Hyuga Arin smiled cheerfully at the three of them, then flipped backward and landed in the distance.
"Start now!"
The moment his command fell—
Namikaze Minato and Kushina vanished from where they stood, both darting straight into the trees to hide their figures.
"Choosing to hide immediately, huh?"
Hyuga Arin swept his gaze around. Without activating the Byakugan, he could no longer find any trace of the two of them.
"A very wise choice."
When facing an opponent stronger than yourself, hiding your presence and gathering intelligence is the first priority.
That was orthodox ninja behavior.
As for Nawaki…
Hyuga Arin looked at Nawaki standing far away, completely motionless, his head filling with black lines.
Don't tell him this guy planned to charge straight in head-on.
"Big bro!! I'm going in!!!"
With a crack, the ground beneath Nawaki's feet split as he shot forward like a cannonball straight at Hyuga Arin.
He really did rush in headfirst!!
"No wonder he gets blown up by explosive tags later—this is totally deserved."
To be fair, there were plenty of ninjas who preferred frontal combat like Nawaki.
But among the named characters, the only one reckless enough to die that way was him.
Hyuga Arin's goal was to fix that habit.
Watching Nawaki charge in, Hyuga Arin stayed where he was, not even bothering to assume a defensive stance.
Nawaki didn't sense anything wrong. On the contrary, joy flashed across his face.
"I got him!"
One more step and he could land a hit. Chakra gathered in his hand.
Monster Strength.
A technique unique to the Senju bloodline, granting monstrous power—also the foundation of Tsunade's fearsome combat strength.
Nawaki couldn't compare to Tsunade, but his Monster Strength punch wasn't something just anyone could block.
Just as he stepped forward to continue his charge, he suddenly froze and lowered his head.
Under his foot was an explosive tag.
The tag glowed faintly, and the smile on his face stiffened completely.
Wait—where did this explosive tag come from?!
"BOOM!!"
A blast erupted. There wasn't much flame, only a violent gust that sent Nawaki flying.
Hyuga Arin yawned lazily.
"Discarded explosive tags. They can only blow people away, not seriously hurt them."
Defective goods sold by ninja tool shops.
They still exploded—just with much weaker power than proper tags.
He'd buried them all throughout this forest yesterday after buying them.
This place hadn't been chosen at random.
"I've set up plenty of traps around here," Hyuga Arin said, lips curling into a grin that revealed white teeth, his expression chilling.
"If you're careless even once…"
"…you'll die."
Nawaki staggered to his feet in the distance, covered in dust. Without thinking, he charged again toward Hyuga Arin.
Hyuga Arin rolled his eyes.
"You already know there are traps, and you still rush in like that?"
Nawaki flashed an innocent grin.
"Big bro, if a trap has already been triggered, then it means there aren't any traps left here!"
He sprinted forward again, rapidly closing the distance.
"You say I'm dumb, but I'm really not."
"Monster Strength Punch!"
Nawaki swung his fist hard toward Hyuga Arin.
Hyuga Arin hopped lightly backward, dodging the strike. Nawaki landed where Hyuga Arin had been standing and prepared to leap again—
Suddenly, the ground beneath his foot vanished.
Nawaki: "WHAT—?!"😵
What should have been solid ground was merely a layer of cloth. One step was all it took for him to fall straight through.
A pit trap.
Only a narrow wooden beam in the center marked where Hyuga Arin had just been standing.
Hyuga Arin peered down into the pit at Nawaki and clicked his tongue twice, shaking his head.
"I already told you there were traps. Did you really think there was only one? I'm not wrong about you at all."
At that moment, two figures suddenly burst out from the trees, attacking from left and right.
Hyuga Arin leapt straight up, avoiding the ambush.
Seeing they'd failed, Minato and Kushina didn't linger. They immediately retreated back into the forest.
"They even switched positions," Hyuga Arin said, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Nawaki clambered toward the edge of the pit. Just as his hand grabbed the rim, his fingers brushed against something paper-thin.
He looked up toward the edge.
Hyuga Arin let out a particularly cheerful laugh.
"Heh."
"B-big… bro…" Nawaki tried to call for help.
But it was already too late.
"BOOM!!"
The pit exploded.
Nawaki's hand was blasted upward. Even with weakened explosive tags, an explosion was still an explosion.
Crack.
He grunted as his arm snapped, then fell back into the pit.
"Looks like his arm is fractured," Hyuga Arin commented coldly.
He didn't jump down to treat Nawaki. Instead, he hopped backward and vanished rapidly into the forest.
Minato and Kushina completely lost sight of him as well.
After a while, with no sign of Hyuga Arin returning, the two finally jumped down from the trees.
"Wait," Minato suddenly said, stopping Kushina as she was about to jump into the pit to help.
He picked up a few stones and tossed them into the pit.
Only then did he nod to her.
They approached the pit together.
"Nawaki-bro, how are you?" Minato called down.
Nawaki clutched his arm, looking up with tears welling in his eyes.
"My arm's broken."
"I'm coming to save you, Nawaki-bro!" Kushina shouted—and jumped straight down.
Minato scratched his cheek awkwardly.
He hadn't expected Kushina to be this reckless too.
Shouldn't they have confirmed where Hyuga Arin was first?
…
In truth, Hyuga Arin had already abandoned them and headed deep into the Forest of Death.
Around where Nawaki and the others were, he'd set up plenty of traps. They'd be suffering for quite a while.
If this still didn't fix Nawaki's recklessness, then after the frontline was established and they returned to Konoha, he'd raise the difficulty again.
He hadn't chosen the Forest of Death just to train Nawaki.
He had his own goals as well.
His figure darted swiftly through the forest.
The Forest of Death was a restricted area of Konoha. Even ordinary genin faced serious danger here.
It wasn't just wild beasts—there were also many feral ninja beasts.
Before long, he spotted a cave faintly visible in the distance.
He knew he was close to his destination.
Hyuga Arin was a regular here.
The killing intent around him—and his level 12—had been farmed right here in the Forest of Death.
Without killing, where would killing intent come from?
The bandits earlier had merely been his first time farming humanoid enemies.
He stopped atop a tree branch and quickly formed hand seals.
Snake – Ram – Tiger.
Chakra began to slowly drain from his body.
"Let's say hello first."
He took out a shuriken and threw it into the cave.
As the shuriken flew from his hand, it ignited with flames, turning into a small fireball that smashed into the cave.
Firelight exploded inside.
A massive, pitch-black silhouette flashed by.
"ROAR!!"
A thunderous beastly roar erupted as the ground shook.
A ferocious creature charged out of the cave.
Hyuga Arin flicked his right hand, and a bronze blade appeared in his grip.
"Boss fight started."
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