Ever since he had successfully conquered his future father-in-law, Hyuga Hiashi, Hinata had been spending more and more time at his house. She even stayed overnight occasionally. And during this time, Kusuo had not held back in teasing the shy girl. Each time, he would stop just at the moment Hinata was about to faint. It made one sigh with emotion. A girl who practices the Gentle Fist... is truly fragrant!
After Asuma gathered them again, he gave them the location of the second exam: the Forest of Death, on the outskirts of Konoha. It served as one of Konoha's training grounds.
The next day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, an already impatient Naruto was waiting for them, watching with eager eyes as Kusuo arrived late with Hinata in his arms.
"You guys are too slow!" he complained. The three of them then went to the mission reception point together.
In their line of sight was a boldy dressed, unrestrained older-sister type. At this moment, she was holding a skewer of three-colored dango, eating it with great relish. The Anko of the present had not yet put on her later weight, and her whole body radiated a youthful vitality.
"Here, your scroll. Take it," the girl, engrossed in her dango, said without much care for her surroundings. She casually handed the scroll to Kusuo and then turned her head away. In the instant she turned, it seemed a black curse mark fell into his sight.
"What's wrong, Kusuo?" Hinata asked with concern, seeing him lost in thought.
"It's nothing." Retracting his gaze, Kusuo opened the scroll. On it was written "Heaven."
"So it's the Heaven Scroll!" Naruto analyzed after seeing the scroll. "Then we have to find someone with an Earth Scroll, defeat them, and gather both scrolls to reach the central tower to complete the exam." He rolled up his sleeves, full of fighting spirit, eager to rush in and show off his skills.
Only Hinata noticed that Kusuo seemed to have something heavy on his mind. And he did. He wasn't sure if his eyes had been playing tricks on him. At this point in the timeline, Anko's Cursed Seal of Heaven should have already been sealed by the Third Hokage. But just now, he had clearly seen a black shadow on her neck. Could he have seen it wrong?
Shaking his head, he put his arm around Hinata and said, "Let's go. It's time for us to go in too."
"Alright!" Naruto pumped his fist and shouted.
The Forest of Death was quite large. So many teams were entering from different directions, and they still had to accurately find the scroll they needed and reach the destination within the time limit. It tested not only their mobility and combat power, but also their tracking abilities. The difficulty was not small.
But for them, it was a piece of cake.
"Kusuo, there's a team of ninja up ahead. Their scroll is—the Earth Scroll!" Hinata said with pleasant surprise, deactivating her Byakugan. She hadn't expected to run into a team with an Earth Scroll right at the start.
"Good job. Leave the rest to me," Kusuo praised her, then casually drew his sword and headed north. That was the direction Hinata had indicated. In truth, their breathing had already appeared in his mind, as conspicuous as a bright sun in a dark night.
"Who's there?!" The squad, wearing Sand Village headbands, had decent perception and immediately noticed Kusuo's approach.
"The one who will kill you!" The faint words were accompanied by a simple, unadorned swing of his blade.
Schlick.
Blood flew from the person in the middle as their head fell to the ground. The other two were scared silly. An enemy killed one of us before we even saw their shadow, how are we supposed to fight? The difference in their combat power was immediately clear.
The Sand Village ninja's eyes darted around, and he immediately made a decision. "Don't kill us! We're willing to hand over our scroll." Then, they immediately raised their hands to surrender.
"Too late."
Swish! Swish!
Two more light slashes. The other two Sand Village ninja fell into a pool of their own blood.
He took their Earth Scroll. Now, they had met the requirements to complete the mission. All that was left was to get to the central tower.
Naruto and Hinata had just caught up. Seeing that Kusuo had already taken care of the enemy ninja, they were overjoyed. The Chunin Exams had no restrictions on methods; killing the opponent was a perfectly normal occurrence. For a ninja, getting used to life and death was a required lesson.
"Great! Let's hurry to the central tower now! Maybe we'll be the first team to complete the mission!" Naruto felt no frustration at all from having been carried to victory. In his eyes, Kusuo's strength was a well-known fact; there was no need to feel bad about it. As long as he worked hard, he could definitely catch up.
That afternoon, Team 10, which had been on the road for half a day, suddenly stopped.
"Such a thick smell of blood," Naruto muttered, his expression somewhat grave.
Kusuo's eyes also sharpened. "Byakugan!" Veins bulged on Hinata's forehead as she scanned the surroundings.
"Over there!"
Following the direction Hinata pointed, a pool of blood mist and severed limbs appeared before them. The state of death was extremely tragic. The scene had been severely damaged, with large patches of the ground overturned.
Casually examining the environment, Kusuo already had a good idea of what had happened. From the remnants of the clothing, it was likely a Rain Village team that had run into Gaara. This terrifying ability to change the terrain and the cruel methods... only he could have done it. The bloodstains hadn't dried, so he deduced it had happened not long ago that afternoon.
"We'll follow them," Kusuo ordered. Hinata and Naruto nodded seriously. Both teams had already gathered the Heaven and Earth scrolls. If they wanted to be the first to finish, they would have to face each other sooner or later. Therefore, Kusuo chose to take the initiative without hesitation.
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