Chapter 138: The Prey
The Sand ninja with the headscarf tried to talk them down. He was right. It was not impossible for a third party to take advantage of their conflict.
"So you should just hand over the maps, shouldn't you?" the girl with the twin swords said, her mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Dammit!" one of the Sand ninja said, losing his temper. "Don't be so arrogant! There are six of us!"
"Small fry are still small fry," the girl sneered. "They always think numbers can change their fate."
Just then, the pale-skinned girl, who had been silent all this time, spoke. "Yuri," she said, "I told you there's no need to waste words on the prey. If another team is drawn by the fighting, we'll just kill them too."
It turned out she was the most ruthless of them all. It was as if she wasn't even here for the exam.
She raised her hands.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Ten finger bones shot from her fingertips like bullets. The strange attack caught the Sand ninja completely off guard, and two of them fell instantly.
They scrambled to fight back.
One of them had his puppet float up and fire a volley of senbon at the largest of them, Fuguki Suikazan. But to his surprise, the seemingly clumsy giant was incredibly fast. He drew the massive broadsword from his back and deflected the senbon, then charged into the fray.
Because of his size, it looked like he was beating up a bunch of kids.
His sheer physical presence was so intimidating that the Sand ninja thought he was the strongest of the group. The man with the headscarf decisively engaged him.
Ringo Ameyuri also joined the battle, her twin swords a blur, each strike aimed at a vital point. With just her taijutsu, she was overwhelming the Sand ninja. In a few moments, he was covered in cuts, but he couldn't even find an opening to disengage. She was on him like a leech.
His teammate, seeing his predicament, tried to use a ninjutsu to separate them and give him a moment to breathe.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
But just as he had finished the hand seals, a long, narrow bone sword pierced him from behind. Blood dripped from its tip.
"H...h..."
His lungs had been punctured. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, only make a series of meaningless sounds as he slowly collapsed.
"Dammit!"
Another of the Sand ninja, seeing his comrade killed, was enraged and charged forward.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!"
Sharp bones shot out from all over Tsuki's body, and her appearance instantly became terrifying, her expression crazed.
The charging Sand ninja was trapped, like a fly in a spider's web. His kunai hadn't even touched her before he was impaled.
The six-man Sand team was now down to two, two dead and two injured.
The brutality of the battle was far beyond what they had expected.
Are you kidding me?! This is just an exam!
The one who was fighting Ringo, at the cost of another deep cut, finally managed to break away. "Stop!" he shouted. "I surr—"
Before the word "ender" could leave his mouth, a bone sword pierced his throat.
Even Ringo and Fuguki were a little shocked by her ruthlessness.
In just a few minutes, the only one left standing was the man with the headscarf. He knew he had no chance. "Surrender! I surrender!" he screamed.
Tsuki just sighed. She had been about to charge. If he had been two seconds later, she would have had another kill.
The next moment, a ninja with a "test" mask appeared, as if he had been waiting for someone to surrender. He stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Contestant Baki," he said, his voice grim, "disqualified. The battle is over."
Tsuki just "tched" and slowly retracted her bone spikes, her expression returning to its usual cold and aloof state.
Less than twenty minutes into the exam, a death had occurred.
In the observation deck, Chiyo, who had been watching through a telescope, unconsciously tightened her grip, but in the end, she said nothing. It was a ninja exam. A certain amount of danger was to be expected. The Rain ninja hadn't broken any rules, but their ruthlessness had displeased her.
She couldn't help but look at the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
He also felt a headache coming on. The Kaguya clan were all insane. Ringo and Fuguki were both feared among the younger generation, but next to Tsuki, they looked like a pair of white rabbits. He was starting to worry that she would corrupt them.
He was beginning to regret bringing her to the Joint Chunin Exams. He had chosen the strange but powerful Tsuki to be on the seed team, hoping for a good result. But at this rate, if she made it to the finals, would she just kill everyone from the five great villages? He had come here to build relationships, not to make enemies.
He decided he had to do something. He would have to talk to her after the first round.
On the other side of the observation deck, Dana was sitting stiffly, his mind elsewhere.
The Thunder Daimyo, who had suddenly appeared behind him, was now chatting with the Third Raikage, their conversation surprisingly cordial.
The relationship between a Kage and a Daimyo was a complex one, but outside the Land of Lightning, the two were of a roughly equal status. And with the Cloud now the number one village in the ninja world, he could feel a change in the Daimyo's attitude from a few years ago in Asuka Castle.
And next to him, sat Raihara Natsu.
They were both very awkward.
He knew the Daimyo had been invited. Hanzo wouldn't have invited him without first informing the Cloud. But he had sent out a wide net, hoping to catch a few. All the Daimyo had been invited, but very few had responded. Even the Daimyo of the surrounding small countries had only promised to come for the final round.
The Thunder Daimyo had never said he was coming. And he shouldn't have. The Land of Lightning was a long way from here. And yet here he was, seemingly very interested in the Joint Chunin Exams.
And what was even more interesting was that he had not just come himself, but had also brought his supposedly unfavored daughter, "Princess Natsu."
"Have you read the book?" he whispered.
"What book?" she whispered back, her lips barely moving.
"From Beginner to Master: The Ninja World's Supernova Teaches You..."
Suddenly, the Daimyo turned to him. "My dear son-in-law," he said, "with your skills, you can surely see. Which of the villages do you think has the strongest team?"
The words "son-in-law" made Natsu blush.
His own father also shot him a teasing look.