In the forests outside Mist Village, the Genin Selection Exam was underway.
Mei Terumi, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Zabuza Momochi were the top contenders in this trial. Nagato, however, had been ordered by Madara specifically to hunt down these promising contenders to gain combat experience.
It was destined to be a bloodbath—brutal and merciless.
The rules ensured precisely that outcome.
The rules were simple—like Konoha's Chunin Exams. Candidates had to steal scrolls from each other, collect a full set of five, and reach the drop-off point deep in the forest to become Mist genin.
However—
Mist's examination differed significantly from Konoha's. Instead of forming teams of three, participants worked alone. Furthermore, each person initially received only one scroll. To advance, they needed to collect all five types — Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, and Earth.
In other words, among the more than fifty children participating in this test, even under the best circumstances, only one in five could successfully graduate and become genin.
In truth, it was nothing more than a killing field dressed up as a test. Only the strongest—or most ruthless—would make it out alive.
"Begin!"
After announcing the rules and distributing the scrolls, Ao gave a sharp wave of his hand and coldly declared.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of youths immediately rushed into the forest, racing against time, heading toward the finish line from various directions.
Many planned to reach the area near the endpoint first, then set traps or ambushes, waiting comfortably for newcomers to arrive before striking to snatch their scrolls.
This was the most efficient and wisest strategy.
Only Nagato remained calm, walking slowly at the back, seemingly unconcerned.
Because his objective wasn't merely passing—it was to eliminate everyone. Even if someone had reached the end, or even completed the exam and officially become a genin, he would still kill them without hesitation.
They had no idea what awaited them.
Thinking this, Nagato's eyes turned icy with a hint of detached pity.
Behind him, Zetsu moved like a shadow, following silently without alerting Nagato—just in case anything went wrong.
After all, Nagato was the chosen vessel bearing the Rinnegan, an essential piece in the Moon Eye Plan personally decreed by Madara; nothing could be left to chance.
Heiyan paused for a moment, then formed two Shadow Clones. Alongside his original body, they stealthily followed Mei, Kisame, and Zabuza from a distance.
Mei Terumi—destined in the original timeline to become the Fifth Mizukage—wielded both [Boil Release] techniques, two incredibly rare Kekkei Genkai. She was an extremely rare female ninja genius.
Such a little girl dying here would truly be a shame.
As for Kisame and Zabuza, although somewhat problematic in temperament, as members of the Second Generation Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, they were still promising talents. With proper guidance, they could find redemption.
Indeed, Heiyan was already thinking about how to bring them over.
From what he knew, Penglai was short on real talent these days. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, why not secretly recruit some talent before confronting Madara and add a few valuable assets to Penglai?
Ten minutes later,
deep inside the forest.
Nagato came to a stop and looked at the several opponents blocking his path. Each of them wore unpleasant smirks as they surrounded him from all directions, leaving him no escape.
They were a small group who had secretly made a pact long before the exam even began. Once the test started, they planned to form an alliance immediately.
"We know you're the genius carefully nurtured by the high-ranking elders, looking down on us commoners. However, if anyone among us defeats you and proves their strength, that person will surely replace your position and gain recognition from the elders."
Their leader stepped forward, smirking coldly at Nagato.
"If you're so confident, then come try it," Nagato replied, his face remained calm and his voice showed no emotion.
"Attack!"
The opponent roared loudly. In an instant, everyone launched attacks simultaneously, hurling kunai and shuriken, even releasing Ninjutsu. A storm of attacks rained down upon Nagato.
Nagato didn't want to waste time with these people.
So, he quickly formed hand seals. Finally, he clapped his hands together with a loud *pa!*, and released a violent gust of wind.
[Wind Release: Gale Palm]
This was a C-rank jutsu. By clapping hands, it compressed wind chakra into a fierce gale. Its power could easily send someone flying away.
Because of the immense amount of chakra in Nagato's body, this technique performed by him rivaled many B-rank offensive jutsu. Moreover, Nagato added numerous shuriken into the blast for a combined attack, multiplying its effectiveness—already approaching that of an A-rank jutsu!
As expected, the outcome wasn't surprising at all.
"Aaaaaaah!"
With screams of pain, all those attacking Nagato fell to the ground injured, some dying instantly while others suffered severe wounds.
"That's it?"
Frowning slightly, Nagato thought these people appeared far too weak.
No.
Perhaps it wasn't that they were too weak, but rather that he was too strong. After all, having trained beside Madara for several years, he had already mastered six types of Chakra Nature Transformation and became an expert in every mainstream ninjutsu.
The warm-up was over. It was time for the real battle.
In Nagato's opinion, unless the three of them—Mei Terumi and the others—teamed up, they wouldn't even qualify to challenge him. As for them wanting victory? Sorry, the probability was zero.
For Nagato, this trial was just a warm-up to gain some combat experience.
Thinking thus, Nagato decided to end this swiftly. He immediately formed more hand seals and activated a sensory technique.
Strong sensor abilities were one of the Uzumaki clan's natural gifts. Soon, Nagato detected a relatively strong chakra signature in the northeast direction; it seemed like a decent prey.
Swoosh.
He set off immediately, chasing after it.
In the woods.
A massive fireball came crashing down from the sky, sending a young boy flying through the air, covered head to toe in ash and dirt, extremely disheveled.
"Please don't kill me," the boy begged fearfully, hurriedly taking out the scroll from his possession, placing it on the ground before fleeing hastily.
A white, delicate hand picked up the scroll.
It belonged to a little girl with emerald-green eyes, long red hair, and wearing a blue long-sleeved ninja outfit.
"That was easy. We already gathered three scrolls so quickly. It seems like we'll reach the destination before sunset today and become genin."
Mei Terumi murmured, a faint smile on her lips.
She put away the scroll and was about to leave when she suddenly heard a "whoosh," as a kunai flew past, grazing her face.
Frowning, Mei turned around and saw Nagato emerging from the woods.
"Oh, it's you? Ambushing isn't very gentlemanly, is it?"
Smiling as though chatting with an old friend, Mei looked relaxed, but in reality, her body had tensed up, preparing for battle.
Without a word, Nagato formed hand seals and unleashed the Gale Palm, sending a powerful blast toward Mei.
"That's not very chivalrous."
As she called out, Mei realized how strong his technique was and immediately leaped backward without hesitation, barely dodging the attack.
Once at a safe distance, she retaliated instantly, forming seals and then spitting out a large fireball forward.
Nagato stood still, forming seals with practiced ease, and summoned a massive Water Encampment Wall—a flawless defense that blocked Mei's fireball head-on.
Then he formed another set of hand seals, summoning a vivid water dragon that roared toward Mei.
He can chain techniques one after another like that—how much chakra does this guy even have?
Startled, Mei knew she couldn't dodge while being targeted by the water dragon, so she had no choice but to fight back, also summoning a water dragon to clash with his.
The result was obvious.
Mei's Water Dragon Bullet was clumsy and barely shaped, naturally getting crushed easily by Nagato's water dragon.
"Ahh!"
She screamed as her entire body was blasted away, sliding across the ground for dozens of meters before barely pushing herself upright.
Knowing she couldn't beat Nagato, Mei decided not to drag things out. She raised her hands and poured what little chakra she had left into a final technique.
[Hiding in Mist Technique!]
Whoosh.
She used chakra to stir up sprays of water, intensifying the mist already lingering among the trees until everything turned into a thick, white haze where nothing could be seen.
Using the fog as cover, Mei chose a direction and fled without looking back.
Several minutes later.
"Ha…ha…"
Deep within the woods, Mei bent over, supporting herself on her knees while panting heavily. Her red hair was soaked with sweat.
Had she finally escaped from that guy?
Looking behind her and seeing no sign of Nagato, she exhaled in relief, preparing to leave.
Suddenly.
Swoosh!
A sharp Earth spike shot violently from beneath the ground, mercilessly piercing through Mei's thigh before she could react.
Blood gushed out uncontrollably.
"Ahhh!"
Mei screamed again, collapsing onto the ground with a thud. Clutching her wounded thigh with both hands, the pain nearly made her pass out.
Now completely unable to flee, she helplessly watched Nagato appear in the distance, advancing steadily toward her.
"You win."
With a pale and bitter smile, Mei painfully retrieved the scrolls she had collected and tossed them at Nagato's feet.
However, Nagato didn't even glance at those scrolls. Instead, he looked down at Mei Terumi with a superior attitude. Then he took out a kunai and raised it high.
"You..."
Seeing the cold and ruthless look in his eyes, Mei finally understood—what he wanted wasn't her scrolls, but her life.
The realization struck her like a cold wave—despair took over.
Could it really end like this?
Mei's family had once been a prestigious clan in Mist Village. Her parents were senior jonin who worked in the research department of Mist Village, specializing in studying Saiken and developing the Boil Release Kekkei Genkai.
Unfortunately, Mist Village lost Saiken later on, and Mei's parents died during the massive purges from several years ago.
As a young girl, she had always worked hard at cultivation, hoping to revive her family through her own strength when she grew up. Never did she imagine that before even passing the genin exam, she would lose her life instead.
"I... am finished."
Mei murmured softly as tears unknowingly streamed down her face. No matter how strong she seemed every day, she was still just a six-year-old child at heart.
In Konoha or other ninja villages, girls her age were living carefree lives, just beginning their time at the ninja academy. Yet she, born on the cursed land of Mist Village, had endured pain and hardship since childhood, only for everything to end like this.
Pain, injustice, unwillingness—and longing for her family.
Mom, Dad, I'm coming to be with you now.
At this moment, Mei closed her eyes and silently awaited death's arrival.
When Nagato saw Mei in this state, his hand holding the kunai paused briefly, hesitating for a moment. But soon, the last traces of kindness within him were drowned by the evil thoughts implanted into him by Madara's teachings every day. His expression turned icy again.
Swish.
He threw the kunai directly toward Mei's heart.
Just at this moment,
A hand suddenly appeared in midair, grabbing the flying kunai and saving Mei from certain death.
Sensing something wrong, she opened her eyes in shock and saw a tall figure wearing a black cloak standing right in front of her.
"Who are you?"
Nagato frowned, staring at the masked man.
Clearly, this person couldn't be an examiner from this trial, because Nagato had never seen him in Mist Village before.
Heiyan didn't answer but instead examined Nagato for a while. In the other's eyes, he saw none of the clarity and purity expected of youth—only hostility and bloodlust remained.
It seemed that Nagato had been completely brainwashed by Madara, having become so radical and beyond redemption.
Therefore, Heiyan said nothing to Nagato.
He bent down and gently picked up the wounded Mei from the ground. Then he activated Kamui, taking her into a pocket dimension and vanishing right before Nagato's eyes.
[Space–Time Ninjutsu?!]
Witnessing this method of departure, Nagato couldn't help but feel shocked. Any form of space-time jutsu was extremely difficult to master and not something ordinary ninja could handle.
What exactly is going on?
Frowning deeply, Nagato felt puzzled but still decided not to give up. He turned back toward Mist Village.
Quite the contrary, he actually felt excited by this unexpected turn of events.
"This is getting interesting."
Nagato murmured to himself before turning around and leaving, resuming his hunt.
No matter who that mysterious masked figure was earlier, if they dared to appear again, Nagato would seize the chance to strike. In his view, this would be a real challenge for him.
After Nagato left, Zetsu appeared at the scene.
"That masked figure seems to be the mysterious enemy mentioned by Lord Madara, the one responsible for the loss of two Impure World Reincarnation Puppets—the Second Kazekage and the Third Kazekage."
White Zetsu rubbed his chin, saying with a look of astonishment.
"You should return immediately and report what happened here to Lord Madara, while I continue following behind Nagato to protect him. How about that?"
Black Zetsu spoke up, making a suggestion.
"Fine." White Zetsu agreed.
Then, Zetsu's body split into two halves, as White Zetsu and Black Zetsu each became separate individuals.
Swoosh.
With that, they parted ways—one heading east, the other west.
Inside Kamui's space,
Heiyan arrived out of nowhere together with Mei Terumi, materializing atop a giant cubic stone pillar.
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