Outside the Konoha Ninja Academy, Shamrock, Uta, Ren, Aoi, and Haruki were talking among themselves when suddenly Naruto came running from behind. He stopped right beside Uta, slightly out of breath, and said, "Thank you very much, Uta, for helping me… helping me complete all the questions. Thank you very much."
As soon as Uta heard this, a smile appeared on her face. A soft breeze moved through her hair as she said, "Don't worry about it. You are our cousin, after all. How can we not help each other? We are family."
Naruto nodded after hearing this and said, "But still, thank you very much. And how about I take you to eat ramen? It will be my treat."
"Okay, very well," Shamrock said.
Uta also gave a small nod with a smile on her face.
Ren, Aoi, and Haruki simply left Shamrock, Uta, and Naruto alone. The three of them went back to their hotel room while Shamrock, Uta, and Naruto left together to eat ramen.
At the same time, the other members of Team 7, Sakura and Sasuke, also went back to their own homes to prepare for the second round of the Chunin Exam, which was tomorrow.
The next morning, all of the candidates gathered just outside Training Ground Number 44.
The tall iron fence surrounding the area looked dark and ominous, while the giant trees inside cast long shadows over the ground. Just standing outside the place made many people feel uneasy.
Soon, everyone entered the area where Anko was waiting for them.
Inside the training ground, Anko informed everyone about the rules for the exam. First of all, she took the signatures of everyone on the consent form before they could enter the Forest of Death.
Basically, on the consent form, it was clearly mentioned that if they died inside the Forest of Death, then their deaths had nothing to do with Anko or anyone else from Konoha. They simply did not want to get blamed for whatever happened inside.
As some people read through the form, their expressions became serious, while others nervously swallowed. Even though everyone already knew the Chunin Exams were dangerous, seeing it written so directly still made the atmosphere much heavier.
This is not a normal exam anymore, many of them thought silently.
And the second rule, the basic rule, was that every team would be given one scroll, either a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll. They had to collect both scrolls, the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll, and then reach the large tower located in the center of the Forest of Death.
That tower was nearly ten kilometers away from every gate from where the candidates would be entering the Forest of Death.
So, with just this one rule alone, it was already clear that at least half of the candidates would be disqualified and eliminated in the second round of the Chunin Exam.
After all, if one team obtained the other scroll, then another team would inevitably lose theirs.
Shamrock went to collect the scroll for his team, which consisted of him and Uta. After receiving it, he saw that they had been given a Heaven Scroll.
Meanwhile, the other team from Uzushiogakure, Ren, Aoi, and Haruki, also got Heaven scroll and when the time of the exam came, they were taken toward Gate Number Seven.
As for Shamrock and Uta, they were taken toward Gate Number One.
The atmosphere near the gate was tense. Some candidates were sweating nervously while tightly holding their scrolls. Others looked around with cautious eyes, already trying to judge which teams looked weak enough to target.
The giant gate slowly began to open with a loud creaking sound.
Finally, when the appropriate time arrived, the gates were fully opened.
All the candidates rushed through their respective gates and entered the Forest of Death.
Some jumped directly into the trees, some ran across the ground at full speed, and some disappeared into the darkness of the forest almost instantly.
However, Shamrock and Uta did not run or rush at all.
The two of them simply walked casually through the gate as if they were taking a stroll rather than entering one of the most dangerous places in Konoha.
While walking beside Uta, Shamrock suddenly said, "Why don't we do a race? I mean, why don't we just finish this exam as soon as possible and make some kind of record?"
As soon as Uta heard this, her eyes lit up with excitement.
"I also like this idea," she said with a grin. "Let's do this. Let's make a record that will be unbreakable."
Shamrock smiled after hearing this.
Immediately, both Uta and Shamrock spread their Observation Haki through the surrounding forest.
In an instant, they could feel the presence of multiple teams moving through the trees. Some were trying to stay hidden, some were already searching for prey, and some were moving cautiously while protecting their scrolls.
Finally, Shamrock and Uta locked onto one particular team.
As soon as they felt the trajectory of that team's movement, both of them looked at each other.
"They are coming towards us," Shamrock said calmly. "Their target seems to be us."
Uta also nodded after hearing Shamrock's words.
A faint smile appeared on Shamrock's face as he said, "Then let's see if these people have an Earth Scroll or not."
A light wind blew through the trees, causing the leaves around them to rustle softly.
Looks like this exam will be more entertaining than expected.
After saying this, Shamrock suddenly dashed toward that team, and Uta immediately followed behind him.
The two of them moved quickly through the forest, jumping from branch to branch as the trees blurred past them.
However, just when they were getting closer and closer to the team, both Shamrock and Uta suddenly felt that the people moving toward them had stopped.
And when they reached nearer, the entire area ahead of them was suddenly covered in a thick mist.
The fog spread rapidly between the trees, swallowing everything around them. Within moments, even the trunks of the nearest trees had become blurry and hard to see.
As soon as Shamrock and Uta saw this, both of them smiled.
They immediately understood that this was an ambush—an ambush by ninjas from Kirigakure.
The dense mist surrounded them from all sides, and the entire forest became eerily silent.
Then Shamrock directly spoke to his sister telepathically inside her mind.
"What do you think?" Shamrock asked. "We should play a game with them. Don't you think that?"
Uta's voice sounded inside his head a moment later.
"Brother, do we really have to? If we can defeat them easily, then why bother playing with them?"
Shamrock's smile widened slightly.
"It will be fun."
There was a brief pause before Uta replied.
"Okay, as you wish."
After deciding that they would have some fun and play around a little, Shamrock suddenly changed his expression.
A look of panic instantly appeared on his face as he shouted loudly, "Sister, this is an ambush! We are inside an ambush! I can't see anything!"
After saying this, Shamrock quickly pulled out his sword and immediately started swinging it wildly in all directions.
"Where are you? Don't come near me!"
His sword cut through the air again and again, hitting nothing but mist.
Meanwhile, Uta also stepped back slightly and looked around as if she was nervous.
The Kirigakure ninjas hiding inside the mist heard all of this clearly.
Strange smiles appeared on their faces, and at the same time, those smiles carried obvious mockery.
So this was the so-called son of the Red-Haired Emperor Shanks Uzumaki, the Uzukage.
His performance was truly pathetic.
One of the Kirigakure ninjas even nearly laughed out loud when he saw Shamrock waving his sword around in panic.
So this is the famous genius? he thought with ridicule. What a joke.
As they had already planned beforehand, one of the Kirigakure ninjas immediately used the Silent Killing Technique and silently began moving toward Shamrock through the mist.
His movements were careful and precise.
There was not even the slightest sound of footsteps.
Hidden within the fog, the Kirigakure ninja held a kunai tightly in his hand as he slowly approached Shamrock from behind.
As Shamrock kept blabbering, shouting, and panicking, his location had become completely obvious.
Although killing Shamrock might bring down the wrath of the Uzukage, what did it matter?
If they could kill the son of the Uzukage, the son of the man who had slaughtered thousands of Kirigakure ninjas, then it would all be worth it.
Silently, the Kirigakure ninja crept closer and closer to Shamrock.
As he moved through the mist, he could even feel the gusts of wind created by Shamrock's messy sword swings.
Finally, he arrived right beside him.
The Kirigakure ninja's eyes turned cold as he raised his kunai, ready to strike directly into Shamrock's neck.
But in that exact moment, something flashed across his chest.
For a brief second, he did not even understand what had happened.
Then, when he lowered his head, he saw blood pouring diagonally across his chest.
His eyes widened.
At some point, Shamrock had already turned toward him.
The panic that had been on Shamrock's face earlier was completely gone.
In its place was a calm expression.
Shamrock looked directly at him and said in a calm voice, "You didn't really think that this weak mist would be able to obscure our senses, right? I was just joking. Have some fun and be on your way."
The Kirigakure ninja staggered back, blood spilling from his chest, before he collapsed onto the ground.
Shamrock had clearly felt the killing intent from this person, so he had no qualms whatsoever about killing him.
Immediately after that, Shamrock turned toward another ninja hidden deeper within the mist.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword horizontally.
A powerful flying sword slash burst out from the blade and tore through the thick fog.
The next moment, a scream echoed through the forest.
As soon as that Kirigakure ninja was struck, the mist around the area suddenly began to dissipate.
Clearly, this had been the ninja who was maintaining the Hidden in the Mist Technique.
The fog slowly faded away, revealing the surroundings once more.
On the other side, Uta was nowhere to be seen beside Shamrock.
She had already reached another Kirigakure ninja.
Before he could even react, Uta was already standing directly in front of him.
Her sword was pressed lightly against his neck.
The Kirigakure ninja did not even realize when Uta had appeared beside him.
He only realized what had happened when the cold edge of her blade touched his skin and the mist around them disappeared.
His face instantly turned pale.
Uta did not hesitate at all.
She immediately swung her sword.
Clearly, she had also felt the killing intent these Kirigakure ninjas had toward them.
She could have forgiven them if that killing intent had only been directed toward her.
But they had also come here intending to kill her brother.
That was something she would never tolerate.
Because of that, there was no pity or mercy on her face, unlike the expression she usually had even when killing someone.
The Kirigakure ninja grabbed his neck as blood sprayed out.
His body trembled for a moment before he fell to the ground, dead.
----
Want to get daily updates and read 20+ chapters? Then join my Patreon!
Patreon Link: https://[email protected]/Hkj822
Join Discord Link: https://discord.gg/c4m4BxQq