Mo Yu said, "Let's split up. This way, the chances of encountering bandits will be higher."
"..."
Yuko said, "Alright, be careful."
After saying that, Yuko walked into the forest in a huff.
Mo Yu shook his head. It seemed that Yuko had misunderstood him, thinking that he didn't trust her. However, he didn't bother to explain. After all, he couldn't exactly tell her that the examiner had his eyes on him and that being together would make things even more dangerous.
Whoosh!
At this moment, the familiar gaze once again fell on Mo Yu, fleeting as always.
Mo Yu narrowed his eyes but didn't turn his head to look.
"It seems like you can't wait any longer. Fine, if you want to make a move, then come at me," Mo Yu thought.
Mo Yu also entered the forest, heading toward a less populated area.
Uchiha Fuhai looked at Mo Yu's back, sneering coldly.
After all the exam candidates had entered the forest, Uchiha Fuhai exchanged a glance with the other four examiners. They nodded to each other and split into three groups, heading into the forest from three different routes: left, middle, and right.
In addition to the five elite jōnin examiners, there were also more than a dozen veteran middle-ranked ninjas from Konohagakure hiding in the forest to keep the bandits in check, prevent them from escaping, and also observe the performance of the candidates.
In this exam, the top ten candidates would be directly promoted.
Candidates ranked 11th to 20th would enter the second round.
This second round would primarily be based on their performance in the forest to determine who was qualified to become a chūnin.
After entering the forest, Mo Yu didn't rush to find any bandits. Instead, he found a hollow in a tree and took shelter.
He opened the system and checked his balance: 450 gold coins.
"System, exchange for 'Realm of Speed'."
Mo Yu thought.
"Exchange successful."
After the 450 coins were reduced to 350, a vast amount of information flooded into Mo Yu's mind.
Then, Mo Yu sat motionless in the tree hollow, entering a deep meditative state, sitting there for three whole days and nights.
On the fourth morning, Mo Yu opened his eyes.
His eyes were deep, like whirlpools, devouring time itself.
It took a while before this strange phenomenon gradually faded.
"Realm of Speed, realm... Heh, very good."
Mo Yu's lips curled up in a smile, and he felt even more confident inside.
"The time is almost right. It's time to take action."
Mo Yu stepped out of the tree hollow.
After three days, many of the candidates would have collected "ears." Now, it was the perfect time to harvest.
Mo Yu didn't hide his figure and walked swaggeringly through the forest.
As expected, it wasn't long before someone targeted him.
"Stop!"
A person jumped down from a tree.
"Hand over all your 'ears,' and I'll let you go."
Mo Yu looked at the person. He appeared to be a candidate in his twenties, with a fresh scar on his face, probably added in the past few days.
The man had a small cloth bag hanging from his waist, which was bulging.
Mo Yu didn't say anything. He focused his eyes and walked over nonchalantly.
To his surprise, the candidate seemed stunned, staring blankly at him. The man didn't react at all, just letting Mo Yu approach him, take the small cloth bag off his waist, open it, and find five or six bloody ears inside.
Mo Yu hung the cloth bag on his waist and left without saying a word.
He didn't bother to take the man's barrier scrolls because each scroll was tied to the chakra of the person who owned it, and others couldn't use them.
When Mo Yu had walked far away, the candidate finally snapped out of his stupor. He scratched his head in confusion and looked around, suddenly remembering something. With a loud shout, he bolted off.
Mo Yu heard the shout from a distance and couldn't help but smile lightly.
Originally, he had just wanted to test the power of his double Mangekyō Sharingan, but he hadn't expected the effect to be so overwhelming. The man couldn't even fight back and was dragged into a genjutsu effortlessly.
However, this was only under the condition of a sneak attack. If it were a frontal battle and the opponent had been prepared, it wouldn't have worked so smoothly.
Mo Yu became very interested in using the Sharingan to cast genjutsu silently, as if he'd discovered a new toy. From then on, whenever any candidates attempted to "rob" him, he used the same trick to subdue them.
By the end of the day, Mo Yu had already collected ten or so cloth bags.
He neatly organized all the ears and placed them into one large bundle. After a rough count, he had about 20 ears, which accounted for one-fifth of the total.
"This business is pretty easy," Mo Yu thought.
"I wonder how Yuko is doing."
At that moment, Mo Yu's ears twitched, and he said aloud:
"Since you're here, come out. Stop hiding."
A light laugh rang out, followed by the appearance of a figure from behind a tree.
"Mo Yu-kun, you're indeed no ordinary genin. I only made a little noise, and you detected me right away."
"Uchiha Fuhai."
Mo Yu looked at the man and said, "So you really came to kill me."
Uchiha Fuhai smirked. "Interesting. It seems you've already guessed our plan. I'm curious, why aren't you running? And you don't seem afraid at all. Do you have some hidden method?"
As he spoke, Uchiha Fuhai scanned the surroundings.
Mo Yu replied, "Don't worry, I'm alone. As for why I'm not afraid, it's because I know being afraid won't change anything. Do you think you'll let me go just because I'm scared?"
Uchiha Fuhai paused for a moment and then laughed, "You're right, fear won't save you."
"So, just because I defeated Uchiha Fugaku, you guys have been trying to kill me again and again?" Mo Yu said.
"Exactly. Isn't that enough? The Uchiha clan is not something you can provoke," Uchiha Fuhai sneered.
Mo Yu shook his head. The old saying was true: to destroy a person, you first need to drive them insane. And to drive them insane, you need to inflate their pride.
The Uchiha clan had become so inflated.
Mo Yu said, "But there's no need for you to send an elite jōnin after me. I'm just a mere genin."
Uchiha Fuhai shook his head. "It's not just me. I'm not alone."
He clapped his hands, and two more people jumped down from the trees.
Although these two weren't as strong as Uchiha Fuhai, they were also solid jōnin.
Mo Yu couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
"You guys really think highly of me, sending three jōnin after me."
At this moment, he didn't know whether to feel honored or to feel sorry for himself.