Chapter 125: The Beginning of Danzo’s Third Disaster

In a corner of the Forest of Death...

From behind two large trees, two heads cautiously poked out. One was a boy with black hair styled in a strange broom-like shape, and the other a girl with blonde hair tied up in a cute ponytail, with bangs covering the right side of her forehead. Both appeared to be around 12 or 13 years old.

The two carefully set up tripwires as an alert system. If any enemy approached, the bells attached to the wires would ring, giving them time to react and hide.

Behind them was a plump boy of the same age, sporting a strange hairstyle resembling horns. While the other two remained vigilant, the boy casually pulled out a bag of chips from his ninja tool pouch and started munching loudly.

These three were the new generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji.

"What are you doing, Choji?" Ino complained as she approached him, annoyed that Choji was eating so carelessly.

"Just wait a bit. I don’t know why, but I’m starving!" Choji replied as he stuffed more chips into his mouth.

"You're always saying stuff like that. The exam hasn’t even started yet, and it’s still less than five minutes away." Ino sighed.

At that moment, the bells they had set up as alarms suddenly rang.

"Ino, hide!" Shikamaru frowned, pulling Choji into the bushes, with Ino quickly following.

A few moments later, the sound of footsteps approached, along with a pleasant female voice. "Lord Doryu, weren’t we supposed to be looking for that Uchiha boy?"

A man and a woman emerged. The man was wrapped in bandages, while the woman hid her face under a hood. Both wore the forehead protectors of the Hidden Rain Village, though they were actually disguised as Aizen and Pakura.

"Shikamaru, I think they’re looking for Sasuke. Were they the ones who triggered our alarm?" Ino whispered.

"No, I don’t think so," Shikamaru shook his head, frowning. In his mind, he thought, *This is bad... I never expected these two troublemakers to show up.*

As one of the few people in Konoha with an IQ over 200, Shikamaru had been secretly observing potential opponents before the second exam. In his mind, Aizen and his group, Gaara’s team from the Sand, Neji’s group, and even the Sound ninja were all extremely dangerous threats—especially Aizen and Gaara.

They gave him an eerie feeling, something he had only felt from jōnin-level ninja before.

Aizen glanced at the bushes where the trio was hiding, then pursed his lips. "It’s still early. We can take our time finding another scroll before going after them."

Pakura, who had also noticed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, smiled. "Lord Doryu, it seems we’ve already found a scroll."

The trio panicked, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. Shikamaru’s heart sank. *Are we done for?* he thought.

Suddenly, three kunai came flying at them, accompanied by the sharp sound of blades cutting through the air. Without even looking, Aizen casually caught them and threw them back in the direction they came from.

Screams followed as three figures fell from the trees. Like Aizen and Pakura, they were also wearing the Hidden Rain Village forehead protectors.

"They took out three enemies so easily..." The trio became even more terrified.

Pakura glanced at the bodies of the fallen Rain ninja, hesitating slightly. "Lord Doryu, it seems they were from the Hidden Rain."

"It doesn’t matter," Aizen replied nonchalantly, waving it off. "If they were foolish enough to attack us, they deserved it."

He raised his hand, and with a simple motion, one of the bodies’ backpacks floated toward him. Inside was a scroll marked with the kanji for "Heaven," the same type of scroll that Aizen and Pakura already had.

"A duplicate Heaven scroll, huh? No matter." Pakura looked at the scroll in Aizen’s hand before turning toward the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Her instinct as a ninja to complete the mission drove her to approach them.

As Pakura, who looked like a reaper closing in on her prey, drew near, the trio’s hearts raced.

But just as Pakura was about to act, Aizen stopped her. "Let’s leave them. There are plenty of scrolls out there. Besides, let’s spare them for the sake of that chubby kid."

With that, Aizen shot the Ino-Shika-Cho trio a deep glance before disappearing into the forest, with Pakura following behind.

Once the two left, the trio crawled out from their hiding spot, gasping for air.

"That scared me to death! I thought we were done for," Choji said as he grabbed another handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth, trying to calm his shaken nerves.

"You idiot! How can you still be eating at a time like this?" Ino yelled, kicking Choji in frustration before turning to Shikamaru with a sigh. "Shikamaru, what was that bandaged guy? Are they really genin? Thank goodness they didn’t notice us, or we’d have been in serious trouble."

"They definitely noticed us," Shikamaru clicked his tongue in frustration, recalling Aizen’s words. Suddenly, he froze and looked at Choji. "Choji, do any of your clan members know anyone from the Hidden Rain Village?"

Choji scratched his head, thinking for a moment. "I don’t think so. As far as I know, we’ve never had any contact with the Hidden Rain."

"Then what did he mean by what he said?" Shikamaru was puzzled.

Not long after, following the encounter with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, another group from Konoha, consisting of Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten, spotted Aizen and Pakura.

Standing on a tree branch, the trio observed the two below. Tenten, playing with a kunai in her hand, remarked with interest, "Neji, looks like we’ve found two people wandering around. Pretty careless of them to just walk out in the open like that."

Rock Lee glanced at Neji. "Shall we engage?"

Neji furrowed his brow. "Not just yet. There’s supposed to be a third member of their team, probably hiding somewhere nearby. Let me check."

Byakugan!

Neji made the hand signs, and his eyes transformed, veins bulging around his temples as his Byakugan activated.

Scanning the area, Neji saw that there were only two enemies present, no third person in hiding. He then focused back on Aizen and Pakura, but the next moment, he froze. Large beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Run!" Without a moment of hesitation, Neji grabbed both Rock Lee and Tenten and fled as fast as possible.

"What’s wrong, Neji?" Rock Lee asked, running alongside him in confusion.

"Yeah, Neji, with your strength, those two shouldn’t be much of a threat, right?" Tenten, always confident in Neji’s abilities, asked in confusion.

"Less talking, more running! If we don’t, we’re dead!" Neji urged, quickening his pace.

The Byakugan allowed Neji to see the chakra flow within a person’s body. In the original story, Neji used it to see through the transformation technique that Kisame was using, revealing his immense chakra reserves.

Today, Neji had seen something similar in Aizen and Pakura. Their chakra reserves were massive—especially Aizen’s, which far exceeded anything Neji had encountered before.

He was certain of one thing: these two were not ordinary genin.