Kiba Inuzuka crouched low, both hands diving into his tool pouch behind his waist. He drew several kunai, held his breath, and hurled them in rapid succession toward the enemy shinobi who had been thrown into disarray by the sudden attack of leeches.
Despite their panic, the three enemy genin still had the basic reflexes of trained ninja. Though they staggered and stumbled, they managed to dodge the worst of the kunai, taking only glancing hits and avoiding any vital wounds.
But Kiba wasn't disappointed—instead, he smirked coldly.
His instructors' teachings at the Ninja Academy still rang in his ears:
When surrounded by unknown threats in hostile territory, never stay in one place too long—and always set traps.
Even if a trap didn't kill, it could still delay and warn. That alone made it worthwhile.
Ironically, staying a genin too long could dull one's instincts. Without real combat experience to reinforce their knowledge, long-time genin often began to forget what they'd learned unless they constantly reviewed their studies. In contrast, newly graduated genin—like Kiba's generation—still had sharp instincts and were brimming with potential. Experience alone didn't guarantee an advantage.
Just as the three Konoha genin landed, trying to catch their breath, a powerful spring force suddenly shot up from below. A hidden net trap burst from beneath the camouflaged ground, ensnaring all three of them at once, pulling them up into the air and suspending them from tree branches overhead.
"Old-timers from Konoha, huh?" Kiba sneered as the net caught them. His eyes paused on their headbands. "Pathetic. You've failed this exam how many times and still thought you could ambush us?"
"Wait, wait—we'll give you our scroll!" one of the trapped genin begged. "Just let us go. We're from Konoha too!"
"Konoha shinobi?" Shino Aburame spoke coldly, ignoring their pleas. "When you chose to attack us, did you think about that?"
He raised both arms slightly. As he moved, black dots began to emerge across the exposed skin of his body—a swarm of parasitic insects with grotesque features.
"Better we eliminate you here than watch you grovel before enemy shinobi and disgrace the name of Konoha," Shino said flatly.
With a single flick of his hand, the cloud of kikaichū surged forward, enveloping the three trapped genin in a black haze.
"AAARGH!"
Agonizing screams rang out from within the net. The insects began feeding on their chakra, draining it slowly and painfully—a torture most wouldn't endure.
"How's it look, Shino?" Kiba turned away from the grisly scene and asked, more out of discomfort than pity. "Do they have an Earth Scroll?"
"No," Shino replied, shaking his head. "No trace of the female kikaichū we planted. They have a Heaven Scroll, just like us."
"What should we do with their scroll then?" Hinata asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She kept her gaze averted from the gruesome sight, clearly unsettled. "Should we… leave it?"
"Don't be stupid, Hinata," Kiba snapped, frowning. But seeing her distressed expression, he softened his tone. "Even if we don't need it, no reason to leave it for someone else to pick up. Besides, we don't know what scroll Shikamaru's team has. If it's an Earth Scroll, maybe we can trade."
In the quiet expanse of the forest, the screams from Shino's bugs echoed again and again—loud, shrill, unmistakable. Several teams heard them and immediately became more cautious.
"Already? Someone's made a move this early?"
Shikamaru, moving through the trees with Chōji and Ino, frowned as he caught the faint sound.
Not even thirty minutes had passed since the second exam began—and already a team had been ambushed. If the attackers had lucked out and gotten the matching scroll, they were probably already making a beeline for the central tower.
"We're almost there," Ino said, noticing the concern on her teammates' faces. She'd also heard the screams and guessed what they meant. "I remember the terrain clearly."
Shikamaru and Chōji nodded.
The team traveled in silence, leaping from branch to branch until Ino suddenly slowed down. The two boys immediately grew more alert.
"They're nearby?" Shikamaru asked under his breath.
Ino nodded.
Shikamaru scanned the forest carefully.
"They're from Takigakure—two men and one woman. A little older than us, probably sixteen or seventeen." Ino kept her voice low as she recounted what she saw.
"The exam's just started," Shikamaru murmured. "Which means every team's at their physical peak. Confident teams will attack early—try to get the second scroll quickly, then hole up."
He suddenly dropped down from the tree, landing lightly on the forest floor, sweeping aside grass and leaves.
Ino and Chōji followed him.
"Less confident teams will delay," Shikamaru went on, raking through the underbrush with his fingers. "They'll wait, hoping others fight and weaken each other first. But not this group."
A moment later—
"Found it."
Shikamaru smiled slightly. He'd located a footprint.
The direction of the sole pointed away from the tower.
"They're not heading to the center. Seems they've already picked a target," he said. "Footsteps are clear, not scattered. That means they weren't running around confused—they had a plan from the beginning."
"Ino," he turned to her, "use your Mind Body Switch Jutsu to scout ahead. Don't chase directly—we don't want to walk into a trap."
"Got it." Ino nodded.
Behind Chōji was the hawk they'd managed to capture earlier—tied securely with rope, even its beak bound by a rubber strap to keep it from pecking or calling.
Seeing Ino's cue, Chōji gently lowered the bird.
Ino formed the necessary seals, locked her gaze on the hawk, and her body slumped.
Shikamaru stepped forward, catching her as she fell. Chōji quickly unbound the hawk.
The hawk didn't take off right away. Instead, it hopped to a nearby branch, turned to glance at them—and then burst into the sky, flying straight toward the trees.
"Chōji," Shikamaru said, "keep an eye on Ino. I'll set up traps here. Once she relays what she sees, we move."
Chōji nodded.
Shikamaru carried Ino to a hollow tree trunk—large enough to shelter all three of them. He and Chōji cleaned out the space and laid Ino gently inside.
He sprinkled insect-repelling powder from his ninja pouch, then camouflaged the entrance using bark and moss, carving it out with a kunai and concealing the join.
"Perfect," Shikamaru muttered as he stepped back, inspecting his handiwork.
Making traps was both a simple task and a deep art. The most effective kinds—sequential traps—required complex calculations.
Not only did you have to account for how to trigger the trap initially, but you also had to predict how the enemy would move afterward, where they'd dodge to, and whether you could manipulate them back into another trap. A well-placed projectile could drive them into the path of a secondary trigger. Advanced setups even anticipated evasive maneuvers and used auxiliary triggers to launch follow-up attacks.
Shikamaru began with one trap as the base, then expanded around it. It was slow, but precise—and each layer increased the odds of success.
While he worked, Chōji busied himself sharpening sticks into spears—basic, but functional weapons. With limited ninja tools, it was best to conserve what they had. Food might be manageable in the forest, but gear was harder to replace.
Meanwhile, inside the hawk's body, Ino scanned the treetops.
She was originally hoping to find the Takigakure team.
If they had already picked another group to ambush, she could wait for them to clash, then swoop in with minimal effort to secure both scrolls.
But—
"Huh?"
The hawk's keen eyesight easily pierced the treetops. From high above, Ino suddenly spotted something unusual.
Three shinobi—not the Takigakure team—were moving rapidly, heading straight for the area where Shikamaru and Chōji were hiding.
And they weren't heading to the central tower.
Their objective was clearly something else.
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