Let's See What's Going On

The southwestern region of the Forest of Death.

Iwagakure's four remaining teams had gathered there. Leading them was Hunt, one of Iwagakure's strongest young Ninja and a wielder of the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai.

The Iwagakure Ninja rested where they were. Their sensory Ninja could clearly detect a dense cluster of Ninja presences deep in the woods to the east: Cloud Hidden Ninja establishing a blockade.

The Cloud Hidden Ninja had gathered in force, yet made no move to hunt for scrolls. To Iwagakure, their behavior was decidedly strange.

They couldn't be throwing a party, could they?

Iwasaki, the second-strongest of Iwagakure's younger generation, strode up with a deep frown and spoke quietly to Hunt.

"Hunt, the Cloud Hidden Ninja are gathering in one place. Instead of competing for scrolls, they're sealing off a huge stretch of forest. Something's wrong."

Hunt stared toward the Cloud Hidden position. A spark of fighting spirit lit his eyes, and restlessness crept into his voice.

"I see it too. They're sneaking around, and I don't know what they're plotting."

Since entering the Forest of Death, he had either been traveling while avoiding fights or had been forced into them. He had yet to face a top prodigy from another village in a proper head-on battle.

Baki? You call him a prodigy? He's a nobody!

If both sides hadn't kept gathering more people, making a full-scale fight an invitation for the other villages to swoop in, Hunt would have finished him off already.

Now that Hunt had stumbled upon Cloud Hidden's entire force gathering, he couldn't help wanting to find out why. Part of him hoped he might get to fight someone strong.

He had heard that Darui and Yugito Nii were among Cloud Hidden's best young Ninja. How good were they really?

Nara Tsukimi