"Mirai, what's our objective? Are we going after that Sunagakure team we were paying special attention to earlier?" Haku asked Mirai.
Although she was the youngest, within this three-person squad, Mirai was unquestionably the "brains." With Hagoromo absent, she was the leader.
At this moment, they were already inside the venue for the second stage of the Chūnin Exams. It was a dense forest so thick that sunlight barely reached the ground.
Haku's suggestion clearly was not under consideration, so Mirai decisively shook her head. "Quite the opposite. We're going to avoid conflict with the three Sunagakure siblings completely."
Was an Uzumaki afraid of a tailed beast? Of course not. The reason Mirai wanted to avoid them was because fighting them too early would go against Hagoromo's prior arrangements.
Because he was restrained by the word "Konoha," if Hagoromo wanted to do anything excessive to the Kazekage's son, he needed a proper and reasonable justification. Otherwise, acting rashly could very well lead to the collapse of the alliance between the two great nations. Hagoromo himself did not care much about such things, but in the end, he still could not get around the Hokage.
"Let's go find Naruto first. I'm sure Team Seven will be very happy to see us," Mirai said after thinking for a moment.
But was that actually true? Impossible. Team Seven absolutely did not want to see them. Mirai and the others definitely were not going over just to say "hello."
The first and second stages of the Chūnin Exams were held consecutively, but the exam venue had shifted into a dense forest. The biggest difference from the written test in the first stage was that the second stage tested actual combat.
Every team that passed the first stage would receive either a "Heaven Scroll" or an "Earth Scroll." Only by gathering both scrolls within the allotted time and reaching the designated location would they pass. Otherwise, they would be eliminated… In other words, the rules of this stage dictated from the start that different shinobi teams had to clash at least once.
With good luck, a team only needed to fight once to gather both scrolls. With bad luck, it definitely would not be limited to a single battle.
However, the dangerous part was that this stage offered no safety guarantees. In other words, during the process of fighting over scrolls, even if someone killed their opponent in passing—or accidentally—they would not be punished.
This rule was undoubtedly very "shinobi." Because of this cruelty, the second stage of the exam had already become a small-scale war.
A war where even people from the same village could not be trusted.
Although the examination grounds were not small, almost all of it fell within Mirai's sensory range. Inside this venue, whoever Mirai and the others wanted to find, theoretically speaking, there was no one they could not locate.
So, under the circumstances where Team Six had set their sights on Team Seven right from the beginning, it was practically a cause for celebration.
"Do we have a plan to eliminate Team Seven?" Kimimaro asked as the three of them moved swiftly. This was not because he had any objection to Mirai's decision. Rather, depending on the depth of Mirai's plan, he could decide how much force to use.
"No. But… right now, Team Seven and us are competitors with no need to hold back, aren't we? If our scrolls match up, then when it's time to steal theirs, of course we steal theirs," Mirai explained.
"What scroll do we have again?"
Her decision could not exactly be called having nothing better to do, but it did count as deliberately picking on acquaintances. This was what they called sitting alone on a cold night with one's heart in turmoil, while autumn wind and autumn rain bully people.
"It's an Earth Scroll," Haku of the Yuki clan replied. In this team, he was the most suitable person to safeguard the scroll.
"Then let's hope Naruto and the others have Heaven."
If Naruto and his team had a Heaven Scroll, then they were definitely about to be unlucky. At this point, finding a pen and changing the character to "Earth" would probably still be in time.
Team Six stealing from Team Seven did not mean they intended to eliminate them. It only meant that the now "empty-handed" Team Seven would have to go rob someone else. At most, it would increase the number of battles they had to fight. Mirai really had no intention of eliminating Naruto.
No matter what, though, Student Mirai was about to personally demonstrate the four words: "sacrificing family for righteousness."
Team Six moved almost in a straight line toward Team Seven, and it did not take long before the two sides ran into each other.
"All units, attention. We are now beginning a robbery…"
The instant they heard that voice, the entirety of Team Seven froze in embarrassment. Just now, they had been discussing which team they least wanted to run into, only for that very team to come looking for them so quickly.
At this moment, Team Seven had three options before them. First, run. Second, fight. Last, surrender…
However, before making any of those decisions, they first had to confirm whether there was any need for the two sides to be at each other's throats.
Then Mirai saw Naruto take out his team's scroll and show it to her. She saw it perfectly clearly. Written on it, very regrettably, was the same character: "Earth."
What a shame. The plan of eating, sleeping, and beating up her little brother would not work.
Thus, the scene became this: Team Six and Team Seven met up, then Team Six left with an unfulfilled expression to go cause trouble for other teams.
Unfortunately, Mirai and the others had poor luck for the entire day.
The second target Team Six found was still a Konoha team… This was not because they enjoyed "fratricide." There was nothing they could do about it. The reality was that, as the host of this Chūnin Exam, Konoha had naturally sent the largest number of examinees. Statistically speaking, the chance of running into Konoha shinobi was higher.
Why was Mirai said to have bad luck? Because this team also held an Earth Scroll. However, they did not receive Naruto's treatment. Using the excuse that she found them unpleasant to look at and felt that the smiling white-haired guy was too fake, Mirai confiscated an Earth Scroll from the Konoha genin team led by a shinobi named Kabuto Yakushi.
One had to admit, sometimes a girl's sixth sense really was quite accurate. Mirai had picked the right person. Unfortunately, the other side did not choose to fight and instead surrendered very straightforwardly… What was a little grievance? For Uncle Snake's sake, Brother Kabuto endured it.
When someone worked as a spy to the level of Kabuto Yakushi, anyone who heard about it would have to praise him: Brother Kabuto, Brother Kabuto, you really are something else.
After two consecutive attempts, Team Six still had not achieved their objective. And so, they found their third target: a team of Otogakure shinobi wearing conical hats and sticking out their long tongues.
Team Six had encountered enemies who were not easy to deal with.
"I really don't want to fight you… But testing your strength also seems like it would be rather interesting…" said the leading Otogakure shinobi. His expression looked extremely strange. His pair of vertical pupils revealed a look that was both calm and fanatical.
But why did he not want to fight Team Six? Naturally, it was not because he was "afraid." It was because he knew that in this kind of battle, if he fought the little ones, the old one would definitely come running.
To be honest, he did not really want to get entangled with these brats. Unfortunately, the other side seemed to have locked onto him.
At this moment, Hagoromo was outside the examination grounds with the proctor, Mitarashi Anko. Then he sensed the ground shaking, along with a rumbling noise coming from within the exam venue.
Did someone use a big move?
Immediately after that, he heard the frenzied barking of the split hounds. Hagoromo instantly stood up. Had Mirai or Naruto used the Summoning Technique? Or had those two children started fighting each other?
Unfortunately, his guess brushed right past the truth. But it did not matter, because someone here knew exactly what had happened.
Anko once again clutched the back of her neck and crouched down with a pained expression. The black markings of the Heaven Cursed Seal spread across half her face almost in an instant, making her appearance seem somewhat eerie.
Hagoromo raised both hands in surrender to prove his innocence. This time, it really was not his doing.
Unexpectedly, however, Anko's attention was not on him at all. Her gaze turned toward the depths of the examination grounds. Then, softly but very clearly, she spat out three words:
"Orochimaru…"
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