CH_88

Tōji didn't lag behind either. In the dim environment, he followed in the "shadow" of Natchi, using him as cover while advancing and forming hand seals.

The three opponents at least didn't lack presence—they each gripped kunai and charged forward.

After two leaps, they clashed in three separate spots. The sound of kunai clashing—clang-clang-clang—rang out.

But after just a few dozen seconds, the fights ended one by one.

Neru's black hair had already wrapped around her opponent. One of Tōji's Earth Clones had a kunai pressed against its opponent's back…

Thud! The sound of a body slamming into a tree trunk—Natchi's opponent was slumped at the base, no longer fighting.

"Natchi—search them." As Tōji spoke, his Earth Clone was already patting down one of the opponents.

Neru and Natchi followed suit.

"Nothing." "Nothing here either."

"Told you we didn't have a scroll. Can you let us go now?" The examinee in front of Tōji asked.

"Forget it—let them go." Tōji didn't really care, but then added, "But you're going to help us find a scroll."

"These are poison pills. One each—voluntarily." Tōji pulled out a few black pellets.

"Uh…" The three examinees looked hesitant.

"Keep in mind—we all signed waivers coming in here. If you want me to let you go, you've got to pay some price." Tōji was playing the villain role perfectly.

Even Neru and Natchi shot him questioning looks. Especially Natchi, whose cat eyes glowed in the dark.

"Fine—you have the antidote, right?" The examinee in front of Tōji took one of the pills.

"Of course. As long as I'm alive, you can come find me for the antidote in three days." Tōji smiled amiably. "I don't know if anyone else can make an antidote for this poison. If you want to try finding someone to cure it yourselves, be my guest."

After watching all three of them swallow the pills, Tōji finally said, "You can go. If you find a scroll within three days, wait for us at the Hokage Tower entrance."

"Let's go!" The three examinees walked off with looks of indignation.

Once they were far enough away, Natchi asked hesitantly, "Was that really okay? They're fellow Konoha shinobi…"

"It's fine—they weren't real poison. Just mud balls." Tōji chuckled.

"Full of tricks." Neru didn't approve or mock—she sounded like she was just stating a fact.

Tōji thought to himself, 『You haven't met Mizuki yet. Compared to him, am I really that bad?』

He remembered seeing a boy with blue-white hair—a few years older than him—when he picked up the consent form today. The kid was carrying oversized shuriken on his back, which made Tōji suspect he was Mizuki.

"Let's move—still heading for the east gate." Tōji didn't feel like explaining further. 『Ninja aren't samurai—what's wrong with a little trickery? At least I didn't hurt anyone, right?』

After that brief episode, the three of them continued their search in the dark.

Natchi's night vision made things a lot easier. Tōji and Neru, meanwhile, stopped relying on their eyes and used their limited sensory abilities to detect any possible genjutsu barriers.

They still hadn't reached the east gate by nine o'clock—and they'd found no scrolls or any unusual signs in the forest.

So the three of them found a suitable spot nearby to rest for the night.

Each of them had brought their own dry rations, eating them with fresh water sourced from the Forest of Death. They ate in silence, surrounded by darkness.

"Almost ten hours—and we've got nothing." Natchi finished his big chunk of bread and a small pouch of dried meat, then started chatting.

Neru replied, "Did you think it would be that easy?"