The following morning, after finishing breakfast, Shizune and the others continued their movements under Saiki's lead.
Back at the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't slept well at all the previous night; after all, Konoha's losses were simply too severe.
This morning, instead of heading to his usual office, Hiruzen went directly to the Central Tower of the Forest of Death, staring at a summarized report in his hands.
While the candidates were resting last night, a large number of Anbu had entered the forest to investigate the general situation.
Reading the intelligence, Hiruzen was so furious he nearly shredded the scroll, but fortunately, there was some good news.
"Any word from the Torture and Interrogation Force?"
Hiruzen asked, staring at the empty surveillance screens in the monitoring room.
"Lord Hokage, because the enemies had various mental seals placed on their brains, the Interrogation Squad is still digging. The only confirmed intel is that Sabaku, the Sand's Elite Jonin, was killed by Saiki Shiroya's Lightning Style. Of the twelve eliminated squads, seven were the work of the Sand ninja."
"Saiki Shiroya..."
After hearing the report, Hiruzen's gaze grew even deeper. He whispered the name "Saiki," but his eyes remained an unreadable abyss.
Inside the Forest of Death, as the sun rose, the surviving squads began to mobilize.
While Saiki's group was out hunting for trouble, others were the ones being hunted; Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and an upperclassman named Maeda were currently being pursued by the Hidden Mist.
"Faster! The enemy is right on our heels!" Maeda, the senior student with decent sensory skills, shouted as he led Rin and Obito in a desperate flight.
They pushed their speed further, but Rin, being a medical ninja, was quickly reaching her physical limit.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Before long, Obito's trio was completely surrounded by Kisame Hoshigaki, Mei Terumi, and a third Mist Genin.
As a senior a year ahead of them, Maeda had been assigned by Minato Namikaze to protect Rin and Obito. He was quite capable and had the most experience.
Gripping a kunai and standing protectively in front of the younger two, Maeda stared down Kisame's group and spoke grimly, "You should already have a full set of scrolls. Why are you still hunting us?"
Like a shark stalking its prey, Kisame Hoshigaki's small eyes glinted with a chilling, bloodthirsty coldness. He extended his tongue to lick his razor-sharp teeth and broke into a sadistic, mocking grin. "We have enough scrolls, but finishing the second stage so early would be boring. Besides, with your pathetic strength, you won't survive the third stage anyway. It's better to just leave you here and save everyone the trouble later."
Staring at Kisame's shark-like face and sensing a murderous aura that no child should ever possess, Maeda managed to hold his ground, but Obito and Rin were visibly trembling with nerves.
Despite his terror, seeing Rin shaking with fear gave Obito a sudden surge of reckless courage. He jumped forward and roared, "You arrogant bastard! Don't you dare look down on us!"
"Obito!" Rin tried to stop him from doing something stupid, but she was a second too late.
Looking at the shouting Obito, even Mei Terumi spoke with pure disdain. "Useless trash. Trying to play the hero in front of a girl? Look at your own legs—they're shaking like a leaf."
Playing the hero and standing in front of a girl is a dashing act, but when you're a weakling who just wants to show off, it becomes a pathetic, embarrassing display.
The Hidden Mist's "Bloody Mist" policy was the raw law of the Shinobi world: a weakling's courage is hollow and meaningless; only raw power commands respect.
Taunted by Mei, Obito's face instantly flushed a violent shade of red.
"Kill them."
While Obito was still paralyzed by the shame of his own weakness, Kisame didn't miss the opening. He barked a command to his teammates and initiated the slaughter.
Drawing the longsword from his back, Kisame charged forward.
Faced with the incoming Kisame, Maeda—the strongest of the Konoha trio—stepped up to intercept him.
Kunai collided with longsword. The moment they clashed, Maeda's heart plummeted. "Shit!" A monstrous, crushing force surged through his arm, launching his entire body backward like a cannonball.
"Senior!"
Obito and Rin didn't even have time to process the shock before the other Mist Genin lunged at Rin, while Mei Terumi stood back, watching Obito with an arrogant, detached gaze.
In the future, a "Blackened" Obito with Kamui wouldn't even break a sweat against Mei, even if she had her dual bloodline limits.
But the current Obito was a far cry from that monster, and Mei was already a recognized genius of the Mist.
"You're an Uchiha, aren't you? I heard the Uchiha were all geniuses and heartthrobs, but you look pretty average to me. And a weakling, to boot."
Mei even found the time to mock Obito before making her move.
Enraged by the insult, Obito shouted back, "You're the weakling! You ugly hag!"
A dark vein popped on Mei's forehead. Obito's luck had just run out.
Kisame's trio didn't even need to use Ninjutsu to dismantle Maeda's team. Had the Konoha group not had a few remaining explosive tags and shuriken, they would have been slaughtered in seconds.
"Rin!"
Obito was kicked away by Mei, but he didn't even register the pain in his face. He watched in horror as the Mist Genin cornered Rin, who had exhausted her supplies and was unable to fight back.
Hearing Obito's desperate scream, Maeda tried to turn back, but he was already struggling to survive against Kisame and received a new gash for his distraction.
Maeda was a high-level Genin with Chunin-level combat ability, but he had the misfortune of running into Kisame, a freak of nature with monstrous strength and massive chakra.
Looking down at the fallen Rin Nohara, the Mist Genin licked his lips cruelly and sneered, "Still haven't given up? Don't worry. We've already slaughtered five squads. Two were from your precious Leaf, and you're going to be the third. There are plenty of people waiting for you in the afterlife."
As the Mist Genin was busy gloating over his kills, Kisame—still hounding Maeda—suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. Mei, who was bullying Obito, was the first to sense the incoming lethal intent and screamed a warning: "Look out!"
But it was far too late.
In the distant forest, a bolt of lightning erupted. The white-blue light instantly pierced through the entire clearing.
By the time the Mist Genin sensed the danger and tried to look up, it was already over. He couldn't even raise his weapon.
It happened so fast that his sadistic sneer didn't even have time to fade. His eyes, bulging with a final, terminal terror, were frozen on his face.
The lightning streaked past. Squelch!
A severed head spun through the air. Fueled by the sheer adrenaline of terror, the man's blood sprayed in a high, violent fountain.
When the head finally hit the dirt, the headless corpse seemed not to realize it was dead yet. It raised its weapon in a defensive stance before its body finally succumbed to the loss of balance and collapsed.
Ignoring the headless body, Saiki sheathed his sword and quickly knelt to help Rin up.
"Saiki!"
Recognizing him, Rin's eyes filled with joy as she cried out his name. But her body was trembling uncontrollably and her face was a mask of lingering horror; it was clear she had been terrified half to death.
Death is a fear humanity can never truly conquer. Those who aren't afraid of it aren't fearless—they've simply found something more important to die for.