Only then did Saya notice Naruto's awkward posture and forced expression when he glanced at Sakura.
It was at that moment she realized something was off. From the way Sakura looked at Sasuke… it seemed like she had feelings for him.
And Sasuke's behavior toward Naruto earlier… hmm, was that what people called liking someone?
Is this a love triangle like in those novels?
Is this how young people in Konoha usually act?
Can a team even function like this?
Well, a triangle is a stable structure, so I guess it's fine… (¬_¬)
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it when the time comes."
After saying that, Saya turned and walked away, ready to resume her scroll-hunting campaign.
Although her chakra was down to roughly one-fifth, it was still more than enough to deal with the Genin scrambling through the Chunin Exam.
Sasuke let out a long sigh as Saya's figure disappeared.
The pressure of facing her was overwhelming. First crushed by her overwhelming identity, then her terrifying strength—it was suffocating. He wasn't like Naruto, who somehow always bounced back from anything with a grin.
Naruto's team, along with Kankuro and Temari, dragged Gaara, Yūkimaru, Utakata, Fū, and a naked, unconscious Suigetsu into a nearby cave. After about half a day, they began waking up one by one.
Fū was the first to stir. As she sat up, she immediately felt her pocket and let out a frustrated groan.
"Ahhh~ our scroll's gone! She actually stole it! Ughhh, now we have to grab another one. So annoying~!"
Naruto smirked, reaching slowly for his waist pouch with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Sasuke's instincts screamed danger. She immediately appeared behind Naruto and clamped both hands over his mouth. With a strained smile, she turned toward Fū.
"(o_n_n)o Haha~ Yeah, what can we do? I mean, we were up against Sensei's wife."
"Of course we lost. She took our scrolls too."
Fū looked at the two of them—and the very intimate way Sasuke had pinned Naruto—and her face froze.
Wait… did I just… fall for someone who's gay…?
She smiled awkwardly, stood up, and backed toward the entrance.
"Well, anyway, I'll get going. There's still plenty of time before the exam ends. I should find my team and get hunting again!"
Gaara and Team Utakata woke up soon after. After a brief exchange of words, they too went out in search of new scrolls.
What none of them realized was that during the half-day they'd been unconscious, Saya had already begun a ruthless sweep across the Forest of Death.
Any team that crossed her path lost their scrolls without question.
But Saya didn't eliminate any of them—she simply marked each one with her Yachihoko Seal, the Mangekyō ability .
After all, any one of them could become a future "client"… and clients were money. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
In just half a day, Saya had amassed a stockpile of scrolls. Rumors had already begun to circulate among the Genin of the Forest:
"Encountering the black-haired Shinigami is both lucky and unlucky—she'll take your scroll, but at least you'll live…"
The moon hung high overhead—it was already midnight.
Inside a hidden cave, Saya sat cross-legged, counting her loot.
"One… two… three…"
"…Twelve, thirteen, fourteen."
"Six Heaven Scrolls, eight Earth Scrolls?"
"Meh. Still kind of low."
Her chakra reserves were now almost empty, and she would need to recover overnight before continuing the hunt tomorrow.
Saya created a shadow clone to monitor the area, then performed a concealment seal over the cave's entrance. She pulled out two Nara Clan military ration pills—specially tailored by Uchiha Hikaru—and leaned back against the cave wall to rest.
When morning came, she stretched with a lazy yawn, her back arching as a soft moan slipped from her lips.
"Mmm~"
Then she stood and dusted herself off.
"Alright… Time to start hunting again."
Thanks to the ration pills, she'd recovered nearly all of her chakra. Today, she wouldn't have to hold back.
Yesterday, most of her chakra had been used for speed and sensory abilities, so she'd relied mostly on taijutsu and shuriken skills during the fights. That had slowed her down—it had taken half a day just to gather a dozen scrolls.
Saya didn't know the exact number of candidates still alive in the second exam, but she estimated somewhere between two hundred and three hundred.
Which meant there were still at least seventy scrolls out there.
But it was getting harder to find useful targets. More often than not, the teams she ran into had already been looted—either by her or by Kisame and Maruboshi Kosuke.
What a waste of time. And while her chakra had mostly recovered, her Mangekyō Sharingan's pupil power hadn't. That energy didn't regenerate nearly as quickly.
Right now, her eye could only track general directions based on the Yachihoko marks she'd left. If she wanted more precise tracking, she'd need to spend more pupil power per target—and that wasn't worth the tradeoff.
As the sun began to dip again, she did a quick mental calculation. The exam had started at 2 p.m. the previous day. It was almost 2 p.m. again now.
Time to regroup at the tower with Kisame and Maruboshi Kosuke.
Saya gathered all the scrolls into a secure pouch and sped off toward the central tower.
She arrived first. After a short wait, Maruboshi Kosuke showed up with a beaming smile—like a farmer who'd just brought in a perfect harvest.
Over an hour later, Kisame finally appeared… looking wrecked.
His right arm was wrapped tightly in a cloth sling, and his body was covered in bruises and cuts.
"Kisame, what the hell happened to you?" Maruboshi asked, surprised. "With your strength, something like the Chunin Exam shouldn't be a challenge…"
Kisame just shook his head, his expression equal parts annoyed and amused. Samehada, slung across his back, let out two shrill whines—full of irritation and contempt.
"Tch. Ran into that kid of Might Guy's," Kisame muttered. "Turns out he's really learned everything his master taught him. Opened the Fifth Gate—Gate of Limit."
Maruboshi nodded in understanding.
Kisame's strength came not just from his own chakra, but from Samehada's ability to absorb chakra mid-fight. But against Might Guy—or any of his disciples—taijutsu was the main weapon. And chakra absorption meant nothing against a pure, steel-fist style.
"And on top of that," Kisame continued, "there's some weirdo from Sunagakure using a similar style—something they're calling the 'Seven-Day Fury Technique.' It's another power-boosting taijutsu method."
"Had to fight both of them. That's how I lost my arm. Even Samehada was disgusted by the chakra it ate off those freaks."
Samehada let out another low growl of agreement, twitching as if trying to shake the memory away.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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