Thanks to his exceptional talent for disguise, it was extremely easy for Yakushi Kabuto to blend into a group of genin. As a senior ninja with considerable experience in the Chunin Exams, subtly manipulating a few younger genin was effortless. Acting as a field observer, he intentionally allowed Sasuke to participate in battles, testing the effects of the cursed seal while ensuring they passed the exam. At the same time, he could provide targeted combat analysis and guidance.
With their seven-man squad's strength, and without interference from Orochimaru or the One-Tail Jinchuriki, they had become an incredibly powerful force. Apart from minor troubles from illusionary-style ninja—the only obstacle according to the original plot at that stage—they advanced far more smoothly than in the original story. Particularly after both Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha experienced battle situations similar to their fight against Mizuki, they quickly found countermeasures thanks to their outstanding talents. As a result, they finished the second exam in the Forest of Death much earlier than in the original story, thanks to their earlier battle experiences similar to the one against Mizuki.
Soon afterward, at the site where Sasuke had battled the three Otogakure ninja, Mizuki secretly picked up several apparently discarded, worn-out scrolls and sealing tags left on the battlefield, satisfied with the outcome of this mission.
"I hope this discovery helps me understand something useful—ideally helping me deal with the cursed seal's threat."
From what Mizuki had learned in recent days, the cursed seal wasn't as simple as he initially imagined. Every time he thought about having something inside his body that he couldn't control, vague worries always surfaced.
"This mission is over. I'll handle the report; you just make sure the injured are taken care of."
After wrapping things up, Mizuki hurried back home.
"I need to process these items quickly. If too much time passes, the sealed chakra might change, causing trouble."
In the center of the Forest of Death, once the final group of qualified candidates arrived, the second exam ended ahead of schedule. Without mentioning the hidden darkness lurking beneath, the Third Hokage addressed the successful examinees about the purpose and significance of holding the Chunin Exams before announcing the upcoming third preliminary round, which would be overseen by examiner and referee Hayate Gekko. Just like the original storyline, upon discovering Orochimaru disguised as a Jonin, Kabuto withdrew from the exams.
The subsequent events involved only minor deviations from the main path. While Naruto Uzumaki's advancement contained significant elements of luck, the rest were dominated by strong contenders. In unrestricted face-to-face duels, those lacking sufficient strength had little opportunity. The only notable change occurred during Sakura Haruno's match against Ino Yamanaka. Originally, Ino Yamanaka had deliberately held back, resulting in a draw between her and Sakura, costing both their qualifications.
This time, however, the situation was different. During the Forest of Death phase, Ino unexpectedly sustained injuries that severely weakened her physical condition. Meanwhile, Sakura hadn't engaged in an intense battle with Otogakure ninja as she originally did, remaining unharmed. Consequently, Sakura was in much better shape than Ino. In the intense head-to-head match between the two kunoichi, Ino collapsed first due to her poor physical condition.
Eventually, the number of participants in the third stage of the Chunin Exams had been reduced from the original count. Since the number was even, there was no need for an extra match. Dosu, who originally wasn't supposed to proceed, was selected to face Sakura Haruno, who had surprisingly advanced to the third exam. The winner would face whoever emerged victorious between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga in the next round of the elimination matches.
As night fell, Mizuki, who had been busy all day, felt extremely exhausted—his body still hadn't fully recovered. After submitting his mission report and safely storing the chakra extracted during Sasuke Uchiha's cursed seal activation, Mizuki cleaned up, grabbed a quick meal, and went to bed early. Tsubaki had also been unusually busy lately and hadn't visited for the past couple days, so Mizuki's life had become quite simple.
Lying in bed, he quietly read through some materials on Kuchiyose no Jutsu for a while before suddenly feeling dizzy and overwhelmed.
『There's something off about this Summoning Technique』
In the ninja world, the Summoning Techniques—to be more precise—are a type of contract-based ninja art. Famous examples included the Sannin's frogs, snakes, and slugs—powerful summoned beast groups. There were also less prominent ones like Third Hokage's Enma or Kakashi Hatake's Ninja Hounds. Of course, some ninjas gradually developed their own summons by bonding with wild animals; these typically lacked permanent strongholds like Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, or Shikkotsu Forest. Then there were temporary summons like the jellyfish Mizuki often used—discarded after use and of little value.
Most people rarely paid special attention to the summoned beasts themselves, treating them merely as powerful battle companions.
Mizuki himself couldn't exclude this mindset either. Take Jiraiya, for example—he showed promise but wasn't especially remarkable. Yet when he was still relatively weak, the frog summons approached him, helping Jiraiya through his most critical growth phase. They even taught him Sage Art—a technique that even Orochimaru failed to master. The exact reason behind this remained unknown; it was only mentioned that it was connected to a prophecy from the Great Toad Sage, stating that he must seek out the destined child. Even as someone who came from another world, Mizuki couldn't unravel these mysteries completely, so it was safe to assume very few others in the ninja world understood them either.
Nevertheless, Mizuki could still sense something off. Setting aside the various forms and secret techniques unique to different summoned beasts, there was one key aspect everyone seemed to overlook—the signing of contracts and the summoning process itself.
Regarding contract signings, since Mizuki never actually witnessed one firsthand and only used generic temporary summons, he knew nothing about those major summoning clans' contracts. From his memories, however, these contracts seemed to be exchange agreements enforced by the power of the world itself. He needed to personally witness what one truly entailed to understand its benefits and costs.
Even more fascinating was the summoning process itself. During summoning, the summoned beasts crossed space to come forth and fight for their user—if they could win, they fought; if not, they simply retreated. Rarely did they suffer serious injuries or even death.
[Kuchiyose no Jutsu and Reverse Summoning]—even in a world where spatial structures weren't stable, being able to travel back and forth using space-time techniques like this felt far too convenient. This was what puzzled Mizuki the most.
What troubled Mizuki even more was the summoner. In most summoning rituals, the ritualist would bite their finger to draw blood, using it as a conduit for the Summoning. This phrase, "Blood as the medium," was mentioned in nearly all Summoning references.
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