Inside the central tower at the heart of the Forest of Death, the air was thick with tension. With the help of the Anbu, Anko's body had temporarily recovered, and the paralyzing numbness from the curse mark had mostly faded.

"Anko, if we don't stop the exam now, it will be too late to regret it if something goes wrong!" one of the Anbu insisted.

"You don't need to persuade me," Anko shot back, her attitude as stubborn as ever. "I know how serious the situation is, but stopping the exam is out of the question!"

Just then, an examination staff member rushed into the room. "Proctor Anko! You're finally back! We've been waiting for you!"

Anko said, her voice laced with irritation, "What is it now? I have important matters to discuss with the Anbu, so stop making trouble! The Hokage will be here soon, you—!"

"This is an emergency, Proctor Anko! Please, just look at what I have here!" The staff member took out a videotape and hurriedly inserted it into a player beneath a monitor. The screen flickered to life.

"Proctor Anko," the staff member said, pointing to the time stamp in the upper-left corner of the screen, "please pay attention to the time displayed here!"

Anko squinted. "Wait, are they…?"

"That's right!" the staff member continued, his voice frantic. "This is the footage recorded inside this tower, one hour and thirty-six minutes after the exam began!"

"The three Genin from Madara-gakure in the video have already passed the second exam! It only took them ninety-six minutes! This has never happened before! There must be something wrong! I strongly demand a thorough investigation!"

"There's no need," Anko said. Although she was just as shocked as he was, she managed to keep her composure. "They are Uchiha. Their strength has likely already surpassed that of a typical Genin."

The Anbu member scoffed. "They broke my old record of four hours so easily! Hmph! These vile Uchiha…"

Anko shook her head helplessly. "I'm afraid it's more than that."

The staff member was stunned. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Anko pointed at Shiro's figure on the screen. "It's about ten kilometers from the entrance to this tower. The path is filled with ferocious beasts, poisonous insects, and treacherous terrain, yet look at them."

"Especially the child in the middle. He doesn't have a single speck of dirt on him."

"Even you… no, even most elite Chunin couldn't reach this tower so completely unscathed. You can imagine how powerful they are."

The Anbu member crossed his arms, his voice dripping with disdain. "Hmph, I'm sure it's thanks to their Sharingan. Those disgusting eyes make me sick just looking at them."

"I think we should report this to the Hokage later," he continued. "We need to analyze their combat strength and prepare. We must send a strong opponent to deal with them in the next stage to avoid embarrassing ourselves in front of the leaders from the other nations."

Before Anko could respond, the staff member interrupted again. "If you're looking for an opponent, just watch the video for another minute." He pressed the fast-forward button, then pointed at the screen. "The three Genin from the Land of Sand arrived at the tower just one minute after the Uchiha. They were practically neck and neck."

"What? The Land of Sand?" Anko and the Anbu were shocked once again.

"Why are there so many monsters in this exam?"