Chapter 33: Serpent

The tired sighs of team 11 could be heard in that place full of metal cables.

"What the heck was that?!"

Ino clutched her head as she screamed.

A few minutes had passed since the survival test began. Right now Toru's team had returned to the place they chose as a temporary base.

"For someone to have that kind of jutsu is..."

Hinata was still not processing what had happened, though she tried not to look, her curiosity got the better of her and she turned her gaze to the lifeless bodies which were wrapped in blood stained sand.

(Going to that place was not a good decision, but now I know what kind of skills Gaara has. I could say that he is comparable to Yamato-sensei, since they both possess inexplicable jutsus, or at least I can't understand them...)

Toru took a breath, leaning his back against the tree.

When he saw Gaara murdering in such a ruthless way, Toru grabbed Ino and Hinata by the hand and ran as far away as possible.

It was obvious that if he stayed in that place, and was discovered by Gaara's team, they would be killed in a matter of seconds.

"We must stay hidden, if we come across them, we won't return unharmed" Toru looked at Hinata and Ino as he spoke.

Those words made Ino look at Toru with a confused expression on her face.

Despite what she had seen before, Ino was sure that Toru could defeat a Chunin rank ninja with ease, but to say that they must stay hidden, obviously those words confused her a lot.

Meanwhile, Hinata just looked at the ground while thinking. Her eyes were very useful when doing ground reconnaissance, she could also see the chakra points on people's bodies.

However, her abilities would not be at all effective if she was facing someone like Gaara.

"Yeah... I think that's the best we can do..."

With a defeated expression on her face, Hinata climbed to the top of a tree, and stayed there while using Byakugan to make sure no one would approach the makeshift base.

Meanwhile, Ino had stood watching Toru.

He seemed to be pensive, well, that's a normal thing for someone like Toru.

However, the feeling he was giving off at that moment was calm and peaceful. That's why Ino stared at Toru, it was as if she was mesmerized by the scene.

Toru was standing on the branch of a tree, while the wind made his hair and scarf move to the rhythm of the wind.

The expression on his face was neutral, but this made Ino feel something warm in her chest.

What is it?

Ino asked herself as she looked at Toru, but the moment was interrupted by Hinata, who came down from the tree with a big thump.

"Toru-kun, there's a team nearby, they don't seem to be approaching us, but..."

Hinata approached Toru, and as she looked at him she spoke.

Ino felt strangely disappointed, but it wasn't time to dwell on meaningless things, besides, why would she stare at a dead fish-faced fool who does strange things behind everyone's back?

Just no, that was impossible. Looking into his eyes made Ino's blood run hot from the anger she felt.

"It looks like they're getting close to another team. But for some reason they're too close to our base."

Hinata finished speaking.

By this time, Toru was thinking that choosing this place had not been a good decision. So many teams were close, it was as if they were surrounded.

"Hm... If we stay here it's very likely that a team will attack us, but we could also hide and use the traps I set. In the end, both options end up benefiting us, since what we're looking for is a team that has the scroll we're missing."

"I think so too, but it's also possible to meet a team that is stronger than us."

Hinata was right, there are many teams that surpass the capabilities of team 11.

This could be good and bad, but depending on the situation, Toru was willing to use his ninjutsu in case of an emergency.

Although revealing his true abilities wasn't a good decision either, besides, they might find a weakness and this could be disastrous for the entire team.

(This is difficult, it's as if this test will force us to go out in search of the scroll. Hiding is an option, but it brings more disadvantages than advantages. In the end, everything is against us)

Toru closed his eyes and sighed, at the same time, he let his mind start working on different plans that could be useful in different situations.

"We will use the wires I placed, this will keep us protected from enemies going under the trees. Hinata, you will use your eyes once every thirty minutes, this way you can conserve your chakra, besides, you will be able to see if there are enemies nearby."

"I think I can do that..."

"Good, then, at night, we'll take turns so we can keep watch. That way they won't be able to attack us while we sleep."

"Yes..."

"We will also need resources, we can get them in the morning."

"Yes?"

As Toru spoke without knowing if they were listening to him or not, Hinata felt a little overwhelmed, but also happy.

It was as if the Toru from six years ago had returned.

(Whenever he explained something he put the same expression on his face) Hinata thought as she looked at Toru.

She still managed to remember something from the past, Toru always touched his lips when he explained something. He also had the same look in his eyes, looking at the ground with a poker expression.

(I should say something to him)

Hinata thought that if she interrupted Toru, he would have the same reaction as when he was a kid.

Although something like that was better suited to Hanabi, who was an expert in the art of annoying Toru.

In the end, Hinata decided that she would do nothing and let Toru finish pulling.

At the same time, Ino watched as she crossed her arms.

(The way she says things is too intellectual...)

Ino realized that, Toru was no fool, after all he was forced to hide his abilities by the ninjas of a certain organization spying on him. Though he also stayed out of it all on a pure whim.

(I wonder... which one is the real Asahi Toru?)

Looking at the gray-eyed boy, Ino sighed and remembered that day when Toru threatened her in such a ruthless way.

Cold and silent, ruthless and aggressive, which of the two was the real Toru?

(It's strange, but... now that I remember, Toru's house was a bit small... I wonder if his parents live in another house).

Ino sat on the tree branch and closed her eyes.

She was tired of thinking, it had only been two hours since the exam started, but all the events that happened in that small span of time left an overload on Ino's brain, resulting in a tired mentality.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Let's get some food."

Ino stood up and approached her companions.

"Yeah, I was talking about that. It seems that there are various kinds of mushrooms, fruits and wild animals that we can eat..."

While looking around the surroundings, Toru reached out his hand and pointed to a mushroom that was buried in the ground.

"That's a matsutake, if cooked it can be easily ingested. Berries and other fruits should also be nearby..."

Leaving Hinata and Ino alone, Toru left the base and started looking for food.

-After a few hours-

By this time, Toru had returned with a large amount of fruits and mushrooms in his arms.

Ino and Hinata looked at everything with an astonished face.

Well, it seemed that the place they chose wasn't so bad after all.

"I think you brought too much."

Ino walked over to Toru and grabbed a sweet blackberry, she looked at it for a few seconds before speaking again.

"It's like the ones they sell in the village."

"Yes, I made sure to choose carefully."

"That's amazing, Toru-kun. You know a lot of things."

"I don't know much, I just know what I know."

After that, Toru placed the fruits and mushrooms on a green leaf, gathered some branches and placed them in a place away from the trees.

"Will you make a fire?" Ino asked.

Hearing her teammate, Toru sighed, and while analyzing the branches she said:

"Yes, but first I have to gather branches that are dry."

"Oh, if you plan to make a campfire, I think I had a lighter that might come in handy" Hinata said as she searched for the lighter in her pockets, but Toru only replied curtly.

"No need..."

After saying that, Toru put his hands together, and with great skill connected the hand seals.

"Shakuton..." Toru said in a low voice.

A second later, a small cloud of smoke began to rise from the branches, followed by that, flames began to burn, consuming the branches slowly. Hinata and Ino watched this intently.

"What was that, how did you do that?"

Ino seemed to be surprised, it was the first time she watched Toru do some ninjutsu. With Hinata the same thing happened. Until now, just like Ino, she had only seen Toru's Taijutsu, so seeing this left her shocked.

"It was just something basic we learned at the academy.."

Toru closed her eyes and replied in a low tone of voice.

For a second he stared at the flame in front of him, until....

(Agh!)

Toru fell to his knees while touching his head.

"Toru-kun!"

Hinata approached Toru quickly as she placed her hand on the boy's shoulder.

(Same thing again...)

Without looking away from the campfire, Toru analyzed the image that had appeared in his head.

(The sun?)

In that image there was a small blue sun, which was enclosed in a transparent box, this one had different thick wires connected.

In addition, there was a brown-haired man, who was adjusting his glasses while looking at the box with an expressionless face.

(It's only been one day...)

Toru sighed, it was becoming more and more frequent for that kind of thing to happen and that was a big problem.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked, but Toru didn't answer.

"Maybe he's tired. Tell me, Toru, how many hours a night do you sleep?"

Ino approached Toru as she spoke in an authoritative tone of voice.

The boy looked up and replied casually.

"Sometimes five, three, two hours. Depends on what chores I have pending."

After hearing that, Ino scratched her head.

"So that's why, you should be thankful, since I'm going to waste my knowledge on someone like you."

Ino said while pulling some weeds from the ground. After that, she used the campfire to burn the leaves to some extent, finally, using a small flower as a cup, Ino added the leaves inside.

"Take this..."

Ino handed the flower to Toru.

At the same time, Hinata had watched the whole process with a neutral expression. Well, she had seen so many amazing things in one day that she didn't know how to react anymore.

"What are you waiting for, are you going to leave me with my hand outstretched?" Ino insisted, because of this, Toru had no choice but to put the image that appeared in his mind aside and drink the liquid that was in the flower.

(Hm... I didn't know that Ino had knowledge about medicine...).

While drinking from the flower, Toru spoke to himself.

"If you don't get enough sleep, you'll end up a zombie with the face of a dead fish."

Ino crossed her arms and looked away with a superior expression on her face, but Toru knew how to respond to this.

"Do you care about me?" said Toru with an emotionless expression.

Hearing this, Ino's face turned so red, it even looked like a cloud of courage was coming out of her head.

"How can I care about someone like you, you idiot!"

Ino looked at Toru with an angry expression, but seeing the boy's face, Ino's face turned redder than it already was.

"Ino, you're amazing. You know a lot of things too" Hinata said with a slight smile on her face.

"Well... I only know these things because I help my mom at the flower shop..."

"But still, it's amazing."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal."

Toru looked at Ino, who was receiving Hinata's praise in a very funny way.

(¡¿?!)

"Ino!"

Suddenly, Toru threw himself in front of Ino and then.

*Clang!

"Amazing, little Toru."

Said that ninja while licking his lips with that tongue that resembled the tongue of a snake.