Chapter 36: Intimidation and Under-the-Table Deals!
Chapter 36: Intimidation and Under-the-Table Deals!
In the Forest of Death!
The usual calm has been shattered.
Figures dart through the trees with lightning speed.
For ordinary people, this dense forest would be impossible to navigate, but these figures move through it effortlessly.
This is what it means to be a ninja!
No matter how many ordinary people there are, they pose no threat to those who can move freely, unaffected by their environment.
This is why the world is called the Shinobi World, and ninjas are its main characters.
A tall, muscular teenager, wearing a brown tight-fitting suit and a Rock Village forehead protector, leaped to the ground and shouted loudly to the rear:
"If you're here to cause trouble, don't hide like rats!"
As the "strongest genius" among the examinees, Gang Tu naturally couldn't miss the presence of those who were secretly following him.
But in response to his challenge, no one stepped forward. Instead, they gave another kind of answer.
Swish, swish!
A flurry of kunai shot toward him.
Even the flesh and blood of a Shadow-level ninja can't withstand a kunai.
On the battlefield, more ninjas have died from kunai than from jutsu.
But this kind of direct throw is easy to avoid, even for a low-ranking ninja, let alone for Gang Tu.
His bulky build belied his incredible agility.
He moved like a dancing bear.
With chakra enhancement, anything is possible.
After dodging the attack, Gang Tu's square, honest face instantly turned fierce, and he quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Crumbling Palm!"
He slammed his hands onto the ground.
Boom!
Starting from where his palms hit, the ground shattered like glass.
The earth was shattered, and the forest was flattened!
The area from which the kunai were thrown was reduced to ruins, with traces of blood mixed in.
The jutsu was only C-rank.
But in Gang Tu's hands, it was no weaker than a B-rank jutsu.
Truly, he lived up to his reputation as the top-ranked genius in this year's Chunin Exams.
With one strike, the area fell silent.
No one was willing to face him head-on.
But that was to be expected.
They were ninjas, not samurai. Without a clear opportunity, they wouldn't force an attack and would instead lurk in the shadows, waiting for the right moment.
"Truly stubborn!"
Seeing no one take the chance to attack, Gang Tu didn't feel relieved; instead, he became even more frustrated.
He would rather face these people in open combat than have them constantly watching him from the shadows.
"Captain, why don't we collect the scrolls first?"
A teammate reminded the angry Gang Tu that they were here for the exam, not for a fight.
"Let's go!"
After a quick glance around, Gang Tu turned and left, still fuming.
If it weren't for the mission, he wouldn't have let these guys off so easily.
Less than two kilometers away from this battlefield.
"Wind Release: Scythe Weasel!"
A fierce gale, like invisible blades, tore everything in front of it to shreds.
Maki, wearing a Sand Village forehead protector, stopped casting the jutsu.
"Captain, your Wind Release has improved even more."
A young teammate looked at Maki with admiration.
"Yura, no amount of flattery will change the fact that you made a mistake earlier!"
A girl carrying a large bundle of white cloth looked at Yura with disdain.
The two began to bicker.
Finally, Maki, as the team captain, couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted them.
"Quickly clean up the battlefield. We'll collect the scrolls while we look for the Konoha team. Don't forget our mission!"
With that, he began to act.
Cleaning up the battlefield wasn't out of concern for the Forest of Death. The Sand ninjas didn't care about that.
It was to avoid leaving behind any intelligence and to recover their tools.
Thrown kunai, senbon, and shuriken must be recovered.
If they were used and not recovered, that would be the sign of a wealthy clan.
But that definitely didn't include the nearly impoverished Sand ninjas.
A strong counterattack!
Whether it was Gang Tu or Maki, their choices in the face of threats were the same.
Not only did they not back down, but they fought with all their might to eliminate their pursuers, not even giving them the chance to use signal flares.
They were well aware that the Forest of Death was riddled with cameras, broadcasting their battles to the spectators. Yet, this only made them more determined to act this way. In the shinobi world, killing is not a sin; weakness is.
The candidates for this exam were all under fifteen years old. The youngest, Kakashi, was only seven!
At such a tender age, they were expected to kill each other. No wonder figures like Madara, Obito, and Nagato found this world 'twisted' and sought to correct it. They had indeed identified the problem, but their methods were just as twisted.
The top-ranked geniuses listed in the intelligence handbook were prime targets for assassination by various shinobi villages. If even Genma and Makoto were being hunted, then Kakashi, ranked third, was no exception.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
Tohei unleashed a Flame Bullet, obliterating a patch of grass ahead. However, it yielded no results. While the Flame Bullet was faster than the Grand Fireball Technique, it was not particularly swift compared to other jutsu and could be easily dodged if anticipated.
But that was exactly what Tohei intended.
In a flash, a white figure darted forward, stabbing the last female ninja in the heart with a short blade. It was Kakashi who made the move. He was the 'ace' of Team 3, at least according to the intelligence handbook.
"Tsk, tsk, good thing she wasn't a 'Demon Hunter Ninja,' or it wouldn't have been just one stab!" Tohei remarked, eyeing the fallen opponent. He had grown accustomed to blood and death, but he still occasionally reminded himself, using his pre-transmigration thoughts, not to let his values be warped by the shinobi world.
Seeing Kakashi coolly sheath his blade and approach, Tohei praised him. "No wonder you're our team's combat ace. You took out all the pursuers. From now on, we'll leave the fighting to you!"
Of course, he had no intention of shirking his responsibilities. As a weak and helpless teammate, clinging to the strong was entirely justified, wasn't it?
As for whether Kakashi, at just seven years old, would feel guilty about killing, Tohei genuinely didn't care. He had a conscience, but not much. If he could freeload so comfortably, expecting him to have a conscience was asking too much. He was simply overthinking it.
Kakashi, though unable to read Tohei's thoughts, stared at him with his deadpan eyes.
You've got to be kidding me! Who is the team's combat ace, and do you have no sense of that?
Kakashi, despite his rapid growth, knew that Tohei's progress far outpaced his own. He wasn't sure how strong Tohei truly was, but the fact that Tohei kept holding back and pushing him to the front rankled him.
"Alright, I admit it. How about this as an apology?" Tohei, sensing the other's dissatisfaction, 'generously' pulled out a vial of healing potion and offered it.
Kakashi, who undoubtedly had his own, wouldn't turn down such a good thing.
The air remained silent for a moment.
Slap!
Kakashi accepted the potion, sealing the deal. He wouldn't mind standing in the open to draw fire while Tohei continued to slack off.
"Have we recovered all the ninja tools? But where is the token?" Sanjikan Hoji, having cleared the battlefield, voiced his confusion.
With the fastest pursuers dealt with and the remaining ones temporarily deterred, their next task was to find the token.
"I don't think it will be hard to find. The challenge will be in retrieving it and safely delivering it to the tower," Tohei analyzed. If it were hidden too well, the second exam would test their detective skills rather than their shinobi abilities, which was highly unlikely.
Before the others could respond, they realized it was unnecessary.
(End of Chapter)
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