Konoha ninja at the scene. Orochimaru wasn't just some rogue ninja; he was a former high-ranking leader of their village, and his name still carried a terrifying weight.
Just a few months ago, his subordinates had tricked Mizuki into nearly causing another Nine-Tails catastrophe, reminding everyone just how dangerous he was.
Even with S-rank threats like Itachi and Obito Uchiha on the loose, Orochimaru was, in many ways, a far more chilling enemy to Konoha.
"Anko-sensei thinks so, too," one of the ninja reported grimly. "She believes Orochimaru has already infiltrated the exam. She's tracking him now."
"She's no match for him!" Jiraiya blurted out, shocked by Anko's recklessness.
He immediately took off, sprinting toward the Forest of Death. There was no way Anko would survive a fight with Orochimaru.
It was an unwritten rule: only one of the Sannin could truly stand against another.
What the hell is he planning? Jiraiya wondered, his heart pounding as he rushed through the trees. What does my old friend want? Is he going to try and unleash the Nine-Tails again, using Naruto?
If another Nine-Tails disaster happened during the Chunin Exams, the political fallout would be catastrophic. Worse, Jiraiya knew that the last line of defense—the seal Minato had left inside Naruto—was already gone.
It had been used up during the last incident. If it happened again...
The thought made Jiraiya sick. He pushed himself to run even faster.
But Jiraiya had missed something.
Back at the crime scene, as the other ninja were cleaning up, Kakashi noticed something else.
"Wait a minute..." he muttered. "This isn't just Orochimaru."
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan. His face grew even darker. "There are traces of a Sharingan genjutsu on the bodies."
Ever since he'd learned that his Kamui Mangekyo was linked to the same dimension as Obito's, Kakashi had been training relentlessly with that eye. He knew it was his best shot at defeating his former friend. Because of that, he was hyper-aware of anything related to the Sharingan.
There were only a few Sharingan users left in the world. Itachi had a dark past, but he'd also helped Kakashi before, so it was unlikely he was working against Konoha.
Sasuke was just a twelve-year-old genin, and his Sharingan wasn't nearly strong enough to pull off a genjutsu like this.
Kakashi placed his fingers on the corpse's neck, his expression hardening. He knew who did this.
Obito... He's here, too.
This was bad.
Kakashi had no idea what his old friend was planning, but he knew it couldn't be good.
Is he going to try and cause another Nine-Tails disaster?
Both Obito and Orochimaru were S-rank criminals who had unleashed the Nine-Tails on Konoha before. It made perfect sense that they'd team up. Orochimaru's last attempt had failed, so maybe he'd brought Obito in to make sure it worked this time. They already seemed to have a connection.
And the worst part? T
he Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, was right in the middle of it all, competing in the damn exams. Just as Jiraiya feared what Orochimaru would do, Kakashi couldn't bear the thought of Obito being behind another tragedy like that.
Obito... don't do something stupid again.
Kakashi took off, chasing after Jiraiya. He couldn't just stand by while Obito was in the village.
-----
Meanwhile, deep inside the Forest of Death, Obito was indeed there. And he was, in fact, with Orochimaru. Emiya Shirou had ordered him to keep an eye on the snake Sannin, and Obito wasn't about to screw that up. He was being extra careful about everything he said and did.
"Don't cause any trouble," Obito said, his voice low. He glanced over at Team 7, who were resting in the distance. "That team has the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The Nine-Tails is critical to Akatsuki's plan. If you try to harm him, neither I nor Emiya Shirou will let you get away with it. I don't care how good you are at escaping; you can't run from both of us."
"Relax," Orochimaru hissed, his greedy eyes fixed not on Naruto, but on the black-haired boy next to him. "I'm not interested in the Nine-Tails. I'm much more interested in one of those other kids."
"Uchiha Sasuke, right?" Obito scoffed, clearly not buying it. "That brat doesn't have half the talent Itachi does."
Though Shirou seemed to think highly of Sasuke, Obito enjoyed going against his opinion and personally rated Itachi much higher.
At twelve, Sasuke was just some genin. At twelve, Itachi had already awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan.
"I'm just interested in his body," Orochimaru said, licking his lips with a sick smile. "Until I achieve true immortality, I require a suitable vessel to use as a stand-in. That handsome little boy would make a fine candidate."
"Hmph," Obito snorted. "You'd better hope Itachi doesn't find out. He still wants his little brother's eyes for himself."
He also knew that Shirou was keeping an eye on Sasuke.
Since he still needed Orochimaru for his own plans, he added another warning. "And don't even think about touching Sasuke until after the big plan is done. Emiya Shirou seems to have an interest in the kid, too."
"I just want to test his potential," Orochimaru chuckled softly. He wasn't stupid enough to make a move now and risk provoking Shirou. "Let's consider the boy... a trophy for after we succeed. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Whatever," Obito replied, not giving a damn about Sasuke's fate. As long as Orochimaru reanimated the first three Hokage during the exams and helped him get rid of Emiya Shirou, Obito was ready to betray anyone.
All that mattered was the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Soon, the whole world would be in his hands. Sasuke, Itachi, even Orochimaru—none of them would matter. It wasn't that they would stop mattering; it was that in the face of his new world, they were already meaningless.
"Even better, then," Orochimaru said with a sly grin, his fingers slowly forming a hand seal. A glint of malice appeared in his eyes. "If the boy's talent meets my standards, I'll give him a little gift."