After entering the Forest of Death, Aoba remained tense the entire time.
Seeing how worried he looked, his teammate Koki asked, “What’s wrong?” “Nothing.
There are just too many monsters among this year’s candidates.
I’m a little worried, that’s all.” That wasn’t actually what he was worried about.
What concerned him was that Orochimaru might come looking for trouble in the Forest of Death.
After losing one of his capable subordinates, given Orochimaru’s personality, he probably wouldn’t let the matter go so easily.
Orochimaru was someone who judged others based on their value.
He didn’t care if worthless trash died in droves.
But when it came to something valuable, his ability to see through people’s hearts was extraordinarily sharp, making almost all of his subordinates utterly devoted to him.
Kidomaru couldn’t exactly be called a genius, so there was probably only about a fifty-percent chance that Orochimaru would come after Aoba to settle the score.
Koki believed his explanation and began worrying about how they would pass the exam.
“We currently have the Heaven Scroll.
We need to get an Earth Scroll and then enter the central tower.” “We have five days for the second round.
We’ve got plenty of opportunities, so we can take our time.” Otsuki was brimming with confidence.
Aoba wasn’t worried about the exam at all.
The only thing he cared about was Snake-sensei.
He was seriously considering whether, if he had the bad luck to encounter Orochimaru, he should reveal the Flying Thunder God Technique.
With his current strength, facing a Kage-level powerhouse without going all out would probably mean he wouldn’t survive for more than three seconds.
Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose in the distance, causing the birds nearby to scatter in all directions.
“What happened over there?” Otsuki asked curiously, peering into the distance.
Koki was equally curious.
“Let’s go take a look.” Without another word, the two leaped through the forest.
Aoba had no choice but to follow.
Having teammates who recklessly chase after anything interesting without caring about the danger is exhausting.
Fortunately, they had always been genin, and most of the missions they’d carried out weren’t particularly dangerous.
Otherwise, the grass on their graves would probably already be two meters tall.
The group soon reached the destination.
There, they saw the three Suna shinobi, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.
Their opponents were the three Ame shinobi who had previously gotten into an unpleasant confrontation with Aoba.
“Those three are about to die.” Knowing the plot, Aoba had already determined the fate of the three Ame shinobi.
At this point in time, Gaara’s strength as a genin was completely absurd.
Having someone with at least jonin-level combat ability participate in the Chunin Exams was enough to leave anyone speechless.
“Which three?” Koki looked at Aoba.
“Do you mean the three with the gourd on their backs, or the three carrying umbrellas?” “You’ll know if you keep watching.” Aoba couldn’t be bothered to explain further.
The battle was over almost immediately.
Gaara manipulated the sand and used Sand Coffin.
In a matter of moments, he killed the scar-faced Ame shinobi first, then instantly killed the other two.
Blood splattered across the entire forest.
Seeing such a terrifying scene, Koki and Otsuki were frightened.
They muttered to themselves.
“Is this really the Chunin Exams?” “If we run into that guy, won’t we get killed?!” The two brothers, who had been blindly confident until now, finally learned what fear felt like.
Gaara’s methods of killing people were particularly brutal, easily leaving a terrible impression on anyone who witnessed them.
Naturally, Gaara noticed that there were people nearby.
He turned his head and glanced toward a certain spot.
The people hiding there were immediately scared out of their wits.
It wasn’t just Aoba’s team.
Other teams were nearby as well.
After being discovered by Gaara, the three members of Hinata’s team trembled in fear, their faces turning pale.
Just then, Aoba came over to the girl.
“Don’t be afraid.
I’m here.” He gently embraced Hinata and lightly patted her back, soothing her nervousness.
“Aoba-niisan!” Hinata whispered.
She had been extremely tense at first.
But the moment she saw who had come, all that remained in her heart was surprise and reassurance.
At that moment, the boy’s embrace was so warm that she forgot about all the danger around her.
Feeling the girl in his arms stop trembling, Aoba released her.
He realized that she really was tiny.
She probably doesn’t eat enough normally.
Aoba knew Hinata was actually a huge eater who could polish off dozens of bowls of ramen in one meal.
The Hyuga clan was one of Konoha’s major clans.
There was no way they were short on money for food.
He guessed that Hinata probably felt too embarrassed to eat too much in front of others, which was why she was so tiny.
Everyone focused their attention on the three Suna shinobi, remaining alert in case they suddenly launched an attack.
Gaara was addicted to killing and was still thinking about making another move, but Temari and Kankuro persuaded him to stop.
After the three moved farther away, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Aoba himself wasn’t afraid.
Gaara might be powerful, but he still couldn’t outrun the Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, Aoba didn’t want to expose his space-time ninjutsu yet.
It was better not to get too reckless.
“Um…
Aoba-niisan, this is for you!” Caught completely off guard, Aoba found himself presented with a sheet of paper held in both of Hinata’s hands.
The girl’s face was bright red, and she didn’t dare look him in the eye.
“This is…?” Aoba hadn’t expected this.
Hinata gathered her courage and looked at him.
“You said earlier that you’re really short on money.
I don’t have much with me either.
I only have 300,000 ryo.
If you don’t mind, please take it.” Aoba accepted the three 100,000 ryo banknotes from the girl’s hands.
The sheer extravagance of the gesture suddenly made him understand.
As expected of the heiress of the Hyuga clan’s main family.
She really is a little rich girl!
After thinking about it, he solemnly said, “I really do need the money right now.
Consider this a loan.
I’ll pay you back very soon.” Hinata had offered him the money herself, which represented the girl’s feelings for him.
There was no way he could simply refuse it.
With this money, he could do three 10 pulls.
That made him feel considerably more at ease.
But he couldn’t just accept something someone else had given him for free.
“All right, Aoba-niisan.” Hinata happily nodded.
Aoba-niisan had accepted her help, and that made her incredibly happy.
Next, Aoba pretended to put the money into his pocket.
In reality, he charged it directly into the system.
The gacha panel appeared before his eyes.
It was time to start pulling.
First round.
Buy ten bags of Soldier Pills and pull!
The balance on the panel decreased by 100,000 ryo, and the wheel began to spin.
[Obtained: Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Escape Technique, Explosive Tags ×2, Shuriken ×2, Soldier Pills ×2, Medical Kit ×1] [Congratulations, host!
Your luck has exploded!] [You obtained Earth Style: Rock Shelter Demolition (B-Rank)] The first 10 pull was merely average.
The guaranteed B-Rank ninjutsu had once been used by the Iwa shinobi against Kakashi’s three-man team during the Third Shinobi World War.
This technique could cause a cave to collapse, and its destructive power was quite impressive.
Of course, B-Rank ninjutsu basically belonged to the jonin-level category.
Generally speaking, their power wasn’t going to be bad.
However, Aoba was somewhat unimpressed.
Rock Shelter Demolition was extremely situational.
It could only be used effectively in specific environments, and he didn’t particularly need it.
With a thought, he ruthlessly dismantled it.
Skill Points +100.
Keep buying ten bags of Soldier Pills.
Aoba remained perfectly calm.
It doesn’t matter that the first 10 pull didn’t give me anything useful.
Keep going!
As the wheel spun, another set of results appeared.
[Obtained: Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Technique, Concealment Technique, Smoke Bomb ×1, Standard Kunai ×1, Soldier Pills ×4, Medical Kit ×1] [Congratulations, host!
Your luck has exploded!] [You obtained Earth Style: Earth Spear (B-Rank)] Just hearing the name Earth Spear might not mean much to many people.
But if you mentioned its origin, its value became immediately obvious.
It was Kakuzu’s most powerful signature defensive ninjutsu from the Akatsuki.
That alone proved just how extraordinary this technique was.