Chapter 80:

Kimimaro, Haku and Koyuki all charged into the forest of death, heading deep into the thick and dense jungle.

They could already see that this was no ordinary forest and that it contained many dangers hidden beneath the surface.

The screams of some of the other students could be heard as sounds of battle echoed in the distance. Yet, they did not waiver in their mission to head towards the centre, not allowing anything to distract them from their goal of passing this exam.

Kimimaro led the charge, guiding them through the trees and darting off each branch. Haku and Koyuki followed suit, each doing their best to keep an eye out for any dangers that might come from their flank.

"So far so good," Kimimaro said as he came to halt, giving the signal for the others to also stop.

"No sign of anyone this far in, should we not set an ambush?" Koyuki said.

"Not yet. We should keep moving forwards. Once we reach a certain distance ahead we will be able to take our pick of any others that come our way." Kimimaro said.

Haku nodded, knowing it made sense. After all, if they could get there first, they would have first dibs on any other team that made it, being able to steal their scroll and escape to the finish line in an instant. However, that also meant the enemy could do the same, giving an equal risk to their plan if an ambush didn't work.

Kimimaro took a good look around, feeling that something was off. He didn't have to say anything as Haku caught onto the feeling quickly, also sensing the danger.

"Look out!" Haku suddenly shouted as a storm of kunai flew at them from above.

Thanks to Haku's quick reactions, he was able to get a dome of ice up, shielding them from the attack and stopping all of the kunai in their tracks.

"Guess it's plan B then," Koyuki said as she pulled a kunai from her weapons pouch, spinning it around on her finger not being able to help smiling as she said it.

Kimimaro nodded, knowing this was certainly a possibility. However, it was already something they had planned for. Haku let his ice melt away, giving the three of them a clear view of their surrounding as they tried to locate their attackers.

"Guess they don't want to come out," Koyuki said, keeping a ready stance.

"It's not that they don't, it's that they cant," Haku then said, having located them already.

"What do you mean?" Koyuki said, not understanding.

Suddenly a scream coming from a set of bushes not far from them got her attention. All fell silent not long after and the three of them waited to see what was going to happen.

"It's him," Kimimaro said, watching as the bushes rattled before a dark figure made its way through.

Koyuki looked the person up and down, recognizing who it was as he slide his sword back into its sheath slowly, letting the noise get everyone's attention.

"Hattori Toyotomi..." She said, keeping her guard up trying not to look shocked.

Hattori looked at the three of them with a killer gaze in his eye, wiping a small splash of blood from his cheek before he disappeared.

"Sorry about that." He said, taking them by surprise with a sudden cheery smile.

The bushes behind him rattled again as both of his teammates came into view, each of them with a large grin on their face, and one of them holding a heaven scroll.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." One of the girls said, looking Haku and the others up and down.

"Our luck just got even better." She then said, licking her lips before she pocketed the scroll into her weapons pouch.

"Are we really going to fight with them after we just got the scroll we need to pass?" The other girl then said, not seeming bothered in the slightest, crossing her arms as she yawned.

She had long black hair that was tied up in a bun with two bangs hanging down either side of her face. She also had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck with the metal mist symbol on it, chewing on a strand of it as she looked unimpressed.

"Why wouldn't we? If we take them out now, it saves us a job for later!" The other girl said, clearly having more energy than her teammate.

She had shoulder-length red hair, sharp fangs and a killer attitude to boot, something she wasn't afraid to hide.

"Calm down, Miyako," Hattori said as he looked to the redhead.

"Yuri is right. There is no need to fight them here and now. We already have what we need, and besides. I want to crush them in a more public setting." He then said as he stared into Kimimaro's eyes, inviting challenge.

Haku couldn't help notice that the three of them seemed strong. In fact, he could tell that if they were to fight right here and now, it would certainly be a lengthy battle, with both sides taking serious wounds.

"You think we will just let you get away?" Koyuki said, raising her weapon, not backing down.

"Don't bother Koyuki. Let them go." Kimimaro said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Koyuki turned around and gave Kimimaro a pissed off look, however, Kimimaro did not back down.

"Now is not the time to fight with them." He said, getting her to settle down.

Hattori also smiled at his words, itching to do battle with them himself, yet being able to control his emotions.

"He is right, now is not the time nor the place." He said before he turned his back. Besides, I think you have other things to worry about."

Kimimaro had a puzzled look on his face, not realizing what he meant until it was almost too late.

"Kimimaro look out!" Haku shouted, only having seen the danger at the last second before a rain of explosive tags littered the area.

"See you on the other side!" Hattori shouted just before the kunai exploded, disappearing into the smoke along with his team, leaving Kimimaro and the others to deal with the new threat.

"Where the hell did that come from!" Koyuki shouted as she burst out of the dust, landed on a tree trunk and using her feet to stick to it as she scanned the area.

Haku did the same, but was now a bit of a distance from the others, knowing that whoever had attacked them had succeeded in splitting them up.

"Look out!" Haku shouted as another volley of kunai wrapped with explosive tags flew at them, exploding against whatever they made contact with, further pushing the three of them away from each other.

"Die!" A voice shouted, coming from behind Haku.

Haku turned around, seeing a kunai swipe towards his neck as his attacker finally came out from the shadows to try and finish the job. However, Haku couldn't move fast enough and the kunai stabbed into his neck, cutting deep and getting a smile from the enemy.

"That's one down." The hidden grass ninja said, watching as Haku's body fell to the ground.

"You're right. That is one down." Haku said as he appeared behind the grass ninja, taking him completely off guard.

"A clone!" He shouted, trying to retreat as he had completely let his guard down.

However, it was far too late for that as Haku returned the attack, slitting his throat just like he had tried to do to him. Haku landed a perfect blow, watching as his blood fired out from the gash in his neck, knowing that it would all be over for him in a matter of seconds.

Meanwhile...

Kimimaro's opponent had fancied his chances in a head-on battle, not wasting any time to jump out and attack him, clearly favouring his hand to hand combat ability. Little did he know, he stood no chance against Kimimaro's skills, with his attacks seeming to fall short, never quite going the distance to make contact.

"Why you! Stay still!" The hidden grass shinobi said as he tried to punch him again and again, feeling like a fool as he grew desperate to land a blow.

Kimimaro was growing tired now, dodging another punch and ducking under a spinning heel kick with ease.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to waste on you anymore." He said as he caught his opponents punch in the palm of his hand.

With one swift motion, Kimimaro pulled his arm, taking him a step off balance and closed the gap, thrusting a bone blade through the centre of his chest, landing a clean blow in not even a second.

The grass ninja was wide-eyed with shock as he coughed a large amount of blood out of his mouth, falling to his knees before he took his final breath. Kimimaro looked at him for a moment before turning back to where the others were waiting for him.

"Any problems?" He asked as both Haku and Koyuki walked over towards him.

"Yeah. They have the same scroll that we do, so all of that was for nothing." Koyuki said as she showed them the scroll.

Kimimaro nodded before he looked at Haku.

"No. They were not strong enough to pose a threat." Haku said as he crossed his arms.

"Good. Let us continue with the plan and get to the centre." He then said, turning around and jumping into the air.

Both Koyuki and Haku followed him again with the three of them kicking it up a notch as they jumped into the trees, moving at a much faster pace than before.

Sometime later...

The three of them had made a good amount of time up now, knowing that they didn't have much further to go until they reached the centre of the forest. So far they had only encountered Hattori and his squad, and one squad from the hidden grass.

Although, there was no telling how many of the others had either been killed or eliminated from the exam already. There was also no telling how many squads had already gathered both scrolls. All that remained was for them to now steal a scroll from another squad, something they didn't want to waste any more time with.

"We should split up? Really?" Koyuki said, not knowing whether or not it was a good idea.

Haku had come up with the idea, of having the three of them split up, that way they could cover more ground. Once they found another squad they would contact the others and wait for backup.

"I agree." kimimaro said.

Koyuki frowned but guessed it wasn't such a bad idea and would help them save time. So far only one hour had passed, and even though they had plenty of time, the three of them wanted to do Kaga and Fuyōna proud by finishing as fast as they could.

"Alright. Let's move out!" Haku said, giving the order before each of them darted off in a different direction.

Haku headed north, Koyuki headed west and Kimimaro headed east, heading towards the centre of the forest where the finish line was. The plan was a simple one, and one that Kimimaro hoped would not turn into a dangerous task.

Haku jumped and darted around, moving swiftly through the trees and he did his best to stick to the shadows and remain unseen. He knew they had agreed on reporting back to each other on their findings, but he was also sure that if he could take out a squad alone, he would do just that.

As luck would have it he didn't have to travel far before he came across a squad of hidden leaf ninja. The squad was comprised of two boys and one girl, all of who were sat around a small camp fire by a stone bed that sat next to a large stream of water.

Haku slowly got closer as he kept his presence concealed within the bushes and trees, not giving away his position as he waited and watched, trying to gather more information before he acted.

"How can they be so stupid. Not one of them is keeping watch for an enemy attack, they have an open fire and are sitting and joking as if they have no worries in the world..." Haku thought as he watched, knowing that the three leaf ninja before him was a joke.

"If I strike quickly using the water to my advantage, I could easily take them off guard and disable all three of them in an instant," Haku said to himself, drawing a handful of senbon needles as he went over the plan in his head.

"Now..." He said as he was about to move.

However, something beat him to it and he quickly commanded his muscles to freeze, keeping his position and not getting in the seen.

"Water style, crashing wave!" A voice shouted, taking the three leaf ninja off guard, causing them to panic as the water from the large stream suddenly formed a wave that crashed down into them, smashing them off the rocks and into the bank.

Haku watched as none other than Kujira walked out of the tree line, his hands on his hips as he gave the three leaf ninja a serious glare.

Chika also slowly appeared from the water, having used her Hozuki clan abilities to become one with it before she took solid form again, walking onto the stone bank.

"My, that was way too easy." She said, brushing her hair from her face.

The leaf ninja had gotten up now and had taken a fighting position, drawing their weapons as they tried to ready themselves.

"Give us your scroll, or you can die," Kujira said.

"I'll only say it once." He then added, giving them a moment to think about it.

"No way!" The leader of the leaf ninja said, pointing his sword at Kujira before he spoke again.

"Us hidden leaf won't back down to you bloody mist scum!" He then shouted.

Haku could see the look on Kujira's face.

"He's going to wish he hadn't said that." He thought, knowing how much it still pissed some mist ninja off to be called that.

"Then die!" Kujira said as he charged in towards the three of them, letting his anger get the better of him.

Chika sighed as she watched from the distance.

"He always just charges in like he is invincible or something." She said as she crossed her arms.

Rokuro dropped down, landing next to her, knowing there was no longer any point in remaining hidden now that Kujira had charged in.

"You know how he gets Chika." He said with a small chuckle.

"I just feel sorry for those three now." He then added, watching as the fight played out.

Kujira had charged head in towards the three leaf ninja, not even drawing a weapon as he raised his fist into the air getting ready to strike.

"I don't think so!" The leaf ninja said, ducking under Kujira's punch and slashing through and across Kujira's large body.

"I got him!" He shouted, giving the signal for the others to attack also.

"Take this!" The other boy shouted as he jumped in and kicked Kujira in the ribs, trying to break them with a powerful roundhouse.

The girl also attacked using her kunai as she jumped into the air, landing behind him before he stabbed it into his back. The three of them quickly jumped backwards to gain so space, waiting to see how their attacks had faired against their opponent.

"Did we get him?" the girl asked, not knowing what was happening.

The others were also on the same page as they were not sure either, seen as Kujira was just standing there and not moving.

"Is that all you've got?" Kujira whispered.

"Is that really all you have!" He then shouted as he raised his head into the sky laughing.

"I'll kill you all without breaking a sweat!" He suddenly shouted as his blue eyes became red and like a wild beast, he charged in for the kill.

Kujira suddenly moved like a tank with a jet engine, grabbing the face of one of the boys before he slammed his head into the ground taking him out in one shot.

"No way! How is he so fast!" The other boy said, jumping back as he started to make hand signs.

"Fire style, fireball jutsu!" He shouted as he landed, skidding across the wet stone and unleashing his fire style attack.

Kujira let go of his first victim and turned to look at the fireball that was heading right for him, simply smiling as it got closer towards him.

The fire style hit, exploding on contact and creating a large black smoke cloud, blocking everyone's vision.

"I got him!" The leaf genin shouted as he let his guard down.

Haku was still watching from the shadows, seeing how the fire style had made direct contact and wondering how Kujira had dealt with it.

He got his answer as Kujira suddenly burst from the smoke and slammed his fist into the boy's face. The power behind his attack was so strong that it broke his neck with a single strike, sending his limp body flying into a tree where it crashed through before bouncing into the forest like a ragdoll.

Kujira had a sinister smile on his face as he turned around to look at the last member of the squad he had just killed.

"You're next." He said as he let his razor-sharp fangs show through his smile, putting such terror into the girl that she dropped to the ground, falling on her knees.

"N-no pleasse... Her-here! You want the scroll right! Take it!" She said as she pulled out her teams scroll, presenting it to Kujira, praying that he would take it in exchange for her life.

Kujira now stood over her, his red eyes slowly turning blue again as his killer aura faded away.

"Was that so hard?" He said slowly as he took the scroll from her hands.

The girl was trembling, not even wanting to look him in the eyes as he took the scroll from her. But Haku could tell that, that was simply a front.

"Did you really think I would just give you the scroll?" She suddenly said as her face turned to that of a twisted look for vengeance.

"You will die for what you have done!!!" She shouted as the scroll in Kujira's hand suddenly ignited, revealing that it was a fake scroll filled with explosive tags.

"Kujira look out!" Chika shouted as she started to form hand signs to make a water wall to protect herself and Rokuro from the explosion.

However, Kujira didn't seem too bothered at the fact the scroll was about to explode, with the blast most likely killing him and the leaf genin at the same time.

"You shouldn't have done that," Kujira said as his eyes turned red once more before he placed the scroll inside his mouth and swallowed it whole, getting a shocked look from the leaf genin.

The scroll exploded from inside Kujira's stomach. But instead of his body being ripped to pieces, his stomach and belly simply, grew very large, along with his checks before a large amount of black smoke burst out of his mouth and nose as he could no longer contain it.

Slowly Kujira's body shrank back down to its normal size as he placed his hands on his stomach, letting out a large burp of fire unleash from his mouth before he closed his it and pulled a funny looking face.

"That tastes awful." He then said, spitting onto the ground.

Haku couldn't believe what he had just done, deciding to keep watching as he hoped to find out more about Kujira's abilities.

The leaf genin was shocked as she had watched her final plan be broken into nothing. Kujira turned his attention back to her one last time, putting a serious face back on.

"But how... How did you survive that..." She asked, having given up all hope.

"That's my little secret. Now hand over the scroll." He said as he picked her up by the scruff of her clothing.

The girl was already defeated and handed over the real scroll this time, having excepted her fate. Kujira took the scroll and threw her to the ground, not bothering with her anymore.

"Thanks... He said taking one last look at her.

"If you hurry, you might be able to save your friend there." He then said, looking to the once he had slammed into the ground.

He then turned his back on her and walked over to his teammates.

"Let's get out of here, the work is done." He then said, getting a nod from both of them.

Haku watched as the three of them jumped into the trees, leaving the scene and the leaf squad behind. Haku was pretty impressed after what he had seen and known that Kujira would not be an easy opponent to defeat.

"I guess I had better get back to the meeting point, hopefully, the others had more luck than I did." Haku then said, slowly disappearing into the shadows and leaving.

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Alright, that's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, A nice long one for you all.

As always thanks for supporting the story and I hope you have a great day!

You know where to go for more!