Although the Hidden Leaf Village had expanded several times over, it was still a village built around ninja. As a result, training grounds like the Practice Field were all preserved.
This was essential for giving shinobi places to train and grow stronger.
That was exactly why the assassin from the Exchange Station dared to make a move on Sora here.
Not long after the battle ended, Kakashi showed up with a few Anbu members.
Seeing Sora standing there, completely unscathed, Kakashi sighed helplessly.
"Why is it always you getting into trouble?"
Kakashi was starting to develop a real grudge against this kid. Didn't Sora know that the new volume of Icha Icha Paradise was out already?
Sora caused some incident almost every day—how was Kakashi supposed to enjoy Jiraiya-sama's latest masterpiece in peace?
If Sora had known what was going through Kakashi's head, he would've taught him exactly why flowers bloom so red.
"Yo, it's you again, Kakashi."
Sora greeted him with a carefree smile, but deep down he was grumbling. It was always this guy showing up—but couldn't he ever arrive on time?
He'd already handled the enemy himself. What use was Kakashi showing up late every time?
At this point, Kakashi was no better than the police in Sora's previous life—always showing up to clean up after the damage was done.
After a few words of idle chatter, they went their separate ways. Sora quickly returned home.
He had dinner with Kushina and then retreated to his room.
Minato had been incredibly busy lately, constantly working overtime and unable to come home for meals.
Once he shut the door behind him, Sora began reflecting on the events of the day.
He was sure he hadn't mistaken the symbol on that attacker—it was definitely from the Exchange Station.
That meant this guy had infiltrated a small ninja village just to sneak into Konoha and assassinate him.
And if one had made it in, were there more?
Were the other two in his team also from the Exchange Station?
"You want to keep hounding me? Fine. Let's see who outplays who. Just so happens I need to push my power further."
The relentless assassination attempts were starting to wear on him. These rats who didn't dare show themselves really thought they were invincible?
Sora had asked Jiraiya about the Exchange Station and already had a rough understanding of the organization.
It was a mixed bag of individuals, but mainly consisted of ninja and samurai. On rare occasions, even onmyoji could be found among them.
The weaker members were equivalent to Genin, but the strong ones could rival—or even kill—elite Jōnin.
No one knew who the leader of the Exchange Station was. All they knew was that the group had existed for over a thousand years.
No matter how the ninja world shifted, the Exchange Station endured.
If Sora hadn't known the truth about Black Zetsu, he would've suspected this was one of its creations.
"Absolute Death Order…"
Recalling Jiraiya's serious expression when he explained this, a cold smile crept across Sora's face.
"If you kill someone from the Exchange Station, they hunt you to the ends of the earth, huh?"
According to Jiraiya, even killing a dog owned by the Exchange Station would earn you a death sentence—they would pursue you until the place where you died.
Sora scoffed at that.
Where were they when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were alive? Too scared to move, weren't they?
Going over everything he knew, Sora decided that after the Chūnin Exams, he would leave Konoha.
Then he'd find and wipe out every base of the Exchange Station he could, collecting cards from their corpses.
Considering he could only get cards by personally killing enemies, this was perfect. They were basically offering themselves to him.
"I'll ask Jiraiya every day about the locations of Exchange Station strongholds."
Muttering to himself, Sora yanked his blanket over his head and drifted off to sleep.
…
When he woke up the next morning, he enjoyed a homemade breakfast from Kushina, then made his way to the Forest of Death.
Scanning the area, he saw that out of the 300+ ninja from the day before, only 106 remained—35 teams, plus him.
Scratching his head, Sora emptied his mind and stood still like a statue.
"Look at that brat. Who does he think he is, joining the exam alone? Let's teach him a lesson."
"Heh, time to show him this isn't some kiddie ninja game."
"Bunch of bored losers—but whatever, do what you want."
…
Among the 105 remaining ninja, quite a few were eyeing Sora like prey, filled with hostility.
To them, the Leaf had insulted everyone by sending a little kid to the exam. Did they really think so little of the other villages?
Of course, some of this agitation was intentionally stirred up by members of the Exchange Station, hoping to muddy the waters and sneak around unnoticed.
"I'm Akimichi Dingza, the proctor for the second exam. Step forward and sign your waiver!"
It wasn't until then that Sora snapped out of his thoughts. He already knew all this, so he casually stepped up and scribbled his name.
Once everyone had signed, Dingza began to explain the rules.
"There are twelve scrolls hidden throughout the Forest of Death in dangerous locations. You have five days to find one and reach the central tower to pass."
As soon as he finished, nearly every non-Leaf ninja turned their attention toward Sora.
Each scroll could only let one team pass, meaning at most twelve teams could succeed.
But there were 36 teams present. Far too many for too few scrolls.
This meant every team was a rival—and the weakest among them was clearly Sora: a six-year-old with no teammates.
Some teams lacking tracking ninjutsu had already made up their minds. They'd eliminate other teams first and then take their time searching.
Or they'd wait for someone else to find a scroll and then snatch it away.
Seeing all their stares, Sora simply sneered.
Even their Jōnin team leaders wouldn't be able to touch me—what makes you think you can?
"Enter now!"
At Dingza's command, several Chūnin behind him opened the massive gates, letting everyone enter.
Each team was assigned a different entrance. Sora's was Entrance #44.
Ignoring everyone's glances, he strolled in confidently.
"Tch, Entrance #44 of the Forest of Death. Seriously…"
The more he thought about it, the more ominous it sounded. Sora made a mental note to beat up whoever had assigned him this gate.
Back at the Hokage's office, Kakashi was helping Minato organize paperwork when he suddenly shivered.
A cold chill ran down his spine.
"Kakashi? Are you feeling sick?"
Minato's gentle voice melted the icy air as he looked at him with concern.
"Ah, no… I'm fine."
Kakashi shook his head and buried himself deeper into the paperwork pile.