Chapter 20: The Forest of Death
"Because the difficulty of the last mission far exceeded its official rank, the three of you won't receive formal mission experience for it. However, you've finally learned some crucial lessons about mission parameters and risk assessment."
Kurenai paused, her expression turning serious. "Originally, I intended to give you a few days of rest. But... the Chūnin Exams are approaching rapidly. I hope... I hope you will have the strength and the will to participate!"
"So, let's go! Our mission: gather intelligence on a neighboring country!"
At the same time, Ryouma's former classmates were also pushing their limits.
Naruto looked at Kakashi, his hands clasped together in a desperate plea. "Kakashi-sensei, please! Give us a real challenge! I heard Ryouma, Hinata, and Kiba already completed a C-Rank! Please, we can't fall behind them!"
"These D-Ranks truly lack any significant challenge," Sasuke Uchiha stated coldly, not contradicting Naruto for once.
"Yeah, yeah!" Sakura chimed in from the side.
"Sigh... Alright, I get it." Kakashi nodded, a bemused smile hidden beneath his mask. These kids, getting competitive with their peers... It's lit a fire under them.
And so, Team Kakashi also embarked on a mission, heading for the Land of Waves. Teams like Shikamaru's and even Shino's team, the one Ryouma had originally been meant for, all began taking on C-Rank missions one after another, driven by the same competitive spirit.
The Chūnin Exams... No matter who stands in my way, I will pass!
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion echoed as ten explosive tags detonated simultaneously. Yet, in the vast, oppressive expanse of the Forest of Death, the sound was barely noticeable, swallowed by the dense foliage and the constant, low hum of life and danger. Almost no one paid it any mind.
"Almost," of course, excluded the one who set the tags and the ones being ambushed.
"Hinata, use your Byakugan! Check if the pursuers are still there!" Kiba's voice was tight with urgency, his face a mask of panic.
"Okay..." Just as Hinata was about to activate her dōjutsu, Ryouma reached out and stopped her. "It's useless," he said, his brow furrowed. "The explosive tags might have delayed them for a few seconds, at best. We need to run. Faster."
As he spoke, he leaped to the next tree. Hinata, trusting his judgment completely, followed without question.
Kiba hesitated for a split second, then followed suit. Deep down, he knew the tags couldn't have done any real damage to their pursuers, but a small, desperate part of him had hoped for a miracle.
"How is this possible... How can there be genin this powerful?" Kiba muttered, his voice thick with frustration and fear.
"Stop wasting time thinking about it! Just run!" Ryouma snapped, gritting his teeth. A bitter taste filled his mouth.
He never expected that during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams, not long after entering the Forest of Death, they would run into a "genin" from Kusagakure who was, in reality, one of the Legendary Sannin, as infamous as Jiraiya—Orochimaru!
Orochimaru's power was monstrous. Even though Ryouma had used his Great Ball Rasengan, which not only dispelled the man's summoned giant snake but also forced Orochimaru himself to cough up blood, the Sannin's injuries had healed in the blink of an eye. The two other "genin" with him were also far beyond their level.
Seeing that, Ryouma had no choice. He ordered Kiba and Hinata to run while he stayed behind, unleashing two more Great Ball Rasengans with all his might to hold the enemy off before teleporting away.
But Orochimaru seemed to have found a fascinating new specimen. He was now doggedly pursuing them.
"Ugh..." A sharp groan of pain escaped Ryouma's lips. He looked down at his hands, which were crisscrossed with fresh, lacerated wounds.
"Ryouma-nii, what's wrong?" Hinata heard his pained sound and looked at him with deep concern.
"My body can't handle the recoil from the Great Ball Rasengan. My hands... they're starting to hurt." Ryouma's voice was strained with helplessness. "It's fine, don't worry about me. If we get caught by that 'Orochimaru,' it's all over."
"Orochimaru?!" Hinata's Byakugan eyes widened in sheer terror. "You mean... Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin? No wonder he's so powerful..."
Ryouma's smile was bitter. If I'd known it was him from the start, I would have just run with everything I had. Maybe if I hadn't revealed an A-Rank ninjutsu like the Great Ball Rasengan, he wouldn't have become so... interested in me, and he'd have let us go.
What Ryouma didn't realize was that Orochimaru wasn't particularly curious about the Rasengan itself. What had truly captured the Sannin's twisted academic interest were two things: Ryouma's ability to instantly break his genjutsu, and his use of a short-range teleportation ability.
"Huh? Who are they...?" After fleeing for what felt like an eternity, three figures in the distance caught Ryouma's attention.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura..." he muttered under his breath. He immediately changed direction, heading straight for them.
"Ryouma-nii?" Hinata followed his lead and saw the trio. When her eyes landed on Naruto, her face instantly flushed a deep crimson, and her head began to spin. "Naruto-kun..."
"Hey, Hinata, why are you spacing out? That's Sasuke's team up ahead! If Sasuke is there and we work together, maybe we can take down that Kusagakure creep who's chasing us!" Kiba gave Hinata a hearty slap on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of her.
Kiba still didn't know their pursuer was Orochimaru. If he had, even the sight of Sasuke wouldn't have made him stop; he'd have kept running alongside Ryouma.
"What a coincidence, meeting you guys in a forest this big," Ryouma said, forcing a casual tone. His eyes, however, lingered on Naruto.
Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra, plus my Great Ball Rasengan... Would that be enough to stop Orochimaru?
He had no confidence at all. The throbbing pain in his hands only deepened his sense of cold helplessness.
He had discovered his body's inability to handle the Great Ball Rasengan's power during their final mission before the Exams. His immediate solution had been intense physical training, but progress was agonizingly slow. He feared even two years of training might not be enough to withstand the technique's recoil.
It was then, in his moment of desperation, that the typically aloof system had offered him two paths for the first time.
The first was to continuously circulate his Divine Power through his body to strengthen it. Combined with physical exercise, the effect would be significant. Ryouma had been using this method, but time was a luxury he didn't have.
The second method was to exchange for body-enhancing abilities or cultivation techniques from the system's library.
When Ryouma heard the second option, he didn't even bother looking it up. He only had 50 Almighty Points left. More importantly, knowing the system's shameless character, the answer to any inquiry would undoubtedly be: Insufficient Authority. It wasn't even worth the mental effort.