Chapter 276 272: Karin's Chuunin Exam 10

The rule that any downed team member disqualified the entire team had indeed been made with that in mind, because while a true mission might require someone to make a sacrifice for their village.

A simple exam didn't.

Instead, they had to rely far more on teamwork, traps and ambushes, as well as overwhelming force to ensure they won cleanly.

This type of mission greatly benefited Konoha, a village with many trackers and a strong emphasis on teamwork.

Not to mention that, being a large village and, in some ways, the strongest, they were hardly afraid of a small village beating them without taking casualties.

The Kusa Genin knew at least some of this, so he believed Karin's words.

Though if he had known who she was, and what her connection with Kusagakure was, and the big grudge she had with them, he would never have relaxed his guard.

But in the end, this was a shameful event from a decade ago, hardly something a young Genin would know about; after all, Kusa had long since buried this embarrassment.

So, seeing the Heaven Scroll, he slowly reached under his shirt and pulled out another Heaven Scroll. "We also have a Heaven Scroll, so there is no point in fighting."

Seeing that they didn't have the scroll they needed, Karin sighed sadly. "Ah, what a shame," she said, shaking her head. "Alright, you two, we need to find the next team. No time to waste here."

Tōji and Naho nodded, and the Kusa team further lowered their guard as Karin put away her scroll and turned her back to them.

It was then that Tōji and Naho both acted.

The umbrellas they carried weren't just to shield them from the rain. Though they worked perfectly well for that as well.

No, given the endless rain from the Land of Rain, many people always carried an umbrella when they went out and about.

As such, they often found their hands filled, which wasn't good for a shinobi, which over the years saw their umbrellas take on different roles.

First, the body had a steel core, making it useful for blocking and defense; then the head was given a metal core for more defense.

Yet such a tool was heavy and lacked some utility.

Which, when combined with the high cost of the metal during their nation's hardest times, translated into a more offensive nature.

Countless poisoned senbon were added to them, and they learned to unleash a storm of them instantly and without warning. So, while the umbrella could still protect against the rain, it was now a lethal weapon.

And given its size, it could be used to protect the entire team if needed, while also providing a perfect weapon for a sneak attack.

Which was what the duo did.

Naho turned, and her umbrella opened, the countless senbon shooting out of it like a storm, taking the Kusa team by surprise.

Her aim was perfect, as they had no time to react, and her poisoned needles pierced their bodies all over.

Hundreds of wounds, some to their necks, instantly putting them down.

"Alright, they are dead. Let's get going; we need to find our scroll," she said, closing her umbrella as if nothing had happened.

Karin nodded; she had always liked those umbrellas. There was just something cool about them, not that she used them herself.

She had them and used them to shield herself from the rain, but she rarely needed such types of attacks.

But she could appreciate the effectiveness all the same.

Without bothering to even pick up the dropped scroll, the three of them vanished into the forest as the ground slowly drank the blood of three young lives.

...

Once more, they weren't in too much of a hurry; after all, Karin knew where to go, so they were just trailing behind the next unfortunate team they had targeted.

The team was progressing relatively slowly since they were leaving behind traps to ensure they wouldn't be attacked from behind.

"Why bother with this many traps?" Tōji complained as he once more had to jump between a few concealed ninja wires. "Such a waste."

"They really are being careful," Naho joined in on the complaining.

"Yeah, it's not like it's useful," Tōji continued. "If you can't detect them, you don't deserve to be a Chūnin. Stupid Konoha ninja."

"Alright, you two, enough complaining," Karin cut in. "The only reason you two haven't triggered anything so far is that I warned you," she reminded them.

The forest was filled with more than just traps set by the Genin teams; there were also dangerous animals, and not all of them were natural.

At least Karin didn't know how some of those things could grow to that size without some help.

In fact, the traps themselves weren't anything to trouble her; it was that she also had to ensure none of the critters running around triggered any, either.

Since any trap going off would alert their target.

Honestly, she found this caution annoying, and wanted to just break through it all and finish this test as fast as possible.

But the Root shinobi were still following along behind them, staying just far enough away that she could neither easily lose them nor get rid of them.

Which made this much more complicated, but that was fine.

Karin hadn't lived her life training under Kaguya just to be outplayed by some cowardly Konoha ANBU.

No, she was going to deal with them, but she needed the right moment to do so.

And that moment would be the moment she had the scroll in hand, the moment this exam was done.

"Alright, the next one is a bit further. Just be careful; there are some really nasty traps here. We need to be slow and careful," she said, as she continued to take the lead, her senses fully stretched out, as she monitored not just the area around them, but also their followers.

For now, she was leaving them be, but if they did anything, she wouldn't hesitate to kill them all.

But clearly, the Konoha shinobi knew what she was, and had no intention of angering her.

Instead, they were waiting for their chance, for her to reveal some kind of weakness so they could pounce.

What fools.

As if she had any weakness they could exploit.

It took them another half an hour to get to the next team.

The group they had chosen to target was a team from Takigakure, a small village that Karin had even had the chance to visit once.

Or rather, sneak into together with Kaguya, just because she heard it was beautiful and she wanted to see it, so Kaguya took her there for her birthday.

And it was beautiful, hidden behind waterfalls, with a massive tree growing inside a massive cave-dome thingy.

But the shinobi themselves were nothing impressive; the only impressive shinobi ever to come out of that place was Kakuzu, and that was like forever ago.

Among all the lesser villages, they were the weakest, with only a few secret weapons to rely on.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Karin cursed just as they got into position to attack.

"What is it, Karin-sama?" Naho asked, a little worried that something had gone wrong.

"We are about to have a guest. Don't do anything stupid, or you will die. I won't be able to protect you," she told them seriously as she turned left, where she sensed a huge chakra signature approaching quickly.

Cold, evil, and all about creepy—who else but Orochimaru?

He clearly knew where they were; how? Karin couldn't tell, but he had been tracking them somehow.

Because he had appeared from the edge of her sensing range and made a beeline toward them.

That clearly wasn't by chance. No, he had to have been tracking them somehow, but how?

"Stay back. I will deal with this," she told her teammates, hoping that they wouldn't get involved.

And thankfully, they listened; both of them knew when they were outmatched, and so they retreated into the shadows while Karin remained in the open.

Orochimaru arrived soon enough, a wide grin on his face. "Well, well, I must admit, I am rather amazed that Kaguya-hime would send you right into the lion's den like this."

"You mean Root?" Karin asked, looking in the direction where the Root shinobi were approaching from.

"Indeed," Orochimaru nodded. "Danzō has wanted you pretty much since you were born, and only Kaguya-hime kept you safe, but now you are here, alone, right in the seat of his power," he stated, his voice filled with glee.

Karin just snorted. "I'm hardly afraid of some half-cripple or his little army of brainwashed trash," she stated, not impressed at all.

"You really have learned a lot from your teacher. You are just as arrogant as she is, never putting anyone in her eyes," Orochimaru said, this time with a bit of displeasure slipping through.

Clearly, despite making a deal with Kaguya, he wasn't all that happy with it.

"I just wonder if you can back up that arrogance, because while Danzō is indeed nothing in front of Kaguya, you are hardly her," he continued, his serpentine tongue licking his lips.

"Are you here to warn me?" Karin asked, feeling rather suspicious about his motives. It didn't seem like Orochimaru to do anything without reason, or out of the goodness of his heart.

"That hardly seems like something I would do, does it?" Orochimaru said without offering a true answer.

Karin was once again reminded why he was among the top two people she disliked most in the Akatsuki.

"Why are you here, Orochimaru?" she asked again, this time, four of her adamantine sealing chains coming out from her back, pointing toward him like snakes.

"Are you sure it's wise to treat me like this, little Karin? Your teacher isn't here to protect you right now," Orochimaru said with a smile as a massive wave of chakra rolled off him.

Behind them, Naho and Tōji felt as if a mountain were pressing down on them, forcing them to their knees as they struggled to breathe under the pressure.

"Who knows? She might be, after all. If she doesn't want to be found, who can find her? And with her eyes, who can escape from her?" Karin said, not afraid in the least.

She didn't know if Kaguya was hiding somewhere, following her in secret, because her words were true. If she wanted to remain hidden, Karin had no doubt she could.

Even from her own sensing abilities, after all; those were all taught to her by Kaguya, so if there were any way to hide, she would know it.

And even if she wasn't there, she knew Orochimaru's secret.

He was weak to genjutsu, and she had learned a few powerful ones just to deal with him.

If he dared attack, she would show him just what she had learned from Kaguya.

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