With his excellent camouflage and infiltration skills, Yakushi Kabuto easily blended in with the genin teams during the Chūnin Exams. As a seasoned veteran who had participated in the exams multiple times before, he was more than capable of subtly guiding younger genin without drawing suspicion. While serving as a spy for Orochimaru, Kabuto carefully observed Uchiha Sasuke up close, orchestrating situations to provoke him into combat and test the efficacy of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Under the pretense of helping, he even offered strategic advice, all while advancing Orochimaru's hidden agenda.
Without Orochimaru's direct interference or the intrusion of other threats like Team Dosu, the seven-person alliance (composed of Teams 7, 8, and 10) functioned as an impressively coordinated force. Unlike in the original timeline, where illusions cast by the Grass-nin and Sound-nin caused confusion and injuries, this alternate progression saw significantly smoother encounters. After undergoing individual trials—especially Sakura and Sasuke, who experienced their own harsh battles in place of the original confrontations—they adapted quickly. Thanks to their innate talent and growing experience, they overcame obstacles with surprising effectiveness. As a result, the second phase of the exam, held in the Forest of Death, concluded much earlier than in the original storyline.
Not long after, at the location where Sasuke and the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had fought, Mizuki—operating covertly—scavenged the battlefield. He gathered torn scroll fragments, discarded sealing tags, and damaged summoning papers. Though seemingly insignificant, they held hidden value for his experiments.
"If I'm lucky, this haul might help me understand more about the curse mark… maybe even find a way to neutralize it."
Over the past few days, Mizuki had come to realize the Cursed Seal of Heaven was far more complex than he'd initially thought. The idea that something so volatile had been placed on his own body without his control gnawed at him. A vague sense of dread lingered every time he sensed its chakra stirring.
"That wraps up the mission. I'll head out first. Just report what I did and tend to the wounded."
After finishing his tasks, Mizuki returned to his home.
"I need to process this fast… if the chakra lingers too long and mutates, it could become dangerous."
Back in the Forest of Death, once the last group of qualifying genin arrived at the tower, the second phase of the exam officially ended. While darker currents stirred behind the scenes, the Third Hokage delivered a speech to the passing candidates, explaining the true purpose of the Chūnin Exams: to serve as a show of strength between allied nations and a means to promote their future shinobi.
As in the original, Moonlight Gai served as the proctor for the preliminary matches. Like canon, Yakushi Kabuto chose to withdraw from the exam after discovering Orochimaru had personally entered the competition in disguise.
From this point, only minor deviations occurred. Naruto's progression to the next round still relied on a mix of luck, determination, and instinct. The preliminaries favored strength and individual prowess, leaving little room for the underprepared.
However, one key change unfolded in the match between Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. In the original timeline, their battle ended in a draw, both being disqualified after a simultaneous blow disrupted Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique. This time, the conditions were different: Ino had sustained injuries during the Forest of Death and hadn't fully recovered, while Sakura, who had not faced the Sound Four, was in much better shape. The disparity in their condition showed during the match. Despite Ino's tactical edge, her stamina failed her first, and Sakura emerged as the clear victor.
This altered the roster for the final tournament. With an even number of winners, there was no need for an additional elimination match to determine a bracket spot. Dosu Kinuta was removed from the lineup due to injuries sustained in this timeline's alternate events. Instead, Haruno Sakura advanced and was scheduled to face the winner between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyūga.
That night, Mizuki, still not fully recovered from his prior injuries, returned home exhausted. After submitting his field report and securing the chakra samples leaked from Sasuke's curse mark, he cleaned up, ate a simple meal, and collapsed into bed. Tsubaki had been busy with her own duties and hadn't visited in a couple of days. Life, for now, was quiet and uneventful.
Lying in bed, Mizuki leafed through a scroll on summoning techniques. But before long, fatigue overtook him. He dropped the scroll and stared at the ceiling, thoughts swirling.
"There's something strange about summoning… something everyone seems to overlook."
In the shinobi world, Ninjutsu like Summoning Jutsu (Kuchiyose no Jutsu) was technically a form of contract-based technique. The most well-known examples were the Toads of Mount Myōboku, the Snakes of Ryūchi Cave, and the Slugs of Shikkotsu Forest—familiars tied to the Legendary Sannin. Lesser-known examples included Hiruzen Sarutobi's Enma the Monkey King and Kakashi Hatake's pack of ninja dogs. Some shinobi even cultivated their own personal summons, like temporary creatures grown from simpler chakra forms—such as the jellyfish summons Mizuki often used, which were disposable and lacked longevity.
Most shinobi viewed summoning beasts as mere allies in combat, but Mizuki suspected there was more to it. Take Jiraiya for example—while undeniably talented, even he hadn't reached his peak on his own. The Great Toad Sage not only aided his growth but taught him Sage Mode—something even Orochimaru couldn't master. The reason? A prophecy… one that tied Jiraiya to the so-called "Child of Destiny." Mizuki, as a transmigrator, couldn't fully grasp the deeper significance, but it was clear that few in the ninja world understood what these contracts truly meant.
And even if they didn't know it, Mizuki had noticed a deeper issue. Beyond flashy techniques and hidden villages, the core of summoning was space-time manipulation. Summons arrived from distant realms, fought alongside the summoner, and could vanish without consequence—even in battle. Injuries, death… these were rare. How was this possible?
Then there was the ritual itself. Nearly every summoning jutsu required blood—typically from a finger bite. Almost every scroll stated: "Blood is the key."
"Blood as a medium… In my old world, it was once believed that the soul resided in blood."
In ancient religions and philosophies from his past life, blood was often seen as sacred—a vessel of the soul, the will, the life force. While such beliefs had long faded with the rise of science, Mizuki wondered if those old ideas held true in this world. In the shinobi world, where chakra could warp space and bring down mountains, perhaps blood still carried a deeper power.
And perhaps… that was what made summoning possible.