Chapter 56: Eyes That Ignore the Darkness

Night fell, making the already cold and gloomy Death Forest seem even more ominous. Under such circumstances, Minato and others had no choice but to light a campfire, because the enemies in the Death Forest were not just humans. In the afternoon, they had encountered several ferocious beasts. 

Fortunately, the three people accompanying Minato and Kushina were quite skilled, so they managed to avoid danger. 

The five of them lit a campfire and sat around it. The clearing Minato chose was not large but enough for five people to rest, and surrounded by trees, so they could hide immediately if anything seemed amiss.

In the Death Forest, apart from the potentially poisonous wild fruits, the only other food available was small animals. Minato set up simple traps and caught a few wild rabbits and chickens. Although not particularly skilled at cooking, he originally intended to take on the role of the team's chef, but unexpectedly, someone else took over the task.

Kushina squatted by the campfire, built a simple wooden rack with tree stumps, and very skillfully skinned and gutted the rabbits and chickens before roasting them.

Until today, Minato had no idea Kushina had such skills. Akasaka and Takenouchi Rin were also surprised to see this side of the usually fierce "Red Hot Habanero."

Kushina did not mention her past because after her country was destroyed and her parents died, she ended up in a small village on the border of the Land of Fire. How could she not have learned some wilderness survival skills?

Although she did not know if the wild fruits were poisonous since they were different from those in her village, her cooking skills were far better than Minato's basic level.

Minato also lost his parents at a young age, but everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Despite his strong talent in ninja arts, capable of defeating two chunin-level ninjas single-handedly in this survival trial, cooking was his weakest area.

"You two make an absolute dream team!" said Miyazaki Satoshi, a student one year senior to the others, as they ate.

Minato was intelligent and powerful, likely able to hold his own against the elite genin in this trial. Kushina seemed scattered but was actually quite thoughtful and had decent wilderness survival experience and combat ability on par with chunin-level ninjas.

Their combination was undoubtedly formidable in this survival trial, though Miyazaki was unaware of their close friend Mikoto, whose full abilities remained unclear but were likely also on par with chunin ninjas.

Kushina's cooking skills were impressive, and despite the lack of seasoning, her dishes received unanimous praise from the four, including Minato – probably the only consolation for these children under ten years old.

After dinner, Minato arranged the night watch order, excluding the two girls. Their situation remained dangerous even at night, so having Miyazaki Satoshi and others join was fortunate.

Minato certainly did not want Kushina to stay up, but having only the two of them take all the night shifts during this three-day survival trial would not be ideal.

As night deepened, occasional sounds arose from the Death Forest. Not all creatures were active during the day; some became more active under the cover of darkness.

At a distance of a few hundred meters from Minato's group, another campfire burned in the forest. Two boys with similar features leaned against a large tree, appearing to have fallen asleep.

"Heheh, the brats are too green. They may have survived the day, but they can't resist sleepiness at night," a cold, sly voice whispered from the darkness as several shadowy figures approached the two boys.

Just as the figures closed in, one of the boys suddenly stood up and, with extremely fast taijutsu, kicked the campfire apart, scattering the burning logs emitting black light, instantly darkening the environment.

The darkness obscured their vision, and the shadowy figures momentarily lost their targets. However, two agile figures moved swiftly in the darkness, unaffected.

"I think you're the greener one," a voice rang out in the blackness. One of the chunin immediately became alert but felt a slight pain in his back. However, at that moment, the chakra flow within his body stagnated, no longer under his control.

His opponent could actually disrupt his chakra flow!

"Bump!" Acute pain followed in his chest, and his chakra imprint dissipated.

His defeat was nearly instantaneous, all because it was too dark, and the thick foliage of the Death Forest blocked what little starlight there was.

Yet his opponent seemed completely unhindered by the darkness. In the blackness, he could only vaguely make out a pair of white eyes without pupils!

"The Byakugan?!" he realized.

They had simply targeted what they thought were capable academy students but failed to notice their eyes, especially the white ones.

The Byakugan could see directly through the body and track the chakra flow, rendering the darkness meaningless. Or rather, the darkness allowed the Byakugan's power to be fully unleashed.

The earlier technique that sealed his chakra flow must have been the Hyuga clan's unique Gentle Fist art.

"Everyone, run! The enemy has the Byakugan!" the downed chunin shouted.

In such darkness, they could not utilize even thirty percent of their combat ability against opponents with the Byakugan's visual prowess.

"You noticed too late!" came another voice from the darkness, followed by an agonizing scream as the second boy, also possessing the Byakugan, took down another enemy while they were defenseless.

The remaining enemies, now alerted by their fallen comrades, wasted no time retreating. However, the white pupils in the darkness tracked their movements, followed by a mocking voice.

"Think you can run now? Dream on!"

I tried to make the storyline as plausible as possible, which often causes delays in my writing. This chapter alone took me nearly four hours.

(End of chapter)