Lucky Team

Now that the two teams, both composed of Chunin, have met in this way in the Second Stage exam, Sunaki, unless he's stupid, will definitely realize that they've been followed.

In this situation, any leader of the team who still has a modicum of rationality would certainly not risk exposure by taking action.

Knowing that no one would make a move, Shuichi and his two companions prepared to leave. "Looks like you're all a bit of a coward. Let me tell you, our team is heading straight for the Central Tower, with our Byakugan activated the whole time. If you want to steal our Scroll, then come on!"

"Let's go, let's set off immediately." Sarutobi Kohei: "Yes, Captain."

"Swish, swish, swish."

Watching Shuichi and the others leave, Sunaki neither stopped them nor followed them, but instead looked at the group of Konoha Ninja that were coming from behind.

"Gentlemen, the Forest of Death is so vast, why aren't you collecting the Scroll? What are you doing here instead?" Although both sides were already fairly aware of the situation, neither dared to point it out, so Sunaki took the initiative to speak.

The seemingly mature Konoha captain, named Mokui, calmly replied, "Of course we're looking for Scroll too. We just heard a commotion here, so we came to see if there was anything we could pick up."

As he spoke, he took out a Scroll from his robes. "Here, ours is the Heaven Scroll. Your village's Scroll was stolen, so I'm curious to see Scroll yours is. If it's the same, then there's no point in fighting; if it's different..."

Sunaki, expressionless, took out a Scroll from his coat and said, "Coincidentally, ours is also Heaven Scroll. It seems we can coexist peacefully."

After their conversation, the surroundings fell silent. After a long while, Mokui spoke up, "It seems so, but we think this location is good and would like to rest here tonight. What about you?"

Despite Mokui's pressure, Sunaki remained unmoved. "Since you like this place so much, then let's leave. I'm sure we won't 'accidentally' run into each other again, right?"

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true. If we set our sights on the same target, like a team from Konoha, then we might have to fight it out."

Ignoring Sunaki's reaction, Mokui began spouting nonsense with a straight face. "After all, I'm more familiar with the ninjas of my own village. It's not impossible for me to take action against them in order to pass the exam!"

The three of them, including Sunaki, took a deep breath and replied, "Of course, that's normal. We also feel that we are too weak."

"But since we've been lucky enough to run into a team from our own village, we should unite and see if we can secure a passing opportunity. You shouldn't interfere with this, right? After all, the Second Stage exam mentioned that any means are permitted."

"I think you're overthinking it. How could we possibly control you? So please leave, we want to rest."

After some rambling, the three of them, including Sunaki, headed towards Yazo's team. They chatted for a while, and then slowly walked away from Mokui's squad.

"Captain Mokui, what should we do next?" The female Konoha ninja with a sword on her back, codenamed Yao, asked about the next steps.

Mokui had made his decision. "Based on what they just said, I think they won't dare to openly attack the village's team. Even if they do, it's unlikely they'll reveal their strength."

"Now we'll see if these people want to go into the Third Exam. If they do, then we'll follow suit. This is what the Lord Hokage instructed us to do earlier."

"I see." Yao understood what Sarutobi Hiruzen meant. "Anyway, the Daimyo and other nobles can't tell what level the ninjas are fighting, but Konoha absolutely cannot suffer a loss. I'm actually looking forward to the duel with them now, to show them the strength of Konoha."

The mysterious man in sunglasses Aburame Shihei, quietly added, "They definitely suspect we're following them, but they probably haven't discovered my methods yet. Just in case, I just released another female insect onto another person. They won't be able to escape for the next three days."

"Well done!" Mokui praised his teammates, "They should be calmer tonight. We'll check out the area near the Central Tower later. Let's rest for a bit now."

The river that runs through the center of the Forest of Death is not as wide as it appears on the map previously shown by Umino Ikkaku; if drawn to scale, it would simply be a line.

This is a river about ten meters wide with clear water.

It flows from southeast to northwest of the Forest of Death, with some bends at the front and back ends, but the overall deviation is not significant.

The 44 entrances to the Forest of Death are evenly distributed. Although only 24 were used in the Second Stage test, some lucky teams ended up with entrances very close to the river.

Sōsuke is the captain of the Konoha team participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams; the average age of his team is around 14 years old.

This is the second time their team has participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams. In the last Chunin Ninja Exams within the village, they were eliminated in the Second Stage.

Being selected as a team to participate in the Joint Chunin Exam puts a lot of pressure on them. Among Genin, their strength is only slightly above average, and their chances of advancing to the third round are slim.

However, compared to teams participating for the first time, they have a significant intelligence advantage.

Sōsuke knew almost half of the participants from Konoha's own village.

With his familiarity with the Chunin Ninja Exams process, he believed he had a great chance to make a name for himself as Sōsuke in the villages.

As expected, the first test didn't stump them. Knowing that the purpose of the test was mainly for intelligence gathering, the three members of the team successfully passed the test through tacit cooperation.

As soon as the Second Stage exam began, they were overjoyed to discover the river of the Forest of Death less than a hundred meters from their entrance. It was as if even the heavens were trying to make them Chunin.

Sōsuke and the others' confidence was not unfounded. Many Konoha Genin had conducted extensive research and discovered that this location was an excellent starting point for the Second Stage exam.

The first issue is water supply, but the teams at this starting point have absolutely no problem with this.

Even because this river was their only water source, solving the food problem became much easier.

The animals in the forest would frequently come to the river to drink, which meant they were completely exposed to the ninjas' sight, making them much easier to hunt than in the jungle.

The second advantage is the route. Teams entering from other entrances, even if they have a good sense of direction, cannot reach the Central Tower in a completely straight line. At the same time, they also have to be careful of attacks from Nakano the forest and interceptions from other teams.