Chapter 140: They're the Seniors
Shikaku Nara led his team through the forest, heading for the area marked on the map.
He had been studying the map for a long time, unable to make sense of it. He had even torn off a small corner to see if the material was different. The examiner hadn't said they had to keep the map intact. He had discovered that the paper was tougher than normal. After some more thought, he had tried to infuse it with his chakra.
Sure enough, the torn corner had become damp. He had then infused the entire map, and the real map had been revealed. Two different points had appeared on it. But the map he had was not for the current area. From his memory of the view from the starting point, he judged that the area shown on the map was on the western side of the canyon. So, he had led his team in that direction.
An hour had passed since the start of the exam. Shikaku, who always planned his moves carefully, felt he had already grasped the key to this round.
Sure enough, by heading west, they had avoided the other teams and had arrived at the area shown on the map. They followed the markings to a cliff face.
At the bottom of the cliff was a shallow beach. A light mist hung in the air.
There seemed to be a protruding rock above the marked location, a little more conspicuous than the others. Were there some faint markings on it?
Just as they were about to approach, they heard a "crack."
Something had been stepped on.
The next moment, Inoichi Yamanaka was encased in a massive red crystal, his body completely immobilized, a look of terror on his face.
"Got one!" a female voice came from nearby.
"The one you got was the one I set!"
Shikaku looked over. Two identical-looking girls were celebrating. Hidden Cloud, he thought. It seems someone figured out the secret of the map even faster than I did and set a trap here.
Yusuke Akahoshi walked out, took a big gulp from a water bottle, and said, "Konoha ninja, eh? How about you just hand over the map?"
His team had used his Red Eye to scan the map the moment they had gotten it, and had discovered the strange material and the special, ink-like substance within it. They were likely the first to solve the map's secret. So they had come here and set up an ambush.
"Since you've set a trap here," Shikaku said, "you must have also solved the secret of the map. Why don't we just leave together from the escape point? One escape point can be used twice."
"Who told you this was an escape point?" Ganseki said.
"And why should we cooperate with another village?" Akane added. "Wouldn't it be better to just eliminate you?"
The twin sisters were masters of using their Crystal Release to create special traps. And Yusuke's Red Eye, besides its x-ray vision, had another important ability: he could control the evaporation of water from his body and use the resulting mist for concealment and misdirection. This ability made the already difficult-to-detect Crystal Release traps completely invisible. The only drawback was that it caused him to lose a lot of water.
He took another big gulp from his water bottle. "You don't have much time to hesitate," he said. "Your teammate won't last long. And I suggest you don't try to break the crystal. That might kill him."
With a beautiful girl on either side of him, the water-bottle-wielding Yusuke looked a bit like a playboy.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, and in the right light, Shikaku could see that the ground was covered in a dense network of faint, dark red patterns, even more complex than a sealing formula.
A strange trap, he thought, quickly analyzing the situation. Is it a fusion of sealing jutsu? The trap has no physical form, its only weakness is the faint, glowing patterns, which are concealed by the mist. The enemy has been standing at a distance from the very beginning, so the trap is likely passive, not active. Will they be caught in it too?
The area was flat, with no place to get a foothold. How could they get out of this trap?
He pretended to be examining the red crystal, but he was constantly talking. "You've already solved the map, but you haven't moved on to the next step. So you need two maps to solve this part?"
"I'm serious," Yusuke said with a sigh. "If you keep stalling, your teammate will really die. You're the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, right? I've heard about you. Don't you care about your teammate's life?"
But he didn't know that Shikaku, while pretending to be observing the crystal, was secretly forming a hand seal.
A black shadow tentatively entered the transparent crystal, and Inoichi's little finger twitched.
Shikaku understood. He gave Choza a look.
Choza got the message and suddenly attacked.
"Ninja Art: Multi-Size Technique!"
The suddenly enlarged Choza ripped the crystal with Inoichi inside from the ground and threw it at Yusuke.
The massive crystal flew through the air. Yusuke's team hadn't expected this and quickly dodged.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Tentacles!"
A black shadow solidified and connected to the crystal in mid-air. Shikaku, as if on a swing, flew through the air, heading for Yusuke's team.
Using their trapped teammate as a leverage point to escape the trap? But if the crystal shatters when it lands, won't their teammate die? I thought the Ino-Shika-Cho were close. A series of questions flashed through Yusuke's mind.
But as he was dodging the flying crystal, Shikaku, in mid-air, made another move.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Imitation Technique."
The target: Inoichi Yamanaka.
The crystal, just before it hit the ground, shattered.
If you can't break it from the outside, just break it from the inside!
The moment he was free, Inoichi, in mid-air, used the "Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique."
The invisible mental force hit Ganseki, and he immediately controlled her to run into the trap field.
A large number of traps were triggered, and countless red crystals appeared. Ganseki ran wildly, the traps chasing after her.
Choza, who was still in the trap field, followed the path she had cleared and escaped.
"Dammit, I was careless," Yusuke said, annoyed. The Crystal Release, of course, couldn't harm Ganseki. But with this series of moves, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had cleverly broken the stalemate.
Akane used a kunai to force back the still-casting Inoichi, breaking his control over her sister. The moment Ganseki was about to move, she was caught in Shikaku's Shadow Imitation.
The classic Ino-Shika-Cho combination: infinite control.
And the next moment, Akane herself was hit by an invisible mental attack and was also controlled.
Seeing his two teammates taken down, Yusuke's eyes turned red.
"Ganseki! Akane!"
Choza keenly felt a change in his opponent's aura.
The red-eyed Yusuke was completely different.
"Ninja Art: Partial Multi-Size Technique!"
A massive hand reached for him, but a large amount of mist erupted from Yusuke's body, and he disappeared from before his eyes.
"What?!"
The next moment, he had appeared at Choza's side and kicked him in the face. The blow was so solid that even with his thick skin, he felt his jaw loosen, and his mind went blank for a second.
This man's taijutsu... it's strong!
Shikaku quickly sent out a shadow tentacle to try and restrain him.
But before he could react, he had disappeared again.
He was like a flashing ghost, attacking from all sides. Choza was constantly being interrupted, with no chance to even form a hand seal. He was completely helpless.
The Red Eye Kekkei Genkai, with its ability to use the body's moisture to create a special mist to deceive the eye, when applied to one's own taijutsu, created a flashing effect. Combined with the Red Eye's excellent perception, it left him unable to fight back.
Dammit, he thought, I thought a trap-user wouldn't be good at frontal combat.
Shikaku's shadow tentacles couldn't keep up with the fast and invisible Yusuke.
Sure enough, a short while later, Choza could no longer hold on. He had been trying to form a hand seal, but his every attempt had been interrupted. He had a wealth of secret jutsu but no way to use them. Finally, after a blow to the nose, he fell backwards.
After he had fallen, Yusuke completely disappeared. Shikaku and Inoichi nervously looked around, trying to find him.
This is a strong enemy! I never thought such an unremarkable person from the Cloud would be so strong!
Just as Shikaku thought he would be the next target, Yusuke appeared next to the immobilized Ganseki and Akane, scooped them up, one on each shoulder, and ran.
The sight of him running away with the two girls left the on-guard Shikaku stunned for a moment.
Yusuke, having rescued the two of them, breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost thought they were done for. He calmed down and returned to his usual self. He put the two of them down and took a big gulp from his water bottle.
Ganseki and Akane, now free, were dejected. They had just graduated, and though they were good with traps and sealing jutsu, their frontal combat skills were too weak. If it hadn't been for Yusuke, their Chunin Exam journey would have ended in the first round.
Yusuke had returned to his usual carefree demeanor. "That was close," he said, still a little shaken. "You guys from Konoha, I think you're right. Though this isn't an escape point. Why don't we just call it a day? There are two points on one map. This place is already full of our traps. Why don't you go to the other one? We'll just stay here and wait for more prey. Let's just part on good terms."
Shikaku considered it. Though it had only been a short time, the strength Yusuke had shown in his special state was very troublesome. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were not good with speed. Leaving might be the best choice. And there were two points on one map. They still had time.
Inoichi helped Choza up. He took a yellow curry pill from his ninja pouch. Shikaku, after much thought, decided not to risk it. His opponent's invisibility was too difficult to deal with. They would retreat for now.
Just as they were about to leave, he felt someone rapidly approaching from behind. He jumped in fright and spun around, only to see Minato Namikaze, who was now right in front of him.
"Don't worry, it's me," Minato said, patting him on the shoulder.
Shikaku relaxed. If that had been a sneak attack, he would have been dead. Minato had been fast in the Academy, and he was getting more and more ridiculous.
Minato's speed... maybe he can deal with that red-eyed ninja.
Eliminating a few more teams from the other villages was a reasonable choice.
Tsume and Shibi also arrived.
Yusuke, seeing that his opponent had reinforcements, was now even more inclined to retreat. He thought he might as well just give up on this spot and set up a trap somewhere else.
"It seems your backup has arrived," he said, feigning confidence. "You're good. This place is yours. Just remember, let's stay out of each other's way."
He then began to back away slowly with the two girls.
Minato was considering whether to stop them.
Just then, three figures appeared behind them.
Yusuke turned and saw the familiar red hair. It was his own people.
It was Hiroto Uzumaki's team, who had been drawn by the sound of battle.
"Seniors!" he shouted, pointing at Minato's and Shikaku's teams. "It's them!"
Hiroto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze looked at each other.
Minato's hand slowly moved to the short sword on his back.