Only Hiding Behind Women?

"Ptooey! You've got to be kidding me! We actually ran into them? Could our luck be any worse?"

Choji spat on the ground.

"He doesn't seem interested in us... but he does seem to have a target! Let's go, keeping our distance is always the right move."

Shikamaru looked wary.

"The priority is to find the corresponding Heaven Scroll. Once we have it, we shouldn't linger—we need to get to the Red Tower immediately!"

"This is what you call a quick strike; it's the only reliable method right now."

The group nodded in succession, and then Shikamaru's team dashed off into the depths of the jungle.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Naruto, Sasuke, and the third member had arrived at the edge of a small river.

Naruto looked utterly defeated and plopped down on the ground, truly unable to walk another step.

"No way, this is too exhausting. How come we haven't seen a single living soul for so long?"

Sakura Haruno was also somewhat drained.

"That's a good thing. At least we haven't been ambushed."

She then looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke! What did your cousin say before? Did he tell you how to safely obtain the scroll?"

Naruto looked over expectantly, his eyes shining.

Without realizing it, the two of them had come to view the never-before-seen Uchiha Sora as their backbone.

It was simply because Uchiha Sora's predictions always seemed to be right, and they had seen with their own eyes just how strong the people from the Land of Rain were.

According to Sasuke, even the first exam had been accurately predicted by his older brother, who had guessed the answers in advance.

Adding all these things together, along with Sasuke's usual bragging about his brother, Uchiha Sora had been deified in their minds.

At the mention of his brother, Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"He said we should try to actively find a team, defeat them to get the scroll, and then run straight to the tower to stay away from the fighting."

"He was probably worried about us running into people from the Land of Rain."

Naruto curled his lip.

"Easy for him to say. It's not like the right scroll is that easy to find; it depends on luck, and we might not even be able to win!"

Sasuke chuckled, full of fighting spirit.

"I've been wanting to test my combat strength for a long time. Just don't drag me down!"

Naruto gasped, but soon his own fighting spirit flared up as well.

"Oh, oh! Let's go! We'll show these ninjas the power of our Konoha Village!"

Meanwhile, Uchiha Sora was leading his teammates as they moved rapidly through the jungle.

All three were highly vigilant; Hinata had activated her Byakugan and was constantly observing their surroundings.

Uchiha Sora wasn't idle either, keeping his Sharingan fully active to respond to any movement.

They had traveled for a while without encountering any combat.

Rock Lee, however, was growing impatient and still had the energy to chat.

"I actually want to run into those people from the Land of Rain to see who's stronger between us!"

Uchiha Sora curled his lip.

You want to go up against Orochimaru? he thought.

You'd probably be eaten in a single encounter.

But just then, Uchiha Sora's brow furrowed, and he abruptly pulled Hinata, who was beside him, to a stop.

"Don't move!"

The three of them froze instantly, noticing a translucent thread wrapped around the tree branches in front of them!

It looked like a spider web, positioned exactly across their path.

Because it was translucent and hidden in the shadows of the leaves, it would have been impossible to see without looking closely.

It was only thanks to Uchiha Sora's Sharingan that they spotted it; anyone else would have likely walked right into it.

"How insidious! They actually set a trap in advance—someone is even faster than us!"

Rock Lee followed the end of the thread and saw an Explosive Tag attached to it, his expression turning grim.

That was a literal brush with death!

"And it's not just this one. Be careful; there might be people nearby!"

Uchiha Sora's eyes turned a dark red, his Three Tomoe spinning rapidly as he quickly locked onto the surroundings in every direction.

He discovered that hidden within the shadows of the trees were a full seventy or eighty explosive tags!

For a genin, this was quite a significant investment.

Just then, a cold, chilling voice echoed from all directions.

"Heh heh! You're quite sharp; I didn't expect you to see through our ambush!"

"As expected of an Uchiha. You must be Uchiha Sora, right?"

Following this, three figures emerged from the surrounding trees.

That's right, they crawled out of the trees in a bizarre fashion, as if they had been fused with the wood itself.

The leader was a middle-aged man, looking burly and rugged.

With half his body still embedded in the tree, he sneered at the three of them.

"These are... people from Sunagakure?"

Hinata frowned, recognizing their origins at a glance.

Uchiha Sora let out a cold snort.

"Heh! You know I'm an Uchiha and you still dare to show yourselves? It seems you have a lot of confidence in your strength!"

The burly man laughed, his face full of mockery.

"It's not confidence in our strength, but rather that we've all heard Konoha Village has two Uchihas: one a genius, and one a loser."

"And since you clearly aren't Sasuke, that means your team only has two people!"

"We can easily take your scrolls."

Hearing this, Hinata became displeased and stepped in front of Uchiha Sora.

"The rumors are false. If you dare spout nonsense again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Beside her, Rock Lee flashed a toothy grin.

"Heh heh! How dare you insult my brother? Today, I'll show you what the Blue Beast of Konoha is all about!"

The lead burly man's expression grew even more mocking.

"Hiding behind a woman—truly worthy of the name 'loser'!"

The three of them exchanged glances and, without another word, scattered.

They bypassed Rock Lee and Hinata entirely, intending to kill Uchiha Sora first!

At this moment, Uchiha Sora's eyes were cold, his hand already reaching for his revolver.

He didn't want to reveal his hand just yet, as he still had to deal with Orochimaru later.

But faced with the immediate crisis, he had no choice but to act.

Fortunately, Rock Lee's speed was astonishing; with a single kick, he slammed his foot into the stomach of one of the ninja.

The powerful force was like being rammed by a bull, and the man was sent flying backward instantly.

He crashed through several trees before finally coming to a stop.

By the time he regained his senses, he was half-dead, his breathing shallow and ragged.

As for the second man, he had been careless and was struck on the back of the neck by Hinata's palm!

The Hyuga clan's chakra was specifically designed to target the meridians!

That single strike had shattered the man's bones and severed his meridians simultaneously!

With a muffled groan, the man's vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious on the spot.

The only remaining burly man gasped, his mind completely blank!

"What the hell! What are these two? They're actually this strong!"

He wasn't an idiot; he could tell he had kicked a steel plate!

Ignoring Uchiha Sora, he scrambled to retreat.

He never could have imagined that while this team looked like an easy target, everyone except Uchiha Sora seemed like a total freak!

Just as he turned to run, his face suddenly twisted in agony.

Looking down, he saw a bloody hole had appeared in his chest!

A small white snake was wriggling rapidly within the wound!

"This is..."