However, the current situation leaves the three of them with no room for choice. If they are not as skilled as the others, they can only honestly admit defeat and come back to get revenge later. This is not the front line of battle between the major ninja villages, but just a Chunin Ninja Exams.
Dignity is certainly important, but it also depends on the place and time, and even more importantly, on what it is being compared to.
Yura's expression froze for a moment Yura Baki. After a silent sigh, he slowly took off his Forehead Protector and, along with another companion, threw it to the Forehead Protector people opposite him.
As Qi easily caught the two Forehead Protector, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, and he gave Baki a 'friendly' nod.
"Let's go!"
With a leap, he took Mei Terumi and Kisame and left. Now that the mission was complete, it was only right to go and turn it in as soon as possible!
As for Baki and Genma Shiranui, who remained behind, after exchanging a glance, they both slowly chose to retreat. With almost everyone severely injured, they really had no desire to continue fighting. They would rather use their time and energy to rest and see if they still had a chance to pass the second round of testing.
It was almost a synchronized, tacit understanding.
As both teams retreated, they both took a deep look at the direction where Qi and his two companions had left, as if trying to etch their faces into the depths of their minds!
The three who had already left wouldn't care much about the Konoha and Sunagakure whose Genin they had Forehead Protector, including Kei himself.
Putting aside the fact that these people are currently only Genin, even in the later stages of the original story, apart from Baki who might need a bit more attention, the others really don't need to be cared about too much. You can call this Qi's arrogance and conceit, but with his current talent, strength, and ambition, he doesn't need to care too much about these 'high-level cannon fodder' in the later stages of the story!
Of course, if this weren't the Chunin Ninja Exams, Kei would definitely have gone all out and slaughtered this group of genius teenagers from other ninja villages. He's not the kind of person who's indecisive, nor is he prone to being overly compassionate. An enemy is an enemy, unless there are decisive interests or other factors influencing him.
To be merciful to the enemy is the most foolish thing to do.
Fortunately, this was Konohagakure, and it was the Chunin Ninja Exams, which allowed Baki and his companions to escape with their lives.
After obtaining the six Forehead Protector required for the mission.
Qi and his group headed directly to the central tower in the Forest of Death, as described in the original story. This was the location Orochimaru had told them to go after completing their mission, as the assessment had begun. There, examiners would review and check the mission completion status of each arriving team to determine whether they had successfully passed the assessment.
"Swoosh"
"Swoosh"
"Swoosh"
The trio was traveling at breakneck speed, and this should have been the least unexpected part of the journey. However, just a few minutes into their journey, as they passed a stream...
The strong smell of blood in the air made Qi frown slightly. The sight of three corpses lying in pools of blood that came into view the next second, especially when he saw the familiar Forehead Protector and face of his own ninja village, made Qi's expression change drastically.
Kisame and Mei Terumi, who were sitting nearby, immediately turned cold.
It's not that there can't be any deaths Chunin Ninja Exams, but under normal circumstances, such a scene is indeed very rare. As mentioned before, the so-called Joint Chunin Ninja Exams are a stage for the Five Great Shinobi Villages to flex their muscles in a tacit agreement. Deaths will only occur if the battle escalates to the point where neither side can stop, otherwise, at most, there will be serious injuries.
Not to mention, given the current state of the Shinobi World, even a minor accident like the death of Genin could very well become the direct trigger for war!
Now that three Genin from their Kirigakure have died here, it's no wonder that the expressions on the faces of the three members of the squad are not good.
As the three men leaped up swiftly, they remained fully alert and vigilant while simultaneously checking on their three companions.
Qi was the first to confirm that the Mist Ninja boy in front of him was completely lifeless. He then turned to look at his companions on the other two sides.
Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki both shook their heads with cold expressions.
Although they had given up all hope, after finally confirming that all three were completely dead and their bodies had become stiff, they finally made progress.
The expressions on Qi's and the other two's faces also turned extremely ugly.
"The time of death has been at least over an hour, and the attacker's strength is clearly superior to Shun's. Judging from the marks, the preliminary assessment is that they died from Lightning Release."
Mei Terumi raised her head and spoke with a cold, elegant expression.
His words also subtly revealed a deeply suppressed anger.
Even though the three Kirigakure Genin died and Mei Terumi were not familiar with each other, they were still comrades from the same ninja village.
Seeing his companion die a horrible death, it was impossible not to feel anger.
" Cloud Ninja? Or Konoha? Sand Ninja? They actually dared to attack?"
Kisame's expression was also extremely gloomy as he spoke.
His mindset is different from Mei Terumi's.
In the original story, Kisame, who would kill his comrades to keep a mission secret, was not the kind of person who easily felt any sense of camaraderie. But now he was a Mist Ninja, and seeing the death of a fellow ninja from the same village was, in Kisame's eyes, a blatant act of provocation. After all, in the Chunin Ninja Exams jointly held by the Five Great Shinobi Villages, holding back was a basic unspoken rule. The rare deaths that occurred were always in situations where the two sides were evenly matched, and the fighting had gotten heated, making it difficult to back down.
But no matter how you look at the scene now, it's clear that their own teammates are being completely crushed and killed!
This is a completely different matter.
"We can only say that the Cloud Ninja are the most likely candidates, but Shun-san's team isn't weak either. To truly defeat them in a short time, and with overwhelming force, it seems that only one Cloud Ninja team among the participants has that capability, but that one person..."
Qi frowned, a faint look of doubt appearing on his face.
Lightning Release is undoubtedly the most prominent characteristic of Cloud Ninja, but we can't simply equate them. We can only say that Cloud Ninja is more likely to be involved. However, based on the information that Qi has gathered before, among the Cloud Ninja participants this time...
The strongest team should be the one led by the Magnet Release ninja Toroi, but the initial investigation at the scene revealed no trace of Magnet Release at all.
Of course, it's also possible that they don't need to use Magnet Release.
But there are still too many strange and suspicious points here!