The next step was to lie in wait. Naruto made his preparations with some helplessness. The three of them had already reached the vicinity of the Central Tower at top speed, yet they had not encountered even the shadow of another team along the way.
It seemed that if they wanted to gather the Earth Scroll they lacked, they would ultimately have to wait for prey to come to them... or launch a surprise attack.
And so, the leader of the Ember Organization—the "Shadow" feared by the great nations of the Ninja World—was now diligently devising ambush tactics just to pass the Chunin Exams.
"The grass here is thick, and the view is open. This seems like a good ambush spot..."
Naruto pushed aside the dense grass atop a rise, evaluating the location's pros and cons as an ambush point. Then—
"Clang!"
A sharp metallic ring suddenly rang out! A kunai came hurtling at him from ahead at an extremely tricky angle, but Naruto smoothly deflected it with a backhanded kunai block.
He had already been exceptionally gifted, and after constantly honing his reflexes through the Flying Thunder God... Naruto felt that even with Team 7, he could reach 3000.
Satsuki's gaze sharpened. Cold light flashed from the kunai in her hand as she was about to counterattack.
However, the attacker let out a startled cry that was full of shock, but held no killing intent.
"You?!"
The shout made all three members of Team 7 pause. Once Naruto got a clear look at the attacker's face, he too froze slightly—it really was a coincidence. It was the Kirigakure ninja they had let go earlier.
The Kirigakure ninja's expression was complicated and hard to read. Not long ago, after escaping from Naruto and rushing back to the meeting place he