Chapter 48: Of Course It's Danzō's Fault
Training Ground Forty-Four.
The dense forest blotted out the sky, and even in the afternoon, the woods remained dark and cool.
Bang!
"Who hit me?" A Kusagakure ninja lying on top of a massive tree trunk rubbed the back of his head and shouted, "Hōyuki, pulling a prank at a time like this is way too much!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm so far from you—how could I have hit you?"
Bang! Bang!
"Won't this ever stop?"
This time, no one answered. The surroundings were deathly silent.
"Hōyuki? Chimu?"
"Hey? You've got the scroll, right?" A strange voice echoed from the treetops.
The Kusagakure ninja's pupils instantly widened, his breathing quickened, and his muscles bulged as he leapt away in alarm.
"Who's there?"
Landing on the ground, he anxiously scanned his surroundings but saw no one.
"Where the hell are you looking, idiot?" An extremely impatient, mocking voice sounded above him.
"What?"
The Kusagakure ninja tilted his head back, heart pounding wildly.
Not far away, in the shadow of the canopy, stood a man wearing a white animal mask. Dressed in a yellow cloak and black trousers, fingerless tactical gloves on his hands, and a katana strapped to his back, the hollows of the mask's eyes glowed with a chilling light.
"You!" the Kusagakure ninja shouted in fear. "My... my two companions, where are they?"
"What did you do to them?"
"Killed them." Naruto's face was expressionless.
The Root outfit he wore had been found in the system's storage space. The Nine-Tails didn't eat clothes, so it was handy to put it to use.
"You're not an exam candidate! Is Konoha trying to break the rules of the exam?"
"So what?" Naruto replied carelessly. "A small fry village like yours entering the Chūnin Exams—be smart, hand over the scroll, and get lost."
Before the Kusagakure ninja could react, a sharp pain exploded at the back of his head, and he collapsed unconscious.
Naruto crouched down and rummaged through the man's belongings, finally finding the scroll.
"Heaven Scroll, huh? A duplicate." He muttered, but still stuffed it into his robe before vanishing from the scene.
The Kusagakure trio weren't dead, merely knocked out. Naruto wasn't being merciful—there was simply no need. Bloodstains would only make him easier to detect with sensory jutsu.
And he hadn't come specifically for them anyway—just happened to stumble across a convenient small task.
[Ding, Lightning Release: Thunder Strike successfully acquired.]
Thunder Strike, a minor Lightning Release jutsu, was almost useless to Naruto. Still, since he lacked lightning techniques, he had spent ten minutes completing the task and taken the scroll for the reward.
Cloaked in pale yellow, Naruto dashed through the forest, feet pounding against tree trunks as he searched freely.
From what he could tell, none of the candidates in this exam were worth his time.
Orochimaru's vessel had poor compatibility, leaving him unable to display his full power. As for Gaara, he could be dismissed entirely. Since Suna's plan relied on cooperating with Konoha's collapse, he'd definitely be holding back.
Naruto's insistence on eliminating the Sound trio was simple: striking first to eliminate threats, and the fact he clearly remembered they carried the Earth Scroll. The Chūnin Exams allowed casualties, so things were easy enough.
The Forest of Death was sealed for five days. Unless an emergency like Orochimaru's invasion occurred, Anbu would not intervene.
From the moment he entered, Orochimaru's sole target had always been Sasuke.
But since strawberry-loving Snake Uncle wasn't exactly malicious, Naruto decided to let him be and go handle the Sound trio first before regrouping with Sasuke and Sakura. This way, he avoided falling into a passive position. As for Sasuke's safety...
It was just a bite mark, nothing serious.
Sasuke staying in Konoha meant living half-starved. Following Orochimaru was a path he'd end up on anyway. In short, the Uchiha clan was full of strange people. Naruto never understood why Itachi wiped out the clan but left Sasuke behind.
If Itachi was that ridiculously strong, why not just take Sasuke along and teach him himself? Instead, everything turned into layer upon layer of "avenge this, avenge that"—avenging the clan, avenging the village, then avenging the world. Everyone wanted revenge, like lunatics killing on sight, all bent on destroying everything.
Eren Yeager, the guru of vengeance, would be proud of them.
In this world crawling with lunatics, Naruto's thoughts were simple: respect others' fates, drop the savior complex. His real goal was to use the system to refresh options and get the Nine-Tails ripped out of him as soon as possible.
Who owned it afterward had nothing to do with him.
"Someone nearby?"
While racing through the forest, Naruto felt a presence and immediately held his breath, quietly approaching the source.
Parting the leaves, he saw three shinobi in the clearing—two men and a woman. They were glancing around nervously, clearly searching for something.
Naruto recognized them at once: the Sound ninja Zaku, Dosu, and the female kunoichi Kin.
"Damn it, where's Lord Orochimaru's mark?" Zaku said anxiously.
"It was definitely here." Kin gritted her teeth, scanning the area nervously.
"Hurry up and find it," rasped the hunchbacked bandaged man, Dosu. "Without the mark, we can't receive Lord Orochimaru's next orders."
"Shut up already!" Kin snapped impatiently.
"What did you just say?" Dosu glared coldly at her, anger flaring.
Just as they were about to clash, Zaku suddenly spotted something. His eyes lit up, and he ran toward a nearby bush, shouting as he went.
"You two, over here! I found Lord Orochimaru's—"
Before he could finish, squelch! A katana burst through his throat.
The sudden strike left the other two stunned. It had all happened too fast. From the bush, Naruto had exploded forth like a cannonball, his blade driving deep into Zaku's neck.
Zaku's eyes widened in disbelief, his black pupils locking onto the masked Root operative before him.
"Zaku!" Without hesitation, Dosu betrayed his teammate, unleashing waves of sound in a wild, indiscriminate attack toward Naruto and Zaku's position.
[Option 1: Eliminate the Sound trio. Reward: Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bullet.]
[Option 2: Interrogate them for Orochimaru's intel. Reward: Wind Release: Blade of Wind.]
The mechanical voice chimed as the translucent panel appeared, presenting Naruto with the latest options before he even had time to react.
Two ordinary jutsu. Either choice made little difference.
But glancing at the remaining pair, Naruto instantly knew his answer.
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