Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Sakura quickly shook her head, abruptly changing the subject.

Naruto did not immediately respond to her question.

The sudden silence made Sakura, who was tilting her head and not daring to look at Naruto, feel uneasy.

Just as Sakura's anxiety was growing stronger, Naruto, as usual, continued speaking, following up on Sakura's question:

"We still don't know what Sasuke went through on his own... Under these circumstances, it would be too dangerous to continue the exam rashly."

"It's safer to guard this place until Sasuke wakes up. After all, we've already collected all the scrolls. Once Sasuke wakes up, we can head straight to the tower in the center of the Forest of Death to pass the second test."

"I think..."

Sakura was about to answer Naruto's suggestion.

An unexpected voice appeared, answering in Sakura's place.

Sakura quickly looked toward the source of the sound.

The three Sound Ninja who had clashed with them in the first exam appeared on the low grass outside the tree hole.

"We think there's no problem; the wide-open view here is perfect for fighting."

The person who picked up where Sakura left off was Tos Kinu, whose entire head was wrapped in bandages except for one eye.

"...After the battle, this place can be used as your gravesite."

Tos mocked Sakura and Naruto.

His companions, Sakura and Chin, echoed each other with a sinister laugh that also displeased Sakura.

Clearly, they didn't take the currently out-of-form Class 7 seriously.

"You annoying bastards!"

Sakura couldn't stand the Sound Ninja's disdain for Naruto and Sasuke, so she took out her kunai and prepared to fight.

Naruto reached out to stop her.

"Sakura, take good care of Sasuke."

Naruto's meaning was clear: he intended to face the three Sound Ninja alone.

"But!"

Sakura wanted to say something more.

Naruto shut her up.

“Sasuke is still unconscious, and someone has to stay behind to protect him—that person can only be you. I can’t just stand by and watch you go into battle.”

Naruto stared into Sakura's eyes with an undeniable gaze.

"I can give you another option. We'll deal with Sasuke later; our target is Sasuke!"

Tos made a suggestion to Naruto in a very "generous" tone.

But his suggestion was met with a fierce glare from Naruto.

"Your target is Sasuke? Did you attack us last night and injure Sasuke like this?"

Immediately afterwards, Sakura heard Naruto say, "Tell me, what did you do to Sasuke! What is that tomoe-like scar on his shoulder and neck!"

A scar the size of a magatama?

Sakura then belatedly noticed the three strange tomoe-shaped scars on Sasuke's body.

The three Sound Ninja also reacted as if they were clearly aware of the magatama scar.

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly silent? Weren't you very talkative just now?"

Naruto looked at the speechless Dosu and was certain that the three Sound Ninja knew something.

"Tos, let's deal with these two annoying guys first!"

Dissatisfied with Naruto's attitude, Zaku, whose clothes had the word "death" written on them, made a suggestion to Tosu.

"You're right. Kill these two weak-looking guys first, then wake Sasuke up and let him see the corpses of his comrades—I'm really looking forward to seeing the look of despair on Sasuke's face then..."

No sooner had Tos finished speaking than he leaped up and charged toward Naruto and Sakura.

Faced with both Naruto and Sakura, he chose to fight alone.

Toth's companions tacitly approved of his arrogant choice.

Naruto immediately formed hand seals, and two shadow clones appeared in front of the tree hole, protecting Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto's main body charged towards the oncoming Tosu.

"go to hell!"

Tosu stretched out his helmeted hand, punched Naruto, and roared.

Chakra began to overflow from the holes in his helmet!

That's it!

Sakura noticed that Tos's attack at this moment was exactly the same as the move he used against Kabuto Yakushi in classroom 301!

Naruto, of course, noticed this situation as well.

He bent down and placed his hands on the ground before Tos's fist arrived.

Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall!

A massive earthen wall rose from the ground, blocking Naruto and Dosu's path.

boom--!

Tos slammed his fist into the earthen wall, and the next second, accompanied by a piercing sound, the earthen wall suddenly shattered completely.

Having witnessed Tos's attack methods once again, Sakura analyzed the principles behind Tos's attacks.

"Naruto! He's attacking with his voice!"

Sakura loudly reminded Naruto.

Having his attack method exposed, Tos remained unperturbed: "So what if you know I'm attacking with sound? Sound is invisible! You can dodge the first time, but can you guarantee you'll dodge the second?"

Toscan increased the amount of chakra he poured into the helmet.

The holes in the helmet emitted a piercing screech once more, and this time Toth's sonic attack had an even greater range.

Even though Naruto was quite a distance away from Tosu while standing behind the broken earthen wall, he was still accurately hit by Tosu's sonic wave!

"Looks like you can't dodge my second attack."

Tosu looked at Naruto lying on the ground, confident that no one could survive a sonic attack unscathed.

However, Toss's confident expression suddenly froze on his face.

Naruto, who had fallen to the ground, suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke, as if mocking Tosu's arrogant confidence.

"Shadow clone?!"

Toss was astonished by what he saw.

This guy didn't release the Earth Stream Wall to block my sonic attack at all!

Instead, he used an earthen wall to block my view and used shadow clones to hide his true form!

Tosu immediately understood Naruto's purpose in using Earth Release: Earth Wall.

But Naruto has disappeared. Where is he?

Tosu's gaze swept around and suddenly noticed that the two shadow clones that Naruto had been guarding in front of the tree hole were gone!

"Sak! Chin! You two, be on your guard!"

Tos hurriedly turned his head to remind Sak and the harp.

Meanwhile, four hands silently emerged from the ground beneath Sak and Chin's feet.

Tos's eyes narrowed, and two shadow clones appeared—

—There is another entity!

He immediately looked down at his feet, and sure enough, right there at Tos's feet—

—A pair of hands reached out from the ground, ready to grab Tos's feet!

Chapter 41 Awakening

"Don't try to succeed!"

Toss shouted angrily.

He immediately crouched down and plunged his entire arm, which was covered by a helmet, into the ground.

The holes in the helmet immediately released a large amount of chakra!

Sonic attacks can not only travel through the air, but also be effective in the soil!

Tos's attack caused cracks to appear on the originally flat, low-lying grassland, as if it had been struck by an earthquake.

The sound waves flipped the entire ground over, making it uneven.

The crack in the ground, formed by the sound, stretched from Tos's feet all the way to the area around the saxophone and the harp.

Naruto's attack on Zaku and Jean's shadow clones was instantly defeated.

Naruto's true form, which was hidden in the ground, was also shaken out.

I never expected that the decapitation technique in my mind would be so easily broken by Tos.

"Your little tricks don't apply to me."

Tosu looked at Naruto, who had reappeared before him, and said, "No matter how fast you move, you can't exceed the speed of sound!"

"That's not entirely true."

Naruto calmly retorted.

"You stubborn fool, then I'll take you down completely in the next move!"

Tosu stared intently at Naruto.