Konoha Defensive Zone.
This was a vast forest filled with towering, lush trees. The dense canopy blocked out the sun, making the forest floor dark and gloomy.
Hozuki Zangetsu moved cautiously through the woods with his three teammates, searching for traps set by Konoha ninja while also looking for opportunities to eliminate any enemy scouts. This was the job of a scout team—dangerous and fraught with the constant risk of death.
Zangetsu shouldn't have been here, but he was now a member of the scout team.
The reason why a Chunin from the Hozuki clan ended up in a suicide squad like this was simple: he had beaten Hozuki Kengetsu to a pulp.
It had happened yesterday. After the Mist army was ambushed, they lost thirty to forty scouts. To replenish the team and to prevent the major clans from slacking off, the Mizukage demanded that each major clan contribute two ninja to the scout team.
Zangetsu was not originally chosen. He was just an ordinary Chunin, a nobody who wouldn't have caught the clan leader's attention.
But Hozuki Kengetsu had stepped forward. His father was a clan elder and was in charge of selecting the candidates. Kengetsu had hated Zangetsu for a long time, and Zangetsu's taunts before they left the village had ignited a killing intent within him.
And so, Zangetsu was "lucky" enough to become one of the two ninja sent from the Hozuki clan.
Before, Zangetsu would have retaliated against such a blatant scheme. Even if he couldn't avoid joining the team, he would have dragged Kengetsu down with him and found a chance to eliminate him on a mission.
But after the system update, Zangetsu had a new plan. He merely pretended to argue with Kengetsu before being "forced" to accept the arrangement.
The scout team had the highest mortality rate before any major battle. Almost every day, scouts would die. The reason Zangetsu willingly joined was to find an opportunity to have a "glorious death" in this forest. He needed to escape, to free himself from the shackles of the Hidden Mist so he could carry out his plan.
Only if "Hozuki Zangetsu" died could he search for Tsunade and Shizune without any worries, use Tsunade's hemophobia to subdue her, get intimate to raise the romance progress, and then lock it in with the "Love Without Regrets" bracelet.
This was his plan. And for now, everything was going according to it. All he needed was an opportunity to die gloriously, with no body left behind.
"These Konoha bastards are so despicable, setting up so many traps. In my opinion, we should just flatten this entire forest with a large-scale jutsu. Why bother with all this tedious trap-clearing?" a voice complained nearby. It was a man in his late twenties, whose codename was "Hiru." Zangetsu didn't know his real name.
"Shut up! Lord Mizukage has his reasons. If you don't have a brain, then don't speak," a harsh voice hissed from in front of Zangetsu. This was "Kyaku," an old, veteran scout.
Hiru stiffened. "What did you say? Are you looking to die?" he snarled, glaring at Kyaku. Being scolded by a commoner ninja infuriated him.
"What, you want to die?" Kyaku shot back, not backing down an inch. He had long been fed up with these arrogant clan ninja.
The two glared at each other, the air thick with tension.
But a third voice cut in, "If you want to fight to the death, you can do it back at camp. Don't you dare start something here. If you attract Konoha scouts, I'll kill both of you first."
It was the team leader, a Jonin in his forties codenamed "Kiri." A long scar ran from his left eye to his right jaw, making his face look ferocious. His voice was icy and filled with killing intent.
Zangetsu stood still, his face impassive. This was a typical Hidden Mist team—nothing like the cooperative and harmonious squads from Konoha. Here, strength was everything, and everyone was on a short fuse. But it didn't affect his plans. If the opportunity was right, he would have killed these three himself and faked an accident to escape. But the time wasn't right.
"Keep moving. Hiru, you take the lead," Kiri ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. The way he stared at Hiru made it clear that if he refused, Kiri would attack him. The killing intent was so palpable that Hiru didn't dare disobey. He was only a Chunin, while Kiri was a genuine, experienced Jonin.
The four continued onward.
At a certain moment, Zangetsu's expression shifted, and he leaped backward. At the same instant, Kiri also moved. But Kyaku was a split second too slow. The blast wave sent him flying, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
BOOM!!!!
A terrifying explosion roared through the forest.
"Tsk, looks like we don't need to go back to camp. Good riddance!" Kyaku coughed, blood trickling from his mouth. But as he looked at Hiru's dismembered body scattered across the ground, a triumphant smile spread across his face, showing no sadness for his fallen teammate.
Zangetsu was silent. He had expected Hiru might die, but not so quickly and easily to a simple paper bomb trap.
Kiri, however, stood behind Zangetsu, his eyes fixed on him. This guy is definitely not just a Chunin, he thought. But he didn't dwell on it. "Let's get out of here," he ordered. The explosion was so loud that any Konoha scouts nearby would surely be closing in.
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