"When...?"
Anko murmured. The boy had moved both in and out without making a sound; she hadn't noticed him at all.
"He's a skilled fighter," one of the Anbu men said, touching the dirt. The seriousness beneath his mask was apparent in his trembling breaths.
"He even had a follow-up planned for his landing. If we hadn't interrupted them, he and Orochimaru could have kept fighting."
"You mean... we ruined their fun?" another Anbu asked in surprise.
They all understood that if the boy hadn't shown up just now, they would probably already be down.
"Yeah. Never mind that for now. One of our guys is lying over there injured."
They looked toward the Anbu member on the ground. He was still unconscious.
"What!?"
They took a closer look and realized the fallen Anbu's clothes had vanished too!
"Was it that boy?" Anko asked in surprise. Orochimaru couldn't possibly have done something like that.
"Whatever the case, he saved us. My mask is gone too. He must be trying to hide his identity while continuing to track Orochimaru." Yugao walked over and helped their fallen teammate up.
"Yugao, take the injured man and notify Lord Hokage. The three of you, come with me to find Orochimaru. Someone like him... won't stop until he gets what he wants!"
"Ding! Training session complete!"
Gentle Fist: Tenketsu Strike proficiency +4477! Byakugan proficiency +2796!
Wearing a mask, Neji slipped away from Anko and the others, then checked the results of his training.
"Unbelievable. I only exchanged a few moves with Orochimaru!"
A rush of excitement surged through Neji.
It had been dangerous, but the experience gained from fighting a powerful opponent simply couldn't be replicated through ordinary training, important as training was.
Clearly, Neji was lacking this kind of high-level combat experience!
Judging by how eagerly Orochimaru had tried to disengage, he hadn't finished what he came to do. He still had to place the Cursed Seal on Sasuke!
But Neji didn't want to get involved in the Uchiha Clan's affairs right now, and he wasn't capable of stopping them anyway.
"Why not take this chance to find him and fight one more time?"
Neji murmured, looking at the folded Anbu clothes in his hand with satisfaction.
This outfit should be enough to conceal his identity, right?
Just as he was about to set off, Neji felt his body go limp.
"Tch!"
Neji frowned. Even his knees felt weak!
"Was I just too tense?"
Neji chuckled. Even though everything had been within his control, he couldn't suppress his body's instinctive resistance.
Or perhaps it was because Orochimaru had caught him in a genjutsu. Either way, with his current stamina, he really wasn't fit to fight.
After thinking it over, Neji slowly turned around, deciding to look for Rock Lee and Tenten first.
"I wonder if they've run into any enemies..."
Neji was still a little worried as he made his way there, but the closer he got to the center, the closer he'd get to them.
Before long, he was near enough to activate his Byakugan.
He circulated his chakra through his body, concentrating it around his eyes until veins bulged around them.
Neji quickly spotted Tenten and Rock Lee two hundred meters away.
But unfortunately, three people were blocking their way!
The two sides were already fighting!
Neji frowned and stopped.
"Looks like they've been ambushed."
Without hesitation, he took out a Military Ration Pill, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it.
His stamina was gradually recovering, but not very quickly. In this condition, Neji wasn't sure he could take on the three people ahead.
He decided to go over and assess the situation first!
Meanwhile, Tenten and Rock Lee were rushing toward the center.
Suddenly, the two seemed to trigger some kind of mechanism. The sound of rope scraping against trees immediately put them on alert.
"Lee!" Tenten called, turning around.
"Yeah!" Rock Lee answered.
They both moved toward each other, just as a tremendous whoosh came from between them. A tree trunk, three meters thick, hurtled toward them!
With a crash, several trees behind them were knocked down. But that wasn't all: another trap was set where they landed, and a net of wire snapped shut around them.
"A double trap!"
Both were nimble, and they jumped in opposite directions. Seeing that the wire net's range was wide enough, Tenten immediately pulled out a scroll.
"Hidden Weapon: Rising Dragon!"
Hundreds of Kunai and Shuriken flew outward, cutting through several strands of the wire net, and the two escaped.
But as soon as they landed, they heard another crackling sound.
At Tenten's feet lay an Explosive Tag that was about to go off!
"Get down!" Rock Lee shouted instinctively.
He shot forward and shoved Tenten away, then threw himself to one side.
There was a soft bang, as if the explosive had misfired.
They opened their eyes and saw smoke billowing around them!
It was purple smoke, and it spread incredibly fast.
"Poison!"
Tenten realized what it was. They immediately covered their noses and mouths and backed away.
Just then, two figures leaped out.
"Don't bother struggling. Even one breath of that poison will take effect. It's not lethal; it's a toxin I specially developed to target ninja. It affects a person's tenketsu and chakra pathways, temporarily blocking their chakra. For three days, you won't be able to use ninjutsu, and your mental strength will be weakened."
The leader of the three was Kabuto Yakushi!
Beside him was his teammate, Akado Yoroi, wrapped up from head to toe.
"Cough, cough!"
Tenten looked up at them and realized she could no longer gather chakra.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm purely a Taijutsu ninja!"
Rock Lee stepped forward, already preparing to unwrap the bandages around his wrists.
But Kabuto scratched his neck and sneered. "What? Are you planning to look after someone who can't fight while taking on all three of us?"
Akado Yoroi had already drawn a Kunai, ready to attack at any moment.
"Lee..."
Tenten hesitated too. But she couldn't fight now, and in a battle she'd only hold him back!
"I don't intend to make things difficult for you. I know you've already collected the scrolls. Hand them over, and I'll let you go." Kabuto pushed up his glasses, looking calculating.
"So you've been setting traps near the center from the start?" Tenten exclaimed in shock. She hadn't realized people could approach the exam that way!
Kabuto sneered. "Of course. This isn't my first Chunin Ninja Exams. How could I possibly fail to see through you inexperienced little brats?"
Rock Lee gritted his teeth. If they handed over the scrolls here, how could they pass the exam?
Tenten wanted to persuade him, but she too was torn.
"Well, if you still want to fight..."
Kabuto drew a deep breath and shrugged, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.
Whoosh!
With an extremely strange flick of his hand, he hurled a specially made surgical Kunai in an instant.
There was a clang, but it didn't hit anything.
Instead, its trajectory was deflected, and it pierced the dirt.
Another Kunai was stuck in the ground on the other side.
"What? You hit my surgical blade with a Kunai and forcibly changed its trajectory?"
As Kabuto stared in astonishment, everyone else looked up in surprise. A figure had appeared on a tree branch.
He stood with his arms crossed, dressed in Konoha's Anbu uniform and wearing an Anbu mask, looking down imperiously at them all!
Before you continue