Chapter 979

"That's true enough." What Konohamaru had originally meant to say was, "Then how strong is the Moon ninja force you built?" but in the end she swallowed the words that had risen to her lips.

After all, the other party was the person Orochimaru was chasing; even if that person was no longer a member of Konoha, it wouldn't change the fact, and asking such a thing would only make her seem too shallow.

While Konohamaru and Young Yuanzi were chatting and laughing here, the slaughter in the forest was gradually escalating.

"What kind of person could do something this… ugh, this?" The brutal scene of slaughter before her eyes made Haruno Sakura feel as though she might vomit her entire stomach out.

"These bone spears should be the product of some Kekkei Genkai." Uchiha Sanai kept her Sharingan active; none of this would cause her any ill effect, for on that night when her clan was slaughtered she had seen monsters far more terrifying than this.

"Crack!"

"Phew, it's a bit tough!" The power of the demon fox within Naruko gave her considerable resistance to such bloody scenes; she even pulled a relatively thin bone spike from the ground and tried to snap it, only managing it after putting in thirty percent of her strength for a task she had thought would be easy.

"Do ninja who use bones as their Kekkei Genkai really exist? Hey, come on, ugh… don't you two feel sick at all?"

Haruno Sakura, who had lived her entire ordinary life sheltered beneath the great tree of Konoha, simply could not endure such an uncanny thing; what she had never imagined was that her two teammates were completely untroubled by the scene.

Sanai's Sharingan swept across the cross-section of the bone spike in Naruko's hand, then she shifted her gaze to the remains of the "intel scroll" not far from the three gruesome corpses.

"We need to be careful; their objective isn't the scroll, or at least…"

If that were the case, this exam would likely not be so easy; Sanai was still searching for any possible clue.

She was weighing how to act afterward; if she and Naruko really ran into the other party, retreating with all their strength on the condition of keeping their distance probably wouldn't be a problem.

But if it were Sakura, in her current state she would likely lose combat ability on the first strike, and then she and Naruko, with Gu Ji on their minds, might fall into a predicament and end up wiped out.

"Tch, couldn't you at least leave something behind for others?" Naruko stared regretfully at the remains of the "intel scroll" and muttered a complaint; sometimes a jinchūriki's priorities really were different from a normal person's.

After marking the lingering chakra residue in the air, Sanai roughly confirmed the direction the one who had done this would head next; after measuring it against the map, she chose another route without hesitation.

"We go from here, cross the river and advance along the edge of another area, heading first toward the 'Tower.'"

"Choosing to avoid them? I have no objection." Naruko tossed aside the bone spike she had snapped in two; truly fighting a stubborn-boned opponent like this, especially one who didn't care about the exam and was lost in his own world of slaughter — no one wanted to face such thankless trouble.

At this time, on the side of Jiliang Miye's squad, which was still locked in fierce combat with Neji's team.

She had now unleashed a two-handed great hammer utterly disproportionate to her flat, loli-like frame, and now she had grown wary of the bun-haired girl before her who could skillfully wield all manner of ninja tools.......

"Setting aside that kappa-watermelon and the Hyūga kid, why are you so skilled with ninja tools!"

"Hey! I have to say, you Konoha folks really don't hold back." Chimiya Nerine had appeared at some unknown point.

Tenten had absolutely no idea how to respond to Chimiya Nerine's question, and now was not the time for the two of them to sit down and discuss ninja-tool usage.

"Sorry, little miss, but we're going to take your scroll; of course, once we've beaten you, we'll fire the signal flare for you!"

"L-little miss? Damn it! Apart from Rio, no one is allowed to call me little miss!" The moment Chimiya Nerine heard Tenten's way of addressing her, she showed even stronger hostility than before; the two-handed great hammer in her hands flashed with violet light, and a strange power rose from within it.

"I'll smash you flat!" Perhaps out of resentment toward her own childlike body, Chimiya Nerine viciously voiced her desire to turn the other girl into a paper doll; the pale-purple energy on her hammer seemed to convert that emotion into burning fuel, instantly enveloping her entire body, making her look as though she were wrapped in a suit of flame armor.

Since Jiliang Miye had her summoning beast "Shadow Concealment" seen through by Neji and all of them had been found, she had been locked in an evenly matched taijutsu exchange with him.

Now she had a whole new understanding of Konoha genin; if not for my lord Young Yuanzi's special training, she would likely have already lost, and now a worrying situation had arisen.

"Crap, that girl actually said the absolute forbidden phrase for little Nerine!"

GLOSSARY:

- Konohamaru

- Young Yuanzi

- Orochimaru

- Konoha

- Haruno Sakura

- Kekkei Genkai

- Uchiha Sanai

- Sharingan

- Naruko

- Gu Ji

- jinchūriki

- Jiliang Miye

- Neji

- Tenten

- Chimiya Nerine

- Rio

- Shadow Concealment

- Qiedoubu Society