The rustling of leaves filled the forest as
Inuzuka Tsume, Hyuga Naoki, and Aburame Daisuke
sprinted through the dense vegetation of the
Forest of Death
.
"I'm so done with this stupid sticker!" Tsume growled,
scratching at the bright red flower plastered on her forehead.
"You've been complaining about it since we put them on," Naoki muttered, rubbing his temples. "If you haven't noticed, we have bigger problems."
Tsume shot him an irritated glare. "Bigger problems? Naoki, do you realize how
humiliating
this is?! I'm an Inuzuka, not some academy student running around with a damn reward sticker!"
Naoki sighed, but deep down, he felt the
exact same way
. Having a
bright red flower
stuck
between his Byakugan
was the most
humiliating thing he had ever experienced
.
The Hyuga Clan was built on dignity. This was a disgrace.
Meanwhile,
Daisuke
, quiet as ever, adjusted his sunglasses and kept moving, seemingly
unaffected
by their predicament.
"Tsume, just let it go already," Naoki muttered, trying to
ignore her tantrum
.
Tsume turned to snap back at him, but the moment her
sharp eyes
met Naoki's ridiculous
"decorated"
forehead, she
burst into laughter.
"Pfft—Hahahaha! Naoki, you—You look like a damn joke!"
"Shut up, Tsume!"
Naoki's face burned red.
Before he could retaliate,
crackling electricity
suddenly filled the air.
"Lightning Release—
Thunder Fang!
"
A surge of
lightning arced through the trees
, streaking toward them like a
blazing whip
.
"Move!"
Daisuke
was the first to react, yanking both of them down as the attack
blasted past them.
BOOM!
The ground where they had just been standing
erupted in a burst of electricity, scorching the surrounding trees.
Tsume groaned,
bruised and covered in dirt
from the rough landing. "Damn it! Who the hell—"
A trio of
Kumogakure genin
emerged from the shadows,
smirking at them.
"Well, well," one of them sneered,
eyeing the stickers
on their foreheads. "Konoha's little flowers finally bloomed."
His teammate chuckled. "Are you sure you're here for the
Chunin Exams
? Thought this was a
beauty contest
."
Tsume
bared her fangs
. "You
bastards
—!"
"Careful, little puppy," the third Kumo-nin taunted,
twirling a kunai
in his fingers. "Get too worked up, and you might mess up your cute little flower."
Naoki clenched his fists. He
couldn't deny it
—they looked ridiculous.
But there was
one major problem
.
They had been
so distracted
by the
humiliation
of these stickers that
none of them had been keeping watch.
Now, they were in a
terrible position
—and they had only themselves to blame.
"Tsume," Naoki muttered under his breath. "Don't—"
But
it was too late.
Tsume was already charging.
"Akira!
Fang Over Fang!
"
With a bark,
her ninken, Akira, leaped forward, spiraling into a blindingly fast rotation.
"Shit—"
One of the Kumo-nin barely had time to react before
Tsume and Akira's drill-like attack slammed toward him.
But just before impact—
CRACK!
A blade of
pure lightning
sliced through the air, intercepting them mid-attack.
Sparks flew
as
Tsume and Akira were violently repelled
, tumbling through the dirt before coming to a stop.
"Tch. Stupid mutt." One of the Kumo-nin scoffed, his
katana crackling with blue electricity
.
"Lightning Release—
Thunder Blade.
"
His two teammates
smirked, drawing their own weapons
, each blade pulsing with
deadly currents of lightning.
"Well, Konoha?" Their leader grinned. "Let's see how well you handle this."
"Cough! Cough!"
Naoki
gritted his teeth, pain shooting through his ribs.
Tsume lay beside him,
dirt-covered and panting.
Daisuke's breathing was heavy,
his swarm of insects severely weakened from the electrical attacks.
They had
lost.
The Kumo-nin were
stronger than expected
.
No—
they had been careless.
Naoki forced himself up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. His Byakugan
flared to life
, but he already knew—
They were completely outmatched.
"Haha, not bad," one of the Kumo-nin chuckled. "But this is what happens when you let a bunch of weaklings enter the exams."
His teammate smirked. "The Hyuga Clan, huh? I was expecting more."
Naoki
gritted his teeth
, fists clenched.
They were playing with them.
They could have
ended this already.
They were
humiliating them on purpose.
"And you," the leader sneered at Tsume. "I thought Inuzuka were supposed to be
feral beasts
. You fight more like a house pet."
Tsume
growled
, but she could barely stand.
Daisuke remained silent, but even with his sunglasses, it was clear he was
calculating their odds of survival.
Then—
Rustling.
From the shadows of the forest,
a lone figure stumbled onto the scene.
"...Huh?"
Naoki turned. Tsume's
bloodied face
twisted in confusion.
Even the
Kumo-nin
hesitated.
A man with
disheveled hair
and a
katana resting lazily on his shoulder
stood before them.
A bottle of
sake
dangled from his
fingertips
,
half-empty.
"Who the hell—"
Tsume's
eyes widened.
"You've gotta be kidding me..."
Naoki
exhaled sharply.
It was
him.
The
monster
Konoha had forced them to wear these stickers for.
Youyu.
"Hic." Youyu took another lazy sip of his sake, his
eyes still half-closed.
The three
Kumo-nin
stared at him, clearly unimpressed.
"...Hey, who's this drunk idiot?"
One of them took a step forward, brandishing his electrified blade.
"You lost, old man?"
"You," Youyu muttered, staring at the Kumo-nin with
half-lidded eyes
.
"...You guys
don't have flowers
on your heads."
The Kumo-nin blinked. "Huh?"
"That means..."
A sharp
grin
spread across Youyu's face.
"I can
cut you down.
"
Before anyone could react—
FLASH!
The
sheer pressure
in the air
shifted.
Naoki's Byakugan flared in alarm.
The
Kumo-nin's bodies locked up.
An overwhelming killing intent
filled the space—
suffocating, absolute.
The Kumo-nin leader
stumbled back, sweating.
"W-What the hell is this feeling—"
Youyu took
one slow step forward
, lifting his sword.
"Alright," he sighed. "Guess I'll sober up with some exercise."
He cracked his neck, stretching lazily.
"Let's get this over with."