Yuu did not immediately conclude that the giant lizard had been deliberately placed there.
After all, the Forest of Death had a complex environment and plenty of ninja beasts. Bears, tigers, and snakes all existed there, so a lizard showing up was not strange at all. If what had crawled out of the wetland just now had been a split dog or a Yatagarasu, then he would have been able to tell something was wrong at a glance.
But…
That did not really matter.
Because as long as Yuu could tame this lizard, then it would belong to him. With something like this around, whether for scouting or surprise attacks, it could provide considerable value. That was far more worthwhile than simply killing it.
So,
Yuu consciously began guiding the rhythm of the fight, focusing on weakening the giant lizard's mobility while avoiding causing irreversible damage.
Once Yuu started slacking off a little, Obito's strength alone could not deal fatal damage to the giant lizard. In fact, after it opened its mouth and spat out corrosive mucus, Obito failed to dodge in time and almost had half his arm corroded away.
Fortunately, Yuu was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He sliced off a patch of flesh from Obito's arm before the corrosion could spread further.
Of course, for Obito, that slash hurt even more than the corrosion…
"AAAAAH!! IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!"
Half of Obito's body was covered in blood. He grimaced in pain, but still forced himself to throw out several clusters of Phoenix Sage Fire, smashing them into the thick forelimb joints that supported the giant lizard's body and the base of its constantly whipping tail, causing it even more pain.
There were already dozens of wounds on the giant lizard's body. Its surface was covered in pale green blood. Under severe blood loss, its invisibility ability completely failed. Its huge body flickered in and out of sight in the thick mist, and its movements grew slower and slower. It could only passively defend.
Finally,
clear fear and the desire to retreat appeared in the giant lizard's cold vertical pupils. With an unwilling low growl, it abruptly turned around, dug its four limbs into the ground, and charged toward the deepest part of the wetland, where the water vapor was thickest.
"Trying to run? Too late!"
Yuu thrust his short sword into the ground, clasped his hands together, and rapidly churned the chakra inside his body.
"Binding Formula Seal! Activate!"
The next second,
from the dozens of wounds of all sizes that Yuu's blade had left on the giant lizard's body, purple-black glimmers burst out at the same time.
These were the sealing formulas Yuu had left behind when he slashed it earlier. At this moment, they were activated together, spreading over its entire body like a huge spiderweb.
At the same time,
Yuu used Wild Lion's Mane Technique. His white hair suddenly lengthened, tightly binding the giant lizard's forelimbs and neck. After struggling for a while, the creature finally stopped moving helplessly, unable to advance even an inch.
"Nice work! Yuu! Hold it there! I'll cut off its head!"
Seeing this, Obito immediately moved forward to finish it off.
"Stop!"
Yuu called out and stopped him.
"?"
"This thing is still useful. Let's spare it for now."
"…"
Although Obito didn't really understand why Yuu wanted to keep this lizard alive, after hearing him say so, he lowered the kunai in his hand. Instead, he began yelling for Rin to heal him, because if they waited any longer, he might actually die from blood loss caused by the wound on his arm.
At this point, the dense fog around them had gradually dispersed.
Rin came over with the hostages, looking in surprise at the restrained giant lizard. After struggling uselessly for a final while, it lost its strength. Yuu then took out a prepared sealing scroll and sealed it away, planning to find a way to sign a contract with it later.
"Let's go."
Yuu slowly exhaled a turbid breath.
"First, find somewhere to rest briefly, recover some chakra, then head to the central tower."
…
Inside the Hokage's office.
A crystal ball showed the scene of Yuu and the others fighting the giant lizard in the Forest of Death.
It was Hiruzen Sarutobi's Telescope Technique.
At this point in time, more than ten years remained before the Chūnin Exam that the Konoha Twelve would take. The technological level of the ninja world was not yet as advanced as it would be later. Inventions like surveillance equipment and walkie-talkies were still in the experimental stage, so they had to rely on traditional ninjutsu to observe what was happening inside the exam grounds.
Of course, those twelve hostages were essentially proctors too. With them present, they were enough to understand most of the situation surrounding each team.
However, the candidates in this exam were somewhat special.
Among them was the Hokage's son, as well as several seedlings with the potential to become jōnin, or even Kage-level ninja.
So Hiruzen had no choice but to take time out of his busy schedule and watch personally.
Behind him stood Minato Namikaze, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chōza, and others. Most of them were team-leading jōnin.
Only one figure, wearing a dark green outer robe with golden twin ponytails and arms folded, looked like a street loiterer and seemed a little out of place among the group.
"…Minato, these students of yours really are something."
Nara Shikaku broke the silence.
"That giant lizard is not weak. Forget genin, even ordinary jōnin would have to spend some effort dealing with it. Yet he solved it in such a short time, and with ease, without a scratch. Add in the two Kusa ninja earlier…
"Mikami Yuu's strength has already far exceeded the scope of this exam. If not for his young age, he would probably have more than enough ability to be a jōnin."
Minato smiled and was just about to say something
when Tsunade beside him curled her lip. Her golden ponytails swayed gently as she shook her head.
"Jōnin and chūnin are judged by ability. What does age have to do with it? Minato here had jōnin-level strength when he was barely in his teens too, didn't he?
"That's how geniuses are. Not everyone is a late bloomer like that idiot Jiraiya. Don't forget, the battle report from the southwestern front mentioned that this little white-hair captured Pakura on his own."
That was what she said…
But Tsunade's inner surprise was no less than anyone else's.
A large part of the reason she appeared here was indeed because of Yuu and Rin.
Although she had never said it aloud, after spending nearly half a year together, she had already come to see those two juniors as half-students. Now that the Chūnin Exam was being held, and she had nothing urgent to do, she naturally came to take a look.
Previously, many people in the jōnin group had heard of Yuu's achievement of "capturing Pakura alive," but most guessed that there had been some luck involved. Perhaps Pakura had been careless, and Yuu had used some clever tricks, resulting in that "weak defeating strong" performance.
But now it seemed
that Yuu might have been the "strong" one all along.
Putting everything else aside, that move, Shadow Prison Phantom Kill Formation, already had traces of Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three.
And Wild Lion's Mane was Jiraiya's ability.
Add in Hatake swordsmanship that carried a bit of White Fang's shadow, and sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan…
What was this, a servant of four surnames?
And this was not even counting the Fire Release that Yuu's profile said he was "best at"…
Being able to merge so many seemingly incompatible abilities into one body, and train all of them to a decent level, was indeed rare. If his bloodline were not so ordinary, then even Kakashi would probably only count as average in front of him.
"Speaking of which… why didn't that child just kill the giant lizard? Why go to the trouble of sealing it?"
Akimichi Chōza asked.
"This…"
Minato thought for a moment.
"He might be trying to subdue that giant lizard as a summoning beast. I recently taught him the Summoning Technique."
"A summoning beast? That thing?"
Tsunade burst out laughing.
"Besides changing color, what use does that thing have? It looks slow and stupid. Its frontal combat ability is at most equivalent to an ordinary jōnin, and it might even be countered by sensory ninjutsu… Minato, why didn't you give him the Mount Myōboku contract?"
Hearing this, Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"I mentioned it to Yuu, but he seemed a little hesitant and wanted to think about it more."
"Hah? He's hesitating over the Mount Myōboku contract? Don't tell me he wants my…"
—slug?
Tsunade suddenly paused, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Thinking about it carefully, that possibility was not zero. After all, there were not many summoning beasts that could compare to Mount Myōboku's toads. In Konoha, only her and Orochimaru's contract partners, along with the old man's Enma, could compare.
Did that brat really want to become the successor to her mantle?
Or…
Did he want to learn from Orochimaru and play with snakes?
At this moment,
Minato's expression turned serious, and he looked toward Hiruzen, bringing up another detail that concerned him more.
"Lord Hokage, did you notice the 'blood pouch' Yuu found on that Kusa ninja earlier…"
"Ah, I saw it too."
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and slowly exhaled smoke, his eyes grave.
"The Telescope Technique can only show images. It cannot transmit sound. But judging by the shape of Yuu's lips when he spoke with that Kusa ninja… they seemed to mention the word 'Uzumaki.'
"According to what Lady Mito once said, some Uzumaki clansmen are born with healing power in their bloodline. During the Warring States Period, some ninja clans once kidnapped and imprisoned Uzumaki clansmen for this reason. Could it be that Kusagakure also…"
"…The exam is still ongoing right now. After it ends, ask him about it in detail."
Hiruzen made his decision.
Minato nodded. "Yes."
The others in the office, aside from Tsunade, whose brows had furrowed, all tactfully pretended not to hear.
The Uzumaki clan…
This sensitive name was connected to too many past events and secrets. As outsiders, it was better for them not to say too much.
…
After leaving the wetland stronghold,
Yuu's group followed the route they had planned in advance and headed toward the central tower of the Forest of Death.
Along the way,
they encountered several teams from other villages one after another.
Speaking of which, these genin from other ninja villages were generally several years older than Konoha's. Among them were even some genin in their twenties, thirties, or older.
Among these people, a few possessed chūnin-level strength but had not been promoted for various reasons.
But most were mediocre in talent, having spent years unable to become chūnin. Aside from being older and physically stronger, they simply could not compare to ninja from great ninja villages in other respects.
So Yuu was too lazy to personally deal with these weaklings. In the name of protecting the hostages, he pushed Obito and Rin to the front and watched as the two easily defeated the opponents.
During this,
there was even one time when two teams appeared together and launched a surprise attack on Yuu's group. One of those teams was even already carrying a hostage. So after Yuu's group defeated them, the three hostages they originally carried increased by one, and the total number of people in their group reached eight.
"…Yuu, is it really okay for us to bring so many hostages?"
Obito was a little uneasy.
"The exam rules say each team only needs to rescue one. Now the three of us have rescued four, plus a Kusa prisoner… won't that be judged as a violation?"
"Violation?"
"Yeah. After all, this will cause three teams that could have passed to be eliminated."
Facing Obito's concern,
Yuu's expression was calm.
"If they can be eliminated, it means their strength wasn't enough to begin with. If they went to the battlefield, they'd easily be killed. Better to go back and train for another year. Besides… later, we can wait near the tower and see if anyone comes empty-handed, then sell them one or two hostages."
"…Huh? You can do that?"
"Why not? Isn't it normal for losses to occur during transportation? If all else fails, we'll only sell to Konoha people. Thirty thousand ryō per hostage. Not too much, right?"
Or a ninjutsu scroll Yuu hadn't practiced before would be fine too. He wasn't picky.
Obito: "…"
At this moment,
inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen and the others also looked at one another.
"Ahem… the number of hostages they rescued is indeed a little too many. But doing this does not violate the exam rules."
Minato coughed lightly and explained on behalf of his student.
…
Afterward,
Yuu's team hurried through the mountains and forest. Finally, before the moon rose, they arrived not far from the central tower. The outline of the tower roof was clearly visible behind the sparse tree shadows. By sight, only the final kilometer remained.
"Whoa, that's the final destination, right?"
Obito excitedly pointed ahead. The Sharingan under his goggles seemed to brighten a little.
"We're definitely the first to get here, right? Haha, the time limit in the rules is three days, but we've basically cleared it in less than half a day. Even Kakashi would be shocked if he saw this!"
Beside him, Rin also smiled.
"Indeed. This time, it's all thanks to Yuu!"
"Clearly, I contributed a lot too! If not for me, how could Yuu have defeated that giant lizard?"
"…Heh."
Amid Obito's shouting,
Yuu raised his head and glanced at the sky. Because the trees near the tower were sparse, they could now clearly see the moon, and use it to roughly determine the current time.
"Counting the time… it should be close to that point, right?"
"I wonder how this so-called 'examiner team' will appear…"
Almost exactly as Yuu thought this,
a heavy bell sounded from the direction of the tower, ringing six times in total. The sound waves spread in all directions, stirring echoes through the dense forest, seemingly announcing that six hours had passed and the exam was entering its second phase.
As the final bell fell,
Yuu heard a sharp sound of wind. From the corner of his eye, he saw two of the four hostages suddenly erupt into motion at this moment. One shaped their right hand into a claw and went straight for Yuu's throat. The other drew a kunai and stabbed toward Obito, the sharp sound of tearing air piercing the ears.
"?!"
~~~
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