The whole area was presently a field of mines, snares, traps throwing shurikens and kunais. But their enemy still needed to trigger them. Otherwise, everything would have been a waste of time. Jun tried to gauge the power of their future opponents by vaguely determining their chakra level. Believing they could put up a fight, he signaled his comrades to get ready.

The genins hid. They waited for their targets to rush down one of the gorges leading to their ambush location. The Konoha ninjas jumped from hiding to land behind them, blocking any possible retreat.

It was a team from Kumo. There were three teenagers, a boy with a dark complexion, another boy with blond hair carrying a sword, and a girl with braided hair. The girl spoke first.

“I think you should just hand over your tokens. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?”

Jun felt strange. Her words didn’t seem stupid to him. He was considering what she said.

Susumu whispered something as he waved a hand seal. The suggestive power of the kunoichi’s voice vanished. Her Genjutsu was broken. She looked furious. His blond teammate snorted amusedly and drew his sword.

“It doesn't work every time, Masu.”

The bond-haired ninja jumped toward them. Natsumi sent shurikens his way. The dark-skinned boy jumped up to help his friend, but Jun cut him off with a Raiton Jutsu that blasted the ground in front of him. He heard Masu speaking again. He felt the creation of a new Genjutsu. Susumu infused his chakra and dispel her technique with his own. Jun decided to let the two Genjutsu casters deal with each other

Jun and Natsumi faced off against the two teenagers. They were trying to push them to the area where their traps were. But their enemies were stronger than expected. The opponents that Team 14 used to face never had such perfectly coordinated teamwork. They seemed to read each other’s minds, and they had combos they executed at lightning speed.

They were skilled. Jun already knew Kumo shinobis were among the best in the world. Facing them now made it obvious. He found himself fighting the sword-wielding teenager. The latter had a delighted look in his eyes as they were trying to tear each other to pieces. His sword swung in a lightning-fast arc. Jun countered it with a Katon Jutsu, that exploded between them. He leaped over the flames to attack from the air. Jun nearly got cut in two by his opponent’s sword. He managed to block the attack with a kunai before landing a punch on his face. His head snapped back with a startled gasp.

Jun took advantage of the opening and attacked him with his Raiton, Electric Discharge. There was a loud sizzle, and the Kumo shinobi cried out in pain. He jumped back, his arm dangling uselessly. He stared at Jun in shock for a brief moment before rage replaced it. Jun didn’t mind it. He had injured his enemy; he needed to press on. He tightened the grip on his kunai and flexed his legs, preparing to rush toward him.

“Stay!”

Jun froze as if he had hit a wall. Masu’s voice no longer possessed the cajoling tone she had used for her first Genjutsu. Her voice was hoarse but full of power. Jun felt her chakra weighing down on him and the surroundings.

He saw Masu coming toward him out of the corner of his eyes. Susumu was lying on the ground, face down, immobile. The injured teenager hesitated for a moment before joining his partner who was fighting Natsumi. Jun heard the crash of their weapons colliding. Their battle became more frantic. Natsumi was cornered. Susumu was still immobile. Jun tried to free himself from the Genjutsu, but it was like trying to remove handcuffs.

The chakra from the technique was suffocating. He started to panic. He believed it was a B-rank or even an A-Rank Jutsu. It wasn’t something he could shake off with ease. Masu was still approaching. She had an icy glint in her eyes. She stopped in front of Jun, blocking his field of vision. He could no longer see Natsumi who had been backing away from her opponents. Only Masu remained in his vision. The girl was extremely focused. Her next word rang in his ears like a clap of thunder.

“Stay!”

Jun’s heart skipped a beat. His chakra froze in his body, refusing to respond. His thoughts were all over the place. He couldn’t breathe. It felt like his lungs had turned to stone. His vision was getting blurry. The terror felt when one is on the brink of asphyxiation appeared to paralyze his brain. In a rare moment of lucidity, he activated his Sharingan.

The Genjutsu suddenly became less intimidating and easier to understand. The key to the technique wasn’t her voice; it was the vibrations of the air propagated by her chakra. Comprehending the process was the first step to dispel the technique.

“Stay!” Masu shouted again, squinting.

Her word wasn’t as overwhelming as the previous one, but it still had some effect. The little clarity Jun regained vanished, He sensed it was a matter of time before losing consciousness. And if that happened, he would definitely die. He was out of options.

The teenager had no choice. He opened his eyes wide and activated Shikigami. The Mangekyo Sharingan appeared in his eyes like a blooming flower. He saw Masu’s gaze fall on it, widen in shock. Shikigami had already pinpointed the Genjutsu’s weakness and shattered it. It was over in an instant. Jun was able to move again. He took a deep breath. His kunai was still in his hand. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He saw so clearly. Masu was opening her mouth to speak.

Jun’s kunai described a perfect arc. The movement was fast, short, and precise. Masu collapsed; her throat was slit. Jun deactivated the Mangekyo Sharingan and fell to his knees. He was coughing, trying to breathe normally. A pool of blood was spreading under Masu’s body next to him. The two remaining Kumo ninjas shouted.

Jun forced himself up to his feet, rocking his legs. He saw that Susumu was getting up as well. He let out a sigh of relief. Natsumi used the distraction created by their comrade’s death to knock out the dark-skinned genin. The other retreated several meters away. The Konoha ninjas positioned themselves to cut off any escape route. The Kumo shinobi looked at Jun with hatred.

“You killed her.”

“Yes, I did. It was her or me. I have no regrets. Nothing can take your pain away, but you will eventually find a way to live with it.” Jun replied.

“One of your teammates is still alive. Give us your tokens, and we’ll let you bring him back with you.” Natsumi said.

The Kumo genin gritted his teeth, but his gaze fell on his unconscious teammate. His shoulders slumped.

“Masu has the tokens. I want to take her with me as well.”

Jun searched the corpse and found nine tokens. They kept their words and let him go with his comrades. They watched him disappear in silence. Jun looked at the tokens in his hand. They had won, but he didn’t feel like celebrating.

Team 14 retreated to take refuge in the area they had set up traps in. They had been too confident stepping forward to confront the ninjas from Kumo. It could have ended tragically. Those guys were stronger than them. The only reason they were still alive was because of the Mangekyo Sharingan. However, Jun couldn’t use it in every fight. He had to be more careful. He was lucky no one noticed it this time. The sole person who had seen his eyes was no longer in this world.

With the nine tokens he took from their last opponents, they possessed now one hundred and twenty points. They only lacked three more tokens to reach the points required to pass the exam. However, they were in no rush to experience another confrontation. They discovered a cave and hid inside. They ate and drank to recover their energy.

Sunset came and it got darker. Jun felt three chakra signatures converging toward them. The team retreated this time. He sensed three more people coming in their direction. It was the beginning of the wave. The genins who had survived and escaped the battle were now going to the finish line. Team 14 had to hurry to collect the missing points because more teams would be there soon.

The genins Jun sensed rushed straight into their traps. The canyon was filled with explosions, the metallic sound of shurikens, and screams. The other team he also sensed took a detour to avoid the traps.

When the explosions stopped, they went to the scene to collect their rewards. Their traps weren’t designed to kill, but to incapacitate their victims. The genins saw three people badly injured from their ambush. They were still breathing.