The two men were barely evenly matched, but when they were both exhausted, one of them suddenly became stronger, and the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Even if Sakura tried her best to resist, it was of no avail. The previous outburst had consumed too much chakra, and the continuous fierce fighting had made her extremely tired. Although the Breathing Technique provided a large amount of chakra, it was not unlimited.

Sakura's defense is not impeccable. She is hit by Chidori's lightning from time to time. Yin Yushangmie is also constantly taking effect. Which of these techniques does not consume a lot of chakra?

When Sakura was knocked down again and again, and got up to fight again and again, and even the chakra provided by the Breathing Technique began to run out, she had no choice but to lose the match.

In the end, Uchiha Sasuke was more skilled and defeated his companion Haruno Sakura. When Yamashiro Aoba announced the result, Uchiha Sasuke glanced at Haruno Sakura who was carried out of the venue by medical ninjas, then ignored the crowd cheering for him in the stands and silently walked into the stands area where the candidates were waiting.

There weren't many people left here, and when Sasuke came back to rest, Aburame Shino and Hyuga Neji glanced at him, then looked at Sasuke who was covered in injuries, then walked down the stands and began to prepare for the final semi-final.

After a while, two medical ninjas came over from the backstage, and after obtaining Sasuke's consent, they began to give him some necessary treatment. Finally, they left a box of military ration pills for Sasuke to use at will.

“That’s really thoughtful.”

Sasuke picked one up and threw it into his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. Feeling the dried chakra slowly recover, his anxious heart was slightly relieved.

Neither Hyuga Neji nor Aburame Shino are opponents who can be easily defeated. In this horrible state, I will definitely not be able to recover much in a short period of time. I guess my next opponent will not be much better.

…

When Uchiha Sasuke's cursed seal erupted, in an underground laboratory thousands of miles away, Orochimaru suddenly put down his hands that were doing experiments and looked at the direction where the strange fluctuations had just come from with great interest.

"Is this feeling from Red Bean or Sasuke? Judging from the fluctuations of the explosion, it should be Sasuke who has this potential. What happened that made him break free of the curse and look for strength?"

As long as it didn't involve death, Orochimaru had never worried that the Heaven's Curse Seal would be removed artificially. If someone could really do that, they wouldn't care about such a trivial matter as the Curse Seal.

"Did something go wrong? Orochimaru-sama?"

Pharmacist Kabuto, who was working as an experimental assistant, asked.

Orochimaru laughed strangely a few times and said in a hoarse voice:

"My prey is almost losing its temper. It won't be long before it falls into my control."

"Really? Congratulations, Lord Orochimaru. You will soon get the Sharingan."

"Yeah." Orochimaru looked down at his struggling experiment and said nonchalantly, "Kabuto, aren't you tired of playing with those toys you snatched from Danzo? Don't delay my work!"

"I understand. Sorry for the trouble."

Although Yakushi Kabuto answered respectfully, there was a huge wave of emotion in his heart.

"Found out by Lord Orochimaru? No, he probably knows what I did, but he still doesn't know what the purpose is!"

Orochimaru had no reaction to Kabuto Yakushi's answer, as if he didn't hear it, and continued with the experiment in his hand. After a long time, the experimental subject, which originally had some life signs, completely turned into a lifeless corpse.

“Failed again!”

Putting down the scalpel in his hand, Orochimaru took off the gloves on both hands.

"It seems I made a mistake. This is not a phenomenon that can be explained by a simple cell transplant!"

It has been a while since Orochimaru studied the cell samples of Gekkou Gale sent by Shimura Danzo. Originally, Orochimaru did not pay much attention to it, but through repeated wrong analysis, he gradually discovered the unusualness of these cell samples.

The cells were somewhat similar to those of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, whom they had come into contact with before. They both had an unusual vitality, but were also somewhat different, as if they were a product of extreme deterioration.

It was obvious that the remaining vitality of the cell sample of Moonlight Gale was running low. But strangely, when the cells were cultured in a normal environment, the loss of life span was basically negligible within the observable number of divisions of the cell sample, which shocked Orochimaru.

If I had known the method of making this kind of cells more than ten years ago, I wouldn't have to be so anxious to find a way to live forever. After so many years of tireless research, I only got a way to reincarnate without corpses, which has side effects.

Orochimaru, who has an extraordinary curiosity about the unknown, was completely attracted by this strange little thing.

"Some time ago, Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi went to Konoha Village. It was said that they were repelled. Many people said that it was Jiraiya who did it. What do you think, Kabuto?"

"It should be Mizuki!"

Pharmacist Dou had cold sweat on his forehead and answered with a guilty conscience.

Orochimaru nodded in agreement: "I also went to check out that battlefield. It was a very powerful fire escape, but that is not Jiraiya's style."

"Also, there are some unusual situations that concern me. Some traces of ninjutsu are not like ordinary earth escape techniques. Only fairy techniques can have that kind of effect. This makes me feel a little familiar. Kabuto, do you know anything?"

"I'm not sure, Lord Orochimaru. I haven't seen the battle scene, so it's hard to say..."

"Really..."

The drawn-out ending tone carried an inexplicable dry laugh, which made the pharmacist's head tingle.

"It's okay if you don't know. Go out and gather more information when you have time. There are more and more interesting people in the ninja world now."

After saying that, Orochimaru turned and walked out of the laboratory.

“I almost thought I was going to be killed.”

The pharmacist wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and kept complaining about how Shuimu was causing so much harm to others.

At the same time, in a secret place in Konoha Village, Danzo Shimura was listening to the reports from his subordinates.

"Continue to monitor the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. Pay extra attention to the other two Taki-nin. If necessary, take them hostage."

It can be seen that the naive Fu is an emotional female ninja. If she really wants to run, no one can catch up with her speed. Only by threatening her with hostages can she accept the fate of being captured.

"After the Chunin Exam, be ready to act at any time. If you can secretly capture them and pin the blame on Akatsuki, that would be great. But if you can't, that's fine too..."