Ch.223 Interesting!

Boom, boom, boom.

Hearing the explosions up ahead, even the usually fearless Naruto began to feel anxious, not to mention Sakura, who was somewhat timid to begin with.

Even so, they didn't stop moving; they gritted their teeth and headed toward the source of the blasts.

Sakura asked, "Naruto, will Sasuke be okay on his own?!"

Naruto patted his chest. "Don't worry, if Sasuke can't handle it alone, I'll help him!"

"You?"

Sakura cast a sideways glance at Naruto, then once again looked ahead with concern.

Before long, the two finally pushed through a dense thicket and arrived at the battlefield.

The sight before them took them completely by surprise.

They found Sasuke leaning against a large tree, panting heavily. His body was covered in wounds, and half of him was stained red with blood!

Sakura, having never seen such a scene, screamed "Ah!" and fainted on the spot.

Naruto was also deeply rattled. "Sasuke, are you alright?!"

Sasuke responded, "It's just a scratch."

Though it looked scary, he really only had superficial wounds. The deepest cut was the one Night Owl inflicted when he thrust a blade through the tree to pierce Sasuke's shoulder; the rest were scratches.

After all, Night Owl and his men intended to capture him alive.

Eyeing Naruto, Night Owl's face grew grim.

Through the Hogan, he'd already observed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, recognizing that the blond-haired boy was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki of the Hidden Leaf.

He didn't want to provoke trouble with the Hidden Leaf's Jinchūriki, not when the Akatsuki and the Five Great Shinobi Villages were at each other's throats. So he immediately ordered his subordinates: "What are you standing around for? Grab that brat!"

Night Owl's three subordinates wasted no time attacking Sasuke.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and fought back.

Seeing Sasuke besieged, and Night Owl blocking his own way, Naruto froze, unable to move. He clenched his fists. "Damn it, move already! Hurry up and move!"

Due to blood loss, Sasuke's condition rapidly worsened.

He felt both alarm and fury. Several times he thought to trigger the distress flare on him, yet each time he forcefully suppressed that thought!

Night Owl and his men were clearly holding back, aiming to capture him alive; that muddied Sasuke's judgment. Though he sensed something off, he still didn't suspect they weren't really an interception team.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Sasuke took a heavy punch to the gut, doubling over as if folding in half.

Before he could evade, a pair of big hands gripped his head and yanked him upward. "Hey, brat, weren't you acting all arrogant just now?"

Sasuke roared, "How dare you humiliate me?!"

Smack!

One of Night Owl's subordinates slapped Sasuke across the face. "Behave yourself!"

Sasuke was momentarily dazed by the blow. Once he regained his senses, fury overcame him: "I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you!"

Night Owl commanded, "Shut that kid up!"

The subordinate holding Sasuke delivered a knife-hand strike to Sasuke's neck, knocking him out.

Then he slung Sasuke over his shoulder.

Seeing this, Night Owl cast one final glance at the utterly flustered Naruto and the unconscious Sakura on the ground, then led his squad away.

Not until Night Owl and the others disappeared with the unconscious Sasuke did Naruto snap out of his stupor. His trembling body regained sensation.

"I… I just stood there and watched them take Sasuke?!"

Recalling how Sasuke had rushed to save him during his own abduction by the Akatsuki, Naruto felt immense shame. Overcoming his fear, he helped Sakura to a safer spot, pulled the distress flare from her gear, and then dashed off in pursuit of Night Owl and his men.

Having succeeded, Night Owl didn't roam aimlessly within the Forest of Death. He'd evaded Kirigakure's raids multiple times, thanks not just to his strength and his Hogan bloodline, but also to his calm mind.

He knew that the closer one got to the central tower, the denser the Hidden Leaf shinobi presence would be. Therefore, he led his squad away from the direct route to the central tower, deliberately heading back in the direction the student squads had started from.

At this point in the exam, both the participating squads and the interception teams (as well as the teacher squads, medical squads, etc.) should be converging on the central tower.

With calm analysis and the Hogan's scouting abilities, Night Owl made it to the outskirts of the Forest of Death without trouble. Along the way, they only encountered a few slower-moving student squads.

Obviously, those student squads were no match for them; they were easily knocked out, not even getting a chance to fire their signal flares.

"Mmmph…"

Sasuke had regained consciousness by then, discovering his hands and feet were bound, and even his mouth was gagged. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he confirmed that something was wrong with these 'interception team members.'

Watching the struggling Sasuke, one of Night Owl's men chuckled, then asked Night Owl, "Boss, we didn't think it would go this smoothly!"

"Mm!"

Night Owl nodded.

He'd initially figured that sneaking into the Hidden Leaf to abduct someone would be quite dangerous, yet even he was surprised by how smoothly it went. By now, they were almost at the forest's edge, unlikely to encounter any more student squads or Hidden Leaf shinobi.

Once they left the Forest of Death, they could scale the outer wall and flee the Hidden Leaf.

At that point, even if they were discovered by the Hidden Leaf, they'd have enough time to return to the Land of Hot Water and report to the Akatsuki!

Just as Night Owl was planning his escape route, he suddenly heard footsteps nearby.

He raised his head, activated his Hogan's x-ray vision, and frowned. "Another student squad here? Didn't they start already?"

Another member of Night Owl's squad, who also had the Hogan, chuckled at his companion and said, "No problem, it's just a student squad. These kids must be slacking off— the exam started a while ago, and they've hardly covered any ground!"

Slung over someone's shoulder, Sasuke heard that it was merely a student squad approaching. Whatever slim hope he had was dashed once again.

He knew full well how strong these four posing as the interception team were. There was no way a normal student squad could save him, let alone protect themselves.

At that moment, the grass parted, and three figures emerged.

Night Owl and his men looked over.

The three newcomers also looked back at them.

They locked eyes for a moment.

"Mmm! Mmmm!"

Seeing who had just come out of the bushes, the previously hopeless Sasuke suddenly began struggling more violently, mumbling incoherently through his gag.

There was no doubt.

Those three who came strolling casually through the bushes were none other than Uchiha Shinji, Haku, and Karin—who had been meandering since the start of the exam.

Upon seeing Uchiha Shinji's face, Night Owl suddenly smiled. "Interesting."

And catching sight of Night Owl and his men, who had Sasuke tied up, Uchiha Shinji also smiled. "Interesting!"