The Enlightened One Ch.60 (Patreon)

When Anko announced the beginning of the second exam, Naruko, Satsuki, and I hurried into the Forest of Death. 

We were finally here after all the years spent preparing for this moment. At one of the most pivotal moments in the entire Naruto series-

And I’d be damned if I let it play out anything like canon. 

Things had already turned for the worst, but it could be salvaged. 

“We should land soon and gather ourselves,” Satsuki suggested. 

“Yeah, let’s do it.” I agreed, and all three of us dropped from the mighty trees above and darkened the deadly forest. “We need to take on a team with the Heaven scroll.” 

Naruko reached into her pouch and pulled out a scroll. She threw the scroll on the ground, and as the smoke cleared, it revealed some kunai with seals on them. The blonde-haired girl then stabbed one of the kunai into the tree firmly so that it would stay there and then returned to Satsuki and I. 

“How do you girls want to do this?” I asked. We had thought of several strategies beforehand and even more safety precautions, but we hadn’t actually chosen one to stick with. 

“...Search and Destroy,” Satsuki said after a moment, and I gave her a firm nod. 

“Naruko?” 

“I’m fine with it.” She agreed. 

“Good.” I smiled at the two and stood up from my kneeling position. Clasping my hands together, I made the clone seal. “Work smarter, not harder.” 

‘Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu’

Naruko mimicked my hand sign, and within moments, there were three wood clones of mine and three shadow clones of hers. 

“You all know what to do.” I shooed them away, and off they went. 

Clearing this exam portion and heading to the safehouse was my secondary priority. My number one priority was keeping my girls and my friends safe. Which means I needed to find enough scrolls for at least my team and Hinata’s while ensuring that no foul play swoops in and kills the other members of the Konoha twelve. 

Honestly, I didn’t worry much about the others—not when I had a little trick up lying underneath the forest, just waiting for some action. 

“And now we wait.” Naruko threw her hands behind her head and leaned back against a tree. 

“At least pretend to be alert,” Satsuki snorted, walking over to the Uzumaki and leaning against the same tree. “We’re in a life-or-death situation.” 

“Puh-lease!” Naruko made a slightly offended face. “This is a cakewalk, a breeze! Seriously, the old man only has us here so we can make the other villages look worse.” 

Yeah, I really shouldn’t have told her that…

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be ready for anything,” Satsuki growled, getting visibly annoyed.

“Satsuki’s right. Stay on guard, Naruko.” I ordered.

Naruko gave me a look of disbelief before looking down and giving a small nod. 

I’m glad I put an end to that before they started arguing. I had no patience to deal with their back and forth right now. 

A few minutes passed in mostly silence as we remained in the same spot. I had my clones send images of their surroundings back as they traversed the forest, heading to their first targets. 

“They’ve found a team,” I announced, and both Satsuki and Naruko straightened up.

“Do they have a Heaven scroll?” Satsuki questioned.

“Hold on.” I waved her off. Right now, the clones are just watching a group of Shinobi. They’re Hidden Mist shinobi, but I can’t tell if they're from the main village or the rebels.” 

I sent a silent order for my clones to subdue the enemy nin instead of killing them, just in case. I didn’t want to risk accidentally killing Mei’s forces. 

I was sure any normal genin to chunin could be beaten by a group of my clones, so while we waited I closed my eyes and started expanding my senses out deeper into the forest.

As my sensory chakra filled the Forest of Death, I could feel where several other teams currently were. Most were stationary. Likely forming plans of attack or just taking a moment to rest. 

My eyes shot open as I felt Hinata’s chakra. She and her team were quite far from us, but there was absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t head over to them and work together. 

“I found Hinata.” I said, standing up from my cross-legged position. 

“Then let’s go!” Naruko grinned, shooting up off the ground and dusting of her behind. 

“And why not knock some heads on the way.” Satsuki nodded along. 

“There are a couple teams between us and Hinata, but they’re a slight detour.”

“Eh, we can afford to waste a little time.” Naruko giggled as she stood behind me. Arms behind her head carelessly. This girl was getting more and more confident, and while I liked that she was confident in her skills, overconfidence was a serious killer in this world. 

I took a step over to Naruko and placed my hand on her head, making her face immediately go red. 

“I like that confidence Naruko, but don’t underestimate everyone in this forest. Okay?” 

I got a quiet, nod in response, but judging by the dream like look on her face, she likely didn’t hear a fucking word I said. I’ll nip that bud when we get to it I guess.

I turned towards the direction Hinata was and jumped forward. Both of the girls were hot on my tail as we traversed the forest in a relaxed pace. Around low-chunin level speed. 

As we made our way over, I couldn’t shake the bad feeling I had in my gut. There were no signs of danger and absolutely no way Orochimaru could sneak into this forest under Hiruzen’s watchful eye, but that didn’t stop my nerves from tingling. And they have never lead me astray yet.

— Temari —

She looked down from the tree branch she was sitting on and let out a deep sigh. Gaara was below, standing still, staring off into space. 

Or at least that’s what it’d look like to anyone who didn’t know Gaara. 

No, what he was really doing was gathering information. He was choosing from the people within the forest to target. 

And no, he didn’t want the closest person. The beast inside of him was forcing her little brother to choose which person he puts in a sandy grave. 

“Well, at least we’ll pass without any issues.” Kankuro crossed his arms beside her. Temari sent her brother a glare which made him scratch the back of his head nervously. “What I mean is we’ll be able to carry on with the mission.”

“Should you be speaking openly about that?” Temari whispered, there was a warning in her voice that made Kankuro immediately swallow any words he planned on saying for the next hour. 

Her gaze returned back down to Gaara and she resisted the urge to let out another deep sigh. There entire life felt like it had been an S rank mission and now here they were, actually on one with the goal of bettering their village. 

And who else to assign them this mission than their father. 

If you could call him that. 

Sure, Temari knew the man cared about them, but the fact still stands he cared much more about the village. 

This mission would benefit the entire Sand Village by giving them fertile land and boosting the potential of their military by a wide margin. 

All they had to do was succeed and they could relax. And honestly? That was all Temari wanted right now. 

All they had to do was take down the strongest village in the elemental nations and take over the full power of it’s military might. Not to mention the Hokage, and from the reports that have been given, Jiraiya of the Sannin as well. 

Yup, her father couldn’t be more prideful and ignorant if he tried. 

She could understand why her father, the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand, would dare go against their allies, Konoha. Their village barely had enough food for everyone and while they had money to buy food thanks to their father’s Gold Dust Magnet Release, they were rarely hired for missions because of Konoha’s massive military might and their typically cheaper rates. 

But that still didn’t justify allying with the snake Sannin to try and take care of Konoha once and for all. 

Their father wasn’t stupid, even if he was ignorant. He knew Orochimaru likely intended on betraying them, but as the Snake Sannin planned on using the Sand, they planned on using Orochimaru. 

They would have to pray they would have enough forces to take the fight against Orochimaru after they were done with Konoha, and that’s where her little brother, Gaara came in. 

If the beast would allow it. 

Another sigh that Temari couldn’t contain left her lips as she pushed herself off the tree branch and down to Gaara who had started walking. 

It seems he’s found his prey, and knowing her youngest brother, he wouldn’t stop his chase until the poor bastard was in a coffin. 

— Chapter End —

 Author's Note: I plan on dropping another chapter or two for this today. So look forward to that.