Rain Trio

The thunderous crash from afar made Yakushi Kabuto stop in his tracks.

That location... was near Entrance 14 of the training ground, wasn't it?

Yakushi Kabuto immediately analyzed the source of the tremendous noise within the Forest of Death.

If he remembered correctly, Sasuke's ninja class had chosen to enter the Forest of Death through Entrance 14.

"Was it Lord Orochimaru?"

Yakushi Kabuto made his judgment internally.

Such a huge disturbance was not something those Genin participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams within the Forest of Death could create.

"Hey, Yakushi Kabuto! Why did you suddenly stop?!"

Yakushi Kabuto's companion, Ken Misumi, wore a black strip of cloth over half his face and round-rimmed glasses.

He questioned Yakushi Kabuto's sudden stop.

"You two should continue the exam according to the plan. I have something to do and will be leaving the team."

Yakushi Kabuto did not answer Ken Misumi's doubts at all.

His attitude toward Ken Misumi was less like that of a teammate from the same ninja class and more like a superior issuing orders to an inferior.

"Quit talking like you're giving orders! Your strength only surpassed ours a little recently, and you were merely lucky enough to catch that person's attention! Now you actually think you're somebody!"

Yakushi Kabuto's second companion, Akato Yoroi, also covered his face with a black strip of cloth like Ken Misumi, but wore round black sunglasses.

He was deeply dissatisfied with Yakushi Kabuto's attitude.

"A little," huh...

Yakushi Kabuto did not take Akato Yoroi's words seriously.

Then again, he was an experienced spy. If Ken Misumi and Akato Yoroi could see through his true strength, that would be truly laughable.

"Yoroi, everything I do is for that person. You should... understand, right?"

Yakushi Kabuto spared a bit of attention to answer Akato Yoroi.

But he immediately focused again. Yakushi Kabuto sensed a chakra signature approaching him.

That chakra appeared behind Yakushi Kabuto. An attack was imminent!

What a fast Body Flicker Technique!

Yakushi Kabuto knew he had missed his chance. It was already too late to counterattack or evade.

He simply chose to take the attack from behind head-on!

A kunai plunged entirely into Yakushi Kabuto's body.

Yet Yakushi Kabuto did not care about his injury at all.

He even intended to use his body as bait and take advantage of his attacker's strike to restrain the attacker instead!

The attacker keenly sensed Yakushi Kabuto's intention and decisively leaped away from behind him, keeping his distance from Yakushi Kabuto.

But Yakushi Kabuto's two companions, Ken Misumi and Akato Yoroi, who had also been attacked, were not so fortunate...

Both died on the spot!

The three attackers emerged from the shadows.

"I know you. The Rain Trio of Hidden Rain—Shigure, Midare, and Baiu."

Yakushi Kabuto identified the three attackers after taking only one look at their appearances.

All three Hidden Rain ninja carried multiple oiled-paper umbrellas on their backs, and their Hidden Rain forehead protectors were set into the conical hats on their heads.

The tall one was Shigure.

Shigure had only one eye. The other had been clawed blind by a beast, and a scar was still visible around the empty socket.

Shigure had been the one to ambush Yakushi Kabuto just now.

The short, fat one was Midare, while Baiu had a comparatively slim build.

Yakushi Kabuto pulled out the kunai Shigure had stabbed into his back, looking nothing like someone whose internal organs had been damaged.

If Shigure could see Yakushi Kabuto's back as he removed the kunai, he would see that Yakushi Kabuto's wound had already healed.

Yin Healing Wound Destruction!

It was an advanced medical ninjutsu mastered by Yakushi Kabuto.

Through precise perception, it allowed him to determine in advance which part of his body an enemy would attack and begin healing himself before being injured, minimizing the damage he took.

Yin Healing Wound Destruction's instantaneous recovery power could even allow Yakushi Kabuto to withstand a Rasengan with his bare body.

"Rain Trio, how about we make a deal? My companions have already been killed by you, which means I have failed this survival exercise... I'll give you the scroll. I hope you can spare my life."

Yakushi Kabuto glanced at the corpses of Ken Misumi and Akato Yoroi.

Having directly lost two team members, he was already considered eliminated from this exam.

But passing the Chunin Ninja Exams had never been Yakushi Kabuto's goal.

Yakushi Kabuto did not fear the Rain Trio before him.

It was simply that he had now lost even the superficial reason to fight—"seizing scrolls during the exam."

He truly could not be bothered to waste time fighting the Hidden Rain ninja before him.

Yakushi Kabuto cared more about Sasuke Uchiha—

—Lord Orochimaru had successfully implanted the Cursed Seal in Sasuke, right?

What kind of change in thinking would Sasuke undergo after obtaining the Cursed Seal's power?

And could Sasuke's change help him escape his own confusion—

—those were the things Yakushi Kabuto truly cared about.

Yakushi Kabuto looked at Shigure and raised both hands to show that he had no intention of resisting.

He walked over to Ken Misumi's corpse and took out a black Earth scroll from Ken Misumi's ninja tool pouch.

The scroll belonging to Yakushi Kabuto's team had originally been kept by Ken Misumi!

Unfortunately, Yakushi Kabuto's hope of avoiding a wasteful battle was dashed—

—"We've already killed two people, so one more won't make a difference."

Shigure reached behind his back, pulled out two oiled-paper umbrellas, and threw them into the air.

The closed umbrellas opened in midair and spun at high speed like blooming flowers.

"Ninja Art: Rain Needles!"

The thousand senbon hidden within the oiled-paper umbrellas were driven by Shigure's chakra and fired densely like rainfall.

Yet those thousand senbon did not fly toward Yakushi Kabuto.

Instead, they shot at Ken Misumi's corpse!

Faced with this unexpected situation, Yakushi Kabuto hurriedly bent down and used his body to shield Ken Misumi.

A living man was risking his life to protect a dead man.

Yakushi Kabuto blocked most of the Rain Needles. By the time Shigure's ninja tool attack ended—

Not a single part of Yakushi Kabuto's body remained intact.

The senbon had even torn apart Yakushi Kabuto's face, revealing his true appearance...

Ken Misumi!

"I truly didn't expect you to see through my Dead Soul Technique."

The supposedly dead "Ken Misumi" pushed aside the corpse riddled with holes that had been pressing down on him.

He stood before Shigure, tore off his face, and revealed Yakushi Kabuto's appearance.

"So you really did switch yourself with the corpse when you took the scroll."

Shigure frowned at Yakushi Kabuto.

"He was my companion. Isn't it only natural for him to help me out?"

Yakushi Kabuto adjusted his glasses, not seeing anything wrong with his actions.

"Since you're such close companions, I'll send you to join them right away—Midare! Baiu!"

Shigure called to his companions.

Midare and Baiu immediately took up positions on Yakushi Kabuto's left and right.

The three were perfectly in sync as they formed the hand seals for Water Release at the same time.

Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!

Shigure, Midare, and Baiu exhaled watery mist from their mouths, enveloping Yakushi Kabuto within it.

Yakushi Kabuto was not panicked despite his vision being obscured by the dense fog. He sensed the Rain Trio's chakra.

But Yakushi Kabuto was shocked to discover that the Rain Trio's chakra had vanished!

It was exactly the same as when Shigure had suddenly appeared behind him earlier.

Yakushi Kabuto realized the seriousness of the situation. He could not determine when or how the Rain Trio would launch their attack.

Yakushi Kabuto hurriedly used the healing ninjutsu with extremely powerful instantaneous recovery once more—Yin Healing Wound Destruction.

But he suddenly discovered that he could no longer smoothly gather chakra through his chakra pathways.

There was something wrong with this mist!