Zzz...
This was the popping sound produced when oil dripped onto firewood and burned.
At this time, three Konoha squads were sitting around the campfire, grilling fish together.
These fish, of course, were all handled by Shikamaru and Choji.
If they really couldn't catch any more fish, they wouldn't even want to come and sit together.
The atmosphere was extremely heavy, only the sound of firewood burning could be heard, and no one took the initiative to speak.
This feeling made Shikamaru recall the atmosphere at home when his parents were arguing.
In short, it was extremely troublesome.
He looked at the fish he was still grilling in his hand, only wishing to grill it quickly, so he could hurry up and eat the grilled fish and then go into the tent to sleep.
As for the night watch, there was Aoba, with him they were absolutely safe.
Time passed second by second.
The skewers of grilled fish in Aoba's hands were already golden, crispy, charred on the outside and tender on the inside.
The faint fragrance spread around.
Choji followed the scent with his eyes, and couldn't help swallowing.
Aoba took a skewer of grilled fish and first handed it to Tenten, who was still sulking beside him.
Tenten looked at him and snatched the delicious grilled fish from his hand, then stuffed the half-cooked one in her own hand back to him.
And took a fierce bite.
"Hiss!"
Tenten immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
It was because she got burned.
"Don't rush," Aoba passed her the water bottle.
Tenten said nothing, just puffed her cheeks and gulped down water.
Aoba also used Mystical Palm Technique to treat her a bit.
Feeling the blister in her mouth caused by the burn slowly disappearing, Tenten, still drinking water, had her eyes gradually redden.
She was first, clearly she was the first one, whether it was knowing him, becoming friends, or falling for Aoba.
Yet now she ended up in last place.
After putting down the water bottle, she began eating the grilled fish in large bites, even chewing through the crispy fish bones.
"Eat slowly, there's more," Aoba advised again, then handed a skewer of grilled fish to each of the others.
And continued grilling.
"Aoba, were you just fighting someone?", After receiving the grilled fish from Aoba, Shikamaru thought for a moment and took the initiative to start a conversation.
Hearing Shikamaru's question, and seeing the gazes from the girls, Aoba couldn't help but raise his brows, then nodded, "I encountered a rather troublesome man."
"Even examiner Anko was knocked unconscious, 'rather troublesome' might be understating it, no?", Shikamaru pressed further.
Aoba thought for a while, then solemnly said, "It was Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru?"
Everyone exclaimed.
They had all heard Orochimaru's name. After all, the current Hokage Tsunade was one of the legendary Sannin alongside him.
Although Yakumo and Hinata already knew Orochimaru had entered the Forest of Death, they didn't expect Aoba had actually encountered him.
"Aoba, were you hurt? Do you want me to check your body?", As a medical ninja, Sakura spoke as she reached to pull open Aoba's clothes.
To check if his body was healthy.
Sakura: 'Let me take a look!'
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Aoba quickly held Sakura's hand, there were still so many people around, "Although it was indeed a tough battle, I didn't get injured."
"Is that so, then that's good…", Sakura retracted her hand with a bit of disappointment.
The others also instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Shikamaru was quite surprised, 'That was Orochimaru! Has Aoba become that strong already?'
'And, none of you are shocked?'
At this moment, he felt a bit out of place.
"Can you tell us about the battle?"
The other girls also couldn't help but perk up their ears.
Aoba couldn't help but secretly give Shikamaru a thumbs up.
Then handed him a few more skewers of grilled fish, and immediately made up a story on the spot about a battle with Orochimaru.
Everyone's attention was drawn in, completely forgetting the previous gloom.
Tenten also listened intently to the story while eating grilled fish.
Every time it reached a crucial moment, she couldn't help but feel nervous for Aoba.
"..."
"Mm~", At this moment, a soft moan interrupted Aoba's narration.
Everyone turned toward the sound and happened to see Anko just waking up.
She still seemed not quite awake yet, and having just had a very deep sleep, not only was she moaning softly, but also lazily stretching.
Anko squinted drowsily for a moment.
Looking around, she met the gazes of Aoba and the others.
"..."
"?", Anko blinked and pretended to be sleepwalking, slowly laying back down again.
However, even in the night, Aoba could clearly see that Anko's ears were red enough to bleed.
"Ahem!", He coughed as if unintentionally, drawing everyone's attention back again.
"I'll continue the story."
"Mm… okay!"
Everyone held back laughter.
Their responses were all somewhat muffled.
Aoba continued to narrate.
Giving Anko plenty of time to ease her embarrassment.
But only a moment passed.
Because Anko heard the name "Orochimaru" from Aoba's mouth.
She suddenly sprang up like a spring.
And appeared in front of Aoba, "Aoba, what's the situation with Orochimaru? Is he dead yet?"
Although she had personally seen Aoba blow up Orochimaru's head.
But this was Orochimaru, a man who had researched countless forbidden jutsu, losing a head didn't necessarily mean death.
Sure enough, Aoba shook his head at her.
"At that time, Orochimaru used a strange ninjutsu. From the corpse, another Orochimaru grew out again."
"Sure enough…", Anko wasn't very surprised.
"That guy Orochimaru may not match the other two Sannin in other aspects, but in escaping and survival, he's far stronger."
"I must hurry and report this information to the Hokage," Her expression turned urgent, and she turned around to run toward the forest's edge.
But was suddenly grabbed by Aoba at the wrist, "Anko-neesan, I've already reported all the information about Orochimaru to sensei."
"You've slept so long, you must be hungry, right?", Aoba held out two skewers of grilled fish to Anko.
Anko looked at the grilled fish in his hand, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch.
"Are you guys here on vacation or taking the exam?"
"Vacation and the exam aren't mutually exclusive."
Aoba stuffed the grilled fish into Anko's palm, "I lit the fire and grilled fish like this so that the scent would attract other teams nearby."
"This way, we can quickly gather the Heaven and Earth scrolls."
"Doing this, won't it make your situation even more dangerous?", Anko asked in confusion.
"Maybe for others, but for me…"
Before Aoba finished his sentence, Anko already understood what he meant.
'This guy didn't even fear Orochimaru, how can he possibly be afraid of a few genin?'
"Do you have any sweet-flavored ones?"
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