Rest was good for the kunoichi, allowing her to regain her strength and, most importantly, her mental balance, because the recent fight with the nephews had made the girls very nervous and made enough mistakes, like not controlling the first enemy genin that had been incapacitated.
They'd gotten used to fighting both loners and teams of those who wanted to kill them over the past couple months, but this was the first time they'd fought without Ryo-sensei's supervision, and the danger of dying was very real, as were injuries that Surizawa couldn't heal on her own. And there's only one clone scroll and try to decide when its use would come in handy.
Several hours of peace and quiet spent in the shelter against the backdrop of distant explosions, shouts and roars, even through the stone wall of the entrance, made Team Seventeen once again glad that Ryo-sensei was their mentor, whose motto was prudence and preparation for any situation, and he tried his best to instill these qualities in his charges.
An hour before sunset, the girls cleaned up after themselves and Asani created an exit, then covered the room with earth and returned the place under the roots of the giant tree to its original appearance. Once again the grass layer shifted slightly and there was nothing to remind her of the presence of people nearby.
Cautiously surveying the surroundings and making sure that none of the competitors were nearby, the genins of Team Seventeen ran up the trunk of the nearest tree to the middle levels of the crown and easily jumping from one massive branch to another, headed for the center of the Forest of Death.
Moving forward quickly but warily, the kunoichi not only monitored their surroundings for danger, but also remembered to look down for signs of rivals - unlike the shinobi of Konoha, the other genin were not in the habit of moving through trees, preferring to use the ground for that purpose despite the great danger.
- Hoshi-chan, look! - Asani suddenly stopped and quietly called out to her friends, pointing downward.
Managing to jump farther, the kunoichi stopped and cautiously returned to her partner. One glance down where she was pointing was enough to notice the bloody grass and scraps of clothing nearby, as well as signs of battle, like damaged plants around them and plowed earth.
After looking around and determining that there was no danger and that the predators were done eating, the girls went downstairs and began to examine the battle site. The dried blood made it clear that everything had happened here a few hours ago.
- Sand and Cloud fought here, judging by the marks from the technicians," Hoshi grinned, pointing to the gnarled gaps in the vegetation and the furrows in the ground cut into the ground as if by a giant blade.
- Somebody was killed, and then a pack of wolves came up and ate the bodies," Surizawa nodded, pointing to a paw print that was three times the size of a normal gray predator, and three of the most bloodstained spots.
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