Another team moved as far away as possible. One of them was using her Byakugan to track the others.
"There's no team nearby anymore, Toru-kun," Hinata said.
Behind her, carrying Ino, Toru replied:
"I understand..." he said. Then he looked at Ino. "Hey, can you get on my back? If you keep hanging on with your hands, you're going to end up breaking my neck."
"Breaking your neck? Now that I think about it, that's something I'd actually like to do."
"Then do it later. I'm surprised you're so strong and yet so slow. I guess sometimes one plus one doesn't equal two."
Hinata laughed at that, though she tried to hide her quiet laugh. That made Ino feel embarrassed. She figured she should just do what he said and save herself the trouble of getting angry at the expressionless guy.
After a while, the team had reached the depths of the forest.
"We should find a good place to hide. We also need a source of food and water because what I brought might not be enough," Toru said, pulling a paper bag from his pocket.
"That's just one piece of bread, Toru-kun."
"That's why I said it might not be enough."
Ino listened to her teammates' conversation while clinging to Toru's back.
"What you're saying makes sense, but the problem is figuring out how to find a place like that."
Hinata stepped in:
"I can use my Byakugan to find somewhere suitable. For now, we should keep moving."
Looking ahead and keeping her serious expression, Hinata focused more chakra into her eyes. This allowed her to see everything more clearly.
'Hinata's eyes are incredibly useful, and Ino's ninjutsu is perfect too. I'm lucky to have them on my team.'
Toru was a fast and precise killer, while Hinata could become incredibly resilient thanks to the powerful defense of her Taijutsu. Ino, on the other hand, had her ninjutsu, which allowed her to transfer her mind into a body of her choosing. Those three abilities combined could work perfectly during a battle. The only thing they lacked was finding the right balance between their abilities in order to win and survive.
After a long while, with Toru ignoring the fact that something very soft and warm was pressing against his back—which, in turn, was making him feel a little distracted—they entered a secluded area of the forest.
"This seems like a good place," Hinata said. "There's a small river nearby, and there are medicinal and edible plants too. It's perfect for the three of us."
Toru nodded. It really was a perfect location. He was surprised by Hinata's survival knowledge. It was impressive.
Getting off Toru's back, Ino took her time stretching.
"I'm tired," she said, making Toru look at her as if he wanted to scold her.
'You didn't do anything...' Toru thought, shaking his head.
Then he spent a few minutes checking the area with Hinata to make sure it was safe. After a few seconds, Toru seemed satisfied with the results.
"There don't seem to be any traps or poisonous animals. For now, this will be our base," Toru told Hinata.
"You're really good at this kind of thing. I honestly didn't expect that at all," Ino commented, placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder.
Hinata blushed, but she was happy to receive the compliment. It was always nice when someone recognized her abilities, especially her friends.
"Thank you. I just tried to look for what—"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
The screams suddenly rang out. They echoed throughout the entire forest, and every participant heard them.
Meanwhile, Anko, who was sitting on top of the temporary tent, burst out laughing.
"They remind me of the old days," she said, looking up at the sky with satisfaction.
—Somewhere Else—
Onikuma Enko watched three shinobi writhing in pain in front of her. At the same time, Kiba and Shino remained silent.
"Hey, Kiba. I don't think I can handle this, you know?"
"Here you go again... You have enough strength to snap a tree in half, but you're scared of the screams of a few losers?" Kiba said, disappointed.
"What?! You're wrong! I'm not afraid of anything! I'm the daughter of the leader of the Onikuma Clan. The word fear isn't even in our dictionary!"
With a nervous expression on her face, Enko tried to brush off Kiba's words, but the evidence was right in front of her.
"Quiet. It seems they detected something moving," Shino said. Extending his arms forward, small insects emerged from his clothes.
The insects rose into the air and flew toward an unknown location.
"They're afraid..."
Shino could feel what the insects were feeling. They were terrified, so much so that they tried to guide Shino in the opposite direction.
"Seriously? I can't believe insects can feel something like that."
"There are many things people don't know. That's why you shouldn't speak without knowing what you're talking about, Kiba."
"Uh... Guys? Don't fight here. We're in the middle of the exam," Enko said, standing between Kiba and Shino as they stared at each other challengingly.
Shino sighed and began walking away as he said:
"It doesn't matter anymore. Call Kumagoro, Enko. We might need his strength."
"Now you're acting all mysterious..." Kiba muttered. For a few seconds, he looked at his teammate as she bit her finger to perform the summoning.
"Kuchiyose... no Jutsu!" she said.
—Somewhere Else—
The sound of chips being devoured by the boy was starting to overwhelm his teammates.
"We just started the exam, and you're already eating?" Shikamaru sighed tiredly.
"Of course. Haven't you heard that food is strength? If I don't eat, I lose strength," Chouji replied.
"That's stupid. If you keep eating like that, it won't be long before someone finds us."
While his teammates talked, Hakuto couldn't help but feel afraid. They were in a test where their lives were on the line.
"I think... what Shikamaru says is true. If we're found, there's a good chance we'll end up dying."
With every word she spoke, her voice became more unsteady.
"Yeah. They'll kill us if they find us. That's why Chouji needs to stop stuffing his face," Shikamaru said.
"I don't want to. It's important to me..."
"Hide!"
Interrupting Chouji, Shikamaru grabbed Hakuto by the waist and lunged toward Chouji. The three of them fell into the bushes.
—With Toru's Team—
Ino looked at the tall trees while trying to forget the screams from a few seconds ago. After all, those screams reminded her of something unpleasant she didn't want to remember.
"I'll set traps throughout this entire area. Hinata and Ino, get up into the trees," Toru ordered.
Immediately, Hinata and Ino climbed the trees and waited. A few seconds later, both of them looked at each other in surprise.
Toru pulled out a large number of kunai attached to wires.
'Placing the wires about eight feet high will help me detect vibrations in the air. It'll be similar to what spiders do. Although, with Hinata's eyes, something like that wouldn't be very effective for detection, so I can use it as a trap instead.'
With a quick movement, Toru threw all the kunai into the trees, surrounding the entire area with wires. Finally, while holding the ends of the wires in his hands, Toru climbed up to the tree where Hinata was.
"What are you doing all that for?" Ino asked.
"Spiders..." he replied, but Ino and Hinata were confused by his answer.
"Spiders?"
"Spiders have a peculiar hunting style. There are different types of spiders, so their hunting methods vary depending on the species. I used some of that as inspiration for this. Spiders use webs to hunt. This is something similar, except this time it'll be a trap to 'hunt' enemies."
Both girls understood the plan, so Hinata immediately got to work and continued watching the area. Then, she detected something.
"Toru-kun! Two teams are nearby!"
Six people were gathered in the same place, but a few seconds later, two more teams appeared.
"We'll go take a look. Maybe we can get the scroll we need. Hinata, help us with your Byakugan," Toru said.
Ino didn't agree.
"Eh? Wait! We shouldn't be so reckless. If something happens, we—"
"We won't get involved with those teams unless it's necessary. For now, we'll observe and decide afterward. You know information is the most valuable thing for a shinobi, and this is our opportunity."
Seeing this, Ino sighed and followed Toru. Hinata took the lead without complaining.
—Among the Bushes Somewhere—
Enko looked nervous. A few seconds earlier, Shino had led her team directly toward a group of shinobi. They had tried to hide in the bushes to avoid drawing attention. However, now they were trapped in the middle of a battle between shinobi. And they weren't the only ones, because another team was hiding in the bushes right in front of them.
One of that team's members was trembling in fear.
"Calm down, Hakuto. You'll get us discovered," Shikamaru whispered.
Although the same couldn't be said for Chouji, who was about to witness a real battle for the first time. At the same time, Toru's team had just arrived and was hiding among the trees.
'That's... Gaara of Sunagakure,' Toru thought.
Standing in front of Gaara was another group that looked hostile.
"What do we have here?" one of them asked.
Another one followed along.
"Looks like this is going to be easy. I mean, they're just a bunch of kids."
Gaara narrowed his eyes, thinking deeply. After five long seconds, almost as if he were whispering, he said:
"You're annoying. Die."
The cork sealing the gourd hanging from Gaara's back shot upward. Then, sand poured out from the mouth of the gourd and spread across the ground. Like hands, the sand wrapped itself around Gaara's enemies.
"What are you doing?!"
"Let me go!"
"Get off me!"
The shinobi screamed desperately. The mummy-looking boy and the girl with the giant fan, who were accompanying Gaara, watched everything in silence and resignation. Now, the enemies were covered in sand up to their heads.
Gaara narrowed his eyes and raised his palm toward them.
"Sabaku Kyū..."
He clenched his fist. Immediately afterward, bloodstained balls of sand shot in every direction as the light in his enemies' eyes faded like a flame in a storm.
Enko, Hakuto, and Ino covered their mouths at the same time, horrified. Ino felt like screaming, but luckily, Toru managed to silence her before she could.
Meanwhile, Hinata tried not to look at what was happening, but Toru kept his eyes on the scene.
'This isn't good... I can't beat that guy,' he thought, because it was obvious he couldn't.