Chapter 145: The Hostage Rescue Begins
"The forty-two of you, from fourteen teams, will be divided into two camps, twenty-one in each," the Rain ninja announced. "Each camp will have three hostages. The two camps will face each other in a mock town. Your objective is to prevent your own hostages from being rescued, and to rescue the hostages held by the other side."
"The rules are as follows: you are not allowed to use any large-scale ninjutsu to destroy the mock town."
As he said this, he discreetly glanced at Hiroto Uzumaki. This rule had clearly been added at the last minute.
"You are not allowed to kill or harm the hostages you are holding. Violators will be eliminated. This round will be scored on an individual basis, not a team basis. Both camps must contain members from all the participating villages, and no treachery or betrayal will be tolerated."
"Now, you may form your teams."
This last rule meant that the existing teams would be broken up, especially for the villages that had only had one team advance to the second round.
A team battle, but only individual scores are counted, Shikaku Nara thought, his mind racing. And they're forcing us to form new teams. Are they trying to break up the village squads?
"This round will last for four hours. The timer starts now."
Hiroto's head shot up. The timer had started, and they hadn't even formed their teams yet. This was a test of their ability to quickly organize themselves and find suitable teammates. They had to create a balanced team, and also find an opportunity to show off their own skills.
Sure enough, the underground space erupted into chaos. With no official organization, the contestants had to form their own groups. It was a cacophony of voices.
Hiroto didn't waste any time. He used his Earth Release to create a small platform, making himself visible in the chaotic crowd, and quickly gathered the other eleven Cloud ninja.
"We have to have at least one person in each of the two camps," he said. "And we have to recruit at least one person from each of the other villages."
"Those guys from Konoha yesterday seemed pretty good," Tetsuo said, raising his hand. "I wonder who will be on our team."
"The Ino-Shika-Cho will definitely stick together," Kayo said. "It will probably be someone from that Minato Namikaze's team."
"Anyone is fine," Ganseki and Akane said in unison, "as long as it's not that woman who can pull out her own bones. So scary."
Someone else, seeing Hiroto's success, also used a jutsu to elevate himself, trying to recruit teammates, but he didn't have the same charisma.
On the other side, Shikaku was saying, "The Cloud has a lot of people. They'll have a big advantage in this round."
"Why don't we team up with them?" Inoichi suggested. "Then no one could stand against us."
"This round is for individual scores," Minato said, shaking his head. "If you're on a team with all the strong ones, you might not have a chance to shine. The priority is to find a team where you can use your own unique skills, to make yourself indispensable."
Just then, the scantily clad Pakura walked over. "Hey, you guys from Konoha," she said, making a gesture, "want to team up?"
People were constantly splitting up and forming new teams. As the minutes ticked by, the seven or eight small groups gradually coalesced into two large ones: Camp A, centered around the four Cloud teams, and Camp B, centered around the four Konoha and Sand teams.
The remaining stragglers, not wanting to waste any more time, quickly joined one of the two camps. And as the rules dictated, many of the original teams had to be split up. Yahiko, for example, had gone to Camp B, while Tsume had come to Camp A.
By the time the two camps were finalized, less than three hours remained.
The staff recorded the team compositions and then led them to the mock town.
It was a small, temporary cluster of buildings, about forty or fifty in total, created with Earth Release. The tallest building was only two stories high. It was designed to resemble a common small town. A main street ran through the center, dividing it into an eastern and a western section, which would belong to Camp A and Camp B, respectively. The "houses" were real structures, but the interiors were empty shells.
The representative of Camp A, Hiroto Uzumaki, and the representative of Camp B, Shikaku Nara, drew lots under the supervision of the staff.
"Camp A: west side. Camp B: east side."
At the signal, the two camps quickly disappeared into their respective territories.
"Sensory-types, spread out and keep watch," Hiroto ordered. "Execute the plan."
The sensory-type ninja nodded and quickly dispersed. Kayo immediately reported the location of their hostages. She had already scanned the entire area during the lottery.
"The hostages are in the tallest building in the center."
The others quickly followed her directions to the tallest building on the west side of the town, which looked like a village chief's house.
The inside was empty, not even a table. But in the center of the first floor, three figures were tied up.
"Fugaku-senpai?" Tsume said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
The three identical figures were sitting back-to-back. It was the leader of the Konoha contestants, Fugaku Uchiha.
On the other side, Minato and the others, guided by Shibi, had come to a place that looked like a tavern. Their hostages were here.
When Minato opened the door, he, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio behind him, froze. They immediately jumped back, their hands instinctively going to their weapons.
The other contestants were confused, thinking they had been ambushed.
Tsuki peeked inside. The three figures were... three Yotsuki Danas, who were smiling and waving at them. "Yo!"
Minato's hand was on the short sword on his back. Shibi's insects were already crawling out of his body. Shikaku's Shadow Imitation was ready to be unleashed.
"You're not allowed to harm the hostages," Dana said with a smile. "These are just clones. They'll pop if you touch them."
"A person like you," Shikaku said, "what are you doing here?"
"The team leaders of the six villages drew lots," he said with a sigh. "Two of us were chosen as hostages. I was just unlucky. It would have been nice if Hiroto's team had gotten this side. At least I would have had someone to talk to."
The team leaders are the hostages, Shikaku thought. This is probably a way to observe the contestants up close.
But the situation was ridiculous. Their own base, which should have been the safest place, was now the most dangerous, all because of this guy. Who in Konoha wasn't afraid of him?
The reaction of the Konoha ninja had the contestants from the other villages confused. Not all of them had experienced the "Night of the Purple Moon." They were just curious.
Pakura, not thinking too much of it, walked into the house and curiously examined the bound Yotsuki Dana. "So you're the so-called 'brightest new star of the ninja world'?" she said, stroking her chin. "You look pretty ordinary to me."
Well, not really, she thought. He was very handsome.
"I'm sorry I wasn't born with three heads and six arms," he said with a smile.
"You're not going to try and escape, are you?" she asked. "You're really just going to be a hostage? This isn't some kind of trick?"
"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "I'm just a tool. I won't do anything to break the rules. In fact, you can all just ignore me."
Tsuki suddenly stepped in front of her, her eyes fixed on him as if he were some rare treasure, much to Pakura's confusion.
"Seriously," he said, "though I'd love to have someone to talk to, you should probably focus on the exam."
Unlike Camp A, where Hiroto was the clear leader, Camp B had no single leader. The arrogant Pakura, the strange Tsuki, the melon-faced Fuguki—none of them were the type to take orders. But for now, they had all acknowledged Shikaku's intelligence and had agreed to follow his lead.
Shikaku forced himself to ignore Yotsuki Dana and began to give orders.
The town was divided in two, each side about 200 meters long and 100 meters wide. He had the sensory-type ninja spread out on the east side, especially along the main street.
There were about two and a half hours left.
"Minato," he said, "scout the west from the north. The enemy has surely deployed their own sensory-types. Don't worry about being seen. This is still the probing stage. But take note of what kind of sensory-types they have at each point. If you find one alone and you're confident, you can take them out. It would be best to bring them back."
"Understood."
"Pakura, you take a group to the main street and launch a feint. Draw their attention."
"And you, Suikazan... you go with her. You're a big target. You'll be a good distraction. Don't push too far. It's just a feint."
"Mahiru, Oiwa, you check the underground. See if there's an opportunity to dig a tunnel."
One by one, he gave his orders. He had remembered everyone's name after just a brief conversation. His intelligence was truly remarkable.
Dana watched from the side, impressed. He had always thought the Nara clan's brains were better than most Kekkei Genkai. To see it up close was something else.
A short while later, an explosion came from the main street. It seemed a battle had broken out.
That must be Pakura's feint.