After Yūhi Shinku left, Yuu and the others did not rush into the tower. Instead, they waited in place for a while longer, hoping to see if they could squat on a "buyer."
Although four hostages had become three, they still had two more than the required target. In theory, they could still do two deals.
Unfortunately, even after waiting for quite some time, no customers came.
Instead, several familiar figures appeared—
"Huh? Yuu, Rin, Obito? You're already here?"
Sarutobi Asuma pushed aside a thicket and walked out from the woods, looking at Yuu's group in surprise.
Behind him, Yūhi Kurenai and Namikaze Raidō also appeared, along with a "hostage" who looked a little listless. When the latter two saw Yuu's group, they also looked surprised.
"Why did you bring so many people? Four hostages?"
"Three," Yuu replied. "The other one is a Kusa ninja prisoner we captured on the way."
"Huh?"
Asuma and Kurenai both froze.
Wait, what kind of hidden gameplay was this? Did capturing ninja from other villages give extra points?
At this moment, Rin spoke from the side. "Asuma-kun, Kurenai, when you came over just now, did you run into Shinku-senpai?"
"You mean my father? No, we didn't. He came too?"
Kurenai looked confused.
After that, Rin explained what had happened just now, leaving Asuma's group stunned. Judging from their reactions, they had no idea that the examiner squad was hidden among the hostages.
Mm… it was hard to say whether this was luck or some behind-the-scenes arrangement, but the direction Yūhi Shinku had left in was indeed different from the direction Asuma's team had appeared from. Maybe they really had just missed each other by coincidence.
The "examiner squad" had at most four people, so which team ran into them really came down to probability. If Yuu's group had entered the tower directly before the six-hour bell rang, they probably could have avoided that fight too.
On the other side,
when Asuma's group heard that Yuu had passed Yūhi Shinku's "test" and even won a move in a taijutsu duel by knocking the blade from his hand, they couldn't help crying out in surprise. Kurenai in particular looked utterly incredulous, as if she were seeing Yuu for the first time.
She admired Yuu and had some fondness for him. She also knew he was strong and had made great contributions on the southwestern battlefield, but…
Was he actually stronger than her father?
Yūhi Shinku was a well-known figure even among the jōnin class. Although he couldn't compare to the Sannin or Namikaze Minato, he was not inferior to people like Nara Shikaku. Yet now, he had lost a move to Yuu. This completely surpassed Kurenai's imagination.
Asuma was similarly shocked.
Facing their gazes, Yuu spoke lightly. "Shinku-senpai didn't go all out. It was only a probing exchange. If it were a fight to the death, I wouldn't win."
"…Is that so?"
Asuma did not commit either way.
Even if it really was only "probing," knocking a veteran jōnin's usual weapon out of his hand was still not something an ordinary low- or mid-level ninja could do. From his perspective, even if Yuu had not reached jōnin level, he at least had special jōnin-level strength.
"By the way, since you already completed the test, why haven't you gone to the tower?"
"Well… because we rescued two extra hostages. We originally wanted to see if there were any teams that failed the rescue mission and sell two to them. But from the looks of it, teams that can make it here don't lack hostages, and teams that lack hostages won't show up here. Waiting any longer would just be a waste of time."
Yuu said.
"…Six."
Asuma didn't even know what to say. This was the first time he had heard of an operation like "selling hostages." It didn't feel very Will of Fire at all. But if it came from Yuu's team, it somehow felt reasonable. After all, they had never played by common sense…
Of course, when he thought about how his own team had worked hard to seize one hostage and had almost been ambushed by another team of Ame ninja on the way, the comparison felt a little painful.
The disguised Konoha ninja acting as hostages felt similarly pained.
Earlier, when Yuu said in front of Yūhi Shinku that their acting was poor, they had endured it. After all, there really had been flaws. But… what was this constant muttering about selling them? If this business actually went through… would that count as breaking the rules?
"Um…"
Rin spoke at just the right moment. "Since it's already so late, why don't we hurry to the tower? It should be safer there, and we can rest properly."
"That works."
The two teams reached a consensus.
So, the six of them, along with five prisoners and hostages, walked grandly toward the central tower of the Forest of Death. As the heavy wooden door was pushed open with force, an old but dry smell rushed toward them.
The space inside the tower was wider than expected. At the bottom was a huge circular hall with a very high ceiling. Several pillars had burning torches hanging on them. On both sides of the hall were several doors, seemingly leading to rest rooms and storage rooms. In a cabinet in the corner, there were some books.
Now that they had arrived, the hostages stopped pretending. One chūnin stepped forward and said to Yuu and Asuma, "Congratulations, both of you. Your teams are the first to arrive here. There are beds and lounge chairs in the surrounding rooms, so make do and rest here for the night.
"Based on previous experience, by this time tomorrow, the promotion list for this round should be confirmed."
"Alright."
Yuu nodded, then turned his gaze to the Kusa ninja and lifted his chin. "By the way, take this Kusa ninja away. I think Lord Hokage and the other village higher-ups will be very interested in the information he has."
"…Understood."
The Konoha ninja exchanged glances and nodded.
After they left,
Asuma and the others relaxed. Asuma took out some food and water to share with Yuu's team, while Yuu also took out the Raw Cola that Mikami Tajima had prepared for him. Asuma and the others looked delighted and quickly raised their cups to drink.
At this moment,
Kurenai quietly moved closer to Yuu. Her red eyes blinked as she softly asked, "Yuu, when you sparred with my father… what kind of move did you use? It was so powerful that even Father lost a move to you."
"Mm… it was Kakashi's family swordsmanship, which you've seen before, and Guy's family taijutsu."
"?"
Why did that sound so strange?
Of course, no matter what Yuu said, it did not affect the admiring gaze Kurenai directed at him. The little worshipful look in her red eyes seemed to deepen even further.
Asuma looked at Kurenai's expression and felt inexplicably jealous.
~~~
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