"I am sorry, I don't know you, but I hope we can fight each other in the arena and settle who is the strongest chunin." Lee came forward and stood face-to-face with Aoto, who was busy talking with the three of Team 7.
This made everyone silent. Forget about the other teams, even Gaara's team, who was nearby, had a look of disbelief on their faces.
"Baka.. Do you even know who he is?" Neji came and hit Lee on the head while asking that.
"Huh?"
"You bastard! Apologize. He is the chief examiner. Do you want us to fail?" Tenten was freaking out at the moment and was holding the throat of Lee tightly. He was almost choking.
"Tenten.. Leave.. Leave me. I can't breathe." Lee somehow uttered those words and was finally let go. Team 7 and others were laughing at Lee, and even the other teams from different villages.
"I am sorry. I didn't see you when you announced." Lee said as he bowed to Aoto. Aoto wasn't offended at all but was surprised that Lee didn't see him. This was a lack of brains for sure.
"Ah, Aoto, I see you have met my prized student. What do you think?" Aoto didn't notice when Guy had arrived. He turned around to see the iconic smile and white teeth. Behind him was Kakashi, slowly walking towards them. From the looks of it, Hiruzen hadn't told them what had happened in the forest.
But it wouldn't take much time for them to know, as Orochimaru was a threat to them and they needed all hands on deck.
"Guy-sensei, I am sorry to embarrass you. I didn't know this person is the chief invigilator." Lee was the one to come forward and apologize. Guy had a wonderful look on his face when he heard that. Aoto, who hadn't spoken a word yet, said.
"Starting from now, you will have 1 hour of rest, and then the arena battle starts. The jonins of Konoha are requested to meet me in the main room. I have something to announce." Aoto said. This made the jonins around curious, but they followed the instructions.
Aoto came to a separate room where all the jonins were present: Kisuke, Unohana, Shikuro, and even Corazon. He was here not as an invigilator but as a helper and organizer of the whole arena. After the jonins arrived, Aoto indicated to Corazon. He clicked his fingers, and soon a silent dome surrounded them and the jonins.
The jonins were confused but wanted to see what the richest and most enigmatic man of Konoha wanted to say.
"I know you are curious about why I am here and why I summoned you all. There was no reason for that, as everything was going well. You have not been informed, or maybe Hokage-sama wanted me to inform you. So I will just say. Orochimaru infiltrated the exam, and we had to repel his entry.
"What?"
"That bastard? Did he hurt the young genins?"
"Where is he?"
"The fuck."
This made everyone angry, but nobody moved, as Aoto didn't say how Orochimaru had escaped or where he had escaped to.
"I tried to capture him, but he is too slippery, and I have reasons to believe that he will come back and maybe attack the village soon. So I hope that you can be on alert mode and also talk with Hokage-sama to gather more details. I was not authorized to tell you, but since I was the one who faced him, I think I have that privilege."
"You.. You faced Orochimaru.. No offense, but you are not even a genin." One of the jonins said.
"Aoto-kun is very talented and even helped us take down a jinchuriki." Guy said, and this made everyone choke on their own saliva. Honestly speaking, none of the jonins liked the fact that a nameless person was made the invigilator. But now, when everyone heard it coming from the most honest person, they knew that it was true. Aoto didn't mind the skepticism, as some of the jonins still didn't know about his status.
"You are exaggerating too much, Guy-san. The past isn't important now. But what I do need from all of you is to keep an eye on the genins and, if possible, on the other jonins from the other villages. Orochimaru might have been able to enter the village because he had ties with the other villages." Aoto went on to speak about the possible interventions from other villages and their collusion with a wanted criminal.
The jonins took this seriously and thus became more alert than they ever were.
"I am sorry for holding you up and making it a bit more dangerous for you. I know you are treating this examination as some kind of vacation, but I will need you at your full concentration." Aoto said.
"That is expected from us, Aoto-kun. You don't have to worry."
"Yes.. yes.. This is for Konoha. This is the least we can do. You faced a Sannin. I can only imagine how you survived."
"We are with you, Aoto-kun."
"Thank you. Now let's get back to work, and don't speak a word of what has been discussed outside, not even with your own students." Aoto said. After they left, he was asked to take a call from Hokage.
"Aoto, is everything alright?"
"Well, you did send a spy to see if I was alright, so I guess you already know the answer." Aoto replied. It wasn't hard for Konoha to send one of their best spy ninjas to see what Aoto and Onoki had discussed. Onoki didn't even notice the spy, so nobody could complain to him. There was a slight pause from Hiruzen as he seemed to be stumbling to find words.
"Well... You know... You are a great asset to Konoha..."
"I know, and I don't blame you. I have alerted the jonins about the incident, and it will be better if you strengthen the border patrol." Aoto said.
"They are already on the move. Thank you, Aoto, for lessening my workload." Hiruzen said.
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