Shisui crouched low, his Sharingan glowing faintly in the shade as he scanned the dense forest ahead. Tall trees stretched toward the sky, casting long shadows that only allowed patches of sunlight.
"We need to move without leaving a trace," Shisui whispered, his eyes and ears alert, searching for any sign of movement or traps. "The examiners won't actively hunt us, but we'll alert them if we trigger any trap or touch the chakra-sensing barrier!"
Tenga nodded, "I'll try to see any nearby traps or chakra-sensing barriers."
Just then, a familiar notification rang in Ryou's mind.
[~ Task: Become a Chunin in a high-profile manner, stunning everyone.
Reward: +1 Upgrade Point ~]
Seeing this, Ryou's lips twitched a little and he thought, 'Since the system gave me such a task, it seems like it doesn't want me to stay low. Well... it doesn't matter. I can use this upgrade point.'
Ryou rejected Shisui and Tenga's plan to stay covert. "You two, let's be bold. Even if there are examiners, we won't be disqualified if we defeat them!"
Tenga stared at Ryou, utterly speechless. "You're crazy. We know you're strong, Ryou, but isn't this plan a bit too arrogant and high-profile? We could end up being targeted by not just the other teams but every examiner out there."
Shisui glanced at Ryou with a contemplative look on his face, as he shared his thoughts. "Tenga's right. It's unwise to risk being surrounded by both examiners acting as enemy shinobi and other teams at the same time."
Ryou waved his hand dismissively. "You two, stop seeing everything through what you learned at the academy. Think outside the box, look at things differently from the perspective of the world..."
Tenga rolled his eyes and interrupted. "Stop with the wise talk. You've already made up your mind, and I know we have no choice but to follow. Just tell us the plan."
Ryou looked at Tenga. "You can be taught. Because of the border tension, the village doesn't have many high-level shinobi to spare for this exam. Most of the examiners posing as enemy shinobi are probably just Chunin-level, using shadow clones to bulk up the numbers.
At worst, we might face a Jonin-level shadow clone, but we can handle that."
Tenga exchanged a glance with Shisui, who just shrugged and shared the same speechless expression. "Alright, let's go crazy," Tenga sighed. "It's just the Chunin Exam. Even if we fail, we can try again next time."
Ryou smiled and quickly formed a hand seal for 'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough' and unleashed a powerful gust of wind from his mouth.
He didn't hold back, pouring a large amount of chakra into the jutsu. The result was like a miniature storm, tearing through the forest with power.
The windstorm surged forward, obliterating traps, destroying chakra-sensing barriers, and leaving destruction in its wake. Even some nearby hidden examiners were affected by the Jutsu.
It drew the attention of every Genin participating in the exams, making them wonder who would be reckless enough to use such a high-profile jutsu, knowing it would attract all the examiners posing as enemy shinobi.
Tenga looked at Ryou, annoyed. "Alright. You've successfully alerted everyone in the area! So, what's next?"
Ryou shrugged nonchalantly, exuding a fearless aura, and responded casually, "We wait for them to come. Then, we beat up whoever shows up, ask the examiner about the nearest safe zone, and finish the exam."
Tenga sighed, shaking his head in disbelief, and muttered, "You're crazy, Ryou." He thought that after the commotion, they would either set a trap or slip through amidst the chaos. But no, Ryou plan to face everyone head-on.
The three prepared for a fight, bracing themselves for the inevitable rush of examiners or other teams. But what they thought would happen didn't. Instead, no one came. Not even the examiners disguised as enemy shinobi.
Ryou, once confident, now looked stunned. 'Why did no one respond?' he muttered.
--
Unknownst to them, a Genin team was observing their location from a distance. Among them was Hyuga Retsu, a talented young ninja from the Hyuga Main house. His Byakugan was active with veins bulging around his eyes as he watched Ryou, Shisui, and Tenga.
"Retsu, why aren't we doing anything?" asked a 10-year-old girl with double ponytails, her voice filled with curiousness and urge to fight the other team. "If we take them out now, we won't have to worry about them later when we head for the safe zone."
Retsu deactivated his Byakugan and shook his head. "We wouldn't gain anything from fighting or approaching them right now," he replied calmly. "Our goal is to reach the safe zone, not to engage in unnecessary battles."
Another member of the team, a boy with a short sword strapped to his back, frowned in confusion. "Then why did they do this? It's like they're trying to pick a fight with both the examiners and Genin teams like us."
Retsu's brows furrowed slightly. "I'm not sure either. It's a weird strategy. Maybe they're trying to provoke a response from the examiners or a team like us. But either way, it's not our problem."
Under his lead, the team moved on, heading in another direction.
Meanwhile, the examiners acting as enemy shinobi were equally speechless at Ryou's team's bold actions. They watched from a distance, choosing not to intervene just yet, hoping to see if any other teams would make the stupid mistake of approaching them.
However, it soon became clear that no other team was foolish enough to fall for the commotion, as no one other team had shown up.
The examiners waited to see if Ryou's team would come up with a plan to recover from this... or hoping for something to happen.
Nearly 15 minutes passed. Ryou, Tenga, and Shisui exchanged glances with awkward silence in the air.
"I think we might've miscalculated," Shisui said, breaking the silence in a calm tone, trying to ease the awkwardness. "The idea was good, but just because we made commotion doesn't mean anyone has to come at us."
Ryou rubbed the back of his head, a rare flash of embarrassment crossing his face. Because of the system task, he thought of doing something bold so he didn't think much. "Haha… sorry guys. Looks like my plan didn't work out as expected."
Tenga burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. "Hahaha… we made a huge scene for nothing!"
"Well, I won't say it's for nothing." Ryou shrugged, scanning the surrounding forest. "Since the examiners are here now. We can take them out and ask where the safe zone is."
As if provoked by Ryou's words, shadows emerged from the treeline, quickly surrounding the trio. There were nine figures in total, but in truth only three of them were real. The rest were shadow clones, created by the Chunin-level examiners to create an illusion of greater numbers.
"You're quite arrogant for a Genin," one of the examiners remarked, his tone sharp and blunt. "Do you really think it's that easy to defeat us and get to the safe zone? Actions like yours will only lead to disqualification."
"I don't think so," Ryou replied, stepping forward as he drew his sword. Beside him, Shisui and Tenga readied themselves by taking out their shurikens and kunai.
--
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