𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 | 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙤

¹⁶; ᶠᵒʳᵉˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵈᵉᵃᵗʰ

"𝐖𝐄'𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋—No matter who it must come from."

The three moved through the trees as the two men listened to their female teammate give out orders.

Due to her use of the Byakugan, she was leading the three while scouting for their enemies.

None of the three had any doubt that they were the strongest Genin roaming the forest. It was only a matter of picking their fights.

Soon enough, the white-haired Hyuga stopped upon a branch, kneeling down and concealing her chakra as the other two landed next to her.

They did the same as they watched their 'leader' point downwards, to a group of unsuspecting Genin from some random smaller village.

The three coordinate an attack on the group below them that was causally walking along the forest ground.

Mai allows herself to slip forwards, free-falling to the ground as she lands in front of the Genin.

The three immediately brandished their own weapons, Kenjiro could tell they were talking, as he found himself admiring the Hyuga's features, though he couldn't hear them.

"Now's not the time to swoon Kenjiro. Let's go."

Kenjiro simply rolls his eyes as he watches Ronin fall in a similar fashion to Mai, whereas he simply uses his body flicker technique, both him and Ronin appearing behind the two in the back, as they dont have enough time to react to the two.

Kenjiro simply delivers a chop to the neck of the Genin he landed behind, knocking him out, as he turns to watch Ronin sweep the feet of his respective enemy, as said man punches the Genin into the ground while they were still in the air, effectively knocking them out.

The three surrounded the one who was in the front, as his head snaps back and forth between the three, visibly shaking at the fact that his team had been dealt with so quick and flawlessly.

"Hand over the scroll."

His head snaps to the white-haired ninja directly in front of him, as he slowly reaches to his pocket, looking at her extended palm.

He reached into his pocket, as the three all knew that there was no way he'd try to fight his way out, waiting for him to pull the scroll out of his pocket.

Only, he didn't, as he threw down a smoke bomb, each of the members of Squad Zero throwing up their arms to cover their faces from the unexpected explosion of smoke.

"Why do they always run."

Ronin simply shrugs his shoulders in response as Kenjiro sighs before flickering away, seemingly teleporting out of sight for a few seconds, before reappearing before his teammates, throwing the Genin who had attempted to run to the ground between the three.

"Okay! Okay! Take the scroll! Please don't hurt me!"

The Genin was on the ground, groveling and begging for his life, actions that Kenjiro found disgusting.

The Hyuga takes the scroll from the Genin, only to sigh and toss it back at him, explaining that it was the same one they had and was of no use to them.

She walks away, jumping back into the trees as the two followed shortly after, but not before Kenjiro spat out a simple "Pathetic" at the Genin on the ground.

The three swiftly moved through the trees once again, waiting to find their next prey in order to finish this portion of the exam as soon as possible.

None of them had a good feeling about this forest.

They would be right to feel the way they did.

Kenjiro's senses flared as he activated his sharingan, lunging forwards to their white-haired teammate in order to move her out of the way of a Kunai that was thrown at them at such a high speed her Byakugan couldn't even perceive it. Narrowly missing the two due to the Uchiha's efforts

He tackled her out of the trees, the two free falling to the ground as Kenjiro shield's her, talking all the force of the two hitting the ground, pain surging throughout his body.

Ronin landed next to the two, confused as to what had happened, Naomi doing the same as she pushed off of the Uchiha, anger being the first thing to flood her senses, watching the Uchiha slowly stagger to his feet, one hand holding his ribs on the side they had landed on and the other covering his mouth.

"What the hell was that??"

Ronin however, noticed the state Kenjiro was in, speaking a quiet "Wait, Mai."

The fall had seemed to impact Kenjiro more than he thought as his two teammates watch him fall back down to a knee in a daze, as Ronin rushes out to catch him.

Kenjiro slowly moves his hand off of his mouth, looking down through his shaky vision to see the crimson liquid that covered his fingers, a gasp of shock coming from each of his teammates as he reached up to his mouth to feel that he had received a deep cut to the corner of his mouth.

He quietly counted his blessings as if he hadn't acted faster, the Kunai could've did a lot more damage to him, or even killed his teammate.

"Someone threw a Kunai, I barely recognized before it would've hit you, Mai."

Mai slowly brings a hand to her mouth to cover it in shock, as she mutters out a quiet thank you, to which Kenjiro nods in return.

"I can't sense anyone's chakra."

Barking out orders, Kenjiro says, "Neither can I, Mai, scout the area with your Byakugan."

She snaps out of her daze as she re-activates her Byakugan, spinning around and throwing a Kunai at a group of Bushes, the three hearing a clash of two Kunais signifying that Mai had indeed found the attacker, who slowly stepped out of the bushes.

Whatever bad feeling any of the three previously had about the forest was tripled as they watched the Genin they agreed to avoid step out, a Kasa hat sitting upon their head.

"Oh how i've been longing to meet you three..."

—

published 7/28/23

1034 words.

10 comments n i release the next chapter immediately