Chapter 139: Separations and New Conflicts

Ren peered into the cave carefully. The silence was heavy, but there was no sign of a fight. The ground hadn't been disturbed, there were no hints of a struggle, no drops of blood.

Kurara wasn't taken.

He crouched beside the remains of the barrier that had already dissolved, placing one hand on the ground. The chakra within the seals was completely depleted. He stood up slowly, his gaze impassive.

"She wasn't attacked," he said at last, while Shin, arms crossed, watched him.

"So she left on her own?" asked the Kaguya, raising an eyebrow.

Ren nodded. "She's not the type to wait around to be found without being able to fight back. She must have realized that staying here would have made her too easy a target, so she decided to move."

Shin sighed. "That complicates things."

Ren wasted no time. A swift hand seal released his chakra, forming an identical copy. Ren's clone opened its eyes, staring at him, waiting for orders.

"You'll go with Shin," he said. "We'll split up and look for her. If you find her, let me know immediately."

The clone nodded. "Understood."

Shin snorted. "I don't like this idea, but I'll do my part. Let's go."

Ren watched them leave,I have to come up with something to communicate with my clones,then he turned in the opposite direction. Time was running out.

He had to find her before it was too late.

The waves crashed steadily against the rocks below. The sky above Kirigakure was gray, as always.

In front of Yagura, kneeling, an Anbu finished delivering his report.

"No deaths so far, Mizukage-sama. The exam is proceeding without anomalies."

Silence stretched out for a moment.

Yagura drummed his fingers on the armrest of his seat, his gaze lost at sea, his face expressionless."No deaths?" he repeated softly, as though savoring those words.The Anbu did not answer.

Yagura slowly shifted his gaze to him. "Interesting. This exam has always been ruthless, yet this time… it all seems almost too peaceful."The Anbu remained motionless behind his mask, as though waiting for permission to leave.

Beside the Mizukage, Councilor Fujino stroked his chin with deliberate calm. "Perhaps your changes are starting to show."

Yagura did not reply immediately. He turned his gaze back to the ocean, eyes narrowed as though trying to see something beyond the horizon.

They're too rational. Something's off.

A gust of wind lifted a corner of the kneeling Anbu's cloak, and Fujino turned slightly toward him.

A barely perceptible gesture with two fingers.

The Anbu bowed and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Fujino kept the same serene smile, his hands clasped behind his back.

"It seems that things are going better than expected this year," he said in a calm voice.

Yagura did not reply. He continued gazing at the sea.Yet he still felt something was amiss.

- - -

The sound of metal against metal filled the air. Ren's clone moved in constant defense, arms and body tense as he tried to parry every attack from the masked man.He was fast. Too fast.But the main problem wasn't just his speed—it was his strategy.He had figured out the clone's weakness.He wasn't attacking directly.

He was targeting the clone's teammates.

Every blow was aimed at Yukiko, Aoi, or Hiroshi, forcing the clone to move frantically in order to protect them. His attention was split, and that put him at a disadvantage.

A slash aimed at Aoi—blocked just in time.

A blow to Hiroshi's back—stopped with a kunai.

But the clone's chakra was beginning to wane.

The masked man knew it. And he was waiting for the right moment to exploit it.

Then it happened.The man lunged at Hiroshi with a lightning-fast thrust.

Ren's clone moved to block him, but—SHING!

A metallic sound whistled through the air, followed by a sharp clink.A chain wound around the masked man's wrist, stopping his attack mere centimeters from its target.

The man's eyes shifted sideways.

Ren's clone turned slightly.

Kurara.

Standing a few meters away, kusarigama in hand, her sharp smile and determined gaze unwavering.

"Now it's my turn," she said, pulling the chain firmly.

"Time for round two."

The masked man tensed.

Ren's clone allowed himself a faint smirk.

Kurara was back.

And she had no intention of running away.

- - -

Night enveloped the forest in an unnatural silence, broken only by the rustling of leaves and Shinji's ragged breathing as he moved forward with Jun'ko slung over his shoulder. His usual cocky grin had vanished, replaced by a tense, focused expression.Jun'ko, despite the pain, struggled to keep her mind clear. Thanks to some rudimentary Medical Jutsu, she had managed to stabilize her condition, and Shinji's first aid had done the rest.

Her side still throbbed from the wound, but at least now she could breathe without feeling a knife lodged in her lungs.

"You don't have to carry me; I can walk," she muttered, trying not to sound too weak.Shinji snorted but didn't stop. "Yeah, and then you'll start bleeding again all over the place. No thanks, I don't want to have a teammate dying on me during the exam."

Jun'ko rolled her eyes slightly but didn't argue. Deep down, she knew Shinji was right.The air around them was charged with tension. The battle in the mist, the deception, the fight against the fake Ren… everything felt meticulously planned.

Shinji clenched his jaw.

"It was planned," he finally said, breaking the silence in a lower voice than usual.

"Turning into Ren, targeting you from the start. It wasn't a mistake, nor a coincidence. He knew you'd be vulnerable."

Jun'ko didn't reply immediately.

She knew Shinji was right.

"…Why me?" she finally murmured, hands curling into fists.

Shinji shook his head. "I don't know. But one thing is clear: we're not just fighting among students. There's someone pulling the strings from behind the scenes."

An ominous shadow crossed his face.

Shinji Karatachi, the boy always ready with jokes and teasing, now looked genuinely worried for the first time.

He paused, scanning the surroundings, then resumed walking."We have to find the others," he said at last, a new resolve in his voice.Jun'ko watched him, surprised to see him so serious.

The exam was changing him.And maybe… it was changing them all.

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