Kankuro still couldn't wrap his head around it.
His gaze kept darting from Gaara—who was sprawled out on the soaked ground, sand armor dripping and chakra suppressed—to the calm, black-blindfolded girl who had just single-handedly subdued their "monster."
This… isn't possible.
He didn't dare say it aloud, but the words rattled in his head like a broken drum.
Hinata, meanwhile, showed no intent to finish them off. In fact, she didn't even glance at the siblings again. She simply adjusted her blindfold, dusted off her hands, and turned her attention back to the forest canopy.
"I suggest you take him and go," she said, her tone almost gentle. "He'll be waking up soon and when he does, that seal might not hold for long."
Temari pursed her lips, clearly holding something back. She didn't know if she should thank this girl or scream at her.
Kankuro, surprisingly, took the initiative.
He knelt down beside Gaara, shook him once... and then again.
Gaara's eyelids fluttered weakly, a fresh wave of sand leaking out before being sucked back by the black markings of the seal. His breathing was ragged, but the murderous aura had all but vanished.
"He… he's alive."
Temari let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
Hinata said nothing further. Her presence already felt distant, as if she were just a ghost passing through the forest. But she paused for a moment, tilting her head as if considering something.
"You two," she said, her voice carrying a calm authority that didn't match her gentle, timid nature, "be careful with him. If you value your brother, keep him away from fighting… at least until the exam is over."
Then, as if she had simply melted into the air, Hinata Hyuga disappeared among the trees, leaving only a few ripples in the water where she'd stood.
Temari and Kankuro exchanged a long, silent look. The world's axis had just tilted. For the first time in their lives, Gaara had been utterly defeated—not by Naruto Uzumaki, not by Sasuke Uchiha, but by a girl they hadn't even bothered to remember before this day.
--
"Ahhhh—!"
Hinata, who had already defeated Gaara and was moving at full speed to rejoin her team, suddenly heard a miserable scream echoing ahead.
She increased her pace, chakra surging beneath her feet.
When she reached the source of the sound, the scene before her made her halt.
A Grass Village shinobi was suspended in midair, his body pierced through by golden chains. They stabbed in and out of his flesh, binding him completely as he hung there helplessly, blood dripping onto the forest floor.
The sight was gruesome.
The chains passed cleanly through his limbs and torso, keeping him aloft like a broken puppet.
"Ahhhh… please… please let us go…"
"Kill me… just kill me… I want to die… please…"
The desperate pleas echoed through the trees.
But the one responsible showed no sign of mercy.
Another Grass shinobi was lifted into the air by the chains as well.
The two bodies were violently slammed together... again and again—like toys being smashed without care.
Crack.
"Ahhhh—!"
With one final impact, the chains released them.
The corpses fell lifelessly to the ground.
Hinata turned her head slightly away.
Then she saw Karin.
The red-haired girl was smiling brightly, clapping her hands as if she had just enjoyed a performance.
"That's it!"
Looking down at the two dead Grass shinobi, Karin clapped again, clearly satisfied.
Kimimaro and Haku stood nearby, silent, their attention focused on the final surviving member of the Grass team.
Then they turned toward Hinata.
"Yo! Did you finish your job too, Hinata-chan?" Karin asked, rolling her neck slightly before hopping in place, her posture loose and playful.
"…Yeah," Hinata replied softly.
Her gaze shifted to the last Grass shinobi, who stood trembling in place, too terrified to move.
"Well done, Lady Hinata," Kimimaro said calmly, a faint smile on his face. "You didn't prolong the fight and avoided unnecessary actions."
"…Come on, Kimimaro-kun, don't be so stiff," Haku said lightly, tapping Kimimaro's shoulder before turning to Hinata with a gentle smile. "Still—good job, Hinata-chan."
Hinata nodded, returning a small smile of her own.
"Well… you can go. I've had my fun," Karin said lazily, waving a hand at the last Grass shinobi.
"…R-really? You'll really let me go?" he asked, his voice shaking with fragile hope.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't make me repeat myself," Karin replied, already turning her back to him. "Go before I change my mind."
The Grass Village genin hesitated—then slowly stood up, his legs trembling.
His name was Haruki Minori, a genin from Kusagakure.
His team had believed they could pass the exam by laying low, letting the stronger teams clash first. They had already ambushed another group and secured the scrolls they needed.
The plan was simple.
Survive the chaos… then rush for the tower on the second day.
Everything had been going smoothly.
Until they met her.
Haruki stared fearfully at the back of the red-haired girl.
Even though she appeared to have dropped her guard, he had no intention—no courage—to attack.
Taking slow steps backward, never taking his eyes off her, he finally turned and ran.
The wind rushed past his face as he sprinted forward.
Despite his injuries, despite his fading strength, he kept running.
"…Ah… this feels… nice?" Haruki thought weakly.
"I'm… free…"
He took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs like it was something precious...as if tasting freedom itself.
"…I don't want to be a ninja anymore… I'll leave… and then…"
Before the thought could finish, his steps faltered.
His expression shifted but his body kept moving.
"Then… I'll open… a store… and I'll—"
Tears streamed down his face.
Something was wrong.
No matter how hard he ran, the scenery around him never changed.
Despair filled his eyes as he looked down.
A golden chain had pierced straight through his chest.
His hand trembled as he tried to grasp it but there was no strength left in his fingers.
Turning around, he opened his mouth to speak...
But blood spilled out instead.
From behind him, Karin's voice reached his ears—cheerful, unmistakably clear.
"I changed my mind," she said with a shrug.
Haruki's eyes slowly closed.
Whether he even heard her words… no one knew.
"That's the last one," Karin said cheerfully.
Haku could only shake his head in silence.
No one present felt even the slightest sympathy for the fate of the Grass Village team.
Karin searched their belongings and retrieved their scroll.
"Huh… lucky us. It's the Heaven Scroll we were missing."
She slipped her hands into her pockets, clearly in high spirits.
"So—what's next? Do we gather information, or go straight to the Central Tower?"
Before entering the Forest of Death, Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura had already detected the Grass Village team. Tracking them had been effortless.
She had taken the initiative naturally and now she was genuinely satisfied.
"Let's go straight to the Central Tower," Kimimaro said flatly.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and Uchiha Sasuke won't fail the second exam."
"The third test will be individual battles. A good chance to observe them more closely."
"If they can't even pass the second stage," he continued coldly, "they're not worth paying attention to."
"Yoshi! Then it's settled—Central Tower!" Haku said with a smile.
Not long after, they arrived at their destination at an unhurried pace.
"A team has arrived!"
"One hour and thirty minutes!"
"They've broken the record—fastest completion in exam history! Four hours faster than the previous record!"
Inside the monitoring room, the examiners stared at the screen in disbelief.
They had expected a major village team to set such a record.
Instead, what they saw were three genin from Snow Hidden Village.
A small village.
"…Have shinobi from the other countries really become this strong?" one examiner muttered.
Doubt crept into their expressions.
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