Deterrence and PY Transaction!

In the Death Forest!

The usual tranquility had already been shattered.

Figures flashed through the forest like lightning.

Woods that ordinary people could never traverse were easily crossed by these figures.

This was what ninjas were!

No matter how numerous ordinary people were, they posed no threat to ninjas who could move freely regardless of the terrain.

That was why this world was called the ninja world, and ninjas were its protagonists.

A youth wearing a khaki bodysuit, an Iwagakure forehead protector, and built as powerfully as an adult landed on the ground and shouted toward the rear:

"Since you came looking for trouble, stop hiding like rats."

As the 'strongest genius' among the examinees, Gang Tu naturally could not have failed to notice those presences following him in secret.

Yet in response to his challenge, no one stepped forward. Instead, they gave another kind of answer.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Kunai shot toward him one after another.

Even the flesh and blood of a Kage-level expert could not withstand kunai.

On the battlefield,

the number of ninjas who died to kunai far exceeded those killed by ninjutsu.

But kunai thrown head-on like this could be dodged even by ordinary genin, let alone Gang Tu.

Though he looked powerfully built, he was incredibly agile.

Like a bear that could dance.

All one could say was that anything was possible with Chakra enhancement.

After dodging the attack, Gang Tu's honest-looking square face instantly turned murderous as he rapidly formed hand seals.

"Earth Release: Dividing Earth Turning Palm!"

He slammed both hands heavily against the ground.

Rumble!

Starting from his palms, the ground before him shattered like glass.

The earth was crushed, and the forest was flattened!

The area ahead from which the kunai had been thrown was reduced to ruins amid the roar of the earth, with traces of blood visible among the wreckage.

The ninjutsu was only C-Rank.

Yet in Gang Tu's hands, it was not the slightest bit weaker than B-Rank Ninjutsu.

He truly deserved to be the top-ranked genius of this year's Chunin Exams.

That one strike silenced the surroundings.

No one was willing to jump out and face him head-on.

But that was only natural.

They were ninjas, not samurai. Without an opportunity, they naturally would not force an attack. They would only lurk in the shadows and wait for their chance.

"What a pain!"

Seeing that no one took the chance to attack, Gang Tu was not pleased. Instead, he became even more irritated.

He would rather fight these people face-to-face than have them keep watching him from the shadows.

"Captain, why don't we collect the tokens first?"

One of his teammates reminded the furious Gang Tu that they were here for an exam, not a fight.

"Let's go!"

After glancing around, Gang Tu turned and left resentfully.

If they did not have more important business to attend to, he definitely would not have let those people off so easily.

Less than two kilometers from that battlefield,

"Wind Release: Sickle Weasel!"

A violent gale tore apart everything ahead like invisible blades.

Baki, wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector, stopped his technique.

"Captain, your Wind Release has improved again."

The young man in the squad looked at him with immense admiration.

"Yura, no matter how much you flatter the captain, it won't change your mistake just now!"

The girl carrying a huge bundle of white cloth looked disdainfully at Yura.

The two began bickering.

In the end, Baki, as the captain, could no longer stand it and directly interrupted them.

"Hurry up and clean up the battlefield. We'll collect tokens as we search for Konoha's teams. Don't forget our mission this time!"

With that, he began moving.

Cleaning up the battlefield was not to protect the Death Forest. The Sunagakure ninjas would not care about this place.

It was to avoid leaving behind information about themselves, and to retrieve their ninja tools.

The thrown kunai, senbon, and shuriken all had to be recovered.

If they used them and did not retrieve them afterward,

that was the behavior of 'wealthy households.'

But that definitely did not include Sunagakure, who were practically poor enough to go mad.

A forceful counterattack!

Whether it was Gang Tu or Baki, they made the same choice when facing threats.

Not only did they not retreat, they did everything they could to kill their pursuers.

They did not even give them a chance to use a Signal Flare.

At the same time, they knew the Death Forest was covered in cameras that would transmit their battles to the spectators.

But that was precisely why they had to act this way.

Because in the ninja world, killing was not wrong. Weakness was.

The examinees this time were all under fifteen.

The youngest, Kakashi, was only seven!

At such an age, they had to kill one another.

No wonder Madara, Obito, and Nagato all believed this world was 'twisted' and tried to correct it.

They had indeed identified the problem, but their methods of solving it were equally twisted.

The geniuses ranked near the top of the intelligence booklet were all targets for the major ninja villages.

Even Gang Tu and Baki were being hunted, so Kakashi, ranked third, could not possibly be an exception.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Tang Ping fired a Flame Bullet, blasting apart a patch of brush ahead.

But it achieved no results.

Although the Flame Bullet flew faster than the Great Fireball Technique,

it was nothing special compared to other ninjutsu. As long as one was prepared, it could easily be avoided.

However, that was also Tang Ping's goal.

Whoosh!

A white figure streaked past, plunging a short blade through the heart of the last female ninja who had dodged the Flame Bullet.

Kakashi had made his move.

He was Team 3's 'ace.'

At least, that was what the intelligence booklet said.

"Tsk, tsk. Good thing she wasn't a 'Taimanin,' or she wouldn't have only been stabbed once!"

Tang Ping joked as he looked at her corpse.

He had already grown accustomed to blood and death, but he still occasionally used phrases from before his transmigration to remind himself not to let the ninja world twist his values.

Seeing Kakashi walk over after coldly sheathing his blade, Tang Ping praised him.

"As expected of Team 3's main combatant. You dealt with all those pursuers, so we'll leave all future fighting to you!"

Yes, he absolutely did not mean to dump the responsibility on someone else and slack off.

For a pitiful, helpless, and weak teammate like him, clinging to a powerful thigh was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

As for whether his conscience would hurt from making seven-year-old Kakashi kill people?

Sorry, it really would not.

Tang Ping did have a conscience, just not much of one.

He could enjoy living off a woman so wholeheartedly, and they still expected him to have a conscience?

They were thinking too much.

Though Kakashi could not see Tang Ping's inner thoughts, his dead-fish eyes stared coldly at him.

What a joke!

Who exactly was Team 3's main combatant? Did this guy seriously have no idea?

When it came to strength, although Kakashi considered his own growth extremely rapid, he understood that Tang Ping's growth rate far surpassed his own.

Even now, he was not sure how strong Tang Ping truly was.

Yet despite that, Tang Ping had never made a move, instead pushing him to the front.

Even though he did not really care about such things, it still left him somewhat dissatisfied.

"Fine, I was wrong. How about I use this to apologize?"

Tang Ping naturally noticed the dissatisfaction in Kakashi's eyes, so he pulled out a bottle of Healing Potion and handed it to him, using money to win him over.

Though Kakashi surely had some himself, who would ever complain about having more good things?

The air fell silent for a moment.

Smack!

Kakashi accepted the potion, and their PY Transaction was complete.

In other words, he did not mind standing out in the open to draw fire for Tang Ping, allowing him to keep slacking off.

"I've recovered all the ninja tools, but where exactly are the tokens?"

After cleaning up the battlefield, Yamaa Koji also voiced his confusion.

Now that they had dealt with the fastest-pursuing squad and temporarily deterred the pursuers, it was time to search for the tokens.

"I don't think they'll be difficult to find. The hard part will be getting them and safely bringing them to the tower."

Tang Ping stated his analysis.

If they were hidden too well, then the second test would be testing scouting ability rather than ninja strength, and that was completely impossible.

Before the two could answer, they realized there was no need to.