Robbery

Chapter 6: Robbery

"Who exactly are you?" the blue-haired Sanmu asked Mirai. They hadn't officially crossed blows yet, but even someone as arrogant as him could tell that this kid, who was younger than him, was stronger.

How could a five-year-old have such impressive strength? He could hardly believe it, but there was no way he would just give up.

"Why, I'm the first-year brat you were talking about, of course," Mirai said with a smile. Then he leaped swiftly downward. Sanmu jumped back and pulled out a shuriken, hurling it at Mirai.

Clang, clang! Mirai knocked all the shuriken to the ground with his kunai.

Mirai looked up and saw that his opponent had run away. There was no way he'd let such hard-won prey escape. He formed a hand seal, and his body vanished from the spot, leaving behind a lush green leaf. It was the Konoha Body Flicker. Mirai didn't know how this world's Body Flicker Technique compared to his own, but anything produced by the system was bound to be top quality.

Sanmu ran through the forest, darting among the leaves now and then to evade Mirai's pursuit. After about ten minutes, he finally stopped.

Panting heavily, he had been running at full speed the whole time and had exhausted a good deal of his stamina. "I should've shaken that guy off by now..."

Whoosh, whoosh!

Two shuriken traced arcs through the air, cutting through the leaves as they shot toward him. The blue-haired boy was startled and hurriedly jumped down from the tree trunk, dodging them.

When he landed, he saw a familiar figure standing in front of him: the first-year brat from earlier. Mirai was looking at him mockingly, and Sanmu felt humiliated.

"You bastard!"

Thud! A sudden pain shot through Sanmu's neck. He turned around with difficulty and saw another Mirai, identical to the one in front of him, standing behind him. Disbelief filled his eyes.

Mirai shook his head calmly. "That one was only a clone. You can't judge a ninja by ordinary standards. You'd better go back to the academy and repeat the year."

Thud! The blue-haired boy collapsed unconscious.

Phew! Mirai let out a breath. "I have to admit, that line sounded pretty cool. But first, let's check the scroll." He found Sanmu's scroll in his ninja tool pouch.

"Damn! It's a Heaven Scroll. What terrible luck. Choosing No. 44 really was an ill omen. Still, I'll take it with me. Maybe I can trade it with someone more reasonable." Mirai put the Heaven Scroll in his ninja tool pouch and headed toward the center of the forest. Anyone hoping to snatch a scroll from someone else would make their way to the center, but the farther in they went, the greater the danger.

After all, everyone was heading for the center. The closer they got, the more people there would be, increasing the risk of getting robbed—but also the chances of obtaining the scroll they needed.

After Mirai left, a three- or four-meter-tall tiger appeared beside Sanmu. It opened its jaws and lunged to bite him.

Thud! The tiger was kicked away. A ninja appeared, dressed in the uniform of a Konoha Chunin. It was the same Chunin who had been at Entrance No. 44 earlier, likely assigned to proctor the exam.

The Chunin glanced in the direction Mirai had gone and sighed. "I didn't expect someone so young to be this strong. No wonder the Third Hokage thinks so highly of him." He looked at the delinquent Sanmu lying on the ground and added, "You really have terrible luck."

"Report! Candidate No. 5 has failed the graduation exam!"

The Chunin sent the report over the radio, then grabbed the boy's clothes and disappeared, hurrying toward the edge of the forest.

Things like this were happening all over the forest. The ninjas here were all from Konoha; this wasn't the Chunin Ninja Exams in the Naruto anime, where ninjas were forced to fight to the death for the sake of their villages. These were the future ninjas of Konoha, so the proctors couldn't let all these children die here.

The Third Hokage had stationed a Chunin at every entrance to monitor the battles. They weren't to interfere, but they had to be ready to provide timely assistance, greatly reducing the risk of fatal accidents.

Mirai hurried toward the center of the forest. He encountered no obstacles along the way, and soon reached the area nearby.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several shuriken suddenly appeared, attacking Mirai as he walked. He leaped backward and dodged them. The shuriken embedded themselves in the ground.

"Who's there?" Mirai asked with a frown. Anyone would be annoyed at being ambushed out of nowhere.

Three people stepped out from behind the trees. They were likely the ones who had attacked him. One of them came forward and said, "Kid, from the way you're rushing around, I bet you've already got an Earth Scroll. Hand it all over if you don't want to get hurt." The three of them looked utterly certain they had Mirai beat. Their opponent was a first-year kid, and there were three of them. How could they possibly lose? They were naturally bold.

"I don't want to get hurt, but I don't want to be eliminated either. How about I trade one of my Heaven Scrolls for one of your Earth Scrolls? That way, we both get what we need. What do you say?" Mirai took out a Heaven Scroll and waved it in his hand.

The three stared at the Heaven Scroll, their eyes lighting up. They exchanged glances, nodded, then laughed. "Haha! Everybody gets what they need, huh? Kid, looks like you've got two Heaven Scrolls. We happen to be short two ourselves, so we'll take both!"

Mirai put the Heaven Scroll in his ninja tool pouch, shook his head, and sighed. "Alas, I turned my heart toward the bright moon, but the moon shone on the ditch instead. I guess you can't afford to be kind. Fine, hand over every scroll you've got. This is a robbery!"