Three spies

"Let's go. We'll keep looking for the scroll we need."

Obito promptly draped one arm around Kakashi's shoulders and the other around Rin's, pulling them both along.

"Obito, let go of me..."

Amid Rin's flustered, indignant complaints, the three of them disappeared into the trees.

The Forest of Death truly was vast.

While chasing Baoguo through the outer reaches earlier, Obito had spotted quite a few competing ninja from other teams.

But after venturing farther in, they saw no one else.

The sun sank toward the horizon, and the light gradually dimmed.

The three of them had no choice but to stop beside a stream and start preparing their camp for the night.

Back when they went on missions with Minato, they had often camped outdoors.

Each time, the three of them had clearly assigned duties.

Rin was mainly responsible for arranging their sleeping bags and luggage.

Obito was mainly responsible for gathering firewood nearby.

Kakashi was responsible for hunting in the surrounding area to secure their food.

"I'll catch some fish today, then. We've got the perfect spot for it."

Kakashi glanced at the nearby stream and called out to Obito and Rin.

Just as he said, the fish in the stream were lively, constantly leaping out of the water.

It looked like tonight's dinner was taken care of.

"Rin! I'll go gather some firewood, too. I'll see if I can catch some game while I'm at it, so we can have something extra."

Obito called out to Rin.

"All right, go ahead. Be careful." Rin nodded and began working on her own tasks.

"Don't worry. This place looks dangerous, but there's nothing here that can threaten me."

Obito chuckled, sprang onto the trunk of a nearby tree, and charged off in one direction.

There were quite a few fierce beasts in the Forest of Death, including tigers and leopards.

The three of them had run into them several times while traveling that afternoon.

Since the Chunin exam was underway, other threats were possible, too.

A team of ninja could be lurking somewhere in ambush, watching for a chance to launch a surprise attack.

But Obito had absolute confidence in his strength, so he paid it no mind.

Besides, Rin was with Kakashi and was relatively safe. He had no need to worry about her.

As Obito leaped onward, he scanned the undergrowth below for rabbits or other small animals.

Before he knew it, he had traveled quite a distance and could faintly hear fighting up ahead.

What's going on? Is someone fighting over a scroll up ahead?

Obito frowned and muttered to himself.

His three-person team had two Earth Scrolls.

They still needed a Heaven Scroll to successfully complete the second stage of the Chunin exam.

Unable to resist his curiosity, Obito charged straight ahead toward the source of the noise.

As he sped onward, the sounds of fighting grew clearer.

At last, Obito reached his destination. He stopped in a large tree and parted the foliage to look down.

The clang of clashing weapons rang out without pause.

In a clearing below, six ninja were fighting with all their might.

All six wore forehead protectors, clearly marking them as Konoha ninja.

However, three were tall and three were short, with an obvious gap in their ages.

Obito recognized the three shorter ones at a glance. They had all graduated from the same class as him.

Two boys and a girl.

The boys were Aoba Yamashiro and Namiashi Raidō.

In the original story, those two later became Minato's guards, and he taught them the Flying Thunder God Technique.

However, they never fully mastered it. They could only perform a Ninjutsu called the Flying Thunder Formation by combining the efforts of three people.

The girl's name was Yoko Hyuga.

Yoko Hyuga belonged to the Hyuga Main Family. She was also a pretty, adorable girl who looked much like Hinata Hyuga.

Then there were the three taller men.

They were clearly around twenty years old, all heavily muscled and each holding a Ninja Tachi.

Their swordsmanship was exceptionally sharp, forcing Yoko Hyuga and her teammates back again and again without any chance to fight back.

By now, Aoba Yamashiro and Namiashi Raidō had both suffered several cuts, blood seeping from their wounds.

Yet they were still desperately holding on.

"Hahaha! We're finally getting our hands on the Hyuga's Byakugan today. Little girl, you should all surrender. It'll spare you some pain."

"That's right. Just hand over your Byakugan, and perhaps we'll consider letting the three of you live."

The three muscular men had already driven Yoko Hyuga and her teammates into a corner.

They formed a semicircle around the three and slowly closed in, laughing maliciously.

Aoba Yamashiro gritted his teeth and clutched his bleeding wound. "Damn it! They're after Yoko's Byakugan!"

Namiashi Raidō said, "Yoko, these three must be spies hiding in Konoha. Aoba and I will find a way to hold them off. You find a way to escape and bring back reinforcements."

Yoko's pretty little face was grave. She shook her head firmly. "No! You're already hurt. If I leave, you'll both die."

Namiashi Raidō roared, "Yoko! Don't you understand? If you don't leave now, all three of us will die here! We have to get word out about these spies! Otherwise, we'll have sacrificed ourselves for nothing!"

The three muscular men exchanged glances and let out another round of sinister laughter.

They had spent years hiding in Konoha, carefully concealing their identities every day to avoid discovery. They had never been able to live at ease.

Now, as long as they successfully seized this little girl's Byakugan, they could complete their mission, flee back to Kumogakure, and report their success.

"Ahh, how touching. These little Konoha brats really do have an admirable spirit of self-sacrifice."

"Stop wasting time! Kill all three! Take the Byakugan and leave immediately!"

Tears welled in Yoko's eyes, her heart filled with conflicting emotions.

She had never imagined that these two teammates would go this far for her.

Even if they were mostly driven by a willingness to sacrifice themselves for Konoha, Yoko was still deeply moved.

"All right." Yoko nodded firmly, finally making up her mind.

She turned and leaped backward, planting her feet against the trunk of a thousand-year-old tree to climb up and escape.

"It's useless, little girl! You think we'd let you escape?"

One of the three muscular men, a bald man, shouted.

Then he sprang into the air, swinging his Ninja Tachi toward Yoko Hyuga.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Binding!"

Lightning flashed along the blade of the bald man's Ninja Tachi.

Like a long snake, the lightning shot forward and coiled around Yoko Hyuga, binding her tightly.