While Team Gaara and Team Karin were getting to know one another inside the tower, all the other teams remained in the forest.
Team 8, consisting of Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, were currently still recovering after witnessing Team Gaara dealing with another team.
Or more correctly, witnessing Gaara personally taking action, and the bloody and cruel way he did it.
A team of Genin their age, begging for mercy as they were trapped in sand, helpless and surrendering, and then... that Suna kid just crushed them as easily as closing his hand, the blood, the sound of bones breaking, bodies being crushed.
Despite all being shinobi, they were just young Genin fresh out of the Academy; they had never witnessed something that bloody and cruel before. It had been shocking.
They had desperately hidden away, hoping they wouldn't get spotted, and thankfully, they weren't.
But while they might have escaped without a fight, they were still deeply affected by what they saw, and they remained scared, scared that that monster was still out there.
Because anyone who ran into him... would surely die a horrible death.
That was why they had remained hidden, not daring to move.
But eventually, when none of their sensing methods could track him anymore, when he was outside the range of Hinata's Byakugan, Kiba's sharp nose, and Shino's Kikaichū could no longer find him, they finally stopped hiding. They began to move again, but more carefully.
"We have to hurry and find our scroll," Kiba said, trying to focus on their task.
"Right," Shino agreed, "but we also have to be careful; that guy is out there, and he is dangerous."
"I know, but there is nothing we can do about that now. We have a mission, and we need to complete it," Kiba pointed out. "If we meet him again, then we run."
He was scared, but he knew that they couldn't let that fear control them.
Hinata just nodded, not saying anything.
While she also agreed, it was harder for her to shake off her fear.
She was even a little embarrassed that she had frozen up during the event.
She had to be stronger, braver.
No, she had to become someone worthy of being a Hyūga. She had to be strong, like her father, or her cousin.
But the fear remained.
They also weren't the only unfortunate team from Konoha.
Another, Team Guy, had also run into an absolute monster.
Neji had spotted a team running toward them with his Byakugan, and they had prepared to confront them.
Despite one of them having way more chakra than even Might Guy, he hadn't been overly concerned.
After all, while chakra usually did translate to strength, it wasn't an absolute rule, something their own village's Naruto Uzumaki was a perfect and clear example of.
He had the most chakra in the entire village, yet he was nothing impressive. At least, as far as Neji was concerned.
He wasn't a true shinobi.
And that was because his chakra was uncontrolled and wild.
Someone who couldn't control their own chakra couldn't possibly be considered strong, or at least that was what he thought.
But when he saw the Ame team approaching, he realized he was wrong.
This Genin wasn't at all like Naruto Uzumaki, someone who merely had lots of chakra without any strength; this kunoichi, with her long red hair, was the real deal.
She wasn't a Genin at all.
Despite this, he hadn't been overly afraid, because he was a Hyūga; he was also nothing like the other Genin in the exam.
And while the red-headed kunoichi was strong, her two teammates were nothing to worry about, and while neither Lee nor Tenten were overly impressive, they were still far ahead of those two.
So, as long as he could stall for a bit, it would be a three-on-one.
Or at least that was the plan.
As the enemy team appeared before them, they didn't even slow down, almost acting like they weren't there; only the red-headed kunoichi reacted to their presence.
She went through a few hand signs with blinding speed and unleashed a massive Wind Release ninjutsu.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough might only be C-rank, but it was one of those that scaled well with more chakra.
Normally, it might just be used to clear mist or smoke, or even kunai and shuriken.
But in the hands of a powerhouse, it would easily send an entire Genin team flying.
Something the three members of Team Guy got to experience firsthand. They were blown away by the ninjutsu and sent flying into the distance, leaving the Ame team to continue without slowing down at all.
Team Guy had all kinds of injuries from the attack, but thankfully, they weren't life-threatening.
Still, it took them quite some time to pull themselves back together, especially since they had been separated, and had to find each other again.
Not to mention, Tenten had been hit in the head and was unconscious.
So they had to treat her wounds and wait for her to wake up before they could continue.
By then, more than a day had passed, and the three of them were nervous.
They had been injured, and they needed to find their other scroll, but they also wanted to avoid encountering that team again.
And so, they moved through the forest with a lot of caution, doing their best to remain undetected, which only further slowed them down.
They knew that they had to pick up the pace if they wanted to make it in time, but after their failure, none of them were confident in fighting.
Not against that red-haired kunoichi.
While they had the advantage as a team, it was clear she was a class above them, and the difference wasn't small.
She had handled them like they were children.
Clearly, she wasn't a Genin and had no place inside this exam, but they could do nothing about this cheating; all they could do was avoid her and instead hope to find an easier team.
Team 10, on the other hand, had a very different experience.
Because Shikamaru was lazy and Chōji was no better, they hadn't rushed out of the gate; instead, they had just sat there and discussed tactics.
Something Shikamaru was rather good at.
Though even the best plans didn't survive first contact with the enemy.
Not that the enemy in this scenario survived either.
Because after sitting there for a while, and going through a few bags of Chōji's snacks, they finally started to move.
Not straight ahead, they went to the next gate over and followed the most likely path taken by the Genin team that entered from that gate.
It didn't take them all that long to find said Genin team.
Though they weren't in the state they had expected. Instead, they found three corpses lying there in the shadow of the great trees.
It was a terrifying sight for the three of them.
Countless senbon needles had pierced them, a true wall of steel from which they hadn't escaped.
"Seems they were taken by surprise," Shikamaru mused as he inspected the scene. "But at least we know someone out there is using senbon."
"That's not something to be happy about!" Ino complained. "We are in danger here! Let's just get the scroll and get out of here," she said, looking around nervously.
Shikamaru just sighed. "You don't find it at all suspicious that their scroll is right there?" he asked, pointing at the one scroll sitting right in the middle of the three bodies.
Ino looked at it, and while she had been too freaked out to notice at first, she realized it was suspicious that the enemy hadn't even taken the scroll.
In fact, it was also suspicious that the dead team had the scroll out in the first place.
Still, she didn't think too hard about it. Instead, she turned to Shikamaru, expecting him to do all the thinking and tell them what had happened, because he always had an answer.
The Nara just sighed again. "They seem to have been killed in an ambush, but look at the way their bodies are positioned," he said, pointing at how all three were facing in the same direction.
"They are facing the path they had just taken," he explained, as indeed, the three dead people were facing them.
"So, the people who killed them came from behind?" Chōji asked, stress-eating a bag of chips.
Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, they turned around to face someone, but there is no sign of a battle; they didn't resist," he said, looking at the ground, which was completely undisturbed.
"So, they just stood there and let themselves be killed?" Chōji asked in disbelief.
"No," he shook his head. "The scroll is a clue. Why did they have it out? It must be to show it to someone, or give it to someone," he reasoned, before stopping. "Which means they were talking to their attacker, and the attacker, most likely, also had a Heaven Scroll, which is why they didn't bother taking this one," he explained.
"That makes sense, but... why did they kill them after that?" Chōji asked, not understanding that part.
"Maybe they wanted to just reduce competition? Though, if that was the case, they would have taken the scroll, rather than leave it here," Shikamaru theorized.
"Maybe they changed their mind?" Ino suggested. "Or maybe they had a falling out, and decided to kill the other team and leave?"
"That's possible, but I don't think it's what happened," Shikamaru said. "You see, the fact that this team didn't fight back tells me they believed there wouldn't be a fight; they had their guard down," he explained. "If they had an argument, they would have been on guard."
"Then what happened?" Chōji asked, still not getting it.
"They were tricked. I think their attackers were pretending to want to make a deal to avoid fighting if both teams had the same scrolls. The only way to do that was to show their own scroll, so they took it out. But the other team still attacked," Shikamaru explained his theory.
"That makes sense." Ino nodded, now convinced. "But what if they are still close by?"
"They aren't; we would have seen them, and there are no signs that anyone was here recently, which means they are long gone. If I had to guess, they are currently trying the same thing on other teams," Shikamaru reasoned.
"So what should we do?" Chōji asked, not comfortable with being so close to such a dangerous person.
"Well, we just happen to need a Heaven Scroll, and there is one right there, so if we take it, we have both we need and are able to move right toward the tower," he said with a confident smile.
"Couldn't it be a trap?" Ino asked, still nervous.
"It could be, but from what I can see, the enemy has no reason to stick around; they want to win the exam, not sit around and wait for us. They are long gone. So, we just need to take the scroll and get going," he explained, and since the other two trusted him, they agreed.
And so, they took the scroll and quickly made their way toward the tower.
(End of chapter)
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