[Sakura Haruno: Aaaah, I'm so bored! Why hasn't our Jonin instructor shown up yet? Team 7's the only one left in the classroom.]
[Tenten: Have the teams already been assigned? @Ino Yamanaka, how are things on your end?]
[Ino Yamanaka: We're at the training ground. We just finished introducing ourselves, and now we're about to do a combat exercise. Ugh, not being on Sasuke's team was bad enough, but our teacher's a scruffy guy with a full beard, too. I'm so mad!]
[Sakura Haruno: Oh? Didn't you fall for Mo Chen instead? Why are you still thinking about my Sasuke-kun? Don't tell me you're trying to have it both ways? No way, no way!]
[Ino Yamanaka: Don't get too smug, Forehead Girl. Your teacher's definitely going to be a pervy, repressed old man!!]
[Sakura Haruno: No way! Don't even think about ruining my resolve. Sasuke-kun and I are on the same team now. So mad, aren't you? Nyah nyah~!]
[Tenten: All right, stop bickering. Have you forgotten the second group rule? Do you want to be punished?]
[Sakura Haruno: Tch!]
[Ino Yamanaka: That's right. I can't end up like some Forehead Girl, getting hooked on electric shocks.]
[Sakura Haruno: ...]
[Ino Yamanaka: Ugh, this is such a pain. We have to do a combat exercise, and then we have to verify whether the future videos are real. I'm so jealous of certain Forehead Girls who get to sit around doing nothing in the classroom.]
[Sakura Haruno: Drop dead!!!]
"I... I didn't mean to!"
Seeing Endo Hiroshi and Mo Chen glaring at her, their faces dark with anger, Ryota dropped to the ground, nearly wetting himself.
Chie Mai panicked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and forced out an excuse. "Teacher Hiroshi, you said yourself that there were no rules during the test and that we could use any means necessary!"
"And while we were at the Ninja Academy, our teachers taught us that a ninja had to put the mission first and complete it at any cost."
It was a reasonable argument. In a world where the strong preyed on the weak, that was simply how things worked.
Whether anyone would accept it was another matter.
Whoosh!
Endo Hiroshi appeared right in front of Chie Mai.
"That's true. But the test isn't over yet. Are you planning to quit?"
Endo Hiroshi's cold voice rang in Chie Mai's ear.
Her face changed drastically, and she immediately drew a kunai to defend herself.
Before she could do anything else, Endo Hiroshi punched her in the stomach.
He didn't want to hold back against someone who would betray even her own teammates. The only reason he did was because he was worried he might kill her.
Even so, his punch made Chie Mai retch up bile, her face contorting with pain. She nearly suffered a serious injury to her womb.
"And you..."
Endo Hiroshi flashed over to Ryota and said coldly, "If you were surrounded by enemies during a mission, would you wet your pants in fear then, too?"
"I..." Ryota's face went pale. He wanted to beg for mercy, even give up the test.
But Endo Hiroshi clearly wasn't going to give him the chance. He kicked Ryota hard, sending him flying.
With a thud, Ryota slid dozens of meters before slamming into a tree trunk.
He couldn't catch his breath and passed out on the spot.
"I... I give up!"
When Endo Hiroshi turned his gaze toward her again, Chie Mai's face turned white. She cried out, fighting through the pain in her stomach.
She was afraid that if she shouted too slowly, Endo Hiroshi would beat her to death in his rage.
After she finished shouting, Chie Mai clearly saw a flicker of disappointment in Endo Hiroshi's eyes. He really had been planning to keep beating her!
He didn't act like a teacher at all, and he had no consideration for a girl's feelings. Chie Mai clenched her teeth in anger.
Just you wait. I'll never give up on becoming a ninja!
Once I find a way to get stronger, I'll repay today's humiliation tenfold, a hundredfold!
Chie Mai roared inwardly.
She wasn't a generous person. She always repaid a grudge.
Even if she wasn't strong enough, she'd find some other way to feel better.
Meanwhile, Mo Chen wanted nothing more than to take revenge on Chie Mai and Ryota right then and there, but the timing wasn't right.
He hesitated for a moment. He hadn't expected Endo Hiroshi to act so quickly and take the two of them down already.
But even so, it wasn't enough to calm Mo Chen's anger.
As he held back his fury, some kind of power inside him seemed to ignite. It surged out from his dantian and spread through his limbs.
Endo Hiroshi didn't notice anything strange about Mo Chen. He turned to him and said with a hint of regret, "Now you're the only one left. I'm sorry to tell you that you've all failed."
"With your abilities and temperament, you would have qualified. Unfortunately, you need a three-person squad to become a ninja, so you'll have to go back to school and repeat the year."
"Luck is part of what determines your fate. I hope you find reliable teammates next time!"
With that, Endo Hiroshi was about to give his verdict on Team 9's test and dismiss them.
But at that moment, Mo Chen suddenly threw his head back and let out a furious roar.
A surging force burst from his body. Its powerful, eerie presence made Endo Hiroshi's expression change instantly.
"What is this?" Endo Hiroshi exclaimed, his face full of shock.
Even he, a Jonin, felt threatened by that aura.
"What's wrong with him?" Chie Mai stumbled backward in fear.
She had just done something terrible to Mo Chen, and seeing him like this made her instinctively think he was coming for her.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The next moment, a mass of black material burst from the ground, as if responding to Mo Chen's power.
It was pitch-black, neither quite earth nor stone, and its composition was impossible to identify.
Like vines, it shot up from underground and instantly wrapped around everyone present.
It had all happened so suddenly that no one had time to prepare. The black material appeared and covered almost the entire surrounding area.
Chie Mai and the unconscious Ryota had no chance to fight back. The black, vine-like material bound them in an instant.
Endo Hiroshi's expression changed drastically. He pushed off the ground and leaped into the air.
But just as he dodged the black vines at his feet, several more immediately curled toward him from all sides.
Unable to push off anything in midair and having underestimated the power of the black material, Endo Hiroshi let his guard down and failed to dodge. He managed only a couple of quick blocks before being bound as well.
He had meant to burst out with Chakra and break free.
But he soon realized that as soon as the material wrapped around him, an immense force began pulling from it. His Chakra was being drained nonstop.
In an instant, his body went limp.
As his Chakra drained away, it flowed like water from a breached dam, impossible to stop. There was no way he could break free by his own strength now.
Team 10, which was conducting a combat exercise nearby, soon heard the commotion.
Something had happened!
Their Jonin instructor, Asuma Sarutobi, immediately realized what was going on. He called a halt to the three members of Team 10 and hurried toward the source of the noise.
Ino's expression shifted. Without hesitation, she followed close behind Asuma.
At the same time, she sent a message in the Chat Group:
[Ino Yamanaka: The commotion from Mo Chen's side has reached us!]
"What a drag!" Shikamaru frowned.
He hadn't wanted to go, but when he saw Ino run ahead, he had no choice but to drag Choji along and follow.
Before you continue