86 The forest of death

I've already figured out who the new face of Orochimaru is—a male ninja from Takigakure was the "fortunate" one who decided to give up his life (and skin) to provide a disguise for the snake. If the remaining two from that village fall, it will take a bit longer for the information that Fu is with us to reach them.

As for his demands... heh.

It's interesting to note that while Nemu was fighting, Haku and the rest of the team already entered the Forest of Death. Yuhi was friendlier explaining the rules, but everyone still had to sign the death consent, which seems normal considering that Konoha prefers not to compensate anyone.

I could call and warn them about Orochimaru, but even if the snake tries to put the cursed seal on them, he couldn't with their current abilities.

Although I told them to break the record for the test, it was just because I didn't feel like spending three days staring at monitors until they reached the tower. Sarutobi continues to smoke indoors, and that's disrespectful to everyone present, so I sat near the window; the wind coming in blocks the smell and prevents my pants from smelling like tobacco.

I can see that Karin used her perception to find the nearest team, which is Shino, Kiba, and Hinata's group. Tough luck, both teams have the same scroll, so it's pointless to take them down.

Also, why does this Hinata look different from the one I remember from the series?

I mean, apparently, she's similar, but her gestures and attitude seem less... what would be the right word, timid?

Did her clan start treating her better, make a special friend, or something?

I remember that even Hanabi could beat her in training because she unconsciously held back, which greatly undermined her morale, not to mention her father's attitude toward her.

Strange, I'll have to ask later to see if I missed any important news.

Both teams faced off, and undoubtedly the one who fared the worst from the start was Kiba, who quite boldly commented on how he and Akamaru would enjoy Kimimaro's bones.

I assume it was a joke, because otherwise, it would technically be cannibalism.

Let's say that the Inuzuka and Kaguya clans were not very compatible due to their different ancestral philosophies.

When Tsume, the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan present in the room, saw her son's behavior, she apologized to me even though she was obviously trying to hold back laughter.

Her expression when she saw how little Kiba lasted before being defeated by a bone user was priceless; I'm sure I heard her mutter something about tripling the training or something while gritting her teeth.

At this point, it was I who apologized, and boy, did I really make sure to rub salt in the wound.

It was fun!

Maybe I shouldn't have? After all, she and her dog were the key "donors" for me to develop the SMILES that I am successfully selling to Kumogakure.

Shino made a move against Haku!

Although the members of the Aburame clan have their faces mostly covered, everyone could feel the young ninja's bewilderment when his beloved swarms of insects ended up turned into ice sculptures in the purest style of...

What were the names of Lady Dimitrescu's three daughters in Resident Evil Village? Well, that.

No matter, the point is that sending insects against someone from the Yuki clan is not a good idea. Although I admit that the frozen sculpture has a twisted beauty, maybe it could be a new business for the Aburame clan; there are collectors of all kinds in the world.

Now, when it came to Karin and Hinata, everyone in the monitoring room (including me) was perplexed. Although there is no sound, and the camera images are not 4k, you can see that after exchanging a few words, the two approached and began to talk happily.

It was more like Hinata asking questions while Karin responded enthusiastically.

I was almost tempted to use Mantra to find out about the conversation, but I decided not to meddle too much. Karin will tell me everything if necessary later, and I have always respected the privacy of people from my village.

"What?" I said to everyone who looked at me suspiciously, as if what had happened was some kind of plan that I came up with before the test. "Don't look at me like that; I know as much as you do," I said, pointing to the monitors as I began to eat my third apple.

Homura Mitokado is frowning because he can't figure out where I got the apples from.

Or maybe it's because I didn't offer them any?

Too bad, neither he nor Koharu will have that luck in their lives.

In any case, the conversation the two kunoichis had resulted in them allowing each other to keep their scrolls after confirming that both teams had the same one.

Haku had no problem, but Kimimaro seemed annoyed until Karin said something to him, and after being silent for a few seconds, he nodded.

"Seimeikage, I have to admit that I am very curious," Sarutobi's annoying voice made me shift my gaze from my team to redirect it to the old man, wanting to know what he was aiming for this time. "Your people seem to come from many points and different origins; aren't you worried that this could cause you problems in the long run?"

"No, there won't be any problems," I replied as if it were a fact. "We are so united that we are practically family."

"That's good," the Hokage nodded, although my Mantra betrays that he is not as satisfied as he seems by my answer, but rather annoyed. "I remember you arrived with Tsunade and her apprentice; how did you meet?"

Right, I think Tsunade mentioned something about dismissing a citation from Anbu by Sarutobi. I guess he can only resort to plan B to try to understand our relationship; the only reason he didn't ask until now was probably because Tsunade didn't wear a ring unlike my three women, and that must have ruled out the worst possibility from his point of view.

"Drinking one night," since he doesn't seem to be looking for anything too important, it's okay to answer him while I look away and look back at my team. "I was making some music under the stars, and she was drawn to the melody, so we ended up sharing some drinks. Although her tolerance for alcohol should improve."

And it was true, the cider I made was graded for the body I have from One Piece, where alcohol resistance is simply monstrous for iconic characters. When Tsunade took a sip of it the first time we met, she was so surprised that she coughed despite being a great drinker.

Now she was more accustomed, but she still lost every drinking contest she challenged me to using this special cider.

It was funny to see everyone's eyes widen when they heard that Tsunade doesn't handle alcohol as well as I do, turning my head back to look at me as if I were a beast.

Except Tsume, it seems she was more interested in the drink from how she swallowed saliva. It's interesting; there is little information about Kiba's mother, and knowing that she likes to drink is one more curiosity to add to the discoveries I made when I finished in this world.

That's it! I'll thank the Inuzuka matriarch for her "donation" with some jugs of good alcohol, and my conscience will be clear. I can say that it's an apology for the humiliating beating Kimimaro gave her son.

No need to give anything to the Aburame clan; Shino wasn't even hurt, only a few thousand insects died. No, it would be more appropriate to say that they were immortalized for posterity.

I think Sasori would approve of the sculpture.