This Is My Hunting Ground

"Boom!"

Violent shock waves swept through the surroundings.

Tsume Inuzuka and Shibi Aburame felt them as they raced toward the scene.

"Damn it, Kazan's already fighting them!"

"That idiot!"

Tsume swore, but all she could do was pick up speed again and rush toward the epicenter.

At the same time, their hearts grew heavy.

Just what kind of clash could cause such a commotion?

Elsewhere.

Kazan sent a man flying with one punch. Judging by the man's condition, even saving him would only be a waste of medical expenses.

He had held nothing back with that punch, incorporating the Senju Clan's Cherry Blossom Impact.

Even a chakra defense could not keep the man's bones from shattering.

"Come on, then, Sand Shinobi!"

Kazan stamped his feet against the ground and shot straight ahead, appearing before his enemy like a streak of light.

He raised his hand and unleashed another devastating punch, combining chakra with physical strength.

"Fist Bone!"

"Impact!"

Garp did not have many moves, and his fighting style was bold and direct.

He had reached the pinnacle of the world through fists honed to their absolute limit.

In his old age, Garp had once used this punch to crack apart the Corrupt King, who had merged with Hachinosu.

"Damn it! How can someone like him even exist?!"

"Is he Kakashi Hatake? But wasn't he already promoted to chunin?"

One of the two remaining Sand Shinobi failed to dodge in time, and Kazan punched straight through his chest.

It was neither a Clone Technique nor a Substitution Technique, but the sensation against his fist was strange. This was not flesh and blood.

"Oh, a puppeteer?"

Kazan figured it out as the puppet he had punched through reverted to its original appearance.

It was an intricately crafted humanoid puppet.

"A clown who only knows how to hide."

"Don't get cocky, brat!"

The puppeteer appeared above and behind Kazan.

"Whether you're Kakashi Hatake or someone else, you're dying here today!"

Geniuses from other shinobi villages were always priority targets for their own village.

"Kill him while he's still young, before he has a chance to grow!"

The two exchanged a glance, then moved in to surround Kazan with practiced coordination.

One spread all ten fingers. Through his Observation Haki, Kazan could sense chakra gathering at the man's fingertips, connecting to another puppet.

The other swiftly formed hand seals, using genjutsu to set up a lethal strike with his teammate.

"Ninja Techniques: Demonic Illusion: Fox Spirit of the Mind!"

The enemy's genjutsu took shape in an instant, and Kazan felt as though he were trapped inside a maze.

"Got him!"

The instant Kazan's eyes lost focus, the puppeteer charged in with his puppet.

With a series of clicks and clacks, the blades concealed inside the puppet flashed into view, striking at Kazan's vital points.

It was a killing blow from the outset!

"Roar!"

At that very moment, a tiger's roar shook the forest.

"What?!"

Before the Sand Shinobi could react, a fierce tiger burst from the forest and swatted the puppeteer and his puppet out of the air, sending both crashing to the ground.

"Urgh!"

It all happened far too suddenly. That blow churned his insides, and blood burst uncontrollably from his mouth.

But it was not over yet.

Humm!

An enormous surge of chakra erupted from Kazan, shattering the ground beneath his feet. The maze imprisoning him broke apart with the eruption of his chakra.

"He forced his way through my genjutsu with a chakra burst?!"

The genjutsu user's eyes widened in shock.

While effective, this method inflicted severe damage on the body. No one in the Shinobi World did it.

"Getting distracted in a fight is a bad habit!"

"Goodbye, Sand Shinobi!"

Breaking free of the genjutsu, Kazan appeared before his enemy in a flash.

He thrust his index finger into the man's throat.

"Shigan."

Splat!

In an instant, a ghastly jet of blood spurted from the back of the man's neck, tracing a red line before spilling onto the forest floor.

His life rapidly drained away, and the light in his eyes quickly faded.

In his final moment, he looked toward his last remaining teammate. His throat worked as though he wanted to warn him to flee, but he could not make a sound.

"Paku!!!"

"What have you done?!"

The last Sand Shinobi roared, his eyes bulging as though they would pop from their sockets.

Watching a teammate who had fought beside him for years die so horribly drove him mad with hatred.

The next second.

Hakimi pinned him beneath a paw and let out a warning roar.

"I... I curse you... you Konoha... genin..."

"If curses worked, my boss from my past life would've dropped dead ages ago."

Kazan withdrew his finger and searched the three corpses for their scroll.

The battle had begun quickly and ended even faster. In mere moments, Kazan had wiped out the Sand Shinobi squad.

A short while later.

"Kazan!"

Tsume Inuzuka and Shibi Aburame arrived, the two humans and their dog landing a short distance from Kazan.

Not recognizing them, Hakimi warily stood across their path behind Kazan, a pair of tiger eyes fixed on the newly arrived two-legged creatures.

Kuromaru immediately entered his Spinosaurus form, his fur bristling and his teeth clenched.

"This..."

"You're here."

Having found what he needed, Kazan rose and turned toward his two temporary teammates.

"We got lucky. This squad had the scroll we needed."

Neither of them cheered at the news.

The scene before them weighed heavily on them.

Kazan stood in front of the fierce tiger, surrounded by Sand Shinobi corpses and devastated ground.

"You did all this?"

"Obviously."

"And that tiger..."

"You mean Hakimi? He's my... companion."

"Roar!"

Hakimi seemed quite pleased with that description. Upon learning that these were people Kazan knew, he intelligently relaxed his guard and brought his huge head close to Garp, inviting him to pet him.

"So you were that lunatic riding a tiger around the village?"

Tsume blurted it out, completely unaware that her words had wounded Kazan's passionate heart.

Not bothering to argue with her, he vaulted onto Hakimi's back.

"Let's go. We have what we need for the mission. We can talk once we reach the Central Building. The longer we wait, the more things can go wrong."

He gave Hakimi a pat, and the tiger let out a mighty roar before weaving nimbly through the forest.

"Kazan's right. Let's hurry. If we're late, we might run into an ambush!"

The Forest of Death exam would last a full five days.

Not every ninja squad possessed reconnaissance and tracking skills as outstanding as theirs.

Squads that could not find enemies and were supremely confident in their strength were bound to set up ambushes at the finish.

"I know. Let's go, Kuromaru." Tsume patted her beloved dog and followed.

Yet as she watched the fierce tiger carrying Kazan ahead of her, Kuromaru suddenly seemed less impressive.

Especially when she recalled how that tiger had stood behind Kazan earlier, its gaze locked onto them.

That was so cool!

Sure enough, bigger really was better in this world!

Along the way.

The three kept their guard up as they traveled.

They had not entered the Forest of Death particularly early. Plenty of squads had gone in ahead of them, and they could run into an ambush at any moment.

Fortunately, all three excelled at reconnaissance and tracking, allowing them to avoid unnecessary trouble in advance.

"Come to think of it, Kazan, why do you seem so familiar with this place?"

"This is my hunting ground."

"Oh... so that's... huh?"