Let Naruto Witness the Cruelty of Society

Kabuto had precious little information regarding Jingxin.

He hid within the crowd, pushing up his glasses as a cold glint reflected off the lenses.

Jingxin was about to make a move.

Now, his true strength would finally be revealed.

This was one of the tasks Orochimaru had assigned to Kabuto: collect any and all intelligence on Jingxin.

It was a pity that Iwagakure's confidentiality measures regarding Jingxin were absurdly strict; this guy named Kintsuchi actually held the same security clearance as the Tsuchikage, which was simply outrageous.

Meanwhile, among the crowd, those few Kusagakure genin also realized something was amiss.

But just as they were about to speak, the proctor, Anko, appeared and put an end to the farce.

"The second stage of the Chunin Exams."

"Location: Forest of Death."

"Rule one: Sign the death waiver."

"Rule two: Each team will receive one scroll. The scrolls are divided into 'Heaven' and 'Earth' types. You must collect both and bring them to the Central Tower to pass."

After explaining the rules, Anko wore a sinister expression: "In other words, at most, only half of you will pass the exam~"

The death waivers were quickly distributed to every genin.

Many turned pale as they looked at the words stating they were responsible for their own deaths.

However, there were also those who signed their names without hesitation, their eyes filled with excitement.

Once the waivers were signed, it was time to collect the scrolls.

Anko stood at the entrance, holding two stacks of scrolls.

The genin stepped forward in teams of three to randomly receive one.

When Jingxin's team stepped up, everyone turned to look.

It wasn't just because of the earlier commotion and the potential entertainment of the challenge from Kusagakure, but also because this team actually had four people.

This was clearly unfair to the other teams, and everyone wanted to see how it would be handled.

Deidara, Kurotsuchi, and Karin stood together and took one scroll from Anko's hand.

Immediately after, Jingxin stepped forward alone and took another scroll from Anko.

Seeing this, the genin shifted their gazes away.

So that was it; they were actually two separate teams.

It was just that the "Anbu" and "Jonin instructor" were acting as a team of one.

Judging by the number of people in a single team, Jingxin seemed to be at a major disadvantage.

But this only made people even less inclined to provoke him.

He was taking the exam alone, and combined with the intelligence Kabuto had shared earlier, only those hot-headed fools from Kusagakure failed to see the reality of the situation.

The three Kusagakure genin stood not far away, their expressions grim.

Many genin noticed the subtle tension and did not immediately enter the forest.

They wanted to see how this conflict would unfold.

The Konoha rookies were also watching.

Naruto scratched his head: "Is that Kintsuchi guy going to act alone?"

Sasuke stared at Jingxin, his Sharingan spinning slightly: "He didn't make a move in the Land of Waves, and I am very curious just how strong he really is."

Time ticked by, second by second.

Some teams could no longer contain their impatience and were the first to dash into the Forest of Death.

They wanted to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the experts to avoid early conflicts.

However, nearly half of the genin remained, observing the movements of Jingxin's team and the Kusagakure team.

Beneath his mask, Jingxin's gaze rested calmly on the three Kusagakure ninja, making them feel a chill run down their spines.

The pressure continued to mount.

The leader of the Kusagakure team gritted his teeth and whispered: "Let's go! Get into the forest first!"

The three dared not linger any longer, turning and rushing into the entrance, disappearing into the dense trees.

The very next second after their figures vanished.

Jingxin moved.

There were no hand seals, no preparatory movements.

His figure instantly blurred, turning into a lingering shadow as he vanished from the spot.

Body Flicker Technique.

The watching genin only felt a blur before their eyes, and Jingxin had already vanished.

Only a few people managed to barely track his movement.

"Such a fast Body Flicker Technique!" Sasuke's pupils constricted.

Kabuto Yakushi pushed up his glasses, his eyes narrowing behind the lenses.

Inside the Forest of Death.

The three Kusagakure ninja were running for their lives.

"Damn it! That Iwagakure Anbu has caught up!"

"Split up and run!"

"No! We'll die faster if we separate!"

The leader gritted his teeth: "We hold him off together!"

The three stopped simultaneously, turning around to weave hand seals.

They knew they couldn't escape, so they had to fight to the death.

"Water Style: Great Water Ball Technique!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Because they hailed from Kusagakure, the ninjutsu they had access to were mostly common, low-power techniques.

Jingxin applied the Light-Weight Rock Technique to his body, rapidly gaining altitude to easily dodge the attacks before clapping his hands together after weaving his own seals.

Behind him, a dense cluster of scorching light orbs appeared, radiating astonishing heat and white steam.

This was Scorch Release, created by Jingxin perfectly fusing the nature transformations of Wind and Fire chakra.

Jingxin did not have the habit of shouting out the names of his techniques when casting them.

In fact, he hadn't even named this technique yet.

The light orbs descended toward the ground.

Seeing this, the Kusagakure ninja immediately scattered.

However, there were over fifty orbs, and upon impact, they erupted into orange-red steam that rapidly expanded in all directions.

Sizzle~

The steam covered a radius of over a hundred meters, and the moisture within began to evaporate instantly.

The screams of the three Kusagakure ninja rang out as their skin cracked and their muscles withered, turning them into three mummified corpses in the blink of an eye.

Thud.

The corpses hit the ground with a dull sound.

As the Scorch Release dissipated, Jingxin landed and fished the scroll from the leader's robes.

Deidara and the others caught up, and Jingxin tossed the scroll to Kurotsuchi.

"This matches yours perfectly."

"Kurotsuchi, take the team directly to the Central Tower; I have some business to attend to."

Kurotsuchi nodded after catching the scroll: "Yes!"

"Deidara," Jingxin said to Deidara, "do not act alone."

"Huh?" Deidara looked annoyed: "It's already annoying enough to come play house with these little brats, and I haven't even shown off my art yet~ yeah!"

But seeing the look on Jingxin's face, Deidara sighed: "I got it, Master."

Currently, while Deidara had a rebellious streak in front of Jingxin, he was remarkably "well-behaved."

This likely had to do with the help Jingxin had given him, as well as Jingxin's attitude toward rogue ninja.

In short, Deidara had witnessed Jingxin's battles against rogue ninja several times.

He knew very well that he didn't want to be turned into ash by Dust Release.

He didn't want to be turned into a mummy by Scorch Release.

He didn't want to be buried in magma by Lava Release.

He didn't want to be crushed to death by a mountain.

He didn't want to be shredded into meat paste by a gale...

Kurotsuchi, Deidara, and Karin headed straight for the tower.

They possessed a complete set of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, but almost no one dared to target them.

Even if someone did, they would have to get past Deidara first.

According to the original timeline, Deidara might have already been targeted by the Akatsuki, but since he hadn't displayed Kage-level combat power, he hadn't been "invited" by Itachi to join the Akatsuki.

But now, Deidara's strength was stronger than in the original work, and by more than just a little.

After all, under Jingxin's "meticulous guidance," Deidara was less of a ninja now and more of an ordnance master.

Even now, every time Jingxin thought back to the time Deidara demonstrated a "Mortar" for him, he still felt a bit surreal.

Outside the forest's iron mesh.

The genin scattered and rushed deep into the forest, wanting nothing more than to be as far away from Jingxin as possible.

Kabuto Yakushi leaned low as he moved away from Jingxin, his mind busy processing the battle that had just occurred.

Scorch Release, a Kekkei Genkai that once belonged to Sunagakure, possessed immense power.

Furthermore, judging by the scale at which Jingxin utilized Scorch Release, his understanding of it had reached an incredibly high level; at the very least, this guy's chakra reserves were vast enough to exceed the values Kabuto Yakushi had projected.

Naruto still shouted toward Jingxin, "Brother Kintsuchi! We'll be waiting for you at the Central Tower!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, wishing he could sew Naruto's mouth shut. "We don't even know if he's a friend or a foe."

Naruto chuckled and said, "Hehe~ I believe Brother Kintsuchi won't lay a hand on me!"

Beneath his mask, Jingxin revealed a smile.

Naruto was still Naruto~

Still just as enthusiastic and sociable.

Still just as... naive.

Since that was the case, he would have to let him experience the cruelty of the world.

Jingxin: "Hand over your scrolls."

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura Haruno: "..."