Chunin Ninja Exams 4

Under the blazing sun, Yoshiu Kawama and his two teammates kept scanning their surroundings, completely unaware that they had become someone else's prey.

A Konoha Genin suddenly spotted a scroll beside a huge boulder not far away.

"Found it! Over there!"

Hearing this, Yoshiu Kawama and his teammate turned around together and watched their delighted teammate, Shangcun, walk toward the scroll.

The moment he reached the shadow beside the boulder and bent down, before he could pick up the scroll lying quietly there, he let out a startled cry.

"What is this?! Ah!!" A scream of agony followed.

He had accidentally stepped into a trap. It was covered by a layer of dirt, and several poisoned senbon had been planted upside down inside.

The instant his foot landed on the sharp senbon, Shangcun's screams did not even last three seconds. He lost his life before his teammates could reach him.

Yoshiu Kawama and his other teammate, Shinkazu, surrounded him but did not dare approach, helplessly watching their companion die from poison.

The most urgent matter now was finding the enemy lurking in the shadows.

"Who's there?! If you've got the guts, come out!" Shinkazu shouted frantically as he looked around.

"Tch... Is this all Konoha's ninja are capable of?"

Unexpectedly, the hidden enemy truly revealed himself. A voice that sounded young echoed from all around them.

As the voice rang out, two figures appeared before Yoshiu Kawama and Shinkazu.

"Sand Village?" Looking at the two humanoid puppets before him, Yoshiu Kawama immediately recognized Sand Village's distinctive Puppet Technique.

"Shinkazu, I'll hold them off from the front. Go find the puppeteer. He won't be strong in direct combat, so just watch out for his poison."

Once the enemy had revealed himself, he no longer seemed so frightening. Shinkazu calmed down and began carrying out the plan.

There could not be many enemies, most likely only one puppeteer. Otherwise, they would have launched a surprise attack while Yoshiu Kawama's side was down a man, using their numbers to overwhelm them.

Yoshiu Kawama calmly approached the two puppets and began fighting at close range.

He was quite confident in his taijutsu.

But that confidence doomed him.

He was facing puppets, not enemies of flesh and blood.

Though still young, Sasori possessed exceptional talent in Puppet Technique. His ten fingers moved deftly in unison as he controlled the two puppets to besiege Yoshiu Kawama.

Yoshiu Kawama used Leaf Style Taijutsu in a broad, forceful kick aimed straight at the male puppet's vulnerable neck. His original plan had been to force it back, then turn and attack the female puppet.

But the male puppet ignored the blow completely and took the heavy flying kick head-on. Its head fell right off, leaving only the connector attaching it to the lower half of its body.

More fatally, at the same moment Yoshiu Kawama kicked it, the male puppet raised both arms and tightly seized his leg, preventing him from breaking free for a short time.

Taking advantage of that opening, the female puppet at his side had already closed in.

Just as Yoshiu Kawama fell into a flustered panic, Shinkazu's scream rang out again from somewhere nearby.

Any hope Yoshiu Kawama had held of being rescued by his teammate instantly turned to ashes.

Once the female puppet came close, it swiftly drove senbon coated in a paralytic agent into Yoshiu Kawama's acupuncture points.

As a puppeteer, Sasori did not possess the Byakugan's insight, but his understanding of the body's major meridians and acupuncture points was sufficient to render Yoshiu Kawama unable to fight with a single strike, without killing him.

Yoshiu Kawama collapsed limply to the ground, preparing to face his death. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw red-haired Sasori slowly emerge from his hiding place.

Shinkazu was probably beyond saving as well.

"Want to die, Konoha ninja?" His voice carried a coldness and ruthlessness far beyond his age.

"I won't let you get your wish. Next, you'll accept my modifications."

"Hey, kid."

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from afar.

It was a Jonin examiner from the Hidden Cloud Village.

The lifelessness in Yoshiu Kawama's eyes abruptly gave way to a desperate longing to live.

"The other side has already lost the ability to fight. Are you still going to torture him?" The examiner, who had been observing for a while, stepped in to stop Sasori.

"No... I only want to turn him into bait. My targets are the other Konoha ninja." Sasori's explanation made the examiner ponder.

"This is my tactic... Is that not allowed?" He had already made up his mind: if the examiner disagreed, he would kill Yoshiu Kawama immediately.

"Tch... There really aren't many normal puppeteers. Fine, pretend I didn't see anything."

Since they were Konoha ninja, and Konoha's reputation as the Shinobi World's number one village was currently unmatched, the Hidden Cloud Village ninja did not mind making an exception if it meant seeing Konoha humiliated.

Watching the examiner appear suddenly and leave just as quickly, Yoshiu Kawama lost all hope.

Fifth Peak.

Patiently lying in wait was one of a ninja's essential skills.

Kakashi and his two teammates were concealed separately in three positions where each could see the others, quietly waiting for prey to arrive.

They waited a full two hours before someone finally entered their ambush range.

The newcomers were three ninja from Takigakure. Judging by their appearances, all were over twenty.

This was the norm in the Shinobi World. Most Genin continually took missions, accumulated experience and achievements, learned more ninjutsu and secret techniques to increase their strength, and eventually met the standards for promotion to Chunin.

From their conversation and behavior, this team from Takigakure had apparently not obtained a scroll yet and was still searching carefully.

"Noma, where do you think the Hidden Cloud Village people hid the scrolls? They said they weren't deliberately concealed, but aside from seeing what they looked like before we entered, we've searched all this way for so long without finding a single one."

"How would I know? These great ninja villages just love pulling this kind of nonsense. Why not just fight head-on and let the winners advance? What a pain." The ninja named Noma impatiently answered his teammate.

"Enough complaining. I'm actually glad we didn't find a scroll so quickly. Haven't you seen how many people have died along the way?" Another teammate beside him spoke with a hint of relief on his face.

"You've got a point. Isn't Konoha supposed to be the strongest village in the Shinobi World? Back at Third Peak, didn't they carry out several Konoha ninja corpses?" Noma said gleefully.

Kakashi had remained quietly hidden because the Takigakure ninja had no scrolls and he did not want to waste chakra. But upon hearing this information, he swiftly darted forward.

A precise elbow strike landed in Noma's abdomen, making him drop to his knees in pain. With a tap of his foot, Kakashi flashed behind another Takigakure ninja and struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

Only the last Takigakure ninja remained. Looking at the suddenly appearing Kakashi, he trembled uncontrollably.

The strength Kakashi had displayed was simply beyond anything he could resist. The Konoha forehead protector on Kakashi's head clearly revealed his identity.

Aburame Haru and Inuzuka Kawa followed close behind Kakashi, surrounding the Takigakure ninja.

"Tell us everything you know." Inuzuka Kawa, the most impatient of them, spoke viciously.

"I'll talk, I'll talk. This has nothing to do with us. Friends from Konoha... When we passed Third Peak..." Having lost all will to fight, the Takigakure ninja told Kakashi and the others every detail he knew.

After getting the information he wanted, Kakashi knocked out the Takigakure ninja. Only after confiscating all three men's ninja tools did he let them leave.

Upon hearing that several Konoha ninja corpses had displayed unusual skin coloration, Kakashi knew they had most likely been poisoned, and Sasori was the likely culprit.

It seemed Sasori had deliberately been targeting Konoha ninja.

"He should have come from Third Peak and reached Fourth Peak by now. We'll continue waiting on this peak, but we need to change locations. We need a place he'll definitely pass through if he keeps heading deeper."