Within the Forest of Death—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a rush of wind, three figures landed one after another beneath a large tree.
"This will do."
Yakumo pressed her hand to the ground and looked around.
Shion, with an excited yet slightly nervous expression, asked, "Yakumo, are we really going to choose this place as our battlefield?"
Yakumo shook her head. "No, this is just my battlefield."
Shion paused, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You've all seen it. Shinobi from other villages are also participating in this confrontation test," Yakumo explained, her tone deliberate. "Those are the geniuses from other villages. Their purpose in joining this test is simply to gauge the true power of my Wood Release. So, they are targeting me!"
Shion became anxious. "So what? We're teammates!"
The quiet Kimimaro suddenly spoke. "Do you think we will hold you back?"
Yakumo fell silent and nodded slowly.
Shion, feeling uncomfortable, said, "Yakumo, you..."
Kimimaro stood up. "Then let's split up."
Yakumo said, "Be careful!"
"Mm."
With a quick motion, Kimimaro disappeared in an instant.
Shion stomped her foot and angrily left.
Once Shion was gone, Yakumo sighed, feeling much more at ease.
She wasn't really worried about Shion holding her back; rather, she was concerned that in the heat of battle, she might accidentally harm her teammate.
After all, there were many people targeting her this time.
Of course, she wasn't afraid. On the contrary, she was eager to test her strength.
With a jump, she landed on the crown of a tree behind her. She gazed out into the distance, whispering to herself, "Shinji... our competition ends here!"
Elsewhere—
The group, led by Neji, stopped at his signal.
Sasuke quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Neji, activating his Byakugan, scanned the surroundings with a grave expression. "Our movements have been detected. Yakumo is waiting for us up ahead."
Sasuke furrowed his brow. "What about Kimimaro?"
Neji shook his head. "No sign of him. He might be hiding."
Sasuke grew anxious. "So, what should we do now?"
Shinji casually said, "Isn't there a backup plan? We'll just follow it."
Neji nodded. "Looks like that's our only option."
Sasuke said, "Alright! According to the plan, Shinji and I will handle Yakumo. Neji, you stay hidden and keep an eye out for Kimimaro, then strike when the time's right!"
"I have no problem with that."
"Good!"
Shinji and Neji nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Naruto piped up loudly, "Sasuke, what about me? What do I do?"
Sasuke, sounding slightly irritated, replied, "Just stay out of the way and don't make things worse for us. This is real combat!"
Before Naruto could argue, Shinji said, "Naruto, Tenten, Haku — you all are responsible for watching the surroundings. Don't let the other squads interfere or spy on the battlefield."
Naruto pouted. "Is that all? So simple?"
Sakura, fearing Naruto might anger Shinji, quickly smacked him on the head. "Idiot, shut up!"
Haku said, "Don't worry, we'll keep watch over the surroundings!"
"Mm!"
Tenten and Lee nodded firmly.
Naruto, feeling proud, said, "With me here, you can all rest easy!"
Shinji shot Naruto a brief glance.
He knew that after mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan, Naruto's strength had already surpassed that of the average academy student. With his recent training under Jiraiya as a jinchuriki, Naruto's power was likely already on par with Sasuke and Neji.
Clap!
Shinji clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's move out!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Everyone nodded in unison before scattering and carrying out their respective roles.
Standing still, Shinji glanced in Yakumo's direction, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Meanwhile—
Kurotsuchi, leading the Iwagakure squad, was traversing the Forest of Death. Her target: Kimimaro, the so-called genius of the Hidden Leaf Academy, and Uchiha Shinji.
Of course.
Her ultimate target was no different from the others — it was the Wood Release-wielding Yakumo Kurama. Kimimaro and Shinji were merely appetizers before the real battle.
Bang!
At that moment, a light sound came from behind her.
She quickly turned around and found one of her teammates, for some unknown reason, had collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
"An ambush?!"
She felt a chill run down her spine, surprised that she, the "hunter," had been ambushed by the "prey."
"Who could it be? Kimimaro? Uchiha Shinji? Or perhaps Yakumo Kurama?"
Annoyed, she tried to figure out who had attacked her.
In her mind, anyone daring enough to attack her must be one of the Hidden Leaf's four geniuses or that Wood Release user, Yakumo Kurama.
Suddenly, from the nearby bushes, a loud rumbling sound erupted, as if something massive was rolling toward her.
"Get down!"
Kurotsuchi warned her teammate, then prepared to leap aside.
But just then, she realized she couldn't move. With a glance at the corner of her eye, she noticed that her shadow was somehow bound by another shadow extending from the grass.
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
"Tooth for tooth!"
Kiba and Akamaru executed a combined technique, spinning like twin whirlwinds, charging toward the three from the Mist.
Boom!
In an instant, the forest trembled, and the Mist shinobi were forced to retreat.
Looking at the mess in the forest, Suigetsu smirked. "Hey, who is this guy? Why's he so tough?"
Chojuro shook his head. "I didn't find any intel on him. He's not one of the four geniuses from the Hidden Leaf Academy!"
Suigetsu said, "The Hidden Leaf is so devious, hiding such a troublesome guy!"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, another member of the Mist squad let out a chilling scream!
Suigetsu and Chojuro quickly looked over to see their teammate writhing on the ground, surrounded by countless unidentified bugs, screaming in agony.
Shino stepped out from the shadows, adjusting his sunglasses. "If you want to challenge the top five, you'll have to defeat us first!"
"Tch!"
Suigetsu spat, feeling a shiver down his spine.
Boom!
Just then, a thunderous roar came from the distance!
Before Suigetsu and Chojuro could react, they felt the ground beneath them shake.
"What... What's going on?!"
Suigetsu and Chojuro exchanged confused glances.
The intensity of the rumbling and the shaking could not have been caused by a few explosive tags — it had to be the result of massive jutsu clashing!
Shino looked calmly in the direction of the noise. "They've... started fighting!"