*Chapter 124: The Mourning Son Finally Stands Up*

This situation left him, a long-time admirer of beautiful women, feeling absolutely no interest in her.

Let alone triggering the system options.

"Boruto isn’t Naruto, Boruto isn’t Naruto," Aizen shook his head vigorously, repeating it in his mind.

Before long, the group arrived at the second test site: the Forest of Death.

Because the test required stealing scrolls from each other, a fight could result in death. As a result, they were given half an hour to decide whether they wanted to sign the waiver of life and death.

Leaning against a large rock, Itachi Uchiha signed "Acid Rain" with his unfamiliar left hand. He then glanced at Aizen from a distance and coldly asked, "What’s your deal with Orochimaru?"

Aizen casually signed "Avoiding the Rain," spinning a pencil between his fingers as he joked, "What’s it to you? Or are you worried that Orochimaru might harm your dear little brother?"

"No, Sasuke’s fate doesn’t concern me. But if you're involved with Orochimaru and don’t clarify it, I’ll seriously suspect you of betraying the organization. I can inform the leader at any time," Itachi stood up, coldly staring at Aizen, his Sharingan’s three-tomoe pattern slowly activating.

The crumpled waiver in his hand showed that his inner state was far from calm.

"What, you want to turn on me right here? I’ve already told you before, you won’t get a second chance to attack me," Aizen squinted his eyes slightly.

Seeing the tension rise between them, Pakura quickly moved to Aizen’s side, aligning herself with him and staying on high alert.

In response to Aizen’s words, Itachi didn’t reply but instead activated his Sharingan to its Mangekyo form, signaling his seriousness.

Just then, a sharp voice came from the distance, "Hey, what are you guys doing? No fighting before the test starts!"

It was Kurenai Yuhi, who had approached slowly from behind Itachi.

Aizen felt somewhat speechless, realizing that this teacher of his, who had just been humiliated by her rider (a code for their past interaction), had probably recognized him despite his disguise thanks to the list of test participants she had access to.

"It’s nothing, we were just joking around," Aizen said with a forced smile, walking toward Kurenai. As he passed by Itachi, he whispered, "The deal with Orochimaru is simple: he’s giving me intel on the Fourth Kazekage. In return, I stay out of his plans until the Leaf Village destruction starts. That’s all there is to it. Believe it or not."

With that, Aizen continued toward Kurenai.

Itachi, hearing this, deactivated his Sharingan, casting a surprised glance at Kurenai. He hadn’t expected the person to intervene would be Aizen’s former teacher, Kurenai Yuhi.

"You sure know how to keep people on edge," Kurenai muttered softly, her voice filled with a slight grievance, but she didn’t forget to put on a stern act, loudly warning, "Next time, be more careful. And that goes for those two over there as well."

"My apologies. I’ll be more mindful next time," Aizen scratched the back of his head, winking playfully at Kurenai as he loudly apologized.

"Take care of yourself. A couple of my students are in this exam too, one of them is a young girl from the Hyuga clan. If they run into danger, lend them a hand in secret," Kurenai whispered softly.

"Don’t worry, trust your man," Aizen replied in a voice only they could hear.

Even if Kurenai hadn’t mentioned it, there was no way he’d let little Hinata, his childhood fiancée of sorts, get hurt if she faced danger.

"This better be the last time," Kurenai glared at Aizen in mock irritation before nodding slightly and walking away after giving a final, symbolic warning.

Once Kurenai left, Pakura came over, looking a bit puzzled, and asked, "Lord Aizen, do you know that kunoichi?"

"Yeah, she’s my teacher," Aizen nodded, not bothering to deny it.

Pakura seemed to realize something and thought to herself, No wonder Lord Aizen, who’s usually so tough, compromised today. This Jonin from the Leaf must hold quite an important place in his heart.

The half-hour passed in a flash, and soon everyone handed in their life and death waivers and received their respective scrolls.

There were two types of scrolls: Heaven and Earth.

Originally, the test included 13 Heaven scrolls and 13 Earth scrolls, randomly distributed to 26 teams. To pass, each team had to collect one of each scroll and reach the destination within five days by passing through the Forest of Death.

However, with Aizen's team joining, there was an extra Heaven scroll.

Aizen’s team received the extra Heaven scroll.

The second exam proctor, Anko Mitarashi, looked over the gathered 27 teams and nodded in satisfaction before announcing loudly, "Not bad, looks like you all have guts. All 27 teams, 81 participants, have shown up. But don’t get cocky just yet, because there are only 13 scroll pairs, which means at least 42 of you will be eliminated. Good luck, trash."

With that, the 27 teams were led to various entrances to the Forest of Death by the exam proctors.

As soon as they entered the forest, Itachi started thinking about finding Sasuke.

Seeing this, Aizen squinted and reminded him coldly, "I know you want to go find your foolish little brother, but I need to remind you, the reason you beat Orochimaru so easily last time was that he wasn’t prepared for your Sharingan.

If you fight him again, it’s bound to cause a commotion. And if you force him to use Edo Tensei here, you should know what the consequences will be.

In other words, unless Sasuke’s life is on the line, you can’t intervene."

Itachi gave Aizen a cold glance before disappearing on the spot.

"Lord Aizen, what should we do next?" Pakura approached Aizen.

"Don’t worry about him," Aizen used his sensory abilities to scan the surroundings, detecting the movements of all 78 participants from the other 26 teams.

"Let’s go grab a scroll from someone," Aizen set his sights on Sasuke's team, Karin's team, and Hinata's team.

Forming a hand seal, he created two shadow clones.

He instructed one to follow Karin and assist her when necessary, planning to save her in time, since he had in mind that she’d make a better apprentice for Tsunade than Sakura.

As for whether Sakura could become Tsunade’s student later, that would depend on her luck.

The other clone was sent to watch over Hinata’s team. Although she survived unscathed in the original story, Aizen wasn’t sure if his interference would cause a butterfly effect. It didn’t hurt to send a clone just in case.

As for Aizen himself, he and Pakura headed toward Sasuke’s team to watch the upcoming fight and ensure Itachi didn’t do anything beyond the plan.

With his enhanced sensory abilities, locating Sasuke’s team was a breeze.

If they happened to run into any unlucky souls along the way, he’d simply grab their scroll.