CH_8.36 (301)

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A dirty wild boar trudged out of the woods, looking around the flat meadow for any predators. When it decided the field was clear, the boar found a good patch of grass and put its snout down to get food in his belly. While scarfing down the grass, it felt the presence of something in the surroundings and snapped up its head,preparing to bolt into the woods at the first sign of trouble.

The meadow, however, was empty and thus safe. The boar was cautious but returned to eating only to hear the crunch of grass. That was all it could process, as by the time it registered the human rising from the ground, a precise strike to the head ended its life in an instant.

"Funds secured," Takuma said to himself.

It was the middle of the second day, and he had yet to reach the first checkpoint. He lifted the dead boar and settled it over his shoulder, and while it would be more than difficult for an average person to lug around, it wasn't much for a shinobi like him. He wasn't planning to butcher the boar to get the meat because he could not preserve it for his five-day journey.

This was why he had planned a detour and routed his course through a nearby unrelated village before reaching the first checkpoint town. He would sell the boar in that village, giving him enough to eat and board comfortably in the checkpoint towns. It added to his time, and made it so that he would cut it close before reaching the first checkpoint town, but yielded greater benefits in the end.

He could have hunted near the first checkpoint town and sold the catch there, but he didn't want to give the other candidates any ideas. He didn't want to gather attention to him and make himself a target in the future, so it was better to stay under the radar as long as possible.

In half an hour, Takuma found himself in a village with a population size of around a couple hundred people. It was a place where everyone knew everyone, so the moment he stepped into the settlement, people stared—though it might have just been the strange tactical gear.

As they whispered, Takuma approached an old man sitting at a roadside tea shop.

"Good day. May I know where I can find a butcher?" Takuma shrugged his shoulders, bearing the boar. "I want to sell my hunt."

"You can go down the road from here and take the second turn to your right," said the old man before asking: "Are you a shinobi, boy?"

Takuma nodded before a thought came to mind. "Did someone dressed like me pass through here today?" he asked.

"Not that I know of."

The question didn't raise any suspicions of his; it was close enough to the Hidden Leaf that the town might see a shinobi every month, so it was a good sign that he was the only one taking the route.

He thanked the old man before making his way to the village butcher, who immediately purchased the wild boar from him. They were in the boonies, so the food prices were much lower, and even then, Takuma gave the butcher a good deal because he wasn't trying to make a profit.

When he left the shop, many villagers gathered to look at him as though he were the entertainer of the week, which he supposed he was, given his getup.

And seeing that he had an audience, he asked, "Where can I buy some clothes?"

———

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Igabi Kyusu sat in a pub at the first checkpoint town. It was attached to the town's biggest and only inn. By his estimates, he had been one of the first people to arrive at the town but had remained there as others moved on.

He had no interest in completing the journey first or even being in front of the pack. The sole passing criterion was to complete the journey in the allocated time, which was his goal, but he wanted to be in the middle of the pack just to be safe.

Kyusu had stayed to get a measure of his competition—to see who was thirsty or worried enough to get first and those who had decided just to complete the task. Seventeen candidates had left the Hidden Leaf village, and he had spotted twelve of them during his time in the town. The rest of them had either reached and left the town before his arrival, or hadn't arrived yet—which seemed less likely because more than enough time had passed to reach the first checkpoint lazily.

Currently, four candidates, including him, had booked rooms in the inn, and two more were boarded elsewhere. It was only the second day, so many candidates had chosen to move on from the town right after getting their stamps.

Kyusu glanced at a woman sitting alone in the corner. She was the ANBU staff member responsible for stamping the candidates' papers. The included notes didn't give them any clue about her location, but it was quite easy to find her.

What had given her away to him was that, despite being in a pub, not one man had tried to hit on her when she was sitting alone. If that wasn't enough of a giveaway, the barman always glanced at her from time to time to see if she was still there.

A figure walked through the pub's front door. He was wearing the gear ANBU had given the candidates. Kyusu, dressed in civilian clothes, leaned into his chair and brought his drink to his lips as he observed the late newcomer. The candidate only had his black balaclava on, but Kyusu had memorised other candidates' body shapes and general appearance to know that the figure was Number #13.

The split between those who continued to cover their faces and those who ditched their masks was half-and-half. Kyusu had kept his face hidden and even found a pair of unassuming civilian clothes to spy on people without gaining attention.

A masked man attracted attention, causing people in the pub to stare. The exam candidates had become the talk of the town as more than a dozen masked people had passed through their little town, and some were even renting a room at the inn for the night.

Number #13 swept his eyes throughout the pub a couple of times until he spotted the ANBU staff. He approached her and very publicly, without speaking a word to confirm, put his stamp paper on the table before her, confident that she was from ANBU. The woman smiled as she pressed the stamp against his paper.

Kyusu guessed Number #13 would stay in town for the night and leave at dawn like the other candidates. Technically, it was dangerous for the candidates to live in the same building, as it increased the risk of having their stamp papers destroyed, but there was an unspoken understanding between those hanging back that they didn't need to be at each other's throats.

Of course, that didn't mean that they could be completely at ease like fools. Unspoken understanding meant nothing if someone got greedy and decided to strike in the slumber hours—which was why Kyusu had decided to keep tabs on all candidates in the town.

Number #13 sat down at the bar between two civilians, one of whom shifted away to put a little more distance between them. The pub was too loud for Kyusu to hear the conversation between the barman and Number #13, but he could guess that they were talking about a room for the night.

From what Kyusu knew, there were a couple of rooms free, but it was up to Number #13 if he wanted to live in the same building as other candidates or find someplace else—which would've been easier if he had entered the town earlier in the day—small towns like this shutdown much earlier than big cities.

It seemed that Number #13 had decided to look for another place, so Kyusu got up to find where he was boarding for the night. As he headed to the door, he looked back at the bar just in case and saw the ANBU staff faintly smiling at him. He gave her no response and exited the pub a second after Number #13, only to find no sign of him on the street. Even shinobi's favourite, the rooftops, were empty.

Where did he go? Kyusu wondered before he stepped into a shallow puddle of water with mud underneath that caked his feet.

"Ah, shit," he groaned.

He considered going around to see if he could spot Number #13 but decided against it. Instead, Kyusu just made a note of him in his mind. Someone not trying to be first didn't mean they weren't serious—everyone was gunning for the same job, and sooner or later, they would have to step into the competition regardless of how they preferred things.

———

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At the bar, Takuma, dressed in second-hand casual clothes he had picked up earlier in the day, glanced at the man who had just left the pub and was now standing in front of the building. He seemed to be a candidate stalking the pub to look for other candidates. It was evident that he would have eyes on him when he reached the first checkpoint town, so he changed into civilian clothes, hid his backpack and most of his weapon—which made him feel utterly uncomfortable—and then entered the pub to scout the busiest part of the town to see if the ANBU staff member was inside.

If he didn't leave the pub in fifteen minutes, it was a signal for the Water Clone he had created beforehand to enter with the ANBU candidate gear appearance. He found the staff member almost instantly. She was sitting alone at a table meant for four; even though she was dressed casually, she was a little bit too put together, with a demeanour slightly different from the rest of the townsfolk.

Takuma reckoned those were subtle hints for candidates with a keen eye. He watched his water clone complete the stamp and sat down beside him at the bar, where they exchanged possession of the stamp paper.

The moment the Water Clone entered the pub, while everyone was looking at him, Takuma was looking at them. A masked weirdo made a lot of heads turn, but only a few people then turned to look at the ANBU staff member—some of those who turned looked at her because other candidates wearing gear must've approached her, but there would also be a couple who were candidates.

He immediately spotted a candidate because of their straight posture despite having three sake bottles on the table. But his suspicions were confirmed when he followed the clone outside. Knowing a candidate's face wasn't valuable information yet, but that could change in the future—so, Takuma memorised his face in case he needed to spot it in a crowd.

He waited for another fifteen minutes before leaving the pub to sleep in another place he got for half the price of the inn.

———

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As the sun rose to its apex on the third day, the candidates who had been travelling without taking breaks at night started to arrive at the final location: a hunting outpost on the edge of a large cover of woods.

The first one to arrive was Number #6, Karo Jinzatan, who had pulled an overnighter between the first and second day, having only got four hours of sleep the night before. The moment he saw the ANBU mark spray-painted on the side of the cabin, all energy left him as he knew he had reached his destination.

It was by fast the farthest he had travelled in the last three days—and he had completed an emergency delivery mission with lives at stake if he was late.

He was utterly exhausted.

The area was absolutely beautiful, with a lush, deep forest on one side and mountains in the distance on the other side. He could even hear a bubbling stream nearby. Jinzatan wasn't a man who enjoyed the wilderness, but he thought he wouldn't mind staying a couple of days at the cabin.

With over two days to enjoy himself while all the candidates caught up, it seemed like the thing to do. The cabin door opened, and an unfamiliar ANBU-nin with a leopard's mask stepped out. She was dressed in standard ANBU gear but didn't have any weapons on her. It looked like she had been relaxing until he arrived.

"Ah, we have our first arrival. Congratulations, you're the fastest. What number are you?"

"Six, ma'am," Jinzatan replied.

"Call me, Leopard. Okay, Six, give me your stamp; let's see if you did it properly because you came here mighty fast," said Leapord.

Jinzatan proudly presented his stamp, which was a picture of Hokage Mountain with the Hidden Leaf village in the foreground. Each stamp was a single-colour layer, which, when laid one atop the other, completed the picture.

"There's one layer missing," said Leopard.

"Impossible. I went through all four checkpoints and got the stamps," Jinzatan immediately protested.

"I know, I know, no need to get anxious and combative. The missing stamp is from the final location," Lowe chuckled.

Jinzatan cleared his throat to hide how embarrassed he felt. He had nearly become angry in front of an ANBU-nin during the assessment.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the final stamp with me. It's on the other side of this forest back with my colleague... If you sprint straight through, it'll only take you ten minutes to reach the other side. Run along and get your stamps complete," Leopard said with a light tone, but there was something openly hidden behind it.

A weight settled in Jinzatan's chest as he looked at the forest, which got darker the deeper he stared into it. He wasn't an idiot and knew that the run through the forest wouldn't be a victory road stroll. If he had to guess, there was something waiting for him inside which would stop him from crossing through.

"Sure, I will get to that," said Jinzatan. "It's beautiful here, isn't it? I hear a stream nearby. I'm really sweaty and smelly. I should go there and take a dip."

"Sure, that's a good idea, but do it after you get the stamp completed. Go... right now," said Leopard with a firmness in her voice.

Jinzatan put on a tight smile before walking into the woods. He looked back and saw Leopard staring at him, and she continued to do so until he disappeared.

———

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It had been three minutes since Jinzatan had entered the forest, and he had faced no opposition. Maybe that would've relieved others, but he had been more nervous with each passing second. He could hear the noise of the forest and the voices of the animals—it was simultaneously silent and deafening, putting him on edge.

I should hurry, he told himself and picked up speed

But the moment he put pressure on his foot to push off, a trio of kunai emerged from a thicket and thumped into a tree beside him. Jinzatan instantly started sprinting while throwing zig-zag routes through the trees to make himself a difficult to hit. He located a thick branch and jumped, only to get kicked in the back while he was in mid-air. As he fell, he turned his head only to catch a glimpse of a greenish-brown robe disappearing between the trees. He course-corrected, knocking his ribs against a tree but managed to regain his balance just before he landed on the ground.

His senses were stretched taut as he knew and understood that there was an ambush waiting for him in the forest. He needed to cross it and get out as soon as possible before they got their hands on his stamp paper.

But as Jinzatan's feet touched the ground, two arms burst out from the ground and tried to grab his legs. If not for his quick reaction, he would've been pulled into the ground. He jumped to avoid the hands wanting to drag him down, and when he looked down, there was no one there except for two, arm-shaped holes.

He landed on a thick branch and pressed his back into the trunk before looking around. There were woods in every direction without a sign of it ending in sight.

And even though he couldn't see them, Jinzatan knew they were there.

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