Shadow of the Wood

Chapter 6 Cigarettes ([-])

The next day, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino arrived at the gate of Konoha on time with their backpacks on their backs. At this time, Asma had not arrived, and there was no one else at the gate except the guard, so the three of them leisurely They chatted and checked each other's knives.

But Asuma wasn't Kakashi after all. Ten minutes later, Asuma's figure appeared from the other end of the road, slowly crossed to the gate, and came to the three of them.

Asma raised her right hand and said "Yo!" abruptly, startling Yamanaka Ino next to her, but found that he was greeting Kagamizuki Izumo on duty. After handing over the pass to the other party, He didn't leave immediately, instead he lit a cigarette and chatted with the other party. In other words, Asma didn't have the temperament of a ninja at all, and he was different from Kakashi's decadent and carefree style. If Shikamaru didn't know her well In the original book, maybe there will be doubts about his qualifications, but thinking about it at this time, it’s nothing. After all, ninjas are not machines. Although ninjas in this world are also high-risk occupations, their status is infinitely better than Shikamaru’s previous world. , although the rules and discipline are still ruthless, the ninjas with much less competitive pressure also have their own lives and leisure, and at this time, it may be Asma who is secretly observing the patience of the three.

Asma left the three of them aside until she finished smoking a cigarette at the gate, and then she was ready to take the trio out of the gate of Konoha. During this period, the impatient Ino was dissatisfied, but because of Shenyue Izumo He was with Gang Zitie, and he didn't know Asma well, but he didn't have an attack. As for Choji, he followed Shikamaru's lead.

Due to different power systems, this world does not have industries that are extremely harmful to the environment. Big trees that are decades or hundreds of years old are very common. Except for a road, Muye Village is surrounded by vast forests. It is said that there are many big trees among them that were created by Mutun of the first generation of Hokage.

With the gentle breeze, the branches and leaves in the forest swayed and rattled, and the sun shone through the fine leaves on the grass, casting patches of light...

This beautiful scenery made the three boys and girls, including Shikamaru, feel happy from the heart, and the grievances that waited for a while were vented.

Asma led the three of them leisurely walking along the avenue like an outing, and occasionally observed the three children who hadn't been out of the village very much. People also stopped when they saw this, knowing that Asma's real assessment was coming.

Asma rubbed her chin, seemed to be thinking about something, then thought of something, then said to the three of them indifferently: "If you want to get my approval and become a Genin, you must pass three tests."

The three Shikamaru frowned when they heard this.

"Three tests?" Shikamaru sighed inwardly, obviously, Asma would definitely not use the same test as Kakashi.

"But... Teacher, are we already out of patience?" Ino hesitated for a while but still asked with some doubts.

"Oh, I have the right to deprive you of your status as ninja." Asma said indifferently, but judging by his expression and tone, it was obvious that he would be deprived of his ninja qualification if he failed his test.

When Ino and Choji heard the words, they hesitated to speak, but Choji turned his head to look at Shikamaru, and found that he was only frowning, but there was no other expression on his face. Then he thought of what Shikamaru said to the two of them on the rooftop yesterday , so he pulled Ino, pouted his lips in the direction of Shikamaru at the confused Ino, made a slight signal, and then did not speak again.

"Then there is no problem?" Choji's actions naturally fell into Asma's eyes. Looking at the silent three, Asma's evaluation of Shikamaru further improved, but naturally it would not show it at this time.

Asma moved her figure, jumped onto the branch of a big tree by the roadside, folded her hands in front of her chest, and looked down at the three of them, at this moment she showed some decisiveness that a superior ninja should have when dealing with a subordinate Momentum: "Ninjas need extremely high mobility when performing most tasks. Whether it is chasing or rushing, they need to have good foot strength. Then, the first test - before reaching the destination, keep up If I fall behind, I will be considered a failure!"

As soon as the words fell, Asma let out an unknown chuckle, turned around and went deeper into the forest, Shikamaru and the others did not dare to hesitate, and hurriedly followed.

It can be seen that Asma did not use all his strength, otherwise this test would be meaningless at all. There is a huge gap between the three of them and the Jonin. I can't even see his back.

Having said that, Choji and Ino felt a little overwhelmed by the non-stop full-sprint running for nearly an hour. Asma's speed made the two of them have to keep chasing at the fastest speed so as not to fall behind. Ino was as sad as Choji, but not very happy either.

Finally, an open space surrounded by dense forests appeared in the distance within sight of Ino, who was at the forefront of the trio. Asma, who also saw the open space, suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the open space.

At the end of the line, Shikamaru, who didn't see the open space, realized that Asma was missing. His heart tightened, and he jumped to the side of Choji, who was sweating profusely and panting, "Choji! Grab my backpack!"

Choji hesitated a little, but still grabbed Shikamaru's backpack with his right hand as promised, and Shikamaru hurriedly led him to speed up and chase forward.

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived at Ino's side. As far as he could see, Asuma Sarutobi was leisurely smoking a cigarette in the middle of the open space in the distance.

Ino and Choji rushed to the open space and sat down on the ground regardless of their image. Shikamaru didn't sit down directly, but moved his body a little.

Asma looked at the watch on his wrist, smiled slightly at the three people staring at him and said, "Take a rest for 10 minutes."

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, and found a place to sit down.Ding Ci rested for a while, opened the backpack, and took out a box of chocolate bars from it. Just after opening, Asma who was beside him was thoughtful, and persuaded him lightly: "If I were you, I wouldn't eat at this time .”

Hearing this, Choji hesitated for a while, but regretfully put the chocolate bar back, took out a small bag of military food pills from the ninja bag, ate two with a frown, and handed the bag to Ino who was sitting next to him. After eating, Ino handed it to Shikamaru.

To be honest, Bingliang pills are effective, but most Bingliang pills are also mixed with some stimulant-like drugs. Although the ones brought by Choji are made at home, these things will not be placed, and they are closer to compressed food. It is mixed with medicine to relieve fatigue, but in terms of taste, it is also difficult to swallow. After eating Shikamaru, he can't help but frown. After returning the bag to Choji, he tries to slow down his breathing and relax his body. I don't know for a while What kind of test is going to be carried out, and it is very important to restore physical strength.

Although 10 minutes was very short, it was enough for the three of them who had eaten Bingliang Pills to recover some of their strength.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" Asma clapped her hands. Seeing that she had successfully attracted the attention of the three, she took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, tapped the pack lightly, picked up a popped cigarette, and shook it. Awakening, he said to the three puzzled people with a rare serious expression: "During war, a piece of valuable information often determines the outcome of the battlefield, and whether the information can be successfully transmitted back to the headquarters is the responsibility of the ninja." Important task..."

Hearing this, Shikamaru understood, and had already guessed the content of the test. Sure enough, Asma's next words also confirmed his guess.

"The second test! Within an hour, the three of you, under my pursuit, will hand over this cigarette intact to Chunin Kamizuki Izumo at the gate of Konoha! After the start, I will stay where I am 10 minutes, to give you time to plan and prepare."

Asma handed the cigarette to Shikamaru, seeing the three of them staring at the cigarette, showing a hint of malicious smile, said: "Then! The second test, start now!"

The three of them looked at each other in blank dismay, but they didn't dare to stay where they were at all, and rushed towards the dense forest where they came.

"What should we do? Shikamaru?" Ino asked Shikamaru who was not far ahead, "Maybe the three of us should be together, so maybe we can protect it..."

"Impossible!" Shikamaru interrupted unceremoniously: "The three of us together will not be opponents of Jnin, but together, Asma will find the cigarettes faster, and we must be separated. Buy time!" "But..., what about the cigarettes? Where should they be placed?" Ding Ci asked solemnly.

"Of course it should be placed with Shikamaru, he is the fastest among the three of us." Ino turned his head and said to Choji.

Shikamaru ignored the conversation between the two, carefully checked whether there were any fatal loopholes in the plan he had just thought about, and then heaved a sigh of relief. After a moment of silence, he said to Choji: "Choji, give me your box of chocolate bars. Let me see!"

Although Choji was a little surprised that Shikamaru asked him for snacks at this time, the tacit understanding formed over the years still made him hand over the box of chocolates to Shikamaru without hesitation.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing with the chocolate bar?" Ino asked suspiciously, then seemed to think of something, opened his small mouth slightly, and looked suddenly enlightened, "Could it be..."

"One of us is holding a cigarette, and the other two are holding fake cigarettes transformed by the technique of transformation. As long as we can delay enough time, we can win this time!" Shikamaru said decisively, and then took out a The chocolate bar looked at the shape, smelled it again, and explained to the two people looking at him with some regret: "It is longer and thicker than this cigarette. The most important thing is that we must guard against Asma's use of patience." Dog, the smell of a chocolate bar is easy to pass up."

The ninjutsu system that has been passed down in this world for many years has become more and more perfect and has been brewing. Although some ninjutsu such as the transformation technique learned in the ninja school are very low-level, each of them is an indispensable foundation for ninjas, and there are also studies. Different levels of ninjas use different effects.Just like transfiguration and change, if the difference between the two things is greater, the amount of chakra and manipulation skills required for the change will also need to increase accordingly.Although the difference between chocolate bars and cigarettes is not very big, and you don’t need too much Chakra, Shikamaru’s Chakra manipulation skills have also improved to the level of Chunin in years of practice, but it is not irreplaceable, so why waste Chakra.

Shikamaru casually grabbed a few branches from the nearby tree and made seals with both hands.

"Bang!", a faint smoke rose, and several identical cigarettes appeared in Shikamaru's hand.

"Here." Shikamaru, who was at the forefront, was a little behind and walked with the two of them, and handed two cigarettes to Choji and Ino respectively. Return it to him without a wry smile.

"Is that cigarette of yours real?" Ino looked curiously at the cigarette in his hand. The chakra that Shikamaru kept and stored on it was enough to maintain its change for nearly half an hour, and Ino would not be bored with using his own chakra. Disrupting the effect of the 'jutsu' by confusing the energy remaining on it, I asked Shikamaru directly.

"No! Choji's cigarettes are real." Seeing Ino was puzzled, he explained, "From the first test, Asma is enough to get part of our information. My speed is the fastest. If there is no harassment If I go all out, I may be able to rush back to Konoha in 10 minutes, so Asma will definitely catch up with me first to make sure if the cigarette is in my hand."

"Then Asma-sensei will catch up with me next?" Ino asked, Choji's speed was the slowest, and it would take nearly five to ten minutes to get back to Konoha without harassment.

Shikamaru nodded solemnly, and then said to Choji: "Choji, the ninjutsu we two currently know is mainly pinning, and Asma will definitely come to chase you at the end, so the only way to put cigarettes The test can only be completed on your body, whether the three of us can pass this test depends on you!"

Seeing Choji's expression of hesitation, Shikamaru obviously didn't have the slightest confidence in his own strength, so he encouraged him: "We both believe that you can complete this task, Choji! Let the other party see the price of underestimating you!" He turned his head to look at Ino again, and Ino responded emphatically.

Although Ding Ci still looked solemn, his friend's encouragement and affirmation still gave him some confidence.

"Ino, if Asma-sensei catches up and finds that the cigarettes in your hand are fake, you don't need to go to Choji to try to delay the time, it's useless, you just need to keep chasing Konoha." Shikamaru ordered with.

"But, if Asma-sensei catches up with me, won't my actions be restricted? How can I rush back to Konoha?" Ino asked strangely.

"Restraint? What can you do without restraint? Can you catch up with him? Can you stop him?" Shikamaru asked back: "Besides, although this place is not far from Konoha, it is always outside Konoha Village. If something happens, Konoha Village will be beyond its reach. Letting a few ninjas who have restricted their mobility stay in this virgin forest is any different from killing people? The biggest possibility is to use illusions and other behaviors to limit us for a few minutes to get rid of us. "

There are many wild beasts in this forest. Although there is no danger to a ninja, a ninja who cannot move is not necessarily so.Maybe Asma can use ninjutsu such as shadow clone to guard her side, but the three of them, firstly, cannot keep up with Asma's speed, and secondly, they don't have the strength to entangle Asma face to face. It only takes a few minutes for Ma to lose sight of the shadows they cast, so why bother to use shadow clones?

"After the two of us got rid of the shackles, we continued to rush towards Konoha. As long as there is a little bit that may arouse Asma's suspicion and make him give up chasing Choji and chase us again, then we can delay more time for Choji Alright!" Shikamaru said, and then said to Ino: "Give me your ninja bag."

"What are you doing?" Ino asked suspiciously after handing the ninja bag to Shikamaru.

"I want to stay and procrastinate. How can I not make more traps! I may not have enough ninja tools, and Choji's ninja tool bag is full of food." Seeing the worried eyes of Ino and Choji, Shikamaru smiled. Said: "Didn't I say it? In fact, our strength is not in the eyes of the ninja at all, so I will not be in danger."

Shikamaru picked and picked from Ino's ninja tool bag, took a few thousand copies in his hand and looked at them, shook his head and put them back, took some kunai, hot charms and smoke bombs, and returned the ninja tool bag to Ino.

"Also, you two, put the cigarette away. Asma said 'a complete cigarette', so please put it away. If it is damaged, this mission will still be considered a failure." Shikamaru Protecting the soft, perishable cigarette leaves them with few options, if at all, to hide it, exhorts.

Seeing that Ino and Choji thought about it for a long time and didn't know where to put the cigarettes, Shikamaru could only say helplessly, "Put it in the forehead guard and wrap it well."

"Ino and Choji are now separated." After Ino and Choji put away the cigarettes according to their words, Shikamaru took a deep breath and finally ordered: "I will stay here to set a trap and delay time! You two remember to follow my Do as you bid!"