Chap.21 The Forest of Death

"Did you do what I asked you to do?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Akamaru and I have memorized the scent of all the other teams."

"Hinata?" Him." He turned to see the girl nod.

"I also followed your instructions," she assured, "every time someone went out after receiving the scroll from her, I secretly activated my Byakugan and checked which one they had in her possession." I know which teams have the scroll we need.

"Do any of the nearby teams have the scroll we need?"

"Yeah, the next one heading south."

"Tell Kiba which team it is and we'll track it down," Tony instructed. "The plan is simple." We're going to go after that gear and get the scroll to get a full set early. I'm pretty sure since the test will take five days, they don't expect to find anyone that early and we'll be able to catch them off guard. I want you to give 100 percent to keep it short and we can recover without accidents. After dealing with them and securing the scroll, we will head towards the tower.

—Should we try to fight more to gain experience against the other teams? Kiba asked.

"If we meet an enemy on our way, I have no objection to it, but it is better not to turn aside." If we can get to the tower early, we might have time to get in top shape for whatever comes next," Tony replied. "With our speed, it should take no more than two days, three if we run into any problems."

The team nodded and everyone entered as the doors opened simultaneously on the compound.

Tony considered whether to warn Anko about Orochimaru, but remembering that she only got hurt a little and that this could cause variables for the Third Hokage's death, he refrained. Not to mention the dubious knowledge of her.

How would you explain how you know that information?

They are not stupid enough to believe that Tony eavesdropped on Orochimaru. The sannin would have found out and silenced him if so. He wasn't going to help the team of Naruto and company either, they have two characters in plot armor. Oh, and then there's Sakura.

Thanks to the wind Kiba and Akamaru soon picked up the trail of the target as they approached in their direction, only when they were half a kilometer away did they begin to advance more cautiously.

"I didn't expect it to be this team," Tony thought surprised by what he saw.

The team in front of him was from the grass village, more specifically, the team where one of its members is Karin. Which would later be abandoned by his team and would end up being almost a bear's dinner. Or something like that, Tony couldn't remember the exact reason.

Sasuke is about to lose a fan, but he deserves it. His philosophy of reaching a woman's heart through her heart, literally, is weird to say the least.

The team exchanged signals and Tony told them not to attack the red-haired girl, he would take care of her.

The match was… who am I kidding, there was no match at all. Just as Tony expected, the team didn't have their guards up in the slightest and they were giving Karin a dirty look. In less than ten seconds, two of the team were unconscious on the ground and Tony caught Karin, who was the only one who could almost react and fight back.

Almost.

"The scroll or the life," Tony wanted to joke, but stopped when he got a closer look at Karin.

Karin's condition even when they had just entered the forest recently was already bad, it was clear that the so-called "companions of hers" had beaten her up and let's not talk about the bite marks on her.

Tony believed that the poor condition he saw in the series was due to exhaustion after a few days of skirmishes, but it turned out that the reality was crueler.

"Hinata, take her scroll out of the bag," Tony said.

Hinata walked over and checked the immobilized kunoichi's bag.

-I have it! Kiba said as he showed the scroll in his hand.

Well that makes sense. Knowing how Karin was treated, she would only be given her scroll if it was an emergency or something.

"What do we do with her?" Kiba wanted to know. "Should we knock her out too?"

Tony looked at the trembling and scared Karin and decided.

"No, she will come with us.

-That? That was an answer that none of those present expected, be it the team or Karin.

Tony directed his gaze towards the kunoichi and spoke seriously.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and you will answer yes or no, understand?"

Karin nodded after hesitating for a few moments.

"You're an Uzumaki, correct?"

"Y-yes." Karin's eyes darkened when she thought she understood what was going to happen.

"They don't treat you well in your village and just use you as a convenient medicine chest, right?"

Karin looked up scared.

"Answer," Tony pressed.

"Yes." Karin's voice was low.

Hinata and Kiba exchanged glances, they had a premonition of what Tony's intention was.

"Do you want to get out of there?" Tony asked, looking into her eyes. "Would you like to live in this village, without anyone using you for your ability and you don't need to be afraid?"

-What? She—the kunoichi couldn't believe her ears.

I'm not going to repeat myself, answer my question.

Karin was going to reply, but when she noticed the two unconscious ninjas on the ground and she remembered her presence, she shook her head.

"I can't," she told him with her head looking at the ground.

"That's not one of the two options I gave you," Tony answered. "Look me in the eye and say what you want, not what you think you should say."

Karin held her gaze for several seconds and answered as tears fell from her eyes with a broken voice.

-Yes!

"Fine," Tony nodded. "Stay back for a moment, guys," she said as she walked towards the two unconscious ninjas.

Gluttony: Sweet dreams!

Everyone could see how Tony released streams of honey that entered the unconscious ninjas through their mouths and noses. After a few moments, the two ninjas seemed to notice that something was wrong and woke up with their hands around their necks as their faces turned blue.

It didn't take long for them to stop moving.

-Why did you do that? Kiba asked.

He didn't say it in an accusatory tone, just curious as to why he permanently eliminated the enemy.

"If either of them manages to report that the redhead defected to the village, it would be troublesome," Tony replied as he extracted the thick honey he had used to coat the lungs of the bodies and tossed it away. There was no need to leave such, well, obvious evidence.

"What's your name girl?" Your name I mean — she had almost blurted out the kunoichi's name unintentionally and that would have aroused suspicion in the girl, so it was best to make her expose it herself before she made an inadvertent slip.

"I'm Karin," she replied as she looked away embarrassed and her cheeks redden slightly.