The three Kusagakure ninjas fled along Route 3, not daring to stop for a moment.
"Kyoji, it seems like the fight over there has ended."
"Yeah."
"Then we..."
"Keep moving!"
The slightly chubbier Kyoji said.
Then, he quickened his pace, climbing up the mountain.
Ended?
That's when the real danger begins!
Those Kirigakure maniacs started fighting halfway up the mountain, clearly not just aiming to pass the exam but purely to kill.
Run!
But.
After a while, he heard some noise, and his expression changed.
"Run downhill!"
"Huh?"
His companions didn't understand what was happening, but three figures suddenly emerged from the shadows of the trees.
Before they could see clearly, the three had already surrounded them in a triangular formation.
The ninja named Kyoji was drenched in cold sweat.
He looked up.
The forehead protector...
Huh?
Not Kirigakure ninjas?
It was actually Konoha ninjas!
Kyoji was surprised, then felt a wave of relief and joy.
Konoha ninjas are good!
Konoha is powerful, but aside from the ANBU, their ninjas generally aren't too brutal. They rarely kill ninjas from small villages like theirs, at most just asking for some information.
In fact.
If they were lucky, they might even be let off after just giving directions.
As long as they behaved properly.
He felt resentment, silently cursing the inequality between large and small villages, but forced a smile on his face.
"What do you need from us, you three?"
"I'm not interested in your lives. Answer my questions, and I'll let you go."
Kyohiko said indifferently.
The three nodded in unison, standing straight, their attitude extremely obedient.
As ninjas from a small village, this was all they could do when facing stronger opponents.
"Does your village have a newly arrived red-haired woman?"
"Y-yes."
Kyoji finally understood—they had brought this upon themselves by talking too much.
During their earlier chat, they had mentioned the red-haired woman, and the Konoha ninja had overheard.
This guy's hearing is too sharp!
He sighed inwardly but kept a polite smile on his face, answering honestly, "Yes, there is such a woman. Her name is Yuki, and she wandered into our village not long ago."
"You mentioned she has a special ability?"
"Well..."
Kyoji hesitated, but noticing Kyohiko's increasingly sharp gaze, he quickly stopped hiding anything.
"Yes, her body is special. If someone bites the corresponding wound on her body, they can be healed. So..."
"Thank you."
Kyohiko confirmed the name and background, fully understanding the situation, and didn't linger any longer.
He vanished in a shunshin, letting out a soft sigh.
"What's wrong?"
Yuhi Kurenai, seeing him sigh, felt concerned and curious.
Gai was also curious.
During their time together, he rarely saw Kyohiko show much negative emotion.
Kyohiko said, "I'm almost certain that woman is from the Uzumaki clan, just like Kushina-senpai. And her name..."
"Yuki, meaning 'health' and 'hope'?"
Kurenai paused, then understood why Kyohiko had sighed.
Those two words had nothing to do with the girl since the fall of Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan's destruction.
She could imagine.
The hardships the girl must have endured, wandering from the chaos of the Land of Whirlpools to the Land of Grass.
Kurenai fell silent for a moment.
"What should we do now?"
"Leave, inform our sensei, and wait for the outcome."
Kyohiko replied calmly.
They were just genin. Even if they were promoted to chunin after this exam, they would still be cannon fodder in the ninja wars, completely insignificant.
In matters of village-level politics, they could only provide information and had no real influence.
"Let's go, find Yamashiro and the others."
"I'll sense around to see if I can detect their chakra."
"Alright."
...
On Route 3, Yamashiro Aoba was panting heavily, with some scattered wounds on his body.
"Those Kirigakure maniacs!"
"I'll hold them off. You go find Kyohiko and the others!"
Raido held his sword, his face filled with determination.
Yamashiro shook his head, "Their target is Kyohiko. I'm even hesitating whether we should head toward Route 2."
"Let's run up the mountain."
"Alright."
The three quickly changed their route and ran up the mountain.
However.
After a short while, the trees behind them rustled, and a little girl dashed through the forest, her expression cold but without killing intent.
"I'm not interested in you. Take me to Kyohiko."
"We don't betray our comrades in Konoha!"
Yamashiro firmly refused.
If they could betray their comrades today, they might betray their village on the battlefield tomorrow.
His principles wouldn't allow it!
"I made a deal with him."
Yugito said.
Yamashiro shook his head, "I won't agree."
However.
Their speed was no match for Yugito's.
In the time it took to speak, the distance between them had closed.
Yamashiro and Raido felt a deep sense of defeat.
They had expected that each village would send their elite teams to showcase their strength, but they hadn't anticipated the enemy being this strong.
This girl from Kumogakure...
She looked six or seven years old, maybe even younger, yet she was overpowering the three of them, and after such a long fight, she still had chakra left.
This is just ridiculous!
"Then it seems I'll have to capture you first and then—"
"Let's fight!"
They gritted their teeth, turning around to face the enemy.
Yugito's eyes lit up, ready to attack, but suddenly a figure arrived swiftly.
"Hi-yah!"
She immediately crossed her arms, blocking the kick, but the relentless barrage of attacks continued.
A rapid series of kicks.
In the blink of an eye, the opponent had already kicked seven or eight times, and even Yugito couldn't keep up, eventually being kicked away.
Fortunately—
She quickly grabbed a branch and stabilized herself.
At the same time, her teammates caught up.
"Yugito, are you okay?"
A burly boy, a few years older than Yugito, stood protectively beside her.
Yugito shook her head.
She hadn't sustained any real injuries.
But.
She looked up, staring ahead.
Beside Yamashiro and the others stood a boy in a green jumpsuit, now eyeing them warily.
A Konoha ninja?
Yugito thought for a moment, then remembered.
This oddly dressed guy was Kyohiko's teammate.
Who would've thought his teammate was also so strong!
Yugito's eyes sparkled—
If his teammate was this strong, how much stronger must Kyohiko, who had defeated Kirigakure jōnin and killed Iwagakure jōnin, be?
She was even more excited!
Soon, she saw that person.
"Kyohiko! You promised to fight me."
Her fighting spirit was high.
Kyohiko said, "I did, but considering the rules of the second exam, I think we have a better option."
"What?"
"Let's fight after we reach the summit and get the scrolls."
Kyohiko said, "At the very least, let's make sure we both make it to the next round, right?"
"If I beat you, I can still make it to the next round."
Yugito was confident.
Kyohiko smiled, and then—
Boom!
He threw out a smoke bomb.
"Chase!"
Yugito immediately shouted.
But.
When she quickly reached the smoke, six figures suddenly emerged from it.
Both teams together?
In an instant, blades flashed.
Behind her, a scream rang out.
One of the Kumogakure ninjas had his shoulder slashed, blood spraying.
At the same time, another kick came at Yugito, aiming only to keep her busy.
The opponent was fast, and Yugito felt the pressure.
"Yugito, let's retreat!"
The other two Kumogakure ninjas were trembling, thinking she was insane.
One team against two.
How could she dare?
And.
The Konoha ninjas were all so fast!
"Something's not right, something's definitely not right!"
Yugito muttered to herself.
Her intuition told her—
These six people were strange!