You Shameless? Then So Am I
What made Yukari frown was that the other four teams in the village had run into trouble. Although they were not as elite as her two teams, they were not weak Genin either. Even at a slower pace, they should have arrived nearby long ago.
If someone could look down into the Forest of Death from God's perspective before noon on the second day, they would find at least six people gathered in five different locations.
Two elite squads from Sunagakure were near the center, while the six members of Amegakure Ninja were almost at their meeting point with the Ino-Shika-Cho.
On the other side of the river, at the edge of another central area, were the two Sunagakure teams that were about to reach the center.
Not far from them, the Uchiha Team 1 and the Mokui's squad from Konoha could be seen gathered together, clearly having already detected their location.
The battle began quickly, but ended just as quickly. Even in a direct confrontation, these Sunagakure soldiers were no match for Konoha's strong teams, let alone the result of a sneak attack.
The Uchiha team was lucky; they successfully seized a pair of Scroll from the enemy, and they even stole them from the Sunagakure team, which allowed them to finally vent their anger.
"Now that you've acquired another pair of Scroll, are you planning to charge towards the Central Tower again?" Mokui asked Uchiha Ryouya.
"No rush." Uchiha Ryouya n't a hot-blooded fool. He knew that the five Sunagakure members near the center probably hadn't left. If they were robbed again, he would be devastated.
"What other plans do you have?" he asked Mokui. He had only caught a glimpse of the battle earlier, but he had already sensed that this Konoha team was not normal and was definitely a hidden master.
After hearing his words, Mokui calmed down and thought about it for a moment, then discussed it with his teammates.
"The leader of that Ino-Shika-Cho team is quite intelligent; they should have no problem getting into the Central Tower. Add to that the Uchiha in front of us, and we already have three teams from the village that have advanced to the Third Exam. Do you think we need more?"
"I don't think it's necessary," the female ninja codenamed Yao said coldly. "There are probably only so many capable people left. Even if the other teams make it to the third round, they'll likely lose to the Sunagakure. And that would be a big event, so it wouldn't be as effective."
"I agree," Aburame Shihei added. "But to ensure Konoha's advantage, we can't let Sunagakure's forces outnumber us. I think we can stop the other two teams as well."
Mokui quickly calculated the situation and felt that it was indeed just right, so he said confidently, "Okay, let's stop the other two Sunagakure teams and keep an eye Chunin that Chunin team."
"If they go in, then we go in too. Then Konoha will either be four against three, or three against two, and our mission will be perfectly accomplished."
After the internal discussion, Mokui responded to Uchiha Ryouya, "I hope you can all join forces to intercept the remaining two Sunagakure teams. We can clear the stage together at the last moment. I believe that with the six of us together, those Sunagakure in the center won't dare to stop us."
Uchiha Ryouya thought it was a good idea, so the two teams worked together again, searching for the enemy along the edge of the central area.
After several chaotic battles involving multiple players, the vast Forest of Death suddenly seemed empty. Strong teams were either grouped together or had already reached or were nearby the Tower.
The remaining teams were mostly from Konoha, but most of them were not strong enough. They wandered around the Forest of Death for half a day without encountering anyone and were also terrified by the wild animals.
One or two teams made it to the vicinity of the Central Tower on the last day, but were utterly defeated by the Sunagakure, and the Scroll were also taken away.
There were also some encounters in the forest with the Sunaki's squad, consisting of Chunin. After a "hard-fought" battle, the Konoha Squad said that you only had a slight advantage and reluctantly handed over the Scroll.
By the afternoon of the third day, there wasn't much time left before the Second Stage exam ended.
Yukari and Yazo waited for a long time without anyone arriving, but they finally saw Sunaki's group at the last stage.
"Is that a special team prepared by our village?" Yukari secretly asked Yazo, as the village's higher-ups had not mentioned the decision to them at all.
"It should be, but we don't know the exact details. Tosha- sensei told us not to worry about it." Yazo could basically guess the gist of it. As a ninja, all he had to do was fulfill his duties.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
Just as several groups of Sunagakure were preparing to enter the Tower, a few people suddenly appeared from the woods behind them.
"Huh? Who's there?" Sunaki, Yukari, and the others immediately turned around to look.
There were six people in total, namely Uchiha Ryouya and Mokui. They were smiling as they looked at the Sunagakure in front of them, not in a hurry to enter the Tower, as if they were letting them go first.
Upon seeing who it was, Yukari and the others understood, "It was you who intercepted the other team from our village, wasn't it?"
"Hehe, what do you mean by interception? Don't talk nonsense. How could a team of Genin us handle something like this in such a vast Forest of Death? It was just a chance encounter, understand?" Mokui had a poker face, but his shamelessness made it hard for those around him to imagine how he could be so thick-skinned. They always felt that there was something strange hidden inside him.
If Shuichi were there, he might tell them that this is what they call a repressed pervert. He might also remark, "You can't judge a book by its cover; people who've been in the Anbu for a long time probably change."
The group is now standing in a triangular formation. Yazo and his six companions are on one side of the Tower, Sunaki and his three companions are on the other side, Mokui and the Uchiha team are watching from behind them.
Sunaki stared intently at this persistent little team. Mokui seemed to sense something as well, and met his gaze directly, a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth. Combined with his somewhat mature and stiff face, it looked as if he was mocking Sunaki for being an idiot.
"What? You want to team up and fight us? Then come and try!" Mokui was not flustered at all. Although it was 6 against 9, they scattered in all directions as soon as the fight started. Let's see what Sunagakure can do.
"Damn it, that's disgusting!" Even with her resolute nature, Sunaki felt a surge of irritation upon seeing Mokui's utterly unfazed attitude.
He had already figured out Mokui's plan. "I'll stand right behind you and see if you go in or not. If you go in, I'll go in; if you don't, I won't. Anyway, we from Konoha will definitely outnumber you."
Sunaki had no choice, but Mokui had to make an option, though he was now required to enter the third round.
Because their own arrangements had completely failed. The plan was for three or four teams from Sunagakure to block the other village's team together, so that Yukari and the others wouldn't have to go all out. They could also take advantage of Konoha's lack of unity to reduce the number of people in their third battle.
As a result, before a large-scale team could be formed, Yukari and the others were forced to go all out, which led to the exposure of most of the battle information.
Meanwhile, the other teams from the village were kept outside. If Sunaki didn't get in, Sunagakure would basically have no hope of winning against Konoha.
"Let's go!" Sunaki turned around, not wanting to see Mokui's sour face anymore, and went straight into the Tower. On the other side, Yukari five, along with Aoi who could barely move, followed behind.
"Hmph, let's go in too." Mokui and the Uchiha Ryouya, followed closely behind.
Inside the Tower, Shuichi looked at the clock on the wall; it was 3:55 PM.
"Wow, that's incredibly close! Five teams have shown up all at once. Looks like we'll have to play a third qualifying match. I'm kind of looking forward to it! Let's see what the Third Hokage plans to do."