The body collection went smoothly.
After all, once people were dead and had lost their Heaven and Earth mission scrolls, they no longer mattered.
There were a large number of Konoha Genin, along with a small number of ninja from other villages.
"Only one place left." Qifeng wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Collecting bodies was exhausting work too, especially in a place as vast as Terrifying Cave. Running around everywhere was tiring.
A moment later, Qifeng stopped when he saw the three corpses.
"The wheel of karma turns. Let's see who Heaven spares. Tsk, tsk."
They were three mist ninja.
As he looked at the three mist ninja corpses, green points of light floated above one of them.
He could not help but curl his lip.
They called it the Chunin Exams, but every village was the same. They sent Genin in name, while their actual strength was around Chunin level.
This was a small-scale, simplified arms exhibition.
He skillfully took out a scroll, ready to collect the bodies and head home to rest.
But just as he crouched down, he stopped.
He raised his head and frowned toward the rocks in the distance.
Three figures slowly emerged.
"You?"
They were mist ninja, led by Kisame Hoshigaki.
"We meet again. Should I call you Examiner, or Mr. Body Collector?" Nashii Yoshida asked with a smile as he leaned against a tree trunk.
Qifeng slowly stood up and frowned. "You were waiting for me?"
How had they known he would come here to collect bodies? And they looked as though they had been waiting for a long time.
"Qifeng. Maruyama Qifeng. Now that we know your name, finding out your identity isn't difficult. It just takes a little time." Kisame Hoshigaki grinned, his distinctive voice ringing out.
As someone Suikazan Fuguki had valued since childhood and cultivated into an Anbu member, Kisame Hoshigaki was unquestionably skilled at gathering intelligence.
Even though this was Konoha, Konoha had not restricted their movements.
That was the confidence of a Great Hidden Village. They also wanted ninja from other villages to investigate Konoha for themselves and understand its strength. It was a form of deterrence.
But that had given Kisame Hoshigaki the perfect opportunity to investigate Qifeng's identity.
Hearing that, Qifeng smacked his lips. "You really put some thought into this."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and continued dealing with the corpses on the ground.
What was the point of lying in wait for him here?
The entirety of Terrifying Cave was under Konoha's surveillance. Anyone who dared attack an examiner here would not live to see the next day.
Especially now, when Konoha's higher-ups were already furious. If Kisame Hoshigaki and the others dared touch a nerve, their end would probably be miserable.
But the next second—
"Water Style! Explosive Water Wave!"
Crash!
A towering water stream surged forth, pouring down like a reversed flood.
Facing the overwhelming torrent, Qifeng was instantly swallowed up.
"Tch."
The mist ninja who had launched the attack was about to sneer when he heard—
"Watch out!"
Kisame Hoshigaki flashed forward and appeared beside that mist ninja. With one kick, he sent him flying and avoided a fist that had suddenly appeared.
It was Qifeng.
Carrying the last mist ninja corpse he had not managed to store away, he said in a low voice, "Hey, do you mist ninja have no brains? No matter what, these are still your comrades' bodies, right?"
What a waste if they were ruined.
The man Kisame Hoshigaki had kicked away hurriedly got to his feet. He did not blame Kisame Hoshigaki, only glared viciously at Qifeng. "The weak die when they die."
Qifeng rubbed his head with some annoyance.
Kirigakure's education really needed serious improvement.
Now, Qifeng somewhat supported the even bloodier and more brutal Blood Mist Policy that Obito would launch later.
There was definitely something wrong with these people's brains. They acted without thinking.
"I'm saying, you attacked an examiner. You don't want to take the exams anymore?"
Kisame Hoshigaki raised a hand. As he rolled his fingers, a large number of mechanical components slipped from his fingertips.
"Even a three-year-old mist ninja can dismantle surveillance equipment."
As Anbu ninja, how could they possibly not know how to deal with surveillance?
They simply liked letting Konoha's higher-ups watch Konoha's Genin get slaughtered, so they had not dismantled it before.
"Tsk." Qifeng smacked his lips.
They had come well prepared.
It seemed they really were targeting him.
Why?
Just because he had targeted the mist ninja?
Thinking about it, that did seem like a perfectly sufficient reason.
He had targeted them. Were they not allowed to retaliate?
"Have you removed all the surveillance equipment nearby?" Qifeng put away the corpse on his shoulder and could not help asking.
"What do you think?"
"You didn't leave anything behind, right? I'm asking for your sake. Once you're discovered, you're the ones who'll suffer."
"..."
Kisame Hoshigaki frowned.
Why did something feel off?
As a shark, as an Anbu member, and as a mist ninja, perception was also one of his strengths.
At that moment, Qifeng looked as harmless and goofy as a husky, yet Kisame Hoshigaki's muscles, skin, and pores involuntarily tightened.
His shark-like pale eyes locked tightly onto Qifeng. He hunched slightly, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword behind his back.
"They should all be removed, right?" Qifeng muttered.
Inside the surveillance room at the center of Terrifying Cave.
"Lord Danzo! Lord Shikaku! The surveillance in one area of the cave has malfunctioned!" the Konoha Ninja responsible for monitoring surveillance shouted.
Danzo said nothing. He merely watched a group of Konoha Ninja on one of the monitor's split screens slaughtering a group of ninja from other villages.
Nara Shikaku frowned. "What caused it?"
"We don't know. It appears to have been deliberately sabotaged. Every surveillance device in that area has been affected, and even the backup lines have been cut," the ninja replied.
"Who approached that area recently?"
"It's a remote area. There was only one of our body collection staff there, but..."
Body collection staff?
Qifeng's image flashed through Nara Shikaku's mind, and his frown deepened.
"But what?"
"But a team of Mist Genin has been staying in that area and hasn't left."
Nara Shikaku's expression darkened. He turned and glanced at the tall Mist Jonin standing nearby, Suikazan Fuguki, who carried an unusually shaped sword on his back.
Nara Chuichi had roughly mentioned the first round of the Chunin Exams to him before.
Thinking of what might be happening, he barked, "Send a team there immediately! Restore the surveillance! Anyone who violates the Chunin Exams rules—"
He glanced once more at the impassive Suikazan Fuguki and shouted coldly.
"Kill them!"
The mist ninja had far too much nerve. They actually wanted to attack an examiner during the Chunin Exams!
Never mind their purpose. This act alone had crossed Konoha's bottom line.
They were frantically testing the edge of the line between life and death!
Nara Shikaku's temple throbbed as his rapidly spinning mind analyzed what this meant and what it represented that they dared do it.
What appeared to be an ordinary Chunin Exams was actually a contest between the higher-ups of multiple factions.
The final result might not matter, but the process of this contest was extremely important.
Many actions could carry special implications, hidden motives, and even inclinations toward war.
And as a Hokage Advisor, the reason he had been sent to oversee these exams was to read information from them and catch hints of warning.
Seeing Nara Shikaku withdraw his gaze, Suikazan Fuguki's lips curled upward.
Kisame Hoshigaki had been trained by him. Suikazan Fuguki knew exactly how strong he was, and he had also authorized their actions.
Following the Third Mizukage's orders, they were to probe Konoha's bottom line as much as possible.
If an examiner of these Chunin Exams was killed and Konoha responded forcefully, then only three Mist Genin would die. Kisame Hoshigaki would be a slight loss, of course.
But Kisame Hoshigaki had not yet displayed particularly outstanding talent.
Besides, even if Suikazan Fuguki himself died, as long as the mist ninja held the advantage in war, then death was simply death. The Third Mizukage would not feel sorry for him.
It did not matter who died. Knowing whether Konoha's stance was firm would allow them to reassess the necessity of war.
But if Konoha's attitude remained unclear even after one of its examiners died, then things would become interesting.
Kirigakure might gather the strength of the entire village and launch this war with all its might.
Everything was to test Konoha's attitude.
Did it possess the resolve to fight, even while facing the Three Great Hidden Villages at once?
As a village at sea, Kirigakure undoubtedly possessed an enormous geographical advantage. They could advance to attack or retreat to defend; everything was within their control.
So they would be the first to begin testing Konoha!
Before you continue