Just as Sakumo Hatake was thinking this, Kazuya Hyuga, who was behind him, suddenly said, "They're speeding up and will catch up to us soon!"
Sakumo Hatake and Heizo Hattori turned their heads and both saw three faint figures appearing in the distance. Undoubtedly, the other party also discovered them at the same time.
During the first exam, Sakumo Hatake had noticed the red-haired boy leading the group because he seemed more outstanding than the other ninja villages' ninjas. In his mind, he already had a list of opponents worth paying attention to.
"It looks like we're going to have a fight," Heizo Hattori said.
"Ah, it seems so. Running isn't a solution, and they're quite troublesome. Let's just fight back here." After Sakumo Hatake replied, he drew his short sword, slightly adjusted his posture, stepped onto the side of a tree branch, and then exerted force. Lightning-style chakra flowed through his body, and he leaped out like a streak of light.
Upon seeing the Konoha ninjas, Ryu intended to chase after them. However, he didn't expect the other party to counterattack first, coming towards them. His direction was not fixed, but rather he moved in a zigzag pattern between the trees, moving extremely fast. By the time the three-person team recaptured Sakumo Hatake's figure, he was already close to them.
"Too fast, this guy..." Ryu was shocked, but his movements were not slow. As Chiyo's son, he had received strict training since childhood, and both his vision and strength were beyond ordinary people.
As a scroll dropped out, the puppet sealed within was released. Its form was not fixed, but rather composed of individual parts that quickly surrounded Ryu.
At this moment, Sakumo Hatake's short sword arrived, striking the puppet that appeared beside Ryu just in time. It looked like wood, but its interior was actually reinforced and filled with chakra metal, making it not so easily destroyed. Moreover, the puppets Ryu used were top-tier in Sunagakure, and even the most destructive Lightning Release left few marks.
Of course, the most important reason was that although Sakumo Hatake had decided to settle things with the son of his teacher's past enemy, he had no intention of taking his life. This strike was also aimed at a non-vital point. If it hit, all the lightning-style chakra in the blade would paralyze the opponent's entire meridian system, rendering them immobile for a while.
Ryu noticed this but did not accept the other party's goodwill. In his opinion, both sides were ninjas from different ninja villages, and this was somewhat insulting. His gaze towards Sakumo Hatake suddenly turned cold. He felt that the other party might be looking down on him, which was why they thought such an attack could deal with him.
Sakumo Hatake was indeed a bit underestimated by this Sand ninja. This level of reaction speed was not something an ordinary person could possess. Once one learned this method of stimulating body cell activity with lightning-style chakra, few could match a lightning-style ninja in speed, especially after he combined his family's sword techniques with the ninja's fighting style, forming a style of resolving enemies in a single strike, just like the Takigakure ninja who couldn't even draw a kunai before having his throat restrained earlier.
When the first strike failed, Sakumo Hatake didn't freeze. Instead, he made a decisive retreat. At the same time, a sharp wind bullet, like a steel wire, grazed his cheek. This was an attack from Otoju. As Ryu's teammate, although he didn't have time to stop Sakumo Hatake's attack on Ryu, he could prevent his departure. And just as Chizuru was about to join in to keep Sakumo Hatake, Sakumo Hatake turned into a log—
For those with similar strength, the Substitution Jutsu wouldn't be effective in fooling them. However, Sakumo Hatake could use the momentary obstruction of vision to use lightning-style enhancement to jump to another location. Soon, Sakumo Hatake put some distance between himself and the three-person Sand ninja team. He didn't intend to use long-range Lightning Release ninjutsu; since the opponents were Sand ninjas, Wind Release had more long-range techniques, so he wouldn't gain much advantage.
"Don't even think about running!" Ryu shouted, abruptly flicking his hand. The puppet parts surrounding him quickly merged into a humanoid puppet, chasing after Sakumo Hatake.
Holes appeared on the puppet's body, and a large number of shurikens shot out, blocking Sakumo Hatake's dodging space.
Even if Sakumo Hatake's sword-wielding speed was fast, it was impossible to block so many small shurikens. However, Sakumo Hatake had no intention of blocking them. A whirlwind appeared in front of Sakumo Hatake, sweeping away all the shurikens at once.
Heizo Hattori let out a breath, lowered his hand from forming a hand sign, and looked at Sakumo Hatake, who had retreated to his side, saying, "Seriously, don't rush out. The enemy is a Sand ninja after all, not so easy to deal with."
"Hmm, perhaps I was too confident in my own abilities," Sakumo Hatake reflected on his mistake. Although those shurikens wouldn't have threatened him, he had indeed been a bit careless.
The three-person Sand team landed on nearby tree branches, not standing together, but separated, maintaining positions where they could support each other without being implicated. Ryu manipulated his puppet to float beside him, looking coldly at Sakumo Hatake, and said, "Your name is Sakumo Hatake, right? What was that just now?"
Sakumo Hatake knew the other party was asking about the reason for that strike aimed at a non-vital point. He said, "I just tried my best not to kill anyone here. Perhaps it caused some misunderstanding."
"Don't want to kill? I didn't expect a Konoha ninja to be so naive. We came here after signing a death pledge, so we are prepared to risk our lives." Ryu was not at all relieved and still felt that the other party was looking down on him. Only stronger individuals with higher power could decide the fate of the defeated.
"The exam is still an exam, not a battlefield. At least, that's what I believe," Sakumo Hatake said seriously.
From his teacher, Sakumo Hatake knew that the purpose of the joint Chunin Exam was to confine the ninja world war to this examination venue, thus allowing sacrifices. However, Sakumo Hatake, who came from a samurai family, had other convictions. He believed in the "righteousness" upheld by ancient samurai, willing to fight for "righteousness" and refusing "unrighteous" deeds.
Nowadays, these ancient traditional morals have been abandoned by samurai. Only the samurai in exile in the Land of Iron still adhere to these principles. Sakumo Hatake had no concept of these before, but out of admiration, he began to pick up these moral spirits that ordinary samurai considered outdated.
After learning the ninja's code, Sakumo Hatake once hesitated whether he could abandon what he upheld and become a true ninja in people's eyes. But after becoming a disciple of Fumori Masaki and reading the Ninja Sect classics, he felt as if he had been enlightened. What he upheld was no longer traditional "righteousness," but a new code combined with the ideas in Fumori Masaki's commentary on the Ninja Sect classics. He believed that the future of ninjas imagined by Fumori Masaki was the right path.
In Sakumo Hatake's view, the joint Chunin Exam should not be like this. It should be like the ideals upheld by the Sage of Six Paths, promoting communication and bonds between people, and also a place to train ninja abilities, not a so-called miniaturized ninja world war. He once asked Fumori Masaki why such an exam was conducted. Fumori Masaki said that it was a regrettable necessity, a transitional stage that had to be experienced to move towards a beautiful future. Nothing could be achieved overnight.
Sakumo Hatake could understand, but in his youth, he also had his stubbornness. Even though he knew this was not an immediately achievable goal, he did not want to dive straight into it. At least, until there was no other choice, he only wanted to treat this as a normal exam.
"Hmph, I don't know what you're thinking," Ryu snorted softly and said, "Speaking of which, those three Takigakure ninjas were ours to track. You guys intercepted them midway. Don't you have anything to say?"
So that's it, Sakumo Hatake thought. No wonder the Takigakure ninjas looked like startled birds; someone had been chasing them all along.
"I thought you were going to say something important, but it's just this. Does the rule say that if someone is targeted, they belong to you?" Heizo Hattori said sarcastically.
Indeed, there was no such rule. Ryu said this out of habit, treating what he targeted as his own. He naturally wouldn't acknowledge this point, saying, "It seems you don't intend to hand over the scrolls, so we'll just have to take them ourselves."
"My pleasure. Come and get them if you dare." Heizo Hattori had no intention of backing down, saying coldly, his muscles tensed, ready to strike at any moment.