"Interception team?!"
In an instant, the gazes of both Kimimaro's and Neji's squads were drawn to the three interception team members who had burst onto the scene.
Undoubtedly,
These three who intruded upon their standoff were none other than Night Owl's group, who had encountered Uchiha Shinji not long ago and had their Hogan dug out.
Because the two among them who had the Hogan had now lost their eyes, and Night Owl himself had injured legs, they fled in haste. They hadn't noticed the Kimimaro and Neji squads locked in confrontation within the forest, and so they crashed right in.
"It's just a bunch of brats!"
The only one of Night Owl's subordinates who still had his eyes informed Night Owl of the situation.
Realizing their opponents were merely a group of academy students, Night Owl barked, "Ignore them—charge through!"
At Night Owl's command, the three of them formed a wedge and charged straight toward Kimimaro and Neji, who were in the center of the clearing, locked in a standoff.
Even though they were severely wounded, with two of them having lost their eyes and Night Owl's legs injured, as an experienced jōnin, Night Owl still didn't take a bunch of shinobi academy students seriously.
Watching the suddenly appearing interception team rushing at them, Shion, Kurama Yakumo, Tenten, and Lee were flabbergasted.
Unlike Kimimaro and Neji, those four were still quite apprehensive about facing any interception team presumed to be chūnin. Moreover, for whatever reason, these three coming at them radiated intense hostility!
Kimimaro glanced at Neji, then said, "I'll take care of this interception team!"
Night Owl's group had put their masks back on, so aside from Neji, no one else on site immediately noticed anything unusual. Kimimaro was no exception.
Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji alone saw the hollow sockets behind Night Owl's and another man's mask. But noticing Kimimaro already rushing out, Neji wouldn't let himself be outdone; he hurried forward as well!
Sensing the air currents, even without his eyes, Night Owl discerned that one of these "little brats" dared rush straight at him. Furious, he growled, "You academy brats dare seek death—I'll oblige!"
In that instant, he decided to kill!
Night Owl's murderous intent was immediately perceived by Kimimaro, who simply didn't care; he drove his bone blade forward without hesitation.
Clang, clang, clang.
A burst of metallic clangs rang out through the clearing!
Night Owl was taken aback, cursing inwardly that something was wrong.
He knew that, even without eyes, dealing with average academy students should have been child's play. The one before him, though, was no ordinary academy student.
Hence, he quickly formed hand seals, wanting to end the fight swiftly with a ninjutsu!
Seeing his opponent was trying to form seals, Kimimaro at once opened the first Gate of the "Eight Gates Release," instantly boosting his speed. He brought his bone blade down head-on!
Swish!
Next moment, Night Owl froze on the spot. The hands he'd raised to form seals fell helplessly, and a fountain of blood sprayed from his body before he collapsed with a dull thud.
Kimimaro paused, momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected his head-on slash to end the fight so abruptly—the opponent didn't even defend, and he was cut down with a single stroke!
Meanwhile,
Night Owl's other two subordinates, desperate to flee, attacked ferociously. Neji had no choice but to go all out.
With his Gentle Fist and Byakugan, he landed strikes on multiple vital points in an instant, knocking them both out cold.
At that, the entire clearing fell silent.
Shion covered her mouth. "Kimimaro, h-how could you kill them?"
Kurama Yakumo was equally stunned. "This is bad!"
Tenten dashed over to check on the two that Neji had taken down, her face growing anxious. "Not good, Neji—you struck their vitals!"
Lee said hastily, "What do we do now? Should we fire a distress flare?"
Kimimaro wore a grim expression, clearly at a loss.
By the looks of their taijutsu, these three shouldn't have been so frail. That was why he opened the first Gate for extra speed. He never expected that a single frontal strike would go undefended. Even he was thrown off by this!
Neji was even more flustered. "Hurry—fire the distress flares! If they don't get treatment, they could die!"
At Neji's shout, Tenten, Shion, and the others no longer cared about the exam. They hurriedly fired their distress flares!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
With two sharp hisses, two signals rocketed skyward, bursting into smoke.
Swish, swish, swish!
Moments later, figures dropped into the clearing. Arriving were Kakashi, Sasuke, and others.
Seeing Kakashi's team appear, Neji immediately said, "Please treat them quickly! If we don't, they're in danger!"
Shion, Tenten, and the others were all talking at once.
Spotting the three interception team members sprawled on the ground, Kakashi asked, "What happened here? What's going on?"
Neji quickly described the events, then said, "Kimimaro and I didn't realize they were so fragile, so we were momentarily careless!"
With a strange look on his face, Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "Were these the people who attacked you earlier?"
Sasuke recognized Night Owl's group at a glance. Seeing Night Owl lying on the ground, already dead, and the other two men near death, he grew furious.
Especially hearing Shion and Tenten chattering about how "the interception team members were so weak that a little clash killed them," that Kimimaro and Neji finished them off easily…Sasuke's face was dark the entire time, unable to utter a word.
Hearing Kakashi's question, Shion asked curiously, "Sasuke, did these guys attack you before?"
Kurama Yakumo looked Sasuke over. "Why are you so badly hurt?"
Tenten added fuel. "Don't tell me you were beaten up by these guys?"
Lee said, "That's impossible! They were so weak—how could they possibly hurt Sasuke?"
Confronted by everyone's stares, Sasuke's expression grew more and more sullen.
Some distance away, observing with his Byakugan and confirming Night Owl's group's fate, Uchiha Shinji could only shake his head helplessly.
He hadn't spared them out of kindness; he'd simply had other considerations.
One: He had no real reason to silence them. Even if Night Owl's men were caught by the Hidden Leaf, at most they'd reveal he'd appeared in the Forest of Death.
Two: With Leaf shinobi swarming the forest, he needed Night Owl's group to draw attention and give him cover to switch places with his shadow clone again.
Three: He still wanted to use the Hidden Leaf to figure out why Night Owl's group infiltrated, intent on kidnapping Sasuke and himself.
He simply hadn't expected Night Owl's luck to be so awful. They had blundered right into Kimimaro and Neji, starting a fight on the spot.
"Oh well—at least I got two pairs of Hogan."
The thought of those two pairs of Hogan in his pouch made Uchiha Shinji's mind wander to other matters.