"What did you say?!"
"Konoha brat! You're asking to die!"
Yuu's words precisely struck Kusagakure's sore spot. Their village was small and weak, surviving in the cracks of the ninja world, and the thing they hated most was being called fence-sitters to their face. Two of the three Kusa ninja were instantly enraged, their faces flushing red. The short, fat one even drew his blade and stepped forward.
But…
"Wait."
The gloomy young man who had not spoken until now suddenly opened his mouth. He raised a hand to stop his companion, then stared at Yuu and said, "Konoha genin, now isn't the time to argue. According to the rules, there should be three 'hostages' down there. Each of our teams takes one. There's no need for conflict."
"…Tch. Looks to me like you're scared!"
Obito mocked disdainfully, then looked at Yuu. "Yuu, what do you say?"
"…"
Yuu pondered.
He had deliberately provoked Kusagakure with words just now. His original intention had been to create conflict, so he could find an opportunity to "reasonably" draw out information about Kusagakure imprisoning an Uzumaki clanswoman. He hadn't expected these Kusa ninja to actually keep their cool.
Forcing a fight would be no problem, of course. But how to induce the enemy to reveal information about the Uzumaki clanswoman during the battle was something that required consideration.
After all, Yuu couldn't just make things up. Konoha had the Yamanaka clan, who could directly probe the memories of the recently dead. If they later discovered that his statements didn't match the facts, he would be creating trouble for himself. And if he destroyed all the bodies, that would look too deliberate.
Now, the Kusa ninja's proposal gave Yuu a new idea.
"Fine."
Yuu nodded. "We agree to cooperate."
"A wise choice."
The gloomy young man pulled at the corner of his mouth, revealing something that couldn't really be called a smile.
"Then I suggest each team leaves one person outside as lookout, while the other two enter the tunnel. After bringing out the hostages, we go our separate ways."
"Reasonable."
Yuu thought briefly, then turned to Obito. "Obito, you stay up here."
"Huh? Why me?"
Obito was somewhat unwilling.
"Your Sharingan is suited for guarding. If anything happens outside, or if something happens below, you can respond to me and Rin immediately. Or do you want Rin to stay outside alone?"
"…Fine."
Obito was persuaded by Yuu and nodded reluctantly.
On Kusagakure's side, the tall, thin man and the gloomy young man spoke quietly for a few moments. In the end, they decided to have the short, fat man stay above.
"Then," the gloomy young man looked at Yuu, "which side goes down first?"
"You go first."
Yuu made an inviting gesture. "Since you proposed cooperation, you should at least show some sincerity."
The tall, thin man snorted coldly, but did not object. He and the gloomy young man descended the stone steps one after the other, the glow stick's light gradually swallowed by darkness. After confirming there was nothing abnormal, Yuu gave Obito a look, then took Rin and followed close behind.
This underground space was deeper than expected. That much was clear from the length of the stone steps at the entrance. The lower they went, the damper it became. Water droplets seeped from the surrounding walls, and the air carried a heavy smell of mold and rust.
Looking at this, Yuu was a little worried that there might be a collapse later, burying him and Rin underground. If that happened, even Substitution Technique might not get them out.
The two Kusa ninja walking ahead were also very cautious. From time to time, the tall, thin one formed hand seals and used some kind of sensory ninjutsu to probe the way ahead.
After descending more than thirty steps, flat ground appeared ahead.
It was a stone chamber about ten square meters in size. The walls were carved with murals that had already blurred with age. On either side was a forked passage, both pitch-black and leading to unknown places.
"One person goes each way? Split up and search?"
The tall, thin man asked.
"Fine."
Yuu nodded. "But you and I each leave a clone here to prevent either side from taking the opportunity to return above and ambush the teammate left behind. Also, after finding a hostage, use clone dispelling to send a signal to each other."
"Deal."
Immediately, the two two-person teams split up again.
After entering the side passage, Rin lowered her voice and quietly asked, "Yuu, do you think they're trustworthy?"
"No."
Yuu answered very decisively. "But it doesn't matter. Our primary goal is to find a hostage and pass the exam. If the Kusa ninja keep the agreement, that's best. If they try anything… then we'll let them understand why Konoha ranks first among the Five Great Ninja Villages."
"Mm."
Rin nodded and asked no more.
The two advanced through the passage. After another two or three minutes, a faint light appeared ahead.
A room resembling a prison cell appeared before them. It wasn't very large. The iron-barred door was half-open, and inside sat three people with their hands and feet tied, tape over their mouths. They were all wearing ordinary civilian clothes and looked like Konoha villagers. At this moment, they were staring toward the door in fear.
"…They really brought a few living people here to act as hostages?"
How much did this job pay? Was it worth risking their lives like this? Weren't they afraid of running into bloodthirsty genin who would directly kill them?
Yuu silently complained. He did not immediately enter, instead standing at the door and observing for a moment.
Those "hostages" all looked terrified, but if one observed carefully, one could see that there was no true panic deep in their eyes. Each of them breathed steadily, and there were faint traces of chakra flow inside their bodies. They were clearly ninja in disguise.
That made sense.
Since living people, rather than mannequins, were being used as "hostages," having trained ninja play the role was obviously better than using pure civilians. Not only was it relatively safer, they could also observe the rescuers' actions and use that as reference for the final scoring.
He just didn't know whether any of these "hostages" secretly contained a "spy." After all, if this were considered according to a realistic scenario, such a situation was entirely possible.
So,
Yuu had Rin stay outside and watch while he stepped into the room alone.
Almost the instant his foot landed, the sound of mechanisms turning suddenly rang out. Immediately after, the floor of the cell flipped open, and countless shuriken shot out from mechanisms arranged in advance, instantly forming an attack as dense as rain.
"Yuu!"
Before Rin's cry of alarm had finished, the short sword in Yuu's hand was already unsheathed, dancing into a silver light that not even water could seep through.
Amid a series of clangs, dozens of shuriken were knocked down, scattering all over the floor.
As the last few metallic rings sounded, Yuu had already spun his blade once and calmly sheathed it, then showed a kind smile.
"Don't be nervous. We're Konoha ninja. We're here to rescue you."
~~~
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