Hey, You Weren't Hurt, Were You? Scaredy-Cat

The burly man lying on the ground heard Feng An's words and knew that the other party had realized he was awake.

The man sat up and tremblingly pulled two Earth Scrolls from his clothes.

After Feng An took the scrolls, the man hurriedly dropped to his knees and kowtowed.

"D-Don't kill me."

He had seen the entire exchange between Feng An and his companion.

His companion's strength had already been terrifying, yet in the face of such a secret technique, the red-haired boy before him had remained utterly calm.

With a mere wave of his hand, he had reduced him to ashes.

Such strength left him no longer daring to resist or flee. His instinct to survive made him kneel on the ground and bow his head to the red-haired youth before him.

After taking the scrolls, Feng An ignored him and returned to Yudzuki's side.

"Yudzuki, the scroll you have is a Heaven Scroll, right?"

Yudzuki was somewhat dazed. What had just happened lingered in her mind. She knew Feng An was already strong, but she had never imagined he was this strong!

This was not the first time he had reshaped her understanding of him. It seemed that every time he made a move, he became even stronger.

She knew the gap between them would only grow wider, until they were as far apart as clouds and mud, never crossing paths again.

At that thought, Yudzuki's gaze dimmed.

"Mm. It's a Heaven Scroll."

She took out the scroll she carried and looked at the character "Heaven" on it, but felt none of the joy she had imagined.

Perhaps because she had not contributed at all.

"Big sis, Feng An, let's go hand them in at the designated tower!"

At the thought of her team passing so quickly, Fūka's face brimmed with irrepressible excitement.

Yudzuki nodded mechanically.

Feng An scratched his head and followed behind Fūka.

He was feeling a little troubled.

They had gathered the Heaven and Earth Scrolls so quickly that he did not know what excuse to use to keep the two of them from going to hand them in.

He had not yet achieved his goal of showing off in front of the examiners.

Meanwhile, once the burly man kneeling on the ground and trembling realized that Feng An's group had completely left, he tipped over and lay down on the ground.

"He already killed two of my teammates. Why did he spare only me...?"

"Could it be that I'm so weak he couldn't even be bothered to make a move?"

The burly man merely gave a bitter smile. Not a trace of resentment rose in him; instead, he even felt fortunate.

Fortunate for his weakness.

As Feng An's group slowly made their way toward the tower, the sounds of fighting and shuriken clashing reached their ears.

Fūka, walking in front, was the first to spot several people fighting ahead.

She quickly signaled for them to lower themselves. "It looks like other teams are fighting up ahead. Let's be careful and go around them..."

Yudzuki crouched as she moved forward. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she turned back toward Feng An.

"It's that Grass ninja you mentioned. She's fighting someone else."

At her words, Feng An's eyes gradually lit up.

Wasn't this a chance to perform, delivered right to his door?

Yudzuki saw his eyes practically sparkling and gave him a strange look.

"Didn't you tell us to run whenever we saw her? Why do you look so excited?"

Feng An said blandly, "I told you two to run. That doesn't mean I have to run too."

Fūka, at the very front, rolled her eyes at him and muttered softly.

"Funny. I wonder who got punched into a tree earlier and couldn't even pull himself out."

After racking his brains, Feng An finally came up with a good way to keep them from going to hand in the scrolls for now!

"Fūka, wait. Let's hand them in later."

"Why?"

"We still have plenty of time. I'll let you in on the final exam's contents in advance."

"The final round is an individual match, meaning one-on-one. Watching how they fight here is a great chance to build up real combat experience."

Fūka and Yudzuki exchanged a glance, then both fell into thought.

Honestly, if the final round really was one-on-one, Yudzuki only felt that watching from here was even more pointless.

Because she knew her chances of winning a one-on-one fight were extremely low.

"I'm fine with anything."

After stating her position, Yudzuki looked at Fūka and let her decide whether to stay or go.

Fūka was much more capable than Yudzuki. In a one-on-one fight, as long as she did not encounter someone famous, she still had a good chance of winning.

After hesitating for a moment, she nodded.

"Then let's hide and watch."

Seeing that Fūka also agreed to stay, Feng An was delighted.

That brought him another step closer to achieving the purpose of this trip.

Ahead of them, Orochimaru and the three members of Team 7 were already fighting fiercely.

No, that was not quite right. He was fighting only two members of Team 7.

Pink-haired Sakura merely stood at the back, worriedly calling Naruto's name one moment and Sasuke's the next.

When Fūka and Yudzuki saw Sakura's behavior, they immediately thought of themselves.

Wasn't that just like the two of them?

The pair could not help blushing.

The battle before them had already reached a stalemate.

"Wait," Sasuke said with a grim face as he pulled a scroll from his backpack. "If you want the scroll, take it."

Naruto and Sakura were instantly confused by Sasuke's actions.

Naruto loudly demanded, "Why are you giving the enemy the scroll? What are you trying to do?!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, then casually tossed the scroll toward Orochimaru.

As the scroll flew through the air, Naruto gritted his teeth and sprang up, intercepting it midair.

With a grim expression, Sasuke said, "Naruto, don't get in my way—"

Naruto punched Sasuke away.

His face darkening, he muttered, "You really are a fake, aren't you?"

Sasuke wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Idiot! What are you talking about? I'm the real one!"

"The real Sasuke isn't a cowardly weakling like you! Do you think she'll let us go just because you hand over the scroll?"

Orochimaru, who had been quietly watching them argue, slowly rose to his feet. The corners of his lips curled up as he looked at the two with amusement.

"Naruto, congratulations. Your answer is correct."

"As for the scroll, I can just take it after I kill you all."

"Damn it!"

Naruto roared and charged at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru rolled up his sleeve, bit his finger, and drew a bloody line across his arm.

Unhurriedly, he formed hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu."

A massive brown snake appeared beneath his feet in an instant, its tail sweeping Naruto away.

Fūka's pupils widened as she watched from the side.

"What a huge snake! How can there be such a disgusting Summoning Beast?"

Feng An glanced at Fūka from the corner of his eye.

This was already disgusting?

If she saw a toad Summoning Beast, wouldn't she puke up yesterday's meal?

After sending Naruto flying, Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and controlled the giant snake beneath him as it charged toward Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke was still immersed in the fear of being unable to win. His entire body trembled, and he could not react.

Just as the giant snake was about to slam into Sasuke, Naruto, having collected the Nine-Tails' rent, got there first and stood in front of him.

With his back against the giant snake, he viciously stabbed a kunai through its huge mouth.

Then he slowly raised his head and flashed Sasuke a grin.

"Hey, you weren't hurt, were you? Scaredy-cat."