Supply Scramble

It was one thing to say it, but Itachi had not fallen that low yet. It was only a competition, after all, and it was not as if he truly feared Yuun and the others. Looking at the classmates around him, some excited and some worried, Itachi thought that it was still uncertain who would be the unlucky ones. No matter how strong Yuun was, being targeted by too many people would be enough to give him a headache.

The school had done an excellent job keeping things confidential. Aside from the few Chunin who had come to assist temporarily, fewer than five people knew the real situation. Even those responsible for setting up the grounds only knew about the areas they had arranged. Of course, anyone with sufficient status could find out easily if they wanted to, but this was only a first-year Ninja Academy training exercise, so no one paid much attention to it.

"This is it. Spread out and find the entrance corresponding to your group." The Chunin leading Yuun and the others brought them before a long row of three-meter-high wooden fences. Several gaps had been temporarily cut into what had once been solid fencing, each marked with a number and guarded by a ninja in a Chunin vest. "Don't go through the wrong one. Before entering, your belongings will be checked again. Absolutely no prohibited items are allowed."

Yuun shrugged indifferently, carried his backpack over to the gap, and handed his number tag to the Chunin guarding it. Hana Inuzuka and Gekko Hayate, following behind him, handed over their tags in turn.

After thoroughly checking their backpacks, the gatekeeper Chunin gestured toward the distance, waved Yuun's group through, then sealed up the gap in the fence again.

"Jerky, jerky! Yuun, hurry up and find some beef jerky!" Hana Inuzuka repeatedly urged him on. Searching for things was definitely a job best left to the Hyuga Clan.

"I know." Yuun helplessly handed his backpack to Gekko Hayate. "You two find a comfortable place and set up the tent first. With three waterproof tarps, the three of us should be able to fit.

"I'm not staying with this guy." Hana Inuzuka wrinkled her nose and shot Gekko Hayate a look of pure disgust. "He reeks of medicine. It smells awful."

"No need to trouble you, senpai." Seeing Yuun frown, Gekko Hayate said between coughs and gasps. He also gave Yuun a somewhat grateful look. "I'll just make do in a tree."

Yuun gave Gekko Hayate a suspicious look, making sure he had not seen wrong. Why was this guy suddenly acting so close to him? Could he have known all along that Yuun wanted him to take a bath? Come to think of it, would not washing off that medicinal smell feel much better?

"Hana, you set up the tent. You don't mind sharing with me, right? Hayate, set up some warning traps around the area. I remember we learned those. If you have time, gather some firewood. I'll bring back a few things while I'm out." Yuun assigned the tasks in a few quick words. "I'm going to find supplies. Byakugan!"

Half a year had passed since his last match with Itachi. By now, Yuun's Byakugan had reached a viewing radius of eight hundred meters. He stretched that range into a straight line and scanned the entire forest, pushing his maximum field of vision to nearly two and a half kilometers. Before long, he found the first supply cache.

"I found one already. I'm heading out first. Make sure you set up the perimeter." Yuun gave the instruction casually, then leaped onto a branch and sped away.

Just as he was about to arrive, Yuun suddenly stopped. Two teams had already discovered this supply cache, and even at his speed, he would probably arrive slightly later than them. Moreover, at some point, someone wearing a Chunin vest had appeared beside the supplies, seemingly waiting for people to approach.

Yuun stopped about a hundred meters from the supplies and hid behind a large tree to observe. The leaders of the two teams that had arrived first exchanged a few words, then spoke with the person in the Chunin vest. The next moment, the two sides suddenly began fighting.

To ensure the students' safety—or rather, to keep anyone from dying—the school-issued ninja tools had only been sharpened halfway. Injuring someone was not difficult, but killing someone was far from easy, especially when the users were only five- or six-year-old children.

In truth, there would not have been much difference even if they had been given the finest ninja tools. These little brats had trained for less than a year on average, and their aim when throwing ninja tools was truly awful. It was hardly surprising. They could barely handle stationary targets at ten meters, yet now they were being asked to hit moving targets at twenty or thirty meters. Their accuracy probably was not much better than that of complete beginners, not to mention that the targets could fight back. In their frantic confusion, their hit rate dropped even lower.

After watching the monkey show for a while, Yuun decided there probably would not be any problem and slowly walked over.

"Hm, so there was another one hiding." The person in the Chunin vest was clearly startled when he saw Yuun emerge, but a smile soon appeared on his face. "Don't misunderstand. I'm only here to record which group obtains the supplies. It will be counted toward the final score. I won't interfere no matter how you compete for them, unless someone is in mortal danger or voluntarily gives up."

Yuun nodded and strode toward the supply bag. Acting as if no one else was there, he slung it onto his back and prepared to leave. The two teams, which had both frozen upon seeing Yuun appear, finally could not hold back any longer. "Hyuga, you can't just take it like that."

Yuun had no intention of paying either team any attention. He nodded to the Chunin in the vest and left with the bag on his back. Yet not one person from the two teams, who had fought so fiercely over the supplies, dared to step forward and stop him.

"Hyuga Yuun... Heh, looks like the Hyuga Clan has produced another remarkable little one." The Chunin in the vest muttered to himself as he made a note in his notebook. "All right, you should be leaving too. If you go now, you might still find one of the remaining two supply bags. Since you were the first to find this one, you get five extra points. Well? Why aren't you moving? If you're late, there won't be anything left for you." Seeing the six children from the two teams still standing there in a daze, the Chunin kindly reminded them.

Only then did the six snap out of it. They left in their respective teams and tried to find the remaining two supply caches. Having already secured one supply bag, Yuun was not in a hurry to return. He immediately activated his Byakugan and searched for the second bag. The Chunin in the vest had to record the team that seized the supply bag—did that mean there were extra points? Yuun was not particularly interested in this training, but since he was participating and had a chance to score highly, why not take it? He could treat it as training for himself.

He quickly found the remaining two supply bags. The forest was not particularly large, and with several hundred people thrown into it, they were packed together quite densely. On top of that, the supply bags had all been placed in conspicuous locations, so finding them was not especially difficult.

Neither of the remaining supply bags was far from Yuun. On one side, at least six teams were competing for one. The Chunin guarding the bag would not allow anyone to snatch it amid the chaos. If that happened, people would easily be seriously injured in their rush to save time. It was better to settle the match slowly like this—the victors would get the supplies, while the losers could only go back and chew on dry rations. On the other side, only three teams were competing, and two of them appeared to have joined forces against the remaining team. The outcome would likely be decided soon.

Those in the forest who had not found a supply bag were also gradually converging on the area. Once they got close enough to hear the commotion, they would rush over. By then, it would be too late to try to seize anything. Yuun did not think he had the ability to snatch supplies from more than a hundred people, so he could only reluctantly give up the bag with more people fighting over it and race at full speed toward the other one.