novelhk Chapter 399 The Heavenly Scroll Delivered to Your Door
Chapter 399 The Heavenly Scroll Delivered to Your Door
Chapter 399 The Heavenly Scroll Delivered to Your Door
The Forest of Death, Entrance No. 23.
The loud bang of the iron gate closing still echoed in the air when three genin wearing Sound Ninja headbands shot into the dense grove like arrows.
The leader was tall and thin, his straw hat pulled low, revealing only the lower half of his slightly pale face.
It was Orochimaru disguised as a genin!
He had only walked a few hundred meters when he suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal.
The two Sound Ninja behind them, one wearing a gas mask and the other with a scar on his face, immediately stopped and looked around warily.
"Let's part ways here." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse and cold, devoid of any emotion.
"Go and test that brat named Hozuki Suigetsu in Kirigakure as originally planned."
"King Kong!" The Sound Ninja wearing a gas mask spoke with obvious displeasure.
"You've only just entered and you're already splitting up? Lord Orochimaru's mission is crucial. If something goes wrong while you're acting alone, we can't afford the consequences!"
Another Sound Ninja chimed in gruffly, "Exactly! We don't know why Lord Orochimaru values you so much, but the mission takes priority! Don't forget, besides us, Tosukinari's group is also on a mission, and their target is also a genius from Kirigakure!"
"We must complete their mission first before we can impress Lord Orochimaru!"
These two were just ordinary genin from the Sound Village, completely unaware that the "Kishinja" in front of them was Orochimaru, whom they revered like a god.
They were only ordered to follow the command of "Kishinja" during the Chunin Exams and to focus on observing and probing Hozuki Suigetsu of Kirigakure.
They were filled with doubt and resentment as to why Orochimaru was so interested in a low-ranking ninja from Kirigakure.
Orochimaru slowly turned his head, and from the shadow under his hat, a pair of vertical pupils, like those of a cold-blooded animal, suddenly opened, and a chilling killing intent instantly pierced the marrow of the two genin.
!!!
The two men trembled violently, as if they had fallen into an ice cave. Their blood seemed to freeze instantly, and they stood frozen in place, unable to move even a finger.
They opened their mouths wide, but no sound came out; they could only stare in horror at those inhuman eyes.
Orochimaru gently adjusted the edge of his hat, his killing intent receding like a tide.
"I know what I'm doing," he said calmly, then vanished from the spot in a flash.
Several seconds later, the two Sound Ninjas finally caught their breath, their backs soaked with cold sweat, their legs weak, and they could barely stand.
"That was just now—that was—"
"Stop—stop asking!"
Another person interrupted him, still shaken, wiping away a cold sweat.
"Do as he says! This guy—is definitely not simple! We'll just test Hozuki Suigetsu, and ask no more questions about anything else!"
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing horror and lingering fear in each other's eyes. They dared not raise any further objections, adjusted their direction, and sped towards the area where the Hozuki Suigetsu Squad might be active, as indicated in the intelligence.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest.
Menma, Naruto, and Hinata moved swiftly among the branches of the towering tree, their movements as light as monkeys, minimizing the sound of their landings and the fluctuations of their chakra.
The dense canopy blocked most of the sunlight, making the forest dimly lit and the air humid. The fragrance of grass and trees was mixed with a faint smell of blood and decay.
"Listen, Naruto!" Menma whispered to Naruto beside him while maintaining high-speed movement.
"This isn't a drill; it's a real-world assessment. Besides the test takers, the forest is teeming with dangerous creatures and natural traps. Put away your loud and boisterous manner, stay alert at all times, be aware of your surroundings, and try not to make any unnecessary noise."
Naruto, unusually, didn't argue. His deep blue eyes were filled with seriousness as he nodded emphatically, "Don't worry, Menma-nii! I know what's important!"
Having gone through the ordeal of the mission in the Land of Waves, he has indeed grown a lot. Although his personality remains lively, he has also come to understand the importance of remaining hidden in certain circumstances.
Hinata followed closely on Menma's other side, her Byakugan always open, with slightly bulging veins around her eyes. Her 360-degree field of vision and X-ray vision made her the team's most reliable "radar".
She reported softly, "There's a large feline den about 500 meters away at one o'clock; we should avoid it. There's a swampy smell at ten o'clock; I suggest turning right."
Mianma nodded.
With their coordinated efforts, the three avoided several obviously dangerous areas and quickly advanced towards the tower in the center of the forest.
According to Menma's plan, they should first reach a relatively safe area near the tower, and then wait for the next team to arrive to seize the required Heavenly Scroll. This way, they can avoid unnecessary attrition battles with other teams along the way.
His Kagura Mind's Eye had also silently unfolded, like an invisible net, easily covering an area of twenty kilometers around the entire Death Forest.
Sixteen squads, forty-eight chakra sources, were clearly visible, like candlelight in the night.
Some are moving rapidly, some are lying in wait, and some have already begun fighting.
He could feel the fluctuations generated when those chakras collided, spreading out like ripples on the surface of water.
Soon, they arrived at a relatively open area beside a stream in the woods. "Stop." Menma raised his hand to signal the two to be quiet.
"Let's pause for a rest and gather information."
Naruto immediately crouched down, cautiously observing his surroundings.
Hinata leaned against a tree trunk, her Byakugan still activated, continuing her reconnaissance.
Menma closed his eyes, and Kagura activated her Mind's Eye with all her might.
Sixteen chakra marks appeared clearly in his mind.
He quickly analyzed the situation: more and more squads had already clashed, and the chakra fluctuations were intense; three squads were moving rapidly toward the central tower, seemingly planning to ambush them; and several other squads were lying in ambush, likely setting up an ambush.
And they themselves—
Menma touched the ninja tool pouch at his waist, where the "Earth" scroll was placed.
"The scroll we obtained is 'Earth'." He opened his eyes and whispered, "According to the rules, we need a 'Heaven' scroll to pass through. We either need to actively attack and seize it, or—wait and see."
Naruto's eyes lit up: "Menma-nii means we should just go and wait near the tower for a team with a scroll to come to us?"
"You're actually quite clever at this point," Menma nodded with a smile. "This is the most efficient method."
"We don't need to waste time in the forest with other teams. Five days is a long time, and the remaining teams get stronger as time goes on, making the battles more brutal. If we collect the scrolls in advance, we can enter the tower sooner and avoid most of the conflicts."
"But—" Hinata said with some worry, "Won't the other teams think of this too? There might already be someone lying in ambush near the tower."
"So we need to be careful," Menma said. "Besides, we have the advantage."
He pointed to Hinata's eyes.
The combination of Byakugan and Kagura's Mind's Eye is like two scout positions, almost like a dummy in this forest environment.
They can detect the enemy in advance, choose the safest route, and even control the information of the entire battlefield.
Naruto clenched his fist, his fighting spirit soaring: "That's it! Let's go straight to the tower!"
"Wait a minute." Menma suddenly frowned.
Almost simultaneously, Hinata also issued an alert: "Six o'clock! Chakra is rapidly approaching! Three people!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Naruto instinctively flung out a kunai.
call out-
The kunai sliced through the air and shot towards the bushes on the right.
"Damn it! Now that we've been discovered, we have no choice but to launch a full-scale attack!"
An angry voice rang out from the bushes.
Immediately afterwards, three figures darted out from within.
The leader was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a beige bodysuit and a headband from the Grass Ninja Village, with green face paint on his face.
His hands were rapidly forming hand seals as he shouted, "Cover me!"
The other two rushed out from the left and right.
They all wore straw hats and black cloaks, obscuring their faces, but their movements were swift. They carried kunai and special ninja tools, such as scythes, clearly indicating that they were all close-combat ninjas.
One person lunged at Naruto, and the other rushed towards Hinata.
Meanwhile, the grass ninja in the beige bodysuit had already completed the hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Flower Technique!"
He took a deep breath, his chest bulged, and then exhaled sharply.
A crimson fireball, half a meter in diameter, spewed from his mouth, carrying scorching heat and blinding light, heading straight for Mianma!
Where the fireball passed, the air distorted, and the fallen leaves on the ground were instantly charred and curled.
The power of this attack has surpassed the level of an ordinary genin.
Clearly, this grass ninja has considerable skill in fire release techniques.
"Brother Menma!" Naruto shouted, trying to rush over, but the Grass Ninja in front of him had already swung his sword, forcing him to retreat and block.
Hinata's side is also embroiled in a fierce battle.
The grass ninja who rushed towards her was incredibly skilled in taijutsu, his kunai aimed precisely at vital points with every strike.
Hinata immediately used Gentle Fist to counter, but was unable to escape for a time.
Menma's expression remained unchanged as he watched the fireball hurtling towards him.
He didn't even form hand seals; he simply pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and tossed it out casually.
But an explosive tag was tied to the end of the kunai.
The kunai was aimed precisely at the center of the fireball.
boom!
The detonation tag exploded, creating a violent reaction with the chakra inside the fireball.
A burst of brilliant sparks erupted in mid-air, flames scattered, and heat waves spread in all directions.
The shockwave from the explosion made the surrounding trees rustle, and leaves fell like rain.
However, amidst the flames of the explosion, a second kunai silently slipped through the gap in the flames.
The trajectory of that kunai was tricky; it changed direction using the shockwave from the explosion, drawing a strange arc as it shot towards the grass ninja in the beige bodysuit.
As the grass ninja was still reeling from the fact that his fire jutsu had been broken, he instinctively leaped backward to dodge when he saw the second kunai coming.
He reacted quickly and seized the right moment.
If the kunai had flown in a straight line, he could have easily dodged the attack.
However, the kunai was affected by the shockwave again during flight, and its trajectory was slightly adjusted once more.
puff.
The kunai pierced the grass ninja's left shoulder with precision, and the enormous impact sent him flying backward, pinning him to the trunk of a large tree.
"Cough!" The grass ninja coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale instantly.
He struggled to pull out the kunai, but even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain, leaving him helplessly hanging on the tree trunk.
On the other side...
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto formed hand seals, and dozens of shadow clones instantly appeared, surrounding the grass ninja in front of him.
"What?! So many?!" The grass ninja was clearly surprised that Naruto had this skill. One or two shadow clones were already quite powerful, but the opponent could create dozens of them!
He panicked for a moment and was caught off guard by several shadow clones who pinned him to the ground.
"Eight Trigrams Palm!" Hinata unleashed a beautiful Eight Trigrams Palm, a concentrated shockwave of chakra striking the grass ninja in the chest from a distance. He groaned and flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a large tree before sliding down and losing consciousness.
The battle lasted only a few minutes from start to finish.
Of the three ninja, one was seriously injured and two were unconscious.
Naruto deactivated his shadow clone and ran over, panting, "Menma-nii! Are you alright?"
"It's nothing." Menma shook his head and walked up to the grass ninja who was nailed to the tree.
When Shinobu saw Menma approaching, a look of horror appeared on his face.
He struggled to raise his still-movable right hand, pulled a scroll from his ninja tool pouch at his waist, and handed it over with trembling hands.
"Spare me—spare my life—" His voice was broken and intermittent due to the pain.
"Our reel—for you—is a weekly reel—just what you need, right—"
Mianma looked at the scroll in his hand, black silk cloth with the white character "天" (heaven).
It truly is a scroll from heaven.
And that's exactly what they need.
Mianma reached out to grab the scroll.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the reel.
A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of the Grass Ninja.
He suddenly opened his mouth and flicked his tongue.
call out!
A tiny steel needle, as thin as a cow's hair, shot out of his mouth and went straight for his pockmarked face!
The steel needles were almost invisible in the dim light of the forest, moving at an astonishing speed and at such close range that they were nearly impossible to dodge.
This is the grass ninja's life-saving trump card.
He conceals a specially made launcher under his tongue, and at crucial moments, he can unexpectedly shoot out steel needles. Many opponents stronger than him have fallen victim to this move.
Naruto's eyes widened: "Menma-san, watch out!"
Hinata also exclaimed in surprise.
When the steel needle flew to within about ten centimeters of Mianma's face, it seemed to hit an invisible wall and suddenly stopped in mid-air.
It hovered there, the needle tip trembling slightly, unable to move forward even an inch.
The fierce look on Kusanagi's face instantly turned into unbelievable terror.
His mouth was agape, his eyes bulging as if he had seen the most incredible thing in the world.
"You—" he said hoarsely, his voice filled with fear.
Mianma casually picked up the scroll, tossed it around to confirm it was real.
Then he looked at the steel needle hovering in the air.
"I was going to let you go," Menma said softly. "After all, it's just an exam; there's no need to kill anyone."
He flicked his finger lightly.
It was as if an invisible force was acting on the steel needle, causing it to reflect back at a faster speed than when it was shot out.
puff.
A slight sound.
The steel needle pierced precisely between the eyebrows of the grass ninja, exited from the back of his head, and became embedded in the tree trunk.
The grass ninja's eyes were still open, but the light within them had completely dimmed.
His head drooped limply, blood flowing down his nose and dripping onto his beige bodysuit, spreading out in a dark red pattern.
died.
Naruto and Hinata stood there, watching this scene, their faces turning pale.
Although they had seen some dead people during their mission in the Land of Waves, whether it was Zabuza Momochi or the samurai of the Matsuo Group.
But that was during a mission, and they didn't kill them themselves.
This time, it was Menma who so casually ended a person's life right in front of them.
That composure, that calmness, gave Naruto a strange chill.
"Brother Menma—" Naruto opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.
Menma rolled up his scroll, looked at Naruto, and said calmly, "In the world of ninjas, being merciful to your enemy is being cruel to yourself. He wanted to kill me, so I killed him. It's that simple."
He paused, then added, "Of course, this doesn't mean ninjas can kill indiscriminately, but you must understand that sometimes there are no other options."
Naruto fell silent.
He looked at the dead ninja, then at Menma, and finally nodded vigorously.
Hinata lowered her head, her small hands clenched tightly.
She could understand Mianma's actions, but the shock of facing death head-on, the smell of blood mixed with brain matter slowly flowing into her nose, made her feel nauseous.
"What about them?" Naruto pointed to the two grass ninjas who had collapsed on the ground not far away.
Menma initially wanted to say "never mind," as he didn't want to show too much of his cold side in front of Naruto and Hinata.
These two grass ninjas are already unconscious and seriously injured. They pose no threat and there is no need to kill them all.
Just then, Hinata warned again, "Someone's coming again! From one o'clock! They're moving very fast!"
Before the words were even finished, two kunai shot out from the depths of the dense forest with a sharp whooshing sound!
call out!call out!
Two kunai pierced the necks of the two unconscious ninja with precision.
Fresh blood gushed out.
The two grass ninja twitched a few times, then remained completely still.
"Who?!" Naruto and Hinata instantly went into battle mode, standing back to back, looking warily in the direction from which the kunai had come.
Mianma also raised his head and looked at the big tree.
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the tree canopy.
He stood on a horizontal tree branch, wearing the gray combat uniform of the Sound Village and a straw hat on his head.
The shadow of the straw hat covered most of his face, but even from this distance, the cold aura emanating from his golden vertical pupils was palpable.
Although his appearance was disguised, Menma recognized his aura at a glance.
Orochimaru.
"Oh dear, it's better to be a little harsher," Orochimaru said with a light laugh, his voice soft and sinister.
"In a place like this, leaving survivors alive is like planting the seeds of future trouble. Who knows if they'll seek revenge when they wake up?"
His gaze lingered on Menma, a playful look in his eyes.
Naruto and Hinata were both tense.
Just being stared at by those eyes filled them with an instinctive fear, like prey being targeted by a predator.
Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and his body trembled involuntarily.
Mianma raised his hand and placed it on the shoulders of the two of them.
A gentle yet powerful chakra flowed from his palm into their bodies, dispelling the icy feeling.
Naruto and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, but still kept a wary eye on the uninvited guest in the tree.
Menma then stepped forward, blocking the two of them, and said, "The second exam isn't fun at all."
"The reels have been delivered now, and we're ready to head straight to the tower."
"Oh?" Orochimaru's voice held a hint of curiosity. "I thought you'd be interested in genin from other ninja villages."
"After all, there are quite a few geniuses from the various ninja villages this time: the Mist Village's swordsmen, the Cloud Village's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki disciple, and the Iwagakure's Explosion Release genius—they're all excellent candidates."
He emphasized the word "materials," his golden vertical pupils gleaming with greed.
Naruto and Hinata were slightly taken aback.
The way they talked—it felt like they were acquaintances?
But isn't the opponent the Sound Ninja?
How did you meet Brother Mianma?
Mianma shook his head: "I'm not interested in those things. You do your thing, I'll do mine, and we won't interfere with each other."
He paused, then added, "Of course, just don't touch my people."
This statement clearly draws a line: he doesn't care about Orochimaru's other actions during the exam, but Team 7 is his bottom line.
Orochimaru smiled, his mouth widening as he stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips.
"Hmph." He chuckled twice, the sound particularly eerie in the silent forest.
"Don't worry, I know my limits. You and this nine-tailed brat can just play house."
Naruto's body trembled violently when he heard the name "Nine-Tailed Demon".
He subconsciously looked at Menma, his eyes full of confusion. Why did this Sound Ninja know about him?
"That's good." Menma nodded.
Orochimaru gave Menma a deep look, a complex light flashing in his golden vertical pupils, as if he were weighing something.
Have fun, and see you in the third exam!
After saying that, he jumped backward and quickly disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
Naruto and Hinata stared wide-eyed.
"What exactly does this guy do?" Naruto rubbed his head.
"He's already gone, so fast!" Hinata whispered, her Byakugan still searching, but the other person quickly disappeared from her Byakugan's field of vision.
Menma didn't explain. He turned around and said to the two of them, "Let's go, let's go straight to the tower."
"But Menma-nii-san—" Naruto hesitated for a moment before finally asking.
"That Sound Ninja—you know him? He just mentioned the Nine-Tails brat—"
"There are some things that aren't for you to know right now," Menma interrupted him, her tone gentle but firm. "You'll know when the time is right. Right now, we just need to finish the exam."
He glanced at the scroll in his hand, then at the direction of the tower.
"The forest is going to be quite lively these next few days," Menma said softly. This Chunin Exams has gathered the elites from all the ninja villages, so the excitement level is likely to be several times higher.
"Orochimaru—that guy is never going to stay put."
"Orochimaru?" Hinata paused, startled. "The one from earlier—"
"A dangerous guy," Menma said simply.
He didn't say anything more and turned to walk into the depths of the forest.
Naruto and Hinata exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion and worry in each other's eyes.
But they believed in the noodles, so they didn't ask any more questions and just followed silently.
The three disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
Where they had just fought, only three gradually cooling corpses and the lingering smell of blood remained in the air.
The first massacre in the Death Forest ended quietly.
But the hunt has only just begun.