What If I Refuse?

Rustling footsteps cut through the grass as a group of "Hyenas," drawn by the scent of blood, gathered around the woods where Moriyue and the others were hiding.

Kazeki could not yet determine whether they were pursuers from Konoha or ninja from another village. She could only sense that there were quite a lot of them. With so many people gathered together without a fight breaking out, they were most likely from the same village.

"It's those Sunagakure people. I don't know how, but they've tracked us down. They should have a very capable sensory-type ninja."

Ando panted heavily. He had no idea how the enemy had found his team. They had only fought Hinata's team along the way. They had just shaken off Kiba and Shino's pursuit, only to run into another encirclement. It was as if those people had been watching them from the shadows all along.

Moriyue rubbed his temples. To keep Hinata from crying out and revealing their position, he stuffed another wad of cloth into her mouth. Looking at her pitiful expression, he felt like he really was... fucking acting like a villain.

"We didn't get Hinata's scroll, and now someone else has delivered scrolls right to us. That's a good thing."

He rolled his shoulders. They still tingled a little, but firing the Electromagnetic Cannon one more time would not be a problem.

"Captain, wake up. I saw them from far away just now. There are a lot of them—more than ten, at least four teams. Those Sunagakure guys probably joined forces long ago. Two fists can't beat four hands. We should avoid them for now."

Ando knew Moriyue became utterly reckless in battle. Once he activated his forbidden technique, he feared no one. His style of trading a thousand wounds for a thousand wounds made Moriyue look ferocious, but there were simply too many enemies. At most, Moriyue's fighting style could drag a few of them down with him.

Could he really display the power to sweep through an entire army? Unless he could use that move that had instantly killed Big Bear before. But that move must have taken quite a toll on Moriyue. If he used it again, he would probably be half dead.

Kazeki nodded as well. She believed in Moriyue's strength, but there was no point charging headlong into an enemy they knew they could not defeat.

"At least four teams..."

Hearing the two of them try to persuade him, Moriyue revealed a thoughtful expression, as though he were seriously considering whether the plan was feasible.

"Four teams means at least one Heaven Scroll will drop, right? The remaining three scrolls can be used for trade. Not a loss..."

Kazeki and Ando: "???"

Moriyue nodded and handed the Hinata, who had been tied up like a caterpillar, over to them.

"Keep an eye on her. We'll still need her to extort Konoha's teams later. As for these scrolls delivered right to our doorstep, they've already bullied us to this extent. Shouldn't we teach them a proper lesson?"

"For the glory of Kumogakure! I'll lead the charge!"

And so, Moriyue, inexplicably fired up, charged out under Ando and Kazeki's imploring gazes.

Sunagakure had sent quite a few ninja to this Chunin Exam, but as mentioned before, Sunagakure was currently facing a split. Both the new generation of ninja who supported Gaara and the conservative ninja who clung to old traditions had entered this Chunin Exam, and the two factions were hostile toward one another.

At that moment, Shira belonged to the ostracized group among the crowd.

"Hey, your useless teammates are pretty good. What a shame. Why would such useful teammates choose a guy like you?"

A Sunagakure ninja with a face full of tattoos, though half his face was still covered by a mask, was kneading a cute, big-eyed girl who looked rather young.

"We helped you find the people you were looking for. Shira, let's go. Don't mind these people."

Another mature-looking blonde woman used the broken fan in her hand to knock the tattooed Sunagakure ninja's hand away.

"Sen, let's go." The blonde woman pulled the child away, and Shira followed them. However, they did not go far, merely standing at a distance.

"Yoru, Sen, they're our companions. We should help them..."

Shira lowered his head, deeply conflicted. On one side were friends he had known before; on the other were companions from his own village. His long-standing education told him to remain loyal to his village, but... was it truly right to let his "companions" exploit him like this?

"Companions? Shira, haven't you seen it clearly yet? Those people only want to use you. They never considered you a companion at all. What are you still hesitating for?"

Yoru tapped his shoulder with her fan, frustrated at his failure to live up to expectations. She felt that Shira had trained himself stupid—he could not even tell who treated him well and who did not.

"But..."

Shira wanted to say more, but before he could voice his true thoughts, an earth-shattering roar erupted in the distance.

Birds, beasts, insects, and fish scattered in all directions. Wood chips flew everywhere, and the powerful blast of air swept up most of the leaves in the forest. Lightning and thunder intertwined. Even with Shira's dynamic vision, he could not make out what had happened.

BOOM!

The tremendous thunder faded away. The moisture in the air had been electrolyzed, and crackling currents echoed all around. The companions who had left earlier had already vanished. Put another way, they had probably turned into dust on the wind. In any case, judging by that intense lightning just now, they had not gone peacefully.

Moriyue, who had caused all of this, was also down on one knee. His left hand had been completely dyed red with blood. The Chakra he had unleashed just now was enough to blow an ordinary ninja to pieces, but Moriyue's body had been strengthened. It was only a minor fracture—nothing serious.

A few minutes earlier, when those Sunagakure ninja discovered that the team hiding there really was Moriyue's team, bloodthirsty smiles appeared on all their faces.

"You're that brat who acted so cocky in the first two exams, right? I heard you had a great chat with that trash from our village?"

The tattooed man clearly believed victory was in the bag. They outnumbered the other side five to one, perhaps even four to one. If each of them spat fire once, they could roast those few people into cooked meat. They were all genin; numbers were the only factor that determined victory or defeat.

Moriyue looked at the newcomers. Every single one had a face full of flesh, triangular eyes, and a vicious air about them. Weren't they the textbook disposable villain lackeys coming to their deaths?

"Who the hell are you? Get your boss over here to talk to us. You lot couldn't have sensed our location. In Sunagakure right now, only Shira's teammate should be capable of that. Bring Shira here. You people are really weak."

Seeing that Moriyue did not take him seriously at all, the tattooed Sunagakure ninja felt an inexplicable rage rise in his chest.

"Hmph. Trash really does only look for trash. How about this? Hand over the scrolls in your hands and those two women, and we can consider sparing your life. There are so many of us. Do you really think you have a chance of winning?"

He pointed at Kazeki, who stood guard behind Moriyue, and Hinata on her back. His intentions needed no explanation. The Chunin Exam was a small-scale war, after all. And in war, anything could happen.

"What if I refuse?"

Moriyue smiled, looking considerably more obedient.

Seeing that Moriyue seemed to be backing down, the tattooed man licked his dry lips.

"Refuse? Then you'll have to ask whether the ninjutsu of our dozen brothers agrees."