Sena spoke first. "We need to get out of here, and fast. That explosion was too big. Any team nearby will come running for an easy medallion." We all nodded and immediately started scaling the valley walls, no longer bothering to conserve chakra. Caution mattered more than efficiency now. Lingering was just asking to get jumped.
It took effort, but we made it to the top and flickered away toward the green area as fast as we could manage. Every movement felt sharp and paranoid, eyes constantly scanning, senses stretched thin. After everything that had happened, I was half expecting something else to go wrong. Then we heard it. Running water. We slowed immediately, approaching with care as Sena and I extended our chakra senses to their limits. When we confirmed no one was nearby, I felt a small knot in my chest finally loosen.
Sena turned to us, her tone leaving no room for argument. "I will climb the tallest pillar here and find a good place to camp." Before either of us could object, she was already moving, scanning nearby pillars and choosing her route. A moment later, she was gone from sight.
Kaen watched her go, his brows drawn together. "Why is she pushing herself that hard?" he asked quietly. "She is low on chakra, and she still volunteers to climb and observe."
I hesitated before answering. "She is blaming herself for the ambush at the first camp." Kaen's eyes widened slightly. "Why?" I exhaled and looked toward the pillar she had climbed. "My guess is she could not keep her sensory field active for long. Her chakra reserves are not especially large, and she is careful about always keeping enough in reserve for a fight. They probably approached while her senses were down. It was night, and she could not see them either."
Kaen looked down at the ground, silent for a long moment, turning that over in his head.
When Sena returned a few minutes later, she landed lightly beside us. "I found a good camping site near a ravine," she said. "It is isolated, elevated, and well hidden by the surrounding terrain."
Before I could respond, Kaen stepped forward, his voice louder than usual. "You should not blame yourself for what happened at the first camp."
Sena froze. She looked at him, then slowly turned her gaze to me. For a brief moment, disbelief flashed across her face, followed quickly by irritation. She knew Kaen would not have pieced that together on his own.
I did not look away. She needed to hear it.
"We are a team," Kaen continued, his voice steady despite the tension. "We are supposed to cover each other. We will make mistakes. That is why there are three of us, to carry the load together." He paused, then added more quietly, "I never thanked you before, but I am grateful for what you did during that ambush targeting Shisui-sensei. You saved my life. That is what teammates do. So do the same with us. Rely on us when you need to. We will be here."
Sena stared at him, clearly caught off guard. I was too. I had not expected him to say that, and certainly not like this. For once, she did not deflect or retreat behind composure. She simply sighed, the tension draining from her shoulders, and then she smiled. Not a polite one. A real one.
She nodded slowly at Kaen, who straightened with a quiet, almost embarrassed pride at having gotten through to her.
That did not last long as Sena turned around. "Let's move fast before the sun goes down." We moved toward the new camp site as the terrain gradually rose. The ravine she had chosen cut deep into the land, but the camp itself sat high above it, perched on a narrow stone shelf near the upper edge. Jagged rock formations and uneven ground broke up sightlines from every direction, while the drop below made direct approach difficult without being noticed. From that height, we could watch the surrounding paths without exposing ourselves, and the sound of running water far below helped carry away any noise. It was not comfortable, but it was elevated, isolated, and well hidden. An excellent choice by Sena, as expected.
We reached the camp site just as the sun dipped below the horizon, letting darkness settle in around us and giving us cover to rest without rushing. This time, we chose a different rotation. One of us would sleep while the other two kept watch, trading off every few hours. After everything that had happened, doubling up on guard duty felt like the smarter call. Sena went first, slipping into her sleeping bag while Kaen and I took up positions nearby, both of us facing outward and tracking the approaches in silence.
As Sena drifted into deeper sleep and the stars sharpened overhead, I heard Kaen clear his throat. Once. Then again. Like he was trying to wrestle the words out by force. Finally, he muttered, "Thank you for telling me what was on her mind. I am not good at reading people. If you had not said anything, I would not have known to speak to her."
My mouth actually dropped for a second before it turned into a grin. "Did you just tha..." I started, but he cut me off immediately, clearly irritated. "Do not get any ideas. I still do not like you. Just... tell me next time she is hiding something like that."
I raised an eyebrow. "That will not be free, you know." He stared at me, dead serious. "How much do you want?" Decency and greed fought a whole battle in my head. Greed won, obviously. "Take me and Sena to a restaurant once a month. Your treat. Not a bad deal, right? You even get to spend more time with her."
His face went red instantly, eyes flicking away before he nodded far too quickly. I almost felt bad. Almost. He had no idea how much I could eat.
For the next few hours, he barely spoke. I kept my sensory field active, stretching it as far as I safely could. The night remained quiet until something brushed the very edge of my senses, so faint I might have missed it if I had blinked. I stood up immediately.
"Someone passed nearby," I said. Kaen jolted to his feet, kunai already in hand. I shook my head. "Not coming toward us. They are moving away." I paused. "I am going to check. Just in case." Kaen nodded and shifted his stance, turning into a silent barrier as he guarded Sena, who slept soundly behind him.
My chakra had recovered nicely by now. I flickered toward the location where I had felt that passing signature, slowing as I got closer. What I found made my stomach tighten. A stone pillar was coated in ice, thick and jagged, like it had been flash-frozen in place. Ice shards were embedded in the ground and even lodged in the surrounding stone, and the air carried that sharp, biting cold that did not belong in a desert. Following the trail of damage, I found two Hidden Sand genin sprawled on the ground, blood soaking into the dirt beneath them and turning it dark. I approached carefully, checked their pulses anyway, and confirmed what I already knew. Too late. I exhaled slowly. "It is just an exam," I muttered. "You idiots did not need to take it this far." I pressed my hands together for a brief moment, offered a quiet prayer, and then moved on.
A short distance later, the scene grew worse. Ice shards littered the ground like the aftermath of a violent hailstorm, crunching softly underfoot. Several pillars were chipped and cracked, and thin needles lay scattered across the dirt, some snapped, others still intact, all carrying unmistakable signs of poison. In the middle of it all lay a third Hidden Sand genin, his abdomen torn open by a brutal slash. His eyes were empty, fixed on nothing. I moved in carefully, scanned the area one last time, and sensed no living presence nearby. I repeated the gesture, a brief prayer, then checked him for a medallion. Like the others, there was nothing.
I remembered the kekkei genkai user from the Hidden Hot Water Village, the one with Ice Release. If this was his work, then his control over it was impressive. I sighed, already annoyed at the thought of dealing with him later, and turned to leave.
That was when I saw it.
A puppet lay nearby, a real Hidden Sand puppet, collapsed on its side like a fallen soldier. My heart rate jumped. I wanted it instantly. Not just because it was rare, but because anything tied to puppetry was valuable, and I had been starving for more exposure to that craft.
I extended my senses as far as they could go and found nothing. No lingering chakra, no movement, no hidden presence watching from a distance. Satisfied, I smiled and flickered away. In a concealed spot, I formed a shadow clone, then transformed into one of the Chunin Exam participants. My heart picked up as I moved back toward camp, concealing my chakra and myself as much as possible, hoping the plan would work without a hitch.
When I arrived, Sena was already awake, and Kaen was preparing his sleeping bag but clearly waiting for me. Sena glanced up. "Anything interesting?" she asked casually. I shook my head as I sat down. Her eyes narrowed immediately, catching the tension in my posture. "Are you sure?" she pressed. I answered without thinking. "No."
That was when my clone made its way back to where the Hidden Sand genin had fallen. From behind the cover of a tree, it tossed a smoke bomb and waited as the haze spread, masking movement. Keeping its chakra suppressed as much as possible the clone approached the fallen genin and examined him carefully. A storage seal was present, likely storing more puppets, but it was locked to the original user's chakra signature, which made sense given the value of such a tool. The clone did not waste time trying to interfere with it.
Instead, it placed a hand on the already summoned puppet nearby and activated the palm seal. The entire construct vanished in a swirl of chakra, safely stored. A wide grin spread across the clone's face as it retreated deeper into the forest, slipped into cover, and dispelled.
The memories flooded back into me all at once, and I had to fight to keep my expression neutral. A smile still crept across my face before I could stop it. Across from me, Sena's eyes narrowed further, clearly aware that I had just done something troublesome, even if she did not yet know what it was.