novelhk Chapter 88 Shuimu's Trap
Chapter 88 Shuimu's Trap
Chapter 88 Shuimu's Trap
Suddenly, Shui Mu's face lit up with joy.
He raised the black ball in his hand and exclaimed excitedly.
"Black 8 is in my hands!"
The crowd immediately cast envious glances their way.
Someone asked, "Teacher, can I exchange tickets with someone else?"
Upon hearing this, Inuzuka Tsuru glanced at Kurenai Yuhi, who was holding the red No. 8, with surprise. Her gaze then shifted to Shinzuki Seiun beside Kurenai, and she suddenly understood.
Under the expectant gazes of everyone, she shook her head: "No."
"Whatever number you draw is your number."
A sigh of disappointment.
The strange rules of the Chunin Exams prevented them from facing Shingetsu Seiun head-on, which left them feeling very resentful.
Seeing this, Shui Mu chuckled.
"Don't worry, everyone."
"I will do my best."
As he spoke, he turned to look at the Divine Moon Nebula, smiling brightly.
"Nebula, we're rivals again. This time, I won't hold back."
Shenyue Xingyun frowned.
"Alright, Red Team, withdraw." Inuzuka Hana gave the order: "Enter through the corresponding door in two hours."
"The black ball team enters the field."
Soon, the teams holding the black balls entered the Death Forest one after another.
The remaining squad was led to a designated location by ninjas maintaining order, during which time they could make some preparations.
Two hours later, they were taken to the corresponding gate.
"This is Gate 8. Once inside, head to the central tower as soon as possible."
"The time you spend and your performance during the journey will determine your exam results," the guide explained, before opening the door to let the three in.
The three exchanged a glance, and then Sarutobi Asuma formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" "!~"
This is a simple battle plan that the three of them devised in the past two hours, based on the exam rules.
Shadow Clone Lightning Strike Technique.
The Death Forest is very large, with a radius of nearly ten kilometers.
With such a large area, it's impossible to cover everything with traps. The most likely places to be trapped are the entrance, the end point, and a few places along the way.
What they need to do is to take precautions on the crucial foundation.
As the group prepared their defenses, Sarutobi Asuma's shadow clone entered the gate.
On the ground, a thin, inconspicuous thread was noticed by Sarutobi Asuma's shadow clone.
I carefully lifted my foot to step over it, but stopped abruptly halfway across.
If the other party sets a trap behind the thin line—after thinking for a moment, Sarutobi Asuma retracted his feet and then leaped into the air!
"Bang!"
Five meters away from the thin line, Sarutobi Asuma's shadow clone missed a step and fell into the trap.
With a loud "BOOM!", and a burst of fire, Sarutobi Asuma's shadow clone dissipated.
Sarutobi Asuma: "————"
"They predicted what I predicted."
Faced with Sarutobi Asuma's explanation, Shinzuki Seiun simply patted him on the shoulder. Even he hadn't expected Sarutobi Asuma to jump so accurately. The trap was over a meter wide; if the opponent's landing point had been even slightly off, he probably wouldn't have fallen in.
"They actually went so far as to use explosive tags to set up a trap?" Sarutobi Asuma was both frightened and puzzled.
Explosive tags are powerful and expensive, making them extremely valuable to genin (lower-ranking ninja).
Kurenai observed the aftermath of the trap's explosion and said, "It was probably a low-quality detonator; its power wasn't particularly great."
As she spoke, she bent down and picked up a stone. The three of them stepped back a few paces, and Kurenai Yuhi aimed at the thin line on the ground from a distance and gently tossed it.
As the thin line snapped on the stone, the next second, with the sound of the machine turning, a basin of kerosene was suddenly poured down from above.
"~~and, flames blazing, heat waves hitting the face."
Sarutobi Asuma swallowed hard and looked at Shingetsu Seiun beside him with a sigh.
"They really value you."
"If it's this exaggerated at the beginning, won't it get even more exaggerated later on?"
Even the Divine Moon Nebula didn't know.
Kurenai thought for a moment and said, "Probably not."
"The consumption is too great."
Soon after, the fire at the entrance was finally extinguished, and Shingetsu Seiun entered first, followed cautiously by Sarutobi Asuma and the other two.
Fortunately, they didn't encounter any more traps for the rest of the journey. It's unclear whether this was because Sarutobi Asuma led them down a sharp bend, or if the enemy knew that setting traps along the way was too inefficient.
However, even without the threat of traps, their journey was not smooth.
There are too many animals in the Death Forest.
Poisonous insects, wild beasts, and even strange plants slowed the three of them down.
"Whoosh~"
With a single sword stroke, he cleaved the venomous snake that had been flung towards his calf in two. Suddenly, Shenyue Xingyun stopped in her tracks on a tree.
"What's wrong, Nebula?" Kurenai landed beside him. "Why did you stop?"
Shen Yue Xingyun frowned slightly: "Something's not right."
"What, what did you find out?" Sarutobi Asuma stopped beside him.
Upon hearing this, Shenyue Xingyun explained, "There are too many poisonous insects."
"As we traveled here, snakes, insects, rodents, and even rabbits pounced on me."
Sarutobi Asuma: "You mean the animals here are too fierce?"
Shingetsu Nebula: "I mean, these animals shouldn't be so aggressive."
Even venomous snakes generally do not attack animals that are significantly different in size.
Just as he was speaking, a huge gecko quickly crawled along the tree trunk and arrived at Kurenai's feet in a moment, pouncing on her ankle.
Pshaw!
A flash of sword light, and the gecko was split in two.
Shenyue Xingyun gripped her longsword tightly and said, "Have you noticed?"
"These animals seem to be attacking us from under our feet."
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Asuma immediately took off his shoes, glanced at the soles, and then brought them to his nose to smell.
"Yue~" Sarutobi Asuma stumbled: "It smells good."
Shenyue Xingyun frowned: "Hmm, I can see that."
Sarutobi Asuma bowed and waved his hand: "No, I mean, the soles of the shoes have a different smell."
Upon hearing this, Shenyue Xingyun also lifted his feet and fanned himself with his hand.
"It seems to have a sweet smell."
Kurenai quickly replied, "Me too."
Then, her expression changed!
"There's something on the soles of our shoes that attracts these animals to attack!"
Shenyue Xingyun nodded.
"Change your shoes."
"If you don't have shoes, cover them up with something."
As the three of them changed their shoes, Sarutobi Asuma was still wondering.
"When were our shoes tampered with?"
Shenyue Xingyun thought for a moment: "It should be the entrance."
"The entrance?" Sarutobi Asuma asked curiously, "I didn't find anything unusual."
At that moment, Kurenai suddenly said, "I know of a potion."
"Heating it at high temperatures will attract attacks from animals."
Upon hearing this, the group thought of the burning oil at the entrance.
Sarutobi Asuma exclaimed, "So, there wasn't just one trap at the entrance."
"That guy, Mizuki, is really cunning."
"And they've really gone all out," Kurenai Yuhi added. "This potion is even more expensive than explosive tags."
"As far as I know, the Mizuki family isn't a powerful clan." As she spoke, Kurenai couldn't help but glance at Seiun Kamitsuki, asking suspiciously, "For him to go to such lengths to set up a trap, did you steal his girlfriend too?"