Konoha's Forest of Death, sector C-7.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting patches of light and shadow across the ground.
The air smelled of earth and rotting leaves. A few birdcalls occasionally drifted in from afar, only to be swallowed by the deathly silence.
This high ground offered a clear view and was easy to defend but hard to assault-the hunting ground Itachi's squad had chosen.
In just half a day, they had already ambushed three squads here.
The first squad's three members had walked into the ambush completely unprepared and fallen under Itachi's genjutsu.
Inuzuka Hana's Fang Over Fang and Kabuto Yakushi's scalpels had worked in tandem, ending the fight in less than two minutes.
Three battles, three victories. Itachi's squad had shot straight to the top of the leaderboard, ten points ahead of Kirigakure's second-place Chojuro Squad.
Their supplies were absurdly lavish, too: heaps of Explosive Tags, more kunai and shuriken than they could use.
They had enough Ration Pills for three days, three potent healing medicines per person, and several small point scrolls.
Inuzuka Hana crouched behind a rock, a stack of Explosive Tags in her hands and her eyes shining like stars.
She grinned as she counted them. Haimaru lay at her feet, tail spinning like a windmill.
"We're rich! We're rich! With this many Explosive Tags, we could blow several squads sky-high!" She kept her voice low, but her excitement was unmistakable.
Kabuto Yakushi leaned behind a large tree, adjusting his glasses with a faint smile.
He was sorting their medical supplies, separating the potent healing medicines from the hemostatic bandages and placing them into compartments in his backpack.
Despite the abundance of supplies, he remained meticulous, keeping everything in its assigned place for easy access.
Uchiha Itachi crouched behind the rock at the