Trap

Inside another clearing of the forest, Kushimaru was slowly slicing his opponent's limbs with his sword.

Hearing their shrill screams, his maniacal laughter resounded throughout the surrounding area. Although his mask hid it, his vicious smile would make others shudder in fright.

Annoyed, the nearby Fuguki furrowed his brows.

"Kushimaru, stop wasting time. Now that we've got both scrolls, let's head to the tower."

As he spoke, his imposing aura and sharp teeth made Kushimaru stop for a second, after all, Fuguki was older than him by a few years.

"Tch… Just when I was starting to enjoy myself..."

Feeling like the mood had been ruined, Kushimaru moved his uncannily long limbs and silently pierced the throat of the other genin. The gruesome sight was not for the faint of heart.

Confirming their deaths, the team ran off in the tower's direction.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a mere hour, team Jiraiya were already in the tower's vicinity. On the way, they'd collected another scroll, just to eliminate the competition. So far, they'd successfully taken down two teams and were completely uninjured.

"Man, this is way easier than I thought! We're only running into weak teams!"

Nozomi smiled with glee. She had gained a lot of combat experience in the last sixty minutes and had taken down quite a few shinobi. It was doing great things to her confidence.

On the other hand, Jun was extremely bored. Every time they found a team, they quickly wiped them out in minutes, sometimes in seconds. It didn't feel like a challenge at all.

Minato smiled. As long as they reached the tower, he didn't mind how hard or easy it had been. The main goal was to pass the second round, and they were doing pretty well so far.

Just when they were about to enter the clear area surrounding the tower, a massive snake shot at them out of nowhere. It was huge, measuring at least a hundred meters.

"Whoa there!"

Seeing the snake coming through her peripheral vision, Nozomi shuddered, and jumped away, dodging the snake.

Having missed its target, the snake got angry and looked around, noticing Minato and Jun. Seeing new prey, its eyes shot open as it propelled itself towards them, bearing its poisonous fangs.

Seeing this, the corners of Jun's mouth rose. Quickly performing some hand-seals, he expanded his lungs and kneaded fire-chakra, releasing a massive fireball into its large mouth.

The snake was unable to dodge as it ate the entire fireball, exploding from inside and sending cooked pieces of flesh everywhere.

"Kyaaa!"

Seeing the snake's innards shoot towards her, Nozomi screamed and dodged, only to realize that another snake was speeding towards her.

Now angered, Nozomi's face became dark as she hit the snake in its stomach-area, making it fall, unable to move due to its vital organs being destroyed.

Another snake used this moment to creep up behind her, but Minato flickered and slashed the snake a few times in a split-second, cutting it to pieces with a kunai.

"What the hell!? All of a sudden…"

Nozomi was pissed. She hated snakes, and yet they seemed to be attracted to her! Did she look tasty or something…?

"It's okay, this forest is known for these kinds of things… Anyways, let's continue, we're real close."

Nodding at Minato's words, they disappeared from the area.

Once they were gone, a figure came out of the shadows. It was Orochimaru.

"Those three… I set up this trap to test them, yet they left without a scratch…"

He had noticed a team getting dangerously close to the tower in less than an hour, and decided to see them for himself. Although he technically wasn't allowed to do that, no one had to know.

Checking his documents, Orochimaru realized who they were.

"So they're Jiraiya's… Kukuku."

Chuckling, he disappeared in the shadows.

-------------------------------------------------------

There are currently 15 more chapters on P.a.t.r.e.o.n!

If you want to continue reading, head on over to P atreon.com/toxinfraser

There are many benefits, like concept art , illustrations, discord roles and more!

Thank you for your support! I appreciate every single one of you!