Chapter 118: A Deadly Duel at Their First Meeting

After seizing the scroll, the three-person team of Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka pressed onward at a swift, steady pace, never once letting down their guard.

By now, they had gathered everything required to pass the exam. All that remained was to reach their final destination—the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. They knew all too well that in a place brimming with danger, the slightest carelessness could bring fatal consequences. Thus, they advanced toward their goal with the utmost caution.

None of them wanted to stumble at the very last moment, especially after enduring several rounds of attacks from other examinees. Hinata clenched her fists tightly and silently vowed, “We must reach the tower safely and complete the exam.” Shino, meanwhile, calmly surveyed their surroundings, ready to respond to any danger that might emerge.

Kiba walked at the front, his wary gaze sweeping across the area. “Everyone, stay alert. Don’t let your guard down.”

Suddenly, without the slightest warning, a figure appeared before them and blocked their path. The three stopped at once, their eyes filled with vigilance as they stared intently at the man before them.

“Senior, is there something you need?” Kiba, standing at the front, attempted to speak with him. His voice carried both confusion and caution. He had seen the man’s face before: he was a shinobi of the Sarutobi clan, and a Special Jonin at that. He clearly was not an examinee. Why had he appeared here?

Shino, standing second in line, swiftly moved Hinata, who carried the scroll, behind him. His gaze turned cold, and he stood ready for battle.

The man facing them was a Leaf shinobi dressed in the green tactical vest commonly worn by ninja. At a glance, he appeared no different from an ordinary shinobi. Yet he did not answer. He merely stared at the three members of the team with blood-red eyes, his gaze sending a chill through them.

His eyes began with Kiba at the front and examined each of their faces in turn, as though searching for something. At last, when his gaze passed over Hinata’s face and fell upon her pale eyes, the red light in his own eyes suddenly flared, becoming even more brilliant.

Hinata immediately sensed that something was wrong. She activated her Byakugan and looked directly at him.

What she saw left her horrified. The shock struck her mind with tremendous force. In her eyes, the flesh-and-blood body before her had long since died.

From the mechanical head protruded countless metallic filaments. Like tentacles, they pierced every nerve and blood vessel in the headless body below.

“Kiba! Get out of the way! There’s something wrong with him!” Hinata cried in terror, her voice filled with urgency and fear.

Kiba jolted in alarm and tried to dodge, but Hinata’s warning had come a moment too late.

The instant the man saw Hinata’s Byakugan, he had already launched his attack. His right hand formed a sword seal, and wind-natured chakra hissed from his fingertip, instantly transforming into a razor-sharp chakra blade. It swept toward Kiba’s throat.

Akamaru reacted with astonishing speed. The little dog kicked off Kiba’s forehead, sending him sprawling backward and allowing him to evade the fatal strike.

When the back of Kiba’s head struck the ground, he felt a chill at his throat. He instinctively touched it, only to find something slick coating his hand. A glance revealed that it was covered in blood.

“Akamaru…” Kiba’s voice turned hoarse. His heart filled with gratitude and lingering fear. He knew that if Akamaru had not kicked him aside in time, his throat might have been cut clean through.

The attacker before them was none other than the Iron Man disguised as Sarutobi Veda.

When its first surprise attack failed, the Iron Man did not hesitate for even an instant. It immediately launched a succession of attacks. Controlling Sarutobi Veda’s body with perfect precision, it formed no hand seals. Instead, both hands moved simultaneously, powerful streams of fire- and wind-natured chakra bursting from the centers of its palms.

The compound wind-and-fire jutsu erupted in an instant. In the blink of an eye, scorching flames accompanied by a raging gale swept toward them, forming a terrifying storm of fire and wind.

The flames rapidly climbed upward and ignited the canopy, transforming everything within a hundred-meter radius into a sea of fire.

Everything burned fiercely, crackling and snapping as though it meant to reduce the entire forest to ash.

The gale howled and raged, producing shrill whistles as if it would tear every living thing apart.

With only one exchange, Hinata and the others were plunged into extreme danger.

Hinata moved directly past Shino and Kiba, placing herself before her companions and facing the enemy’s attack head-on.

She spread both hands. Green radiance suddenly blossomed in her palms as she activated her Byakugan: Echo mode, attempting to absorb the enemy’s jutsu.

Vast quantities of wind and fire were drawn toward her hands, streaming continuously into her palms.

The immense energy raced through her meridians. Hinata felt the violent force tearing at them, but she gritted her teeth and endured, allowing the energy to circulate through one complete cycle before returning to her mouth.

She opened her lips slightly, and the wind-and-fire jutsu burst forth. Like a roaring dragon, it collided head-on with the technique released by the Iron Man, creating a fierce clash of opposing forces.

For a time, the air filled with scorching heat and violent fluctuations of energy, temporarily easing the crisis before them.

“Parasitic Armor Bugs—go!” Shino’s voice was low and resolute. He knew they had reached a life-or-death moment. This was no time to hold anything back.

Without the slightest hesitation, he cut the cord securing the carrier at his waist. The container crashed heavily to the ground, its shell splitting open at once. Countless Parasitic Armor Bugs surged toward the Iron Man with a humming like a rising tide, swarming its hands as Shino directed them in an attempt to disable its jutsu.

The enemy understood Shino’s intentions immediately. It decisively halted its large-scale techniques and instead released wind- and fire-natured chakra through its pores, forming rows of tiny wind-and-fire shells.

The shells fell like dense rain, sweeping violently across the swarm of insects. Most of the bugs perished beneath the concentrated barrage. Their bodies burst apart in midair, dissolving into clouds of smoke.

Only a small number managed to reach their target. Even then, the chakra controlled by the enemy killed most of them with pinpoint precision. Only a tiny handful of survivors managed to gnaw at its chakra.

Yet even those fortunate few could not hold out for long. After only a few bites, the Iron Man reorganized its defenses and wiped them all out.

A rare gloom descended over Shino’s face. His brows drew tightly together, and behind his dark glasses, his eyes revealed a trace of anxiety and helplessness.

“This enemy is far too strong,” he thought grimly. “We’re simply no match for him.”

But Shino also understood that they had no way out. They could not defeat him, but neither could they flee. The enemy had come for their lives. If they did not fight with everything they had, death was their only destination.

“What other insects do I have that can still be of use?!”

He clenched his fists and carefully studied the surrounding forest.

“No matter what happens, we have to fight to the very end! If for nothing else, then for the sake of staying alive!”