Chapter 125 Strange smell

After Anko left, Sasuke hummed thoughtfully, a sly smile on his face.

"So..." he whispered, "We're not looking for two scrolls, we're looking for six."

"It seems that there are more candidates this year than in previous years." Sakura added. "This will help us eliminate some of the less powerful opponents. The third exam will be the real challenge."

"If we get a scroll at the beginning of the exam..." Naruto said thoughtfully. "That means we have to grab scrolls from five more teams, provided that each team has exactly the scroll we need."

"Not counting Team 8 and Team 10, we still have fifteen choices." Sasuke added. Sakura smiled like a shark when she heard it.

"From a probability perspective, we can't lose," Sakura agreed. "Even with the time limit and the limits we set for ourselves, I think we can complete the mission in two days at most."

"It won't take even a day," Sasuke retorted.

"Are you betting with me, Uchiha?" Sakura challenged.

"Whoever loses will be responsible for bathing and combing the fur of all the ninja dogs," Sasuke said. "Also, no use of chakra is allowed."

They high-fived each other vigorously in agreement, and Sasuke was even startled.

"It's a deal!" Sakura said happily. "If it takes more than 24 hours, you lose. Naruto, you're in charge of keeping time."

Naruto agreed with a smile, placing his hand on both of theirs to show his agreement.

******

Something is wrong.

Ever since the second exam began, Naruto has always felt that something is wrong. He always feels that there is a dark and ominous aura enveloping him, making him uneasy.

The first time he had this feeling was before the exams began, when all the candidates gathered at the gate just before they were released into the Forest of Death.

He attributed the feeling to the mixed foreign chakra around him and quickly forgot about it.

An hour later, when they had the first Scroll of Earth, he felt the presence again, a dark, heavy, and hidden feeling that smelled like damp earth, cut grass, and the pungent scent of poison.

A hand was placed on his arm, and Naruto came back to his senses, and saw Sasuke looking at him warily, his dark eyes slightly narrowed.

"You've been distracted twice." He said. "What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

Naruto shook his head, somewhat at a loss. "I... I'm not sure, I just vaguely felt something strange."

"Strange?" Sakura asked, wringing the sweat out of her ponytail and clipping the Scroll of Earth onto her belt as she walked past a ninja who had fainted. "Strange in what way?"

"It's chakra. It's heavy," Naruto confirmed, "and it's very powerful. Too powerful for a genin or a chunin."

Sasuke turned around, his sharp eyes scanning the dense branches around him.

Naruto noticed that he seemed to want to open his Sharingan, and his eyes wrinkled slightly, but his eye technique was still suppressed by him, just like the Nine-Tails was still sealed in his body, and Sakura's chakra network was also dim at this moment.

This was the test set for them by Kakashi-sensei. They had to rely only on their acquired abilities, through sweat and tears, to pass the Chunin Exams, and they were not allowed to use any of their innate chakra gifts unless they were faced with an emergency.

"Jounin level chakra?" Sasuke asked.

"At least he's a jonin." Naruto confirmed. "Besides, this isn't anyone I've seen in the village."

"The only foreign ninjas still in the village are probably the candidates taking the exam and their mentors, if they have any." Sakura whispered. "They could also be members of the Akatsuki organization, if they really plan to show up at this time, there shouldn't be anyone else."

"Maybe I'm overthinking it." Naruto said uncertainly. Sasuke heard this and patted his shoulder.

"Don't be stupid," he growled. "Even if you don't trust your instincts, I do, so if you feel anything again, tell us."

Sasuke's unhesitating tone stunned Naruto. He stared blankly at Sasuke's back until he disappeared into the dense tree canopy.

"O-okay," he replied, much softer than he'd intended.

Sakura rolled her eyes at both of them helplessly, as if she had known this would happen, then she walked around Sasuke and gently patted the scroll on Naruto's waist.

"Water," she said simply.

Naruto opened the scroll and took out Sakura's light green canteen and handed it over.

Sakura took a few big gulps and then returned the canteen to him. Naruto resealed the scroll and at this time, Sasuke also came back.

"There is a team from the Hidden Cloud Village nearby," he said.

"Are they the two red-haired ones?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shook his head.

"It's the two with blond hair," he corrected.

Naruto remembered the team they saw before they set out. There were two blond boys and a girl with short gray hair in that team.

Naruto put away the scroll and grinned.

"We've taken care of one, there are four left, we'd better hurry."

Everything was going smoothly, the three of them worked in perfect harmony like a well-oiled machine, and when the three of them acted together they were much more powerful than if they acted alone.

******************

"What an anticlimactic performance." Shikamaru looked at the defeated Takigakure team in front of him and said with disdain. "The 'weird trio' must have had a lot of fun this time."

Ino gracefully poked one of the unconscious ninjas with her long scroll, nonchalantly leaning her body over the weapon.

"He doesn't have any."

"Let me handle it." Shikamaru said, standing up, snatching the scroll from the ninja's hand, and looking down, he found the word "Earth" printed on it.

"Damn it." He cursed under his breath and looked at the scroll with a frown.

"Should we keep it?" Ino asked.

"It's better than nothing." Shikamaru said, hanging the scroll on his belt. "Status check?"

"Are you kidding?" Ino said with a smile. "We didn't get hurt at all."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"I'm just asking. I just saw that you seemed to be hit in the ribs."

Ino frowned when she heard that. "Both Choji and I were hit, why don't you ask him?"