Civilians in Konoha, forging their own paths

By the time Dihuangwan and Might Dai arrived at the location of Kurama Feiyun and others, the three big snakes had already been dealt with by Kurama Feiyun and others. The price was that Might Dai's two teammates Kusama and Touji were eliminated. They were already injured, and this time they were even more seriously injured, so they could only stop in the first round.

At this point, there are only 14 candidates left in the first round, and there are still two hours left. As long as no one else is caught, only these 14 people will advance to the second round!

Two hours passed quickly, and the central tower area sent out a signal flare to indicate the end of the first round of exams. The candidates who passed the exams immediately went to the central tower area. The second round of exams would be held in the central tower.

After an hour's journey, Dihuangwan, Kurama Feiyun, Inuzuka Yoru, and Might Dai arrived at the central tower and were guided to the lounge to rest.

The second round of assessment will be held on the next day, and candidates who are injured or over-exerted need time to recover.

Finally, the number of people who passed the first round of assessment was thirteen. Because of one unlucky guy, he met Orochimaru, who was almost tricked and was in a bad mood on his way back to the central tower!

Outside the lounge, Dihuangwan met Anima and Okamura Taro who had also passed the first round. They also successfully passed after some twists and turns.

After exchanging pleasantries, the few of them returned to their respective lounges to recuperate and prepare for the second round of competitive exams.

The second round of battle exam is not a one-on-one battle between candidates as in the anime timeline, but a battle between candidates and senior Chunins. Winning or losing is not the final evaluation criterion, but mainly depends on the performance during the battle.

In Konoha Village, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was sitting in the Hokage's seat, and across from the desk, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were standing.

"Orochimaru, it's not against the rules for you to take part in the Chunin Exam yourself this time, and the passing rate is too low!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Teacher, although I took action personally, I did not use any strength beyond the level of a special jonin. If they failed, it only means that they have not practiced enough! It does not count as breaking the rules!" Orochimaru retorted.

"Having said that, your reputation is there. When the candidates see you, I'm afraid they won't be able to perform at even 70% of their full potential!" Jiraiya retorted.

"I don't want to argue with Baka!" said Orochimaru.

"What! Orochimaru! What do you mean, you stinky snake?!" Jiraiya immediately became angry.

Tsunade shook her head helplessly and punched Jiraiya on the head to stop the farce.

"Teacher, please come to the central tower to watch tomorrow's test! There is a very interesting little guy among the candidates this time!" said Orochimaru.

"Oh?! I'm very interested in taking a look at this candidate who you care so much about. Is there anything special about him?!" Sarutobi Hiruzen took two puffs of his pipe.

"He is very special. He is proficient in water-style ninjutsu and perception ninjutsu. His physical skills are also very high. He has developed ninjutsu of his own. Moreover, his combat skills are extremely high. I almost got tricked by him this time!" said Orochimaru.

After hearing what Orochimaru said, Jiraiya and Tsunade next to him became interested.

Tsunade said: "It's too much to almost trick a cunt like you in front of me!"

"No, that kid's overall strength is already good enough to be a top jonin. Teacher, I plan to have him join the Anbu after the Chunin Exam and be under my command!" said Orochimaru.

After saying this, Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at him sideways.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had been silent until now, but now he spoke up: "Orochimaru, the little guy you are talking about should be Dihuangmaru!"

The snake was stunned, "Teacher, so you know him. It seems that he has been in your sight for a long time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not reply, but looked out the window, recalling a conversation that had taken place in the Hokage's office half a month ago.

It turned out that half a month ago, after fighting with Dihuangmaru, Maruboshi Kosuke admired Dihuangmaru's talent and also recognized Dihuangmaru's bond with the village and his companions, so he found Sarutobi Hiruzen and wanted to pass on the water-style ninjutsu taught to him by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama to Dihuangmaru, and hoped that the village would pay attention to Dihuangmaru and give him more resources to help him grow faster.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not doubt Maruboshi Kosuke's words. During the first round of assessment, he watched the entire battle between Dihuangmaru and his disciple Orochimaru through the telescope technique he had just developed, and was deeply impressed.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen took care of his favorite disciple's face and did not tell anyone that he had watched the entire battle.

"Everything will be arranged after the Chunin Exam, when I meet Dihuangwan in person!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Then teacher, will you be in the second round of battle tomorrow?" Orochimaru asked.

"I'll go and see!" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Teacher, let's go and take a look! I'm also very interested in the little kid who almost tricked Orochimaru!" Jiraiya said.

Tsunade also nodded, indicating that she wanted to go and see.

Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed and the three of them walked out of the Hokage's office.

In the central tower of the Death Forest, Dihuangwan was practicing Tai Chi in the lounge to replenish the chakra and energy consumed during the day. Soon, all the chakra and energy consumed during the day were replenished.

At this time, it was raining heavily outside. Dihuangwan looked out the window, and his thoughts went back to the epiphany he had when he was on patrol in the southeast of the Fire Country. Ever since that epiphany, Dihuangwan had an inexplicable feeling about rainy days.

Dihuang Wan jumped out of the window and into the woods, letting the rain fall on his body. He relaxed his body and mind, letting his whole self blend into the rain, into the world!

The soul ascended again, and Dihuang Wan could sense all the areas covered by the rain: the peaceful Konoha Village, the hurried villagers holding umbrellas, the mother's own fruit shop was closing, the on-duty ninjas were changing shifts at the entrance of Konoha Village, in the Death Forest, a group of wild boars were leading their cubs to play in the mud, the big birds in the woods spread their wings in the nests, protecting their children under their bodies to prevent them from being rained on, and around the central tower, the on-duty ninjas were on guard in a hidden place.

The soul returned to the body, Dihuang Wan opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of white air, which was the heaven and earth energy that Dantian could not contain. At this time, the energy in Dantian grew a little bit, about one third larger than before. The capacity of chakra also increased again, reaching the amount of 60 C-level ninjutsu. In addition, the control over water attribute was further improved.

However, now is not the time and place to test ninjutsu.

Dihuangwan returned to the lounge again and lay on the floor. "I feel that my Qi perception technique on rainy days is even stronger than Uzumaki Nagato's Rain Tiger Free Technique, and not only does it not consume chakra and qi, but it actually increases it!"

In the future, I must seize every opportunity to practice on rainy days. Soon, the Second Ninja World War will begin, and I must find a way to participate in the battlefield of the Rain Country. In the environment of the Rain Country, my strength will surely grow by leaps and bounds.

"I wonder what kind of opponent Orochimaru will arrange for me tomorrow. An ordinary Chunin is not good enough!" Dihuangwan thought, and then fell asleep to rest.

Dihuangwan could never have imagined that his opponent tomorrow would be that famous man! And his opponent was not arranged by Orochimaru, but by the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen himself!