She didn’t dare ask for too much.
She only wanted to live as a person with dignity.
“I promise you.
Everything will get better!” Aoba made the promise solemnly.
His attempt to recruit Karin had gone unexpectedly smoothly.
He hadn’t even demonstrated his own strength, yet the girl hadn’t doubted him in the slightest.
Karin wasn’t naive enough to simply believe whatever other people told her.
She had merely sensed that the young man’s chakra was as refreshing as a warm spring breeze, without the slightest trace of malice.
She trusted her own senses.
“What do I need to do if I follow you?” she asked.
Supporting his chin with one hand, Aoba thought for a moment.
“Mainly intelligence gathering.
The goal is to make money as quickly as possible.
I’ll give you the specifics after the second round of the exam.
Once you’ve left Konoha, I’ll come find you.” With that, he handed Karin a kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God formula.
“There’s a space-time ninjutsu formula on this kunai.
Find somewhere secluded and activate the mark with your chakra.
When you do, I’ll sense your summons and come to you.” “I understand.” Karin nodded and accepted the weighty kunai, curiously turning it over in her hands.
She didn’t understand space-time ninjutsu at all.
Whatever Aoba told her, she figured she could just do as instructed.
“Oh, right.
Take this too.
I think you need it.” Karin stuffed the Earth Scroll in her hands into Aoba’s.
“Thanks.
I actually needed one.” Aoba looked at the girl with some concern.
“But if I take your scroll, how are you going to explain this to your teammates when you go back?” Passing the second round wasn’t difficult for him.
Getting a scroll while recruiting a subordinate was simply an unexpected bonus.
But he didn’t want Karin to get hurt because of a single scroll.
“You said that once I leave Konoha, you’ll help me leave Kusagakure.
There’s no point in continuing to please them anymore.” Karin had no affection whatsoever for Kusagakure.
All she had were countless painful memories.
“And besides…” Her eyes suddenly became sharp.
“They don’t count as my teammates!” “I’m glad you can think that way.” After arranging matters with his new subordinate, Aoba didn’t linger.
He set off to catch up with Koki and Otsuki.
Following the marks the two had left behind, he soon found them.
The state they were in was absolutely miserable.
Their clothes were tattered, barely better than those of beggars on the street.
Their bodies were covered in injuries, and they were both filthy from head to toe.
“What happened to you two?” Aoba asked curiously.
“The enemy wasn’t weak.
The fight got pretty intense.” “But we still came out on top and drove them away!” “Hahaha!” The brothers explained what had happened while making sure to boast about themselves.
“What about the enemy’s scroll?” Aoba asked again.
“Ahem.
We didn’t get it.
But that’s not because we weren’t strong enough.
We just weren’t interested in the scroll.” “Yeah, that’s right.
We’ve still got plenty of time.
There’s no need to rush.” The two put on the air of veteran experts, as though someone else had suffered those injuries instead of them.
“Then how do you explain this?” Aoba pulled a shuriken out of one of them.
Blood immediately sprayed from the wound.
“We just accidentally poked ourselves!
Ah!
That hurts, that hurts!” “Ghh…
We aren’t lying to you!
It really was an accident!” Koki and Otsuki’s mouths were harder than diamonds.
Getting them to admit they had lost a fight seemed more painful than death itself.
Aoba couldn’t be bothered to expose their lies.
He tossed them the medical kits produced by the system.
“There are bandages and hemostatic medicine inside.
Patch yourselves up.” Then he pulled out the Earth Scroll.
With both the Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll in their possession, all they had to do was reach the central tower to pass the round.
“Aoba, as expected of you!” “I knew you had potential from the start.
Sure enough, you didn’t disappoint me.” Koki and Otsuki’s eyes lit up when they saw the scroll.
Their meaningless flattery didn’t matter to Aoba in the slightest.
Right now, he only wanted to reach the central tower as quickly as possible.
Living rough in the Death Forest wasn’t exactly pleasant.
The sun began to set.
The three quickly moved through the forest.
The previously peaceful forest suddenly erupted with movement.
“Careful!
Wind Release!” Aoba issued an urgent warning.
Boom!
A violent gale crushed a large number of trees, sending billowing clouds of dust into the air as it rapidly swept toward the three of them.
The group had been prepared in advance.
Although they couldn’t completely escape the range of the Wind Release, they barely managed to withstand the impact of the technique.
Shielding his face with both arms, Aoba narrowed his eyes.
Through the raging wind, he vaguely spotted a figure in the distance.
A slender beige robe.
An Otogakure forehead protector on his forehead.
A purple belt wrapped around his waist.
And the skin on his face…
seemed to be almost completely peeled away.
The identity of the newcomer was obvious.
“It really is you, Orochimaru!” The enemy had already revealed his identity, so Aoba no longer had any reason to pretend otherwise.
He had expected Orochimaru to come after him sooner or later.
But actually encountering him still made him somewhat nervous.
The enemy standing before him was an actual Kage-level powerhouse!
Aoba didn’t believe he had even the slightest chance of winning.
The difference in their strength was simply too great.
“Oh?” Orochimaru stuck out his long, snake-like tongue and licked his lips, looking somewhat surprised.
“A Konoha genin actually recognizes me?” “Considering you’re one of the Legendary Sannin, is it really that strange that I know you?” Aoba wanted to complain.
That trademark tongue-licking gesture alone is enough for me to recognize you even if you were reduced to ashes.
At the same time, he shouted to his teammates.
“Scatter and run!
We’re no match for him!” Koki and Otsuki might have been stubborn enough to refuse to admit defeat, but they weren’t completely clueless.
Learning that their enemy was the S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru left them utterly stunned.
The situation was obvious.
If they didn’t run, they would die.
Without the slightest hesitation, the three sprinted in three different directions, not daring to waste even a second.
“How interesting.” Orochimaru couldn’t help licking his lips again.
“None of the prey I’ve set my eyes on has ever managed to escape me!” With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique and chased after Aoba.
It didn’t take long before the two encountered each other again.
Orochimaru stood atop a tree, looking down at the young man with an icy gaze.
Then he suddenly understood.
“Your deliberate retreat just now was to buy your teammates a chance to escape?” “How interesting.” Before people knew his name, there had been plenty of people bold enough to challenge him.
But among genin, this was the first time he’d encountered someone who still dared to face him head-on after learning his identity.
Aoba’s nerves were stretched taut.
He was nowhere near as calm as he appeared on the surface.
He knew very well that if he couldn’t remain calm when facing a top-tier powerhouse, he’d only die faster.
Of course, his greatest source of confidence was the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He definitely couldn’t win a direct fight.
But with something that could let him escape at any moment, there was naturally no need to be overly afraid.
At this critical moment of their standoff, Aoba wasn’t idle.
System, give me a 10 pull!
He issued the command mentally.
A translucent image of the gacha interface faintly appeared, and the wheel on it began spinning rapidly.
[Obtained: Explosive Tag ×3, Smoke Bomb ×2, Body Flicker Technique, Soldier Pills ×2] [Congratulations, Host!
Your luck is exceptionally good] [You obtained Evil Sealing Method (A-Rank)] [Congratulations, Host!
Fortune has smiled upon you!] [You obtained the Three-Tomoe Sharingan] CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Hidden_Quill Thank you so much for reading!