Ch 407: The Ever-so-lowkey Yota

Along the way, I heard quite a bit of fighting, but it was all quite far away. Yuta’s group, aside from Karin, didn’t encounter anyone else.

Yuta even began to suspect, did Red Bean really not give them any special treatment? Besides the fact that they happened to have the Earth Scroll and encountered some Grass Ninja with no real strength, they practically saw no one else on their route!

In other words, as long as Yuta didn’t wander off and steadily headed towards the High Tower in the center of the Death Forest, passing this exam was almost guaranteed.

Thus, Team 11 became the first team to reach the High Tower.

“Sensei Red Bean.”

“Ah… What is it?”

Red Bean didn’t look at Yuta.

Yuta secretly asked, “Did you really not give us any special treatment?”

“Tsk, don’t talk nonsense. Fairness and justice are the principles of Konoha in holding this Chūnin Exams. You little rascal, keep your mouth shut and don’t spread rumors.”

“So there was some, then.”

Yuta curled his lip.

Although having the Sensei give special treatment made things smooth, it was boring. The Death Forest was quite suitable for finding some fun, especially since there were many interesting ninjas inside.

Unfortunately, Yuta was too lazy to run around looking for fun. If he saw something, he’d look; if not, then so be it.

“What’s the story with this little girl?”

Red Bean pointed at Karin, looking at Yuta with a scrutinizing expression.

Don’t think she doesn’t recognize it; those clothes clearly belong to Kimimaro.

“Ah, she encountered a bear, her clothes were torn, and I happened to run into her. I had Kimimaro put his clothes on her, and she voluntarily gave me the Earth Scroll, giving up, you see~”

Yuta shrugged in response.

Every word conformed to the situation at the time, completely truthful, but some things were omitted. Karin’s ordeal seemed to have nothing to do with him.

Red Bean looked suspiciously at Yuta twice, then at Karin.

This little girl had a timid appearance. She remembered she was a Genin from Grass Ninja Village, specifically arranged on this route. She originally thought that with Yuta’s ruthlessness, he would have killed her, but she was brought back disheveled, and only one was brought back. The other two Grass Ninja were missing. No matter how you look at it, it’s suspicious.

However, Red Bean didn’t have any thoughts of caring for Karin. After all, one was a Grass Ninja, and the other was her disciple. Even if it was the hastily formed Root Team 11, they were still her own people. She wasn’t that sentimental, and she wouldn’t go and ask other villages’ ninjas how they were doing and then lecture her own people.

Having been with Orochimaru for a long time, Red Bean’s personality was quite straightforward, clearly distinguishing between love and hate. A goody-two-shoes was simply nonexistent.

“Just stay here and wait for your teammates. You failed this exam; try again next time.”

After giving Karin a perfunctory consolation, Red Bean turned around to take care of monitoring matters.

Karin nodded shakily, then walked towards the tower.

She wanted to find a corner to quietly wait for her teammates, but the tower was round. It had edges, but there wasn’t really anywhere that could be called a corner. After walking around, Karin returned to Yuta.

Yuta scratched his head and curiously asked Karin.

“Hiss…Does your clan have ADHD or something?”

……

Five days passed quickly, and the Death Forest exam ended. In the end, only 7 Genin teams passed.

“In half a month, the Chūnin selection will officially begin. At that time, you will face real one-on-one battles. In addition, various Daimyō have been invited to watch this exam, so seize this opportunity and train hard during this half month.”

Inside the High Tower, Red Bean announced the next exam content, then ignored the remaining Genin. Naturally, other Chūnin were responsible for maintaining order.

Karin looked at the remaining people around her and dejectedly discovered that her teammates hadn’t arrived at the tower.

Either they left early, or… they died.

And the latter probability was higher.

Small ninja villages like Grass Ninja Village didn’t have team leaders. Karin’s team only had three people when they came, and even fewer went back—only Karin.

From the Land of Fire to the Land of Grass, whether she could safely return was unknown.

Joining Konoha on the spot was completely nonsense. Do they think the Ninja World is a toilet, coming and going as they please? Her Grass Ninja identity can’t just be thrown away; who would want her? Even if she revealed her Uzumaki bloodline, it wouldn’t work.

An Uzumaki with a Grass Ninja bloodline in Grass Ninja Village—if Orochimaru knew about this, his first thought wouldn’t be to take her in, but to kill her.

Karin glanced at Sasuke again, firmly remembering Sasuke’s handsome face before secretly leaving alone, but Sasuke didn’t notice.

Team Seven was huddled together with Team Ten and Team Eleven.

Little Naruto and Yuta had been playing together with Ino-Shika-Cho since they were little. In the Death Forest this time, Team Seven and Team Ten even jointly fought Gaara, giving them plenty to talk about.

“What! You were actually the first team to complete the objective, Yuta! I knew you were definitely a very strong ninja. You’ve always been quite low-key, right!”

Naruto gave Yuta a thumbs-up, not doubting for a second that his good brother would use any special treatment.

“Of course, I’m the pillar of Team Eleven. Actually, I just don’t like fighting that much~ Naruto, you’re also very strong; you’re almost as good as me~ “

“Ahahahaha~”

“Hahahahahaha~”

The two of them put their hands on their hips, boasting and praising each other naturally. Others looked at the two with a somewhat disdainful sideways glance, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

Except for Sasuke.

Because Sasuke truly knew that Naruto was growing rapidly.

And Yuta… After returning from the Land of Waves, he was still one-shotted by Yuta, without any chance to fight back.

That Protection Fee is unrecoverable……

Compared to Naruto, Yuta was an existence that Sasuke couldn’t hope to match.

Sasuke: Yuta, stand up! Everyone here is a mere pawn, a bunch of insignificant people!

Yuta: This is so fun, Sasuke, sit down, I want to play too!

The examinees walked out of the High Tower, like they were stepping out of an ivory tower.

Although the exam in the Death Forest was like a childish game of grabbing toys, for the Genin, it was the most intense battle they had ever experienced and a testing ground for various ninja techniques.

Having seen blood, having seen death, they possessed half the qualifications to become a qualified Chūnin.

A half-month period was almost impossible for ordinary Genin to achieve any improvement, not even enough to earn money for a C-rank Ninjutsu mission.

But there were no ordinary ninjas among them.

…….

…….