This Is My Hunting Ground

Boom!

A violent shock wave swept through the surrounding area.

Tsume Inuzuka and Shibi Aburame, racing toward the scene, both felt it.

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

"That idiot!"

Tsume cursed, but all she could do was pick up speed and rush toward the source of the shock wave.

Both of them grew deeply uneasy.

What kind of clash could have caused a disturbance like that?

Elsewhere.

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

Kazan had held nothing back. His punch had carried the Senju Clan's Cherry Blossom Impact.

Even the man's Chakra defense had failed to keep his bones from shattering.

"Come on, Sand Shinobi!"

Kazan stamped off the ground and shot straight ahead, arriving before his enemy like a streak of light.

He raised his hand and threw another overpowering punch, combining Chakra with raw physical strength.

"Fist Bone!"

"Impact!"

Garp had few techniques, and his fighting style was direct and forceful.

He had reached the pinnacle of the world by honing his iron fist to its limit.

Even in old age, Garp had used that punch to crack the Corrupt King after he had merged with Hachinosu.

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

"Is he Kakashi Hatake? But hasn't he already become a Chunin?"

One of the two remaining Sand Shinobi failed to dodge, and Kazan's fist punched through his chest.

It was neither the Clone Technique nor the Substitution Technique, yet what Kazan felt beneath his fist was strange. This was no flesh-and-blood body.

"Oh, a puppeteer?"

Kazan recognized it as the puppet he had punched through returned to its original appearance.

It was a meticulously 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 die here today!"

Geniuses from other ninja villages had always been targets his village wanted dead.

Kill him while he's young. Snuff him out before he grows stronger!

The two exchanged a glance and moved in perfect coordination to surround Kazan.

One spread all ten fingers. With his Observation Haki, Kazan sensed Chakra gathering at the man's fingertips, connecting them to another puppet.

The other quickly formed Hand Seals, using Genjutsu to set up a killing blow for his teammate.

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

In an instant, the Genjutsu took hold. Kazan felt as though he stood inside a maze.

"Got him!"

The moment confusion clouded Kazan's eyes, the puppeteer charged in with his puppet.

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

He went straight for the kill!

"Roar!"

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

"What?!"

Before the Sand Shinobi could react, a tiger burst from the forest and swatted the Sand Shinobi puppeteer and his puppet out of the air. Both crashed to the ground.

"Gah!"

It happened too suddenly. The blow churned his insides, and blood sprayed from his mouth.

But it was not over.

Bwoom!

A massive surge of Chakra erupted from Kazan, cracking the ground beneath his feet. The maze trapping him broke apart under the force of it.

"He forced his way out of my Genjutsu with a Chakra surge?!"

The Genjutsu user stared wide-eyed in shock.

The method worked, but it could do serious damage to the body. No one in the Shinobi World fought that way.

"Losing focus in a fight is a bad habit!"

"Goodbye, Sand Shinobi!"

Kazan broke free of the Genjutsu and flashed in front of his enemy.

He extended his index finger and pressed it against the man's throat.

"Finger Pistol."

Pfft.

Blood shot from the back of the man's neck in a thin red stream and spilled onto the forest floor.

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

In his final moments, he looked toward his last teammate. His throat worked as if he wanted to warn the man to run, but he could not make a sound.

"Paku!!!"

"What have you done?!"

The last Sand Shinobi roared, his eyes bulging.

A teammate who had fought beside him for years had died before his eyes. Rage consumed him.

The next second.

Hakimi pinned him beneath one paw and let out a warning growl.

"I... I curse you... Konoha... Genin..."

"If curses worked, my boss in my last life would've been done for ages ago."

Kazan withdrew his finger and searched the three bodies for their Scroll.

The fight had begun quickly and ended even faster. Kazan had wiped out the Sand Shinobi team in moments.

A short while later.

"Kazan!"

Tsume and Shibi arrived, landing a short distance from Kazan with Kuromaru.

Hakimi, unaware of who they were, stood guard behind Kazan, his tiger eyes fixed on the two newcomers.

Kuromaru immediately took his Spinosaurus form, his fur bristling and his teeth bared.

"What..."

"You're here."

Kazan found what he was looking for, stood up, and turned toward his two temporary teammates.

"Lucky us. This team's Scroll was the one we needed."

Neither of them cheered at the news.

The scene before them left them under immense pressure.

Kazan stood before the tiger, surrounded by Sand Shinobi corpses and a stretch of badly torn-up ground.

"You did all this?"

"Obviously."

"And that tiger..."

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

"Roar!"

Hakimi seemed pleased with that description. Once it realized the newcomers were people Kazan knew, it relaxed and leaned its large head toward Kazan for a pat.

"So you're the lunatic who was riding a tiger around the village?"

Tsume spoke without thinking, unaware that her words had wounded Kazan's ardent heart.

He let it slide and swung himself onto Hakimi's back.

"Let's go. We've got the scroll. We can talk at the Central Building. The longer we stay, the more trouble we risk."

He patted Hakimi, who gave a mighty roar and bounded nimbly through the forest.

"Kazan's right. Let's move. If we're late, someone might ambush us!"

The Forest of Death exam would last five days.

Not every ninja team had reconnaissance and tracking skills as strong as theirs.

Some teams that could not find opponents, and were supremely confident in their own strength, would inevitably try to ambush others at the finish.

"Got it. Let's go, Kuromaru." Tsume patted her dog and followed.

But as she looked at the tiger Kazan rode, Kuromaru suddenly seemed a little less impressive.

Especially when she remembered how the tiger had stood behind Kazan and locked its gaze on them.

That was so cool!

Bigger really was better!

Along the way.

The three kept watch as they traveled.

They had entered the Forest of Death fairly late. Plenty of teams were already ahead of them, and an ambush could come at any moment.

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

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

"This is my hunting ground."

"Oh... so that's... Wait, what?"