"More precisely, it's one hundred and thirty-one people."
Yuto Souta, standing nearby, provided a precise answer.
Compared to Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha beside him, he actually felt a sense of relief...
"One hundred and thirty-one people... Which direction should we break through?"
Kakashi Hatake glanced at Haku Yakura, whose eyes still burned with unwillingness, and spoke in a low voice to Yuto Souta.
Obito Uchiha, standing nearby, also turned his gaze toward him.
Both of them were waiting for Yuto Souta to make a decision, and... they were somewhat wary that he might use a Water Dragon Jutsu to wash them away again.
Some things, once experienced, were enough.
"It's fine." Yuto Souta, however, twisted his neck and even stretched his wrists.
From his demeanor, it looked like he was gearing up for a big fight!
"Just over a hundred genin—no need to break through!"
What were a hundred-plus genin to him?
He had beaten over a hundred chunin plus fifteen jonin before!
True, he had felt a fleeting moment of tension because of the numbers.
But once he confirmed it was only a hundred-plus genin, all that tension vanished in an instant...
With just over a hundred genin, there was no need to use Dust Release or Wood Release...
His little secret wouldn't have to be exposed after all.
Kakashi Hatake fell silent.
Not just him—even the usually fearless Obito Uchiha went quiet.
"Souta, I trust you, but if you dare send the two of us away again and stay behind by yourself this time..."
"I absolutely won't forgive you."
Obito Uchiha's voice was chillingly low.
"And me too," Kakashi Hatake added with a nod from the side.
"No matter how you manage to send me away, I'll rush back at the first chance I get."
"And if it's already too late... I'll personally block the tower entrance until I've taken out every last one of those guys."
The two boys' tones were heavy, their gazes resolute.
The expression on Yuto Souta's face grew increasingly bewildered...
He felt the need to explain himself.
It was really just over a hundred genin—really not a big deal!
But looking into the eyes of these two, Yuto Souta opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words...
After a long pause, he gave a helpless smile.
"Do whatever you want."
The three boys finally reached an agreement.
And at that moment, the so-called genin coalition finally arrived.
As expected, genin from the four great ninja villages were all present, along with a scant few from smaller nations. Only the numbers from the Hidden Rain Village were somewhat noteworthy.
A group of ninjas in varied attire surrounded the area, though they stood apart from one another. It seemed they had reached some sort of agreement, yet they remained on guard against each other.
"Lord Yakura!"
Several ninjas wearing Sand Village headbands immediately recognized Haku Yakura. They rushed out from the encirclement, quickly forming a protective barrier around her.
The already less-than-airtight encirclement now had a gaping hole...
"Hey! What's the deal with you Sand Village folks?"
A ninja wearing a Cloud Village headband roared in anger.
"If these three Konoha brats escape and report back, you Sand Village won't get off easy either!"
The Sand Village ninjas ignored him, maintaining their protective formation around Haku Yakura.
Meanwhile, Minato's team, trapped within the large encirclement, quickly exchanged glances.
From the words of this Mist Village ninja and the situation on the field, they could gather a lot of intel.
This so-called "genin coalition" was likely a temporary alliance, formed without any premeditated plan. That explained why the Sand Village ninjas had broken formation to rush toward Haku Yakura without regard for the encirclement.
The lack of a prior plan suggested that the ninja villages didn't share the same goals—at least, none had been openly declared.
More likely, this was just to target Konoha, or to prevent Konoha's genin from grouping up and eliminating them one by one.
Yuto Souta wiggled his eyebrows, silently gesturing and laying out a battle plan.
This kind of unspoken coordination had been second nature to the trio for more than a day or two. Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake nodded solemnly in agreement.
In truth, aside from the overwhelming numbers, Yuto Souta felt a bit wistful about this Chunin Exam...
War was indeed a strange thing.
For the four great ninja villages right now, Konoha was the ultimate boss.
Sure, the four great villages also waged wars against each other, and on no small scale.
But if the distances between the five great ninja villages were shrunk down to a single Forest of Death, the actions of the four great villages would be strikingly unanimous...
No wonder Madara Uchiha had resorted to something as seemingly insane as the Eye of the Moon to achieve peace.
Ninjas were, after all, born for slaughter.
Mutual understanding? That didn't exist.
Looking across the ninja world, aside from Sasuke Uchiha briefly grasping this truth, few others ever did...
At least, compared to Hashirama Senju's short-lived peace achieved through words and bowing, Madara Uchiha—who spent decades holed up beside the Gedo Statue—seemed more like a doer.
His hands began forming seals.
His movements were swift, dazzling to the eye, leaving no time for anyone to react!
Yes.
Faced with the encirclement of the "genin coalition," Yuto Souta chose to strike first!
Being a doer was, coincidentally, also a quality a scientist should have.
"Water Release: Tears of Heaven!"
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
He started with two newly mastered high-level ninjutsu!
The clear, cloudless sky began to drizzle, but the drops were long and thin, like thousands of senbon raining down!
Some ninjas couldn't react in time, letting out a scream as they fell from the branches, only to be impaled by earth spikes and turned into research points before Yuto Souta's eyes.
But that was only a few.
Water Release: Tears of Heaven had a wide range and decent killing power, but it could only target the fragile skin of humans.
The ninjas who reacted quickly devised countermeasures.
Some sought cover, others cast ninjutsu to shield themselves from above, and a few Cloud Village ninjas even charged straight at Yuto Souta, tanking the attack!
This coalition wasn't short on people who roughly knew the strength of Minato's team of three.
But when they finally surrounded the trio, the mental preparedness they'd built up vanished entirely.
Indeed, the three had performed impressively outside the Chunin Exam arena.
But against the overwhelming numbers of the "Eliminate Konoha Genin Coalition," what kind of waves could they possibly make?
--- Translator Note ---
Read 30+ Advanced Chapters on my Patre on!
This novel has 2 daily chapters being translated and released every day on Patre on!
Patre on.com/MyKitty