Lucky Turns to Unlucky
However, once Sōsuke and his group entered and discovered the river, the situation was completely different.
The river runs right through the center of the Tower, so its course serves as a directional guide.
As they walked along the riverbanks, the view was much more expansive than in the forest. With water on one side, there was nothing to worry about; as they walked along the bank, they only needed to be careful of the trees on the other side.
Sōsuke were delighted, not only because they had the two major advantages of the river, but also because it would allow their plan to be executed perfectly.
Upon discovering the river, their team immediately set off at full speed along it.
There are only two ways to successfully complete the Scroll Battle.
One option is to search for other teams in the forest, and the other is to ambush them near the Central Tower. For a team like Sōsuke's, which is slightly weaker, the former method is very difficult, while the latter method is very suitable.
With their understanding of the Chunin Ninja Exams, Sōsuke's team had a perfect start in the early stages.
They were betting on a very high probability of success, and upon discovering the river, they rushed towards the Central Tower without conserving their chakra.
The probability of a small team intercepting them halfway through is very low. Everyone starts at the same distance from the Tower, and most people end up in the forest after entering.
Less than half an hour into the exam, they had successfully reached the vicinity of the Tower. They then rested on the shore for a while before preparing various traps and ambushes.
"Captain Sōsuke, when do you think we'll run into the first team?" A Konoha Genin next to Sōsuke, feeling a bit bored while waiting, asked him in a low voice.
"It's only just gotten dark, so it's normal that no one has come in the past hour." Sōsuke figured no one would come today. "It seems we're very lucky. The other entrance, closer to the river, might not have been allocated to other Konoha teams, or maybe someone from another village got it."
"So no other team made the same choice as us, and we didn't have to play against them when we were fatigued."
At this moment, another Genin spoke up, "I specifically checked beforehand, and the fastest record for completing the second round of the Konoha Second Chunin Exam is about four hours."
Sōsuke smiled confidently, "That makes things even safer. This exam starts in the afternoon! Once it gets dark, all the teams will have to be cautious. They'll have to work hard all night, while we've even prepared food. We can definitely give the strongest team a shot tomorrow."
The three people in the grass looked around. The nearby woods were filled with unseen Steel Wire, ready-to-be-launched Hidden Weapons, and numerous traps dug in the ground.
This was something they had meticulously planned after arriving; once the battle began, their opponents might be severely injured before they even noticed them.
"This Chunin Ninja Exams, I will let the world know my Daimyo, [Shunnosuke], as the first step towards the pinnacle of the Shinobi World!" Sōsuke's lips curled up slightly, and the tedious wait suddenly felt much easier. This was all a trial given to him by heaven before his success!
Just as Sōsuke's squad was poised to make their move, Shuichi and his two companions, having gathered Scroll, headed straight for the Central Tower without stopping.
They encountered no obstacles along the way. As they approached the central area of Forest of Death, Sarutobi Kohei suddenly asked, "Captain, since this is Scroll Battle, is it possible that someone is lying in ambush near the Central Tower?"
"I think it's definitely possible, but not now." Shuichi had analyzed this possibility. "Every team knows that the team that collects all the Scroll will definitely pass by the Central Tower. The simplest way is to just steal the Scroll from these teams."
"But this behavior should start tomorrow, because it's too early now. And there's a drawback to doing this: you'll lose the initiative. You might encounter teams that are more restrictive, and in that situation, should you try to seize the initiative or not?"
"Another reason is the exam time. Three days is too short. It's wiser to take the initiative when your team is at its best. If you wait passively, and then run into a team from your village that has collected Scroll and is heading to the Central Tower together, it'll be three against six."
Sarutobi Kohei thought about it and felt that Shuichi's words made a lot of sense. Especially for a team like theirs with reconnaissance ninjas, doing this would be tantamount to wasting their advantage.
"Enemy spotted, 400 meters ahead, in the woods beside the river near the Central Tower," Hyuga Akiha reported expressionlessly.
Shuichi and Sarutobi Kohei: "..."
"What exactly happened?" Shuichi asked, frustrated. He never thought that even Xiuri Tian.
"The chakra response isn't strong for now, so the three of you should stay together," Hyuga Akiha replied.
Continuing forward until they were within 300 meters of each other, she provided more detailed information. "It's a Konoha team. Based on my observations in the first exam and just now, their strength seems quite average. Judging from their chakra, they don't appear to be hidden experts, unlike the previous two teams."
After hearing Hyuga Akiha's information, Shuichi basically deduced that this was a typical insignificant team, and he didn't know why they had gotten to the vicinity of the Tower so quickly to lie in wait.
Since their opponents posed no real threat, Shuichi and his two companions approached them at a leisurely pace.
"It's the river that's the problem," Hyuga Akiha suddenly said. "There are a lot of traps around them, so they must have taken a long time to get here. There are also food and water supplies not far behind them, so they must have come directly to the center along the river."
"So that's how it is." Shuichi immediately understood and was speechless. The team's luck was just too good.
After recalling the map of the Forest of Death, it became clear that this squad's tactics had certain weaknesses.
To the southeast, there is only one inlet near the river. To the northwest, there are two, with the two tributaries converging a few kilometers from the inlet.
In other words, there could be three teams capable of taking such action.
Therefore, even if they expend a lot of physical energy to arrive first, they won't have enough time to lay a sufficient number of traps.
Teams coming from the other two rivers actually have an advantage in terms of condition. After all, ninjas are not soldiers who defend strongholds. If the enemy has a scout ninja who discovers them first, it's like handing themselves over to the enemy, just like this Konoha Squad is facing Shuichi and his group now.
"Should we bypass them? I doubt they'll even notice," Sarutobi Kohei asked.
"No, I plan to teach them a lesson, but I don't need to go too far, after all, they are Konoha's own people." Shuichi thought carefully before answering. This decision surprised Sarutobi Kohei Hyuga Akiha, since they thought their captain was a steady person.