Chapter 177: Miss Snake, What Do You Think of Them?
This bone!
The moment the gray bone emerged from Hakken’s palm, Kimimaro sprang to his feet.
Shikotsumyaku?
No. This was different from Shikotsumyaku.
That bone carried an aura of deathly stillness. Shikotsumyaku, on the other hand, relied on chakra to control one’s own bones. Every bone in the body could become a weapon.
Yet without a doubt, this method of fighting with bones was strikingly similar to the Kaguya clan!
All-Killing Ash Bones!
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was Hakken’s Kāma. He could freely wield Kaguya’s power, and this perfect Kāma placed no burden on Hakken’s body at all.
So being able to use All-Killing Ash Bones was nothing unusual.
“Looks like you understand a little,” Hakken said.
Retracting the All-Killing Ash Bones, he reached out and patted Kimimaro on the shoulder.
“Find a chance sometime. We’ll have a proper talk.”
There was no doubt Hakken admired Kimimaro.
Whether it was his resolve to fight for his beliefs, or that extreme state where spirit ruled over flesh, both were qualities Hakken respected.
And the terrifying combat power of Shikotsumyaku shouldn’t end with Kimimaro’s generation.
“This child’s body has serious problems,” Kaguya said in the spiritual space, observing Kimimaro through Hakken with a puzzled expression.
“The chakra I passed down was inherited, but somewhere along his line, it seems to have mutated.”
“It’s hard to say exactly, but it’s likely a conflict between his body and his kekkei genkai.”
A mutation?
That was an easy problem to solve.
Hakken nodded, turned around, and returned to his seat, closing his eyes to rest.
“Damn, that’s way too arrogant!”
“Yeah, that Konoha’s Kenpachi crushed Otogakure’s forehead protector into dust.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You idiot, it’s obvious Konoha’s Kenpachi has taken a liking to that kid.”
“What insane luck! Why didn’t he take a liking to someone from our village?”
“That kind of thinking is dangerous…”
Crushing another village’s forehead protector was a blatant provocation against that village leader’s authority.
But they all knew how strong Konoha was. Having one of their own noticed even gave them the urge to show off.
After all, this was a solid way to build ties with Konoha.
Hakken-kun.
Staring intently at the big screen, Orochimaru’s eyes flickered as if he were plotting something.
“That child is quite lucky,” the Third Hokage said cheerfully, nodding toward Orochimaru.
“Heh. Who knows?” Orochimaru replied with a cold laugh. He stood up and walked out. His reason for coming had been simple: to observe the examinees and pick out a few prey he deemed suitable.
Now that his goal was achieved, it was time to prepare for the next stage.
...
The Chūnin Exams continued.
The final supplementary question of the first round truly stumped many candidates.
But there were plenty who genuinely trusted their teammates.
In the original story, only twenty-six teams, seventy-eight people in total, remained after the written exam. This time, however, with far more villages sending participants to Konohagakure, the number of those who passed had increased nearly fivefold, approaching four hundred.
Hakken didn’t bother checking the details. You couldn’t see much from a written test anyway.
The real highlight of the Chūnin Exams was the third round.
After greeting Ibiki, he headed straight for the second round’s testing grounds.
The Forest of Death!
“Oh my, my foolish little brother. I was worried you wouldn’t even survive the first round!”
As the examinees left the academy building and arrived at the entrance to the Forest of Death, a figure rushed straight into the arms of that legendary man ahead.
Smack.
Connections.
Confirmed.
The chief examiner of the second round was actually that man’s sister.
“You’re thinking too much. It’s just kids playing around,” Hakken said, shrugging casually.
“Here, I’ll just give you the Heaven and Earth Scrolls.”
Something even more outrageous happened.
The candidates, who had just learned that the second round was a scroll-snatching battle, stared angrily at the two of them.
Anko casually stuffed the Heaven and Earth Scrolls straight into the man’s arms.
Hey.
What are you doing?
If you’re going to cheat, can’t you at least be subtle about it?
“What are you staring at? This is for your own good!” Anko snapped.
With too many eyes fixed on her, she slammed her fist into the ground in irritation.
Living with Tsunade for so long hadn’t been for nothing. At the very least, she’d grasped a bit of the essence of monstrous strength.
Boom!
The ground cracked. Anko crossed her arms and coldly swept her gaze over the stunned genin.
“Calmed down? Then perk up your ears and listen to me.”
“Don’t talk about fairness. Let’s be blunt. My brother is only here to go through the motions. And do you really think it’s wrong to hand the scroll straight to him?”
“Let me ask you this. If a man who can split the moon in half decided to attack you, what makes you think you could protect your own scroll?”
…
The genin from the various villages fell silent.
Yeah.
If he really moved to snatch their scrolls, who could possibly stop him?
And by then, the losses wouldn’t stop at scrolls alone. Ever since arriving in Konoha, they had heard rumors that Konoha’s Kenpachi had a habit of collecting women. His home was full of them, everyone except himself.
If he set his sights on them…
Swallowing hard, once the stakes were spelled out so clearly, the genin obediently took their scrolls and entered the Forest of Death.
Hakken’s gaze, however, lingered on one particular figure.
He actually came.
And he even walked into the Forest of Death right in front of him, as if nothing were amiss.
On purpose?
Rolling his neck once, Hakken stepped in as well.
...
“So boring. This is nothing like what I imagined.”
The exam had barely begun. Naruto, full of excitement, rushed into the forest, but the battle he expected never came.
“The expanded Forest of Death has over a hundred entrances,” Sasuke said, shaking his head while keeping his eyes on their surroundings. “And it’s only just started. No one would be stupid enough to go all out right away.”
As natives, they were fairly familiar with the terrain of the Forest of Death. Still, as Sasuke said, Konoha’s expansion meant the forest itself had grown much larger.
The destination was still the tower at the center, but the distance had increased considerably.
One thing was certain. The longer they moved forward, the higher the chance of encountering enemies. With only one endpoint, the density of ninja would inevitably rise.
It was exactly like the battle royale game their master had mentioned.
Battle royale, a new concept that had come from Hakken Yoru.
That so-called ninja game was already being added to the selection process within the ANBU, used to screen truly strong candidates for the Night Owl Team’s reserve force.
A hundred people would be dropped into the forest. A Lightning Release barrier would slowly contract, and only those who survived would qualify for the next round.
If you wanted to join the Night Owls, surviving the battle royale was the bare minimum.
The ANBU had no need for the weak, let alone the elite among elites like the Night Owls.
“By the way,” Sakura suddenly said, breaking her silence, “Sasuke, Naruto… what kind of person is Hakken to you?”
“Can you tell me?”
As a teammate, Sakura’s strength simply couldn’t keep up with Sasuke and Naruto, but she didn’t want to fade into obscurity like this.
There were many ways to grow stronger.
Following Hakken was easily the most tempting one.
“Big brother?” Naruto thought for a moment, scratching his head. “Hard to explain. To me, he’s the most important family I have, just like my mom and dad.”
“What about you, Sasuke?” Naruto tilted his head and looked over, curious about his answer.
“To surpass my master, and earn Itachi’s recognition,” Sasuke replied.
He clearly didn’t want to say more, gripping his blade and keeping his gaze steady.
Toward Hakken, Sasuke felt more respect than anything else.
Because Itachi respected Hakken, even looked up to him.
As Itachi’s younger brother, Sasuke had only one thought in the beginning.
It was also what he said to his master when he formally became his disciple.
“I want to take my brother back from your side.”
So melodramatic it bordered on absurd.
Your brother is already right next to you.
What did “take him back” even mean? Even Hakken couldn’t make sense of it.
Still, taking Sasuke in had been something Itachi personally asked of Hakken, so he didn’t refuse.
After all, compared to Naruto, Sasuke’s talent with the sword was anything but weak.
Sasuke let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.
That had only been his initial mindset.
As he learned more about his master’s past and gradually uncovered the secrets surrounding that man, he finally understood what had drawn Itachi in, and why Itachi had even spoken of becoming his shadow.
It was his master’s unique, one-of-a-kind charisma.
Just standing behind him made every problem seem insignificant.
And Sasuke realized that the closer he got to that man, the more overwhelming the impact became, one shock after another.
He thought he understood his master?
That was nothing more than self-deception.
The conversation came to an end. Naruto and Sasuke walked at the front.
Sakura, following behind, felt even more lost.
At this point, she simply couldn’t understand what was going on in their hearts.
No one spoke again. It seemed all of them were thinking about the question Sakura had raised.
Gradually, though, something about the path ahead began to feel… off.
“Sasuke.”
“Mm.”
Naruto and Sasuke stopped at the same time.
“What is it?” Sakura asked, snapping out of her thoughts in confusion.
“It’s too quiet. It’s been quiet for a while now.”
Sasuke’s Sharingan slowly spun.
This place was called the Forest of Death, but it was still a forest in every sense.
And where there was a forest, there should be animals, birds, sounds of life.
Yet here, there wasn’t a single noise.
“Tch. So you noticed?”
From behind the trees ahead, three strangely dressed ninja slowly stepped out.
The Sound Trio.
Unlike the enhanced Sound Five, this trio, made up of Zaku, Duosu, and Kin-Tsuchi, only possessed genin-level strength. In the original story, they had been sent by Orochimaru to Konoha to observe changes in Sasuke’s curse mark, or even kill him outright.
Their objective now was clearly similar. At this moment, they were blocking Team 7’s path.
“Looks like trouble,” Sasuke said calmly.
He slowly drew the Shōda sword from his waist, completely unflustered.
Naruto was just as composed, pulling out a kunai and readying himself for battle.
“Alright. Let me see how strong he really is.”
Far away, a pair of eyes watched everything from the shadows.
The Sound Trio had all been personally trained by Orochimaru. Their combat style, using sound as a medium for attack, was something he found novel and worth observing.
Of course, these three were disposable pawns at the very bottom. The real test had already been arranged further ahead.
“I’ll give you one chance,” Sasuke said coldly. “Hand over the scroll, or die.”
On the battlefield, Sasuke imitated Hakken’s usual posture, lifting his chin as the Zanpakutō rested against his body, pressure pouring out unabashedly.
Unfortunately, Itachi strictly forbade him from drinking. Otherwise, he really should have been holding a bottle while posturing like this.
“Kill them straight away?” Naruto scratched his head as realization dawned on him. “Big brother did say that if we ran into ninja from other villages, we could decide based on the situation. Except for Otogakure. Those have to be killed.”
“Are the three of us being looked down on?” Zaku rasped, his anger impossible to hide.
“Kill them!” Dosu snarled, his bandage-wrapped body trembling.
...
Kim said nothing, simply pulling out his custom weapon.
“Sasuke,” Naruto said quietly, “this is that moment big brother talked about.”
Instead of charging forward, Naruto suddenly turned his kunai toward Sasuke beside him.
“Yeah,” Sasuke replied, drawing his own kunai and locking eyes with Naruto. “Itachi said Master used to do it this way.”
What were they doing?
Sakura, standing behind them, was completely stunned.
Slash!
Kunai collided. Blood sprayed into the air.
In that instant, their figures overlapped with the image of Hakken during his very first mission.
Sasuke still remembered how Hakken, standing behind him back then, had caught an enemy’s weapon with his bare hands, forcing him to suppress the discomfort that came with killing.
Now, the scene before them was almost identical.
Pain kept them clear-headed.
Since they had chosen to temper themselves with blood, and killing Otogakure ninja was a task Hakken had personally given them, there was no reason to hold back at all.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!”
“Rasengan!”
Hand seals flashed as blood dripped from their hands onto the ground.
Hundreds of solid clones appeared behind Naruto.
At the same time, Sasuke drove his blade straight into the earth. In an instant, lightning erupted violently.
“Sword Chidori!”
A version of Chidori modified by Hakken Yoru, even more destructive than the original.
An A-rank ninjutsu that only Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan could successfully learn.
As for Sword Raikiri, the evolved form of Chidori, Sasuke was only one step away from mastering it.
What was this?
Monsters?
When hundreds of Naruto clones, each forming a Rasengan, charged toward Dosu and the others, the Sound Trio froze in sheer terror.
In the moment they hesitated, the sharp hum at the tip of Sasuke’s blade split one of them cleanly in two.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The final images burned into their minds were a sky filled with Naruto clones and lightning piercing straight through their chests.
...
“Failed?”
The figure watching from afar shuddered and finally withdrew his gaze.
There was no doubt about it. It was Orochimaru.
Standing silently beneath a tree, Orochimaru leaned against the trunk, confusion flickering in his eyes.
He realized he might have gotten something wrong.
Were his three genin subordinates really useless?
Apparently not.
Their defeat came from the overwhelming combat power Sasuke and Naruto had displayed.
Coming to Konoha, his ultimate goal was naturally to obtain a suitable vessel.
The best candidate was Hakken Yoru.
The second choice was Itachi.
And if everything failed, he would take Itachi’s younger brother, Sasuke.
Yet this was only the first round of probing, and already his face felt painfully slapped.
The people he had personally trained were wiped out in a single exchange.
“What is this supposed to be?” Orochimaru muttered. “I can’t even write an experiment report.”
Crossing his arms, he let out a quiet sigh and turned around.
Then he froze.
The man sitting on a tree trunk, casually drinking, sent a chill straight down his spine.
When did he get there?
“Snake-sen— oh, sorry.”
“Well then,” the man said lightly, “Snake.”
“My brother and my apprentice… what do you think of them?”
Needle-sharp gazes met.
In that instant, the atmosphere of the Forest of Death turned unbearably cold.
…