Araki and his two companions suddenly walked towards the place where the ninjas were hiding, an action that immediately attracted the attention of the ninjas.
They immediately became tense.
In an instant.
The hidden ninjas exchanged glances, and after that, they remained completely still, making the area even quieter.
They had only been in this place for a short time.
The truth is about to be revealed!
In fact, they were all mentally prepared, and they could accept being discovered.
But what they found hard to accept was that they were discovered in this way.
It's absolutely awful!
But...
There was no time for them to think. Araki, as if he knew their location in advance and was precisely guiding them, walked straight towards the place where the ninjas were hiding.
The distance between the two sides is shrinking further, getting even closer; just a few more steps and they will be broken through.
Instantly.
The three ninjas exchanged glances again, their eyes flashing with a ruthless glint, as if they had prepared themselves mentally.
"Do it!"
One of the three suddenly shouted. At that moment, they realized that Araki was too close to them, and that this distance posed a great threat to them.
Under such a threat, if they continue to let Araki advance, they will be even more passive when they are breached. However, if they take the initiative to attack before the breach occurs, they may be able to turn the impending passive situation into an unexpected surprise attack.
"!!!"
Minato and Kushina were both startled; neither of them had expected that there were people lying in ambush here.
When the three ninjas appeared in front of them, they realized how close they were, and that they were already at a relatively dangerous distance.
These three ninjas were all wearing equipment similar to gas masks, so their faces could not be seen at all. From what they appeared, they were almost identical. The forehead Forehead Protector had water ripple patterns on them, which indicated that they were ninjas from Kirigakure ( Kirigakure) in the Land of Water.
"Wow, there's someone here!"
Araki pretended to be startled, then, on an "instinctive" reaction, he took a step forward and swung his fist at the Kirigakure ninja in front of him.
For any ninja, getting too close is never a good thing.
Ninjas generally have high attack but low defense.
Even a powerful Jonin can be killed by Kunai.
That's why, among ninjas, if they can launch a silent close-range sneak attack, the success rate is extremely high!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Three heavy blows rang out as Araki launched an attack on the three "suddenly" appearing Kirigakure ninjas with incredible speed. Each punch landed squarely on their chests, and the sound of bones cracking could even be clearly heard amidst the resounding impacts.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Three thuds rang out in succession; these three Kirigakure died instantly after being attacked by Araki.
after all...
Most ninjas in the ninja world try to avoid close-quarters combat as much as possible, and are difficult to deal with if they are ambushed at close range. However, Araki is an exception.
If you manage to get close to Araki, you'll only suffer an even more gruesome death!
Over the years, Araki has poured almost all of his attribute points into Taijutsu. Not to mention, during this trip to Kumogakure, he upgraded his Taijutsu to Nintaijutsu, resulting in a qualitative improvement in his combat level.
"!!!"
Minato and Kushina had barely reacted when they saw the three Kirigakure ninjas lying on the ground. After a sigh of relief, they gasped in shock.
Araki's strength was completely beyond their expectations.
Especially for Minato, he always felt that his strength was comparable to Araki's, but as he learned more, he found that the gap between him and Araki was widening.
This made him silently resolve that after returning to Konoha, he would train diligently so that they could return to the same starting line.
"Found it."
Just as Minato was deep in thought, Araki's voice slowly rang out, and a uniquely designed Kunai appeared in his hand, a special Kunai that represented the completion of the game.
"So easy?" Minato was stunned. He thought that finding the Kunai that represented passing the level would require some thought and effort, but he didn't expect to succeed so easily.
"Maybe we were just lucky to get here," Araki said casually. "Look at these Kirigakure ninjas. They were hiding here, and if we hadn't run into them by chance, we wouldn't have been able to find them at all. It seems the reason they were hiding Kunai."
"That's right." Kushina nodded in agreement. "I don't know what special method they used, but they didn't reveal any trace of their presence at all. Fortunately, we've already got one."
After Kushina finished speaking, a smile appeared on her face. After all, for her, obtaining a Kunai meant that they had qualified to pass the second round of the Chunin Ninja Exams.
"We must continue our search."
Araki did not feel complacent because they had only completed one-tenth of their goal and had not even seen a single ninja squad from Kumogakure. As hunters who had already begun their hunt, this was indeed a bit lacking.
"That's right, we'll continue, and intensify our efforts." Minato's lips curled up slightly. After obtaining a Kunai, he felt a sense of confidence and became even more excited.
Two hours later.
Araki and his two companions encountered another ninja team, and unsurprisingly, this time it was a ninja team from Kumogakure ).
After what happened with the Kirigakure ninjas, they gradually realized that the ninja squads that had obtained the special Kunai must have already hidden in some locations. Therefore, they focused their search on places where the ninjas might be hiding.
This is a shift in mindset.
In particular, when Minato was thinking, he was thinking more about where they would hide if they obtained the special Kunai in this location—and of course they already had it—so that they might not be discovered.
With this in mind, it wasn't long before they found the Kumogakure ninja squad that was now standing before them.
"People from Konoha?"
The three members of the Kumogakure ninja squad all looked at Araki and the others with a hint of doubt in their eyes.
They never expected to encounter a Konoha ninja squad here.
Although they were not among those carrying out missions in Kumogakure, their Jonin instructors had told them that if they encountered Konoha ninjas in the Chunin Ninja Exams, they should ignore them and not get involved.
only...
Even the Jonin instructor who spoke to them probably didn't expect that this Konoha ninja team could survive for so long in the second exam.
When they informed their respective teams, they assumed that if they encountered Konoha ninjas after entering the Chunin Ninja Exams arena, they didn't need to worry because the villagers would take care of them.
Therefore, at this point in time, the eyes of these Kumogakure ninjas after encountering Araki and the others were filled with confusion and doubt. They had considered all sorts of possible scenarios, but they never expected to encounter Konoha ninjas.
"You hid it very well."
Araki's lips curled up slightly, revealing a bright smile. In fact, when they arrived in this area, he had already locked onto their auras, knowing that they were hiding here, and he also had a very high opinion of their hiding place.
However, this time, instead of being guided by him, Minato observed the terrain and decided that it was a good hiding place, so he decided to come and take a look.
That's why Minato this time.
"Was it all pre-arranged from the beginning that you would receive the special Kunai?"
Araki did not act immediately, but instead expressed his doubts to the few ninjas from Kumogakure. In fact, he had already had this thought when he saw Nankain.
While uttering those unfair words and openly revealing that the Kumogakure ninjas would be the first to obtain the special Kunai, Nankain also mentioned the method by which the Kumogakure ninja teams would be announced. This not only satisfied those who favored the Kumogakure ninjas but also made these teams targets to attract attention, thus concealing the Kumogakure ninjas who did not obtain the special Kunai.
Araki initially thought that these Kumogakure ninjas who had obtained the special Kunai were just targets to be sacrificed, but when he saw how well these Kumogakure ninjas were hiding under this special terrain, more questions suddenly arose in his mind.
Is there any possibility...?
These ninjas from Kumogakure had already decided in advance where they would hide!
Araki stopped thinking about it when he reached this point, because if that were the case, the entire Chunin Ninja Exams of Kumogakure would be a huge conspiracy. However, with Nankain's death, these things were no longer so important.
And once they get their hands on all the special Kunai, this seemingly well-planned conspiracy turns into a series of ridiculous clowns.
"..."
The Kumogakure ninjas were clearly not yet ready to react and did not answer Araki 'Araki question immediately, nor did they seem to want to.
but...
After asking the question, Araki didn't seem to really want to know the answer. In a flash, he rushed towards the group of Kumogakure.
He was incredibly fast. The instant he charged out, he entered the Jade Chakra Mode and unleashed three punches, killing the three Kumogakure ninjas on the spot.
" Araki..."
Minato's lips twitched violently. He actually wanted to attack these Kumogakure ninjas, but before he could, Araki had already taken them all out.
This was something he had never considered before.
Based on his previous understanding of Araki, he thought Araki was a very low-key person who would avoid standing out if possible. However, starting from the Chunin Ninja Exams, he found that Araki had begun to become more proactive, and after mastering the Nintaijutsu of Kumogakure, the strength he could unleash had become even greater.
"As expected."
Araki took out a special Kunai from the ninja tool bag of one of the Kumogakure ninjas, and now they had two special Kunai in their hands.
Such a result placed them in the upper echelons of the second Chunin Ninja Exams, and the number of special Kunai they obtained accounted for one-fifth of the total.
"The hunt continues!"
A cruel smile crept across Araki's lips; he hadn't felt this exhilarated in a long time.
He had always concealed his identity, avoiding revealing it, and even though he possessed considerable strength, he tried his best to avoid the risk of exposure.
However, things changed once they entered the Chunin Ninja Exams arena, because everyone there had signed a waiver of liability, and their strength was Genin.
This is equivalent to placing Araki in an environment where almost everyone is weaker than him, and he also has a decent Nintaijutsu. This allows him to play without worrying about facing overly strong enemies or being discovered after killing someone and disposing of the body, since everyone has a death warrant.
In this way...
All of Araki's worries disappeared.
The emotions that had been suppressed for many years were suddenly released, allowing me to unleash my power here, a rare opportunity.
After saying this, Araki amplified his senses again, confirming the surrounding atmosphere.
There are many auras here, some of which are moving. In Araki's view, these auras belong to seekers who haven't obtained a special Kunai.
If one possessed a special Kunai, at this very moment, the most likely thing to do would be to hide.
In other words...