108 Forest of Death (3)

The surging chakra beneath his skin calmed, and Shinji released his grip on the crushed fingers, letting the enemy flop to the ground unmoving.

Around him were three motionless bodies of the Suna team that had been lively and determined mere seconds before. He had struck them with the force and speed of a low-jounin shinobi, like he was a high-ranked ninja playing around and bullying genin in a chuunin exam.

The vegetation around them was barely disturbed, indicating little evidence of there being a struggle. Well, because there wasn't a struggle really. The word struggle implied resistance. That the other party had fought back.

There was no resistance. There had been no fight. Because to Shinji, these Suna genin were not prey that he had hunted with some effort. No, they were less than that. They were little better than the grass he stepped on walking through the forest. And grass did not resist.

Shinji calmly waited for his teammates to catch up, while he examined the Suna genin.

Weak. Slow.

He doubted that they were the cream of the crop from Suna. The genin that actually showed promise must have been held back in their village, preparing for the invasion. Only Gaara and his siblings were meant to advance to the final stage of the Chuunin Exam. The rest sent with them only served the purpose of camouflaging Suna's true intent.

Their average levels were around 30, only 14 levels lower than his. But their stats were horrendous. But he could hardly compare his own stats to theirs, especially after donning Gai's Bodysuit that gave a percentage increase in stats. His stats no longer reflected what someone at his level should possess, especially after he included boosts from passive and active skills.

[Status Page]

Name: Shinji Ikari

Age: 13

Level: 44

Next Level: 16350/49500

HP: 16764/16764

CP: 16764/16764

STR: 155 (+13)

VIT: 203 (+7)

DEX: 212 (+35)

INT: 210

CHA: 35 (+41)

Points – 20

Ryo – 1,433,935

Hinata and Shino arrived a few short moments after, landing next to Shinji from the treetops they had been traversing through. Hinata wordlessly went to search one of the Suna genin with purpose, quickly fishing out an Earth Scroll – their second one.

"Here." Hinata handed the scroll over to Shinji, who nodded and took it from her. He pretended to hide it somewhere his clothes but stealthily snuck them into his inventory, the safest and most secure hiding place he knew of.

"We should move. The scream will attract others." Shino stated, though he was more focused on scanning the writhing, broken bodies of their 'competitors'.

'What brutal power… It seems that Shinji has not shown his true strength to us in a long time. Unfortunate. I had so many ideas for ambushing enemies in this forest… but with Shinji with us, something like that won't be needed.'

The Aburame raised a finger, where a Kikaichu then proceeded to land on. 'The scroll disappeared? Did Shinji notice the Kikaichu I planted on the scroll just in case he lost it? How strange…'

"My shadow clone is already going after the Konoha team from the other side. So there's no point doubling back. If we keep heading this way we could intercept another Konoha team that started out over there, but there's a chance we might miss them and waste our time." Shinji gestured with his hand while trying to remember which team started where according to his memory.

He didn't know where the starting gates were for every team, since they had been led away separately by different chuunin proctors. But he could remember the teams that had started near them since they had been brought along together.

"I say we head to the tower, travelling in an S-shaped pattern while you and Hinata scout ahead with your respective clan techniques. We will move at the same pace as before, not too fast but not too slow. Agreed?"

"Agreed, Shinji-kun!"

Shino only gave a silent nod in affirmation.

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Elsewhere in the forest…

"Oh, they have a Heaven Scroll! Score!"

Shinji's shadow clone removed the Heaven Scroll from the hidden compartment in the rucksack. Around the clone was a sight frighteningly similar to the original Shinji. Three Konoha genin lay motionlessly on the grass, rendered unconscious by the clone's swift but crushing martial strength.

Before Shinji had struck down the last Konoha genin, the poor guy had helplessly asked, "Why? You're from Konoha too!"

"Let me tell you a secret, I can actually see the future." The clone had mirthfully replied, "And your team wasn't going to pass the exam anyway." Before knocking him unconscious with a snap kick to the jaw.

The difference between these three and the Suna team the original had taken down was that their injuries were way lighter. With the foreign genin, Shinji had aimed to cripple, landing either career ending injuries or ones that would take months to recover from. But for the Konoha genin, he had actually shown considerable compassion, only knocking them out rather than eliminating them from the second stage entirely.

Because three shadow clones had been created, with each possessing only a quarter of Shinji's max CP, they were forced to conserve their chakra usage. Which wasn't difficult when dealing with the average genin team. And they still had a sizable chakra capacity, but they could not flagrantly spend their chakra like they were spending money as a once extravagant billionaire.

As such, the shadow clone took down the Konoha genin squad with just taijutsu, [Chakra Enhancement] and a few well-placed [Power Strikes].

Slotting the Heaven Scroll into the inner pocket of his Rogue's Hoodie, the clone started running in an aimless direction again, hoping to encounter another team.

He opened up his senses, trying to rely on sight and sound to find his next target. Without his tracker teammates with him, the clone would have a much harder time pinpointing the exact location of enemies, relying solely on luck.

His objective was simple. Take out enemy teams and gather as many scrolls as possible within twenty hours. After that, sprint straight to the tower located at the centre of the forest, rendezvous with the original and his team, and let the EXP roll in from turning in multiple pairs of scrolls.

The clone's footsteps were silent, making not even a single sound as he traversed over the treetops. The silence was thanks to the Rogue set items he had equipped before going into the second stage. The three-set item effect consisting of the Rogue's Hoodie, Rogue's Sandals and Rogue's Pants granted him soundless footsteps. So he couldn't make any noise while walking or running even if he tried.

Such a scene happened in two other locations in a forest within a few minutes of each other. One was another Konoha team, while the other was from Takigakure. Neither put up much of a fight as the shadow clones rapidly dispatched them with ease. Low-jounin level strength, even as a shadow clone, was near invincible amongst genin.

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Elsewhere in the forest…

"AAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!" A ghastly scream echoed throughout the unusually silent forest, causing Team Seven to turn their heads towards the source.

Naruto paled slightly, "That was… a scream right? It hasn't even been ten minutes yet…"

"People are acting quickly. We should start moving too before all the scrolls are all gone." Sasuke narrowed his eyes in the direction of the scream.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed and he snapped his finger to get back their attention. Seeing them turn back, he continued, "Don't be hasty. There's no need to rush and get ourselves caught in a trap."

Sasuke shook his head disagreeing, "Taking our time will only lessen our options. Five days is not a lot of time. As more teams are eliminated and others start arriving at the tower, there might be a bloody contest at the end for the few remaining scrolls. We are strong, so we will win, but it will be a waste of our time and energy while others are resting in the tower."

"I agree, but that doesn't mean we rush in blindly you moron! It's doing stupid shit like that that always gets us in trouble, like that time in Wave!" Shikamaru shouted back, portraying an uncharacteristic temper.

Sasuke was stunned for a moment before tilting his head forward, his eyes shining with a gleam of understanding. He stepped in grabbing on the collar of Shikamaru's outerwear, "Bastard I told you not to mention Wave ever again!"

Shikamaru returned the courtesy, his fist moving forward grabbing on to the Uchiha's collar as well, "It's because your head doesn't work so I need to remind you don't I!?"

While the two glared at each other, Naruto looked between the two in growing confusion and perplexity, "E-eh? Why are you two fighting? Huh, what's going on? What happened in Wave?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue in frustration and shoved Shikamaru off with his arm before turning to leave, "I'm getting sick of your shit Nara. I'm passing this stage, with or without you."

"Pfft, fine, see if I care! But leave the scroll behind first!" The Nara yelled back glaring.

Sasuke just flipped a middle finger back and left without saying anything else.

Shikamaru watched his back for a few seconds before turning to his remaining teammate, "Let's go Naruto."

The blonde wanted to protest. The whole scene was preposterous to him. What was the point of fighting over seemingly nothing? That he expected from Sasuke, but Shikamaru was always calm and collected, so there was no way he would lose his temper like that unless- oh.

Naruto immediately turned towards the direction Sasuke left towards and cupped his hands around his mouth, "Yeah get lost you idiot Sasuke! We don't need you! You suck anyways, we're better off without you! Go fail by yourself stupid!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Clearly Naruto had never heard of 'overacting'.

Some distance above the trio, now turned duo, a group of Ame shinobi watched with barely disguised glee.

"Those idiots, arguing in the middle of a forest, during the chuunin exam? Hah, should have expected that from brats like them."

"Isn't that why we targeted them in the first place? Easy targets. Practically a free scroll."

"Don't get complacent. It might be a trap. Unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to be careful." The apparent leader amongst them cautioned.

"Oboro, you worry too much… But fine, we just need to take down the one who is alone anyways. He's the one with the scroll. And even if it's a trap, with the three of us together he won't stand a chance."

With that said, the Ame genin moved quietly towards the departing Uchiha, their weapons drawn with malicious intent. They stalked the Konoha genin from above, constantly watching out for signs of a trap or an ambush, but were delighted to find none. Their impression of Sasuke as an inexperienced and immature genin was further reinforced.

A fair distance away from where Sasuke parted from his team, the Ame shinobi glanced at each other and shared a collective nod. It was time to strike.

The raven-haired teen moved through the forest calmly, his hands in his pockets. Rather than walking with a sense of purpose, it felt more like he was waiting for something to happen. His steps were slow, but deliberate, rather than being imbued with the hurry one would expect from a candidate in the Chuunin Exam.

He looked relaxed, but a keen observer would have noticed the tension in his forearms as well as the fact that his fists were clenched tightly in his pockets. Unfortunately for the Ame genin, they were no such keen observer. All they saw looking at the lone Konoha genin was a walking prey carrying a scroll that might send them directly to the third stage of the Chuunin Exam.

Sasuke perked up, the slight shifting of a branch from a heavy weight stepping on and bending its shape the only indication he received before a hail of kunai and shuriken rocketed towards him from above.