Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The original characters belong to me.

Chapter 19: Hellish Exams Part 3

In a room, on-board "Jiraiya's Wisdom"

The night came and Naruto, Konohamaru, Shikamaru, Anko, Ibiki and Sai were having a meeting in a room that could be functioned as a conference room, as it had a large screen at the end of the wall. There was tight security outside the room and no one was allowed to disturb, unless it was an emergency.

Shikamaru yawned loudly. "So why are we here again? Just make it quick so I can hit the sack" he said lazily.

"I have gathered you all here for a quick info" Naruto explained to them. He began eyeing Sai. "Sai, are they also on-board, the team Grandma Tsunade requested?" he asked the pale-skinned man who nodded in return.

"They are all on-board. Shall I bring them in here?" Sai asked while answering Naruto's question.

"Yes. We have something important to discuss so they need to be present" Naruto answered and Sai exited the room.

The others raised an eyebrow at this. Naruto only chuckled lightly in return. Apparently, they never heard of Tsunade requesting a team of specialists. But they all knew that he was going to answer them.

"Did the old hag request a team to accompany us on this blimp?" Konohamaru asked him.

"It was top secret information. I brought you all here for the specific reason to tell you about this team, those who will help me with overseeing the Exams as well as helping the ANBU watchers scattered across the island" the blonde-haired man explained to them.

Anko mused at this. "So who is it then? Who will be your helpers, if I may ask?" the elder lady asked smugly, making Naruto scoff at her.

Ibiki closed his eyes before sighing deeply. "Well I know for sure that Ino won't be with us on this blimp" he thought while thinking about the woman, who was an esteemed member of the Interrogation Squad.

The door opened and in came Sai and motioned for the team to enter. Sai stood beside the door while facing all the curious faces with a smile. He nodded towards Naruto, to let him take care of the rest.

And in they came. Sasuke, Hinata, Lee, and last but not least, Kiba. Rock Lee was one of the strongest taijustu users in the shinobi world. Despite his goofy looks, he was still a nice guy, as well as a serious badass. The reaction to the other adults was that of surprise.

"These will be my assistants: Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga, Rock Lee and Kiba Inuzuka" the blonde-haired man explained with a smile on his face.

Lee only gave everyone a thumb in return. "How are you doing? I hope you're doing great, because I definitely am!" the man in green jumpsuit called out while smiling.

Naruto and Konohamaru chuckled lightly by seeing Lee's open-minded persona. "You never change, do ya, Bushy Brows?" they both asked in their heads.

Sasuke only stood there unfazed, not caring about what the others thought about him. But he could see Ibiki standing near him with a smirk across his face. The raven-haired man raised an eyebrow at this.

"What are you smirking for?" he simply asked.

"I never thought the infamous ex-criminal himself would appear here" he noted while facing him sternly. "You may be married to one of my squad's finest members, but I still got my eyes on you" he slightly warned him.

Sasuke didn't take his threat seriously and only closed his eyes to reject Ibiki as a whole. Even though the two had gotten to know each other during the co-operative missions of the ANBU Black Ops and the Interrogation Squad, Ibiki still felt that he couldn't trust Sasuke completely.

Shikamaru watched this interaction from the side-lines, with a surprisingly serious look on his face. "I bet Sasuke's grown more powerful, on the same strength as Naruto" he thought in his head while eying the raven-haired man. "But I see that he and Sasuke doesn't necessarily care which one of them is stronger, especially since they are now adults" he added.

But the focus soon shifted to Hinata and Kiba, who was now speaking with Naruto. Hinata was smiling kindly towards him, while Kiba had his arms crossed and looked at another direction.

"I'm really glad that you and Kiba could join us here, Hinata" Naruto said to them.

"Sure. It's been a while since we last talked, so I figured out that this could help us come to terms with one another" she stated happily. But she noticed Kiba still ignoring Naruto, so she began to nudge him by his hips. "Kiba, show some manners. You're standing before the future Hokage!" she lightly scolded him.

Kiba grunted in return. "He ain't my Hokage….yet" he said, still not looking at Naruto, who fixed a worried expression on his face.

In fact, he tried to cheer him up. "Hey Kiba, how's it going? I heard you…." Naruto was cut off by the angry tone of Kiba.

"Don't give me that bullshit! You expect me to be all friendly with you!? In your dreams!" the brown-haired man snapped, while Hinata tried to restrain her husband. Naruto only jumped in fear by seeing Kiba behaving this way.

"That's enough Kiba. We have been appointed by Lady Tsunade to be his advisors and assistants. Please show some respect" she urged him strictly, although Kiba immediately focused his gaze somewhere else.

But he began eyeing his wife with an annoyed look on his face. "So what if we're appointed to be his advisors and assistants. Big deal! That doesn't mean I have to like him" he explained to Hinata, who crossed her arms while facing her husband with a sigh.

But things got ugly as Shikamaru suddenly intervened. "Have you seriously become that miserable? You used to be a man of honour, Kiba. But how can you consider yourselves one when you keep disrespecting Naruto and your wife?" Shikamaru questioned him.

Kiba only glared at him in return while slowly gritting his teeth. "You stay out of this, Shikamaru. This is between me and him!" he said while pointing his finger towards Naruto, who stood there stunned, not knowing how to respond to this.

"I don't understand. How can Kiba still be stuck in the past?" the blonde-haired man wondered in his head while eyeing the aggressive man. "I think Kazue was for real when he spoke about the trouble Hinata's family were in" he added while remembering Kazue's words.

Shikamaru grew irritated by Kiba's attitude and did not back down from this fight. "Can't you act like a real adult for once!? I mean what about your kids….." before Shikamaru could continue speaking about Takeda and Minami, Kiba angrily stormed out the room. Hinata only sighed disappointedly at this.

"What's his deal?" Lee asked Hinata. "Shall I go after him?" he asked again, but Hinata raised her hand as a no.

"Just let him have his tantrum. He will eventually calm down" she told Lee and everyone else in the room. "In the meantime, why don't you fill us on our objectives, Naruto?" she suddenly asked Naruto.

The blonde-haired man was surprised by how Hinata was able to put that episode away and change the subject. But still, he needed to fill the team on their objectives. He made sure that the members faced him.

"I'm sure that Grandma Tsunade didn't fill you in on your reason for boarding this blimp with us. Well I'm here to tell you the rest" the blonde-haired man stated.

Lee nodded his head in return. "I'm more than happy to be able to work with you, especially you, Sasuke" he said while taking a brief glance at the raven-haired man, who only raised an eyebrow in confusion. But Lee refocused his gaze on Naruto. "When Lady Tsunade told me of accompanying you, there was no way I could've turned down a request like that" he added with a confidential grin.

Sasuke began focusing his serious gaze towards his long-time rival. "I only accepted this on two conditions. One, that I would be involved in managing the security. And two, that me and Ino would get a chance to see our sons during their fights" he lowly told Naruto, who showed understanding in return.

"I understand, Sasuke. And believe me, you will both be able to watch their battles, as will me and Sakura when Nashiko fights" he assured him with a smile.

Hinata fixed a gentle look on her face. "Since this was about the Chuunin Exams, it is no surprise that you requested a Hyuuga and an Inuzuka to accompany you" she remarked. "Me and Kiba will do our best to assist you, even if my husband can be stubborn at times" she assured him with a nod.

"I really appreciate the support from all of you guys. But only Kiba is still missing" Naruto said while noticing the absence of the brown-haired man. "I chose all of you because I have great confidence in your abilities. These times are hard for me, and I'm sure once I've become Hokage, they will still be. That is why I need your support" he told them with honesty.

Lee gave him a thumb in return. "Well, you can count on us, Naruto. We will always back you, whether you are Hokage or not" he said.

Suddenly, the door opened and Kiba came back in. He had his arms in his pockets while ignoring what those around him thought of his actions minutes ago, although Sasuke didn't seem to give him much attention and was focused on something else. He only closed his eyes and leant against the wall. Naruto and Hinata smiled at this.

"Don't get too overexcited. I only came back so I could know what my responsibilities on this trip were" he said to them. "But remember, I'm doing this for myself, not for anyone else's sake, okay?" he declared while making sure everyone understood what he meant by it.

Konohamaru suddenly stepped forward to say something important. "I know that the majority of the team's teachers are supposed to stay on this blimp, but I have chosen to take six of them along with me through this course. I have chosen five already, but I need only one more" he revealed to them and suddenly held up the key he had showed the students. "I told them that this was only a copy, but that was only a slight lie" he admitted mischievously.

"So you're saying that this is one of the many keys that gives you access to Shimbala?" Shikamaru asked surprised. He them smirked in amusement. "Heh, smart move there, junior" he complimented him.

"But why would you take six jounins along with you?" Hinata asked him as she didn't get his point.

Konohamaru grinned in amusement. "Well I only want to see whether those six are worthy of being called jounins or teachers for that matter" he answered her while thinking about those he had chosen. "And I have just picked the ones I feel show promise" he said gleefully.

Naruto suddenly motioned Sasuke to step forward and the raven-haired man did. He stood in the middle to make sure everyone was seeing him. "Now that we're all here, I would like Sasuke to inform you of something he stumbled upon while out in the fields. Only me, Grandma Tsunade, Shizune and a few others know about this" the blonde-haired man told them. He then nodded as Sasuke. "You may tell them what you discovered" he said to him.

"Recently, we in the ANBU Black ops have been tracking down recent attacks along our country's border. We have found villages and other settlements razed, and people have vanished without a trace" he revealed to them, and they all expressed shock at his.

"People vanishing…." Sai was stunned by what he heard.

"How…cold-hearted" Hinata exclaimed her disgust by what she heard.

"Unforgiveable!" Lee expressed his dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

"Who could've done something harsh? Is it a possibility that one of the other Great Hidden Villages were involved in those border clashes?" Anko asked him, but Sasuke shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. With cooperation with the ANBU Black Ops from the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Mist, we discovered that none of the Five Great Nations were involved" the raven-haired answered. "In fact, they are also suffering losses at their borders as we speak" he revealed, causing someone to gasp in outrage.

"So everyone's getting a share of the pain? Damn, that's completely messed up" Kiba stated his opinion of this.

"This is madness" Ibiki said lowly. "Who would be so insane to incur the wrath of the Five Great Nations!?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"Whoever those perpetrators are, they sure got balls in doing so" Shikamaru noted grimly. "In my opinion, they probably wanted attention so they committed those unspeakable acts" he added his opinion of the matter.

"So maybe the other great Hidden Villages are not the perpetrators" Anko remarked, but suddenly thought about something in her head. She faced Sasuke again. "But what about the smaller countries, did you find something at their borders?" she asked him.

Sasuke closed his eyes when being asked about it. "That is what I'm about to tell you now" he answered and everyone's eyes were focused on him. Sasuke opened his eyes with seriousness. "When we were once investigating a border village near the Land of Valleys, we discovered something disturbing. The majority of the villagers were gone, but someone had been painting on the wrecked buildings with blood" he told them.

"The blood of the villagers!?" Konohamaru asked with outrage. "Who the hell are these barbarians!?" he demeaned to know, but he was calmed down by Naruto.

"Sasuke, could you show them the picture of what was written on those buildings?" Naruto asked him before eyeing the others. "Back in the Hokage Tower, he showed us what we believe to be a symbol of those attackers" he explained to them.

Sasuke put the picture on the table and everyone, save Naruto and Shikamaru, got around it seeing what was in the picture. They were horrified and surprised at the same time. The reason why they were surprised was due to the fact that they recognized that symbol, something that they had first seen during the war and the aftermath. Written in blood upon a wall of stone was a crescent moon with a circle lying next to it.

"It's a crescent moon. But that's the symbol used by the ninjas of the Hidden Moon Village" Lee noted while watching.

"But that doesn't seem right. The Moon Village's crescent moon doesn't have a circle lying next to it" Sai said.

"I think Sai is right" Hinata said as she studied the picture. "This symbol belongs to that of a ninja clan, but not just any ordinary ninja clan" she added with worry in her voice.

"What do you mean, Hinata?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is the symbol….of the Otsutsuki Clan" she revealed with fear in her voice.

Everyone was shocked by what she just said. They knew who the clan was and its history. It was the clan of not just the legendary Sage of the Six Paths aka Hagoromo Otsutsuki, but also the progenitor of all shinobis: Kaguya Otsutsuki.

"What…but how…" Anko was at loss of words.

"Otsutsuki clan….it's been years since we last heard that name being spoken" Ibiki noted grimly

"My god…." Konohamaru exclaimed lowly. "Do you suppose REAL members of that clan are behind those attacks? I mean, almost every one of them died out ages ago!" he asked Sasuke, but was also eyeing Naruto.

Naruto raised his hand to make Konohamaru focus his attention on him. "All we can say is that the ANBU Black Ops have yet to find evidence that a real-life Otsutsuki was even there. From what I think, the attackers are probably using the Otsutsuki clan's symbol as their official logo" he answered him and the others.

"I agree with Naruto's answer. And despite our best efforts, we were unable to discover the whereabouts of the attackers" he said in support of Naruto. He then shifted the tone of his voice. "But from what we managed to gather, none of the smaller nations has suffered casualties as we of the Great Nations have. That also includes….the Land of Sound" he added to his statement.

Everyone widened their eyes after hearing his revelation. They all knew the Land of Sound, or the Land of Rice Fields as it was usually called. "That trio of Sound ninjas….." Konohamaru said lowly before he thought about something. The others wondered what was on his mind. "I think I know who will be the last jounin to accompany me and my group to Shimbala" he said smugly.

Naruto expressed support for his long-time admirer with an approving nod. He then refocused his attention on everyone standing in the room. "Alright, I suggest we all get some sleep now. But remember what we just talked about in here. We better watch out that none of such things happens to our children or the other rookies. Something like that would shatter our hearts" he told everyone strictly.

At the cliff, the Train Mountains

As soon as the sun rose up, the blimp was docked near the cliff and was unloading the various teams. There was no way out as the blimps would eventually fly to its next destination. But Naruto had gladly been there to wish everyone the best of luck in the second phase. He and the other jounins waved their hands at every student.

"Well, this is goodbye for now! I expect each and every one of you kids to stay focused on this phase. Don't let your guard down. Until then, See you all in a few days, rookies!" those were the last words Naruto said before leaving the area. None of the students bothered to wave back, not even Nashiko, who was feeling a little bit embarrassed over seeing her father acting like that. But her teammates didn't mind.

As the blimp left, all the teams had no choice but to start wandering on this unknown island. They were high in the mountains and it was a nice view of the ocean. However, people were more focused on the snowy tops and the lush, but dangerous jungle that stood before them. They had to choose which way to go. But as they left the bridge and headed forward, some jounins had been chosen by Konohamaru to accompany him through the area.

The brown-haired man knew that the coast was clear since no one was watching them. He smiled as the bridge was empty and they could come out.

"Alright, now's the time" he told the jounins and they all showed themselves out in the open. Konohamaru stretched his arms to welcome them to the island. "Welcome to the Train Mountains, Menma Umino, Ayumu Sarutobi, Kazue Shimizu, Hideki Sado, Kaito Mizushima and Shinichi Yamauchi" he welcomed them all but only Ayumu seemed to return his greeting.

"Thanks for the welcome, cuz!" he said to his cousin with a smile on his face.

However, Kazue, Hideki and Shinichi fixed serious glances towards Konohamaru, who only chuckled in return. "Got any problems?" he asked them.

"Why are we chosen for this trip?" Kazue asked sternly. "You better have a good reason for us to go along with this game of yours" she added, making Konohamaru sweat in return.

"I would really like to know why me and that Mist ninja is dragged into this…nonsense" Shinichi stated while taking a brief glance at Kaito, who only smirked in return.

"Well, I'm glad I was chosen. It will be an honour to get better acquainted with the infamous jounins of the Leaf" Kaito remarked, but also glanced at Shinichi. "Oh, and you of course, unknown Sound jounin" he added while eyeing him.

Hideki faced Konohamaru sternly. "Well, give us an answer" he spoke in a demanding voice.

Konohamaru only laughed at their demands before fixing a serious glance on his face. "Oh I've nothing to hide from you. I just wanna see if each of you standing here is worthy of calling yourselves teachers" he explained to them. "Are you worthy of being in charge of inspiring new generations, or are you all just a bunch of overconfident hypocrites?" he suddenly asked them.

While Menma and Ayumu laughed with him, Kazue, Kaito, Hideki and Shinichi only stared at Konohamaru with irritated looks on their faces. They did not take kindly to his behaviour towards them. Shinichi could see that the brown-haired man often gave him a disapproving stare.

But Konohamaru shifted focus. "Alright, now that all the students are scrambling to find and locate the nearest key, we will head straight towards Shimbala by taking a secret route to it" he said while noticing that only the wind could be heard. He then started running, but not before looking over his shoulder. "Are you guys coming or not?" he called to them.

Menma and Ayumu immediately followed him, but the others took their time to think. Nevertheless, they chose to follow Konohamaru, even though they did with reluctance.

"This better be fun" Menma thought while running after him.

At Team Menma's location

Nashiko, Shunsuke and Takeda were heading towards the deep jungle. As they finally entered it, they tried to climb up the trees, hoping to get a better perspective of this new environment. But some of the trees rose high above the ground. Even their vines were gigantic as bridges. It was also a little bit difficult to even see the sky, although rays of sunshine could be seen.

As they stood on one of the giant vines scouting the area, Nashiko and Shunsuke suddenly noticed Arata peeing by the tree. Takeda sat beside him with satisfaction.

"Attaboy, Arata! This should help us" he remarked while patting his dog's head.

"How is Arata's urine gonna help us?" Nashiko asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Takeda only sighed annoyingly in return. "Let me ask you something. Do you know why dogs usually pee randomly?" he asked her, who was completely dumbfounded.

Shunsuke's eyes widened wit realization. "I know the answer. They do that to mark where they have been" he answered.

Takeda smiled at him. "Bingo!" he complimented the black-haired boy. Nashiko only rolled her eyes by hearing this, and she even started to regret ever asking him. The brown-haired boy looked around the jungle with his bright eyes. "Considering that this jungle is big, there is a great chance that we will lose our way. But Arata can track up places where he has marked, so it should make it a little bit easier for us to navigate" he explained to them.

Shunsuke expressed admiration for the way the usually lazy and hot-headed Takeda solved this problem. "Good idea, Takeda. And nice work there, Arata" he complimented them both, making the small dog bark in appreciation.

"Well that's helpful and all. But remember, we cannot waste time standing here. Remember what Konohamaru-sensei said. If we don't get a key, we're screwed" she reminded them of their test.

Takeda stood up, with Arata hanging around his collar. "We know that, but you do remember that it ain't over once we find a key. We gotta protect it until we find the entrance to whatever the heck that city is" he pointed out to her before taking a few steps to look at the view. "And besides, finding a small key in THIS area sure as hell ain't easy" he added as he and his teammates all eyed the fauna before them.

But the trio snapped once they heard something moving in the bushes beneath them. They all stood silent. But out of nowhere, triple kunais were thrown towards the trio and they barely had enough time to dodge them.

They all landed on the ground while standing ready for whoever was trying to attack them. "We barley have begun searching and we are attacked so soon? What a pain!" Nashiko complained in disbelief.

"Do you think they suspect us of possessing a key?" Shunsuke asked his teammates.

Takeda shook his head at him. "I think that's not the case here, Shunsuke. Obviously they only want to "eliminate the competition" as they say here" the brown-haired boy answered him.

They could hear chuckling coming from the bushes and out came three ninjas from the Grass Village. It consisted of two girls and one boy. They faced Nashiko and her friends with bullying faces.

"That boy with the mutt hanging around his collar is a smart one. He just discovered our motives for attacking you" one of the girls said.

The boy held shuriken in his hands while preparing to throw them at their targets. "All the more reason to make these Leaf Village clowns our target practices!" he exclaimed with a grin on his face.

Nashiko stepped forward to face the trio with a smirk on her face. Eventually her teammates did the exact same thing. The pinkette pointed her finger towards the Grass ninjas. "If you think you're gonna take us out then you are so wrong. We'll prove it by kicking your sorry butts!" she exclaimed while cracking her knuckles, making the Grass ninja widen their eyes at what shound her knuckles made.

At Team Kazue's location

Team Kazue was now climbing up the rocky ways that lead them to the snowy tops. At first they had used all their strength to jump from rock to rock. But they were foolish to realize how demanding of energy it was.

They were now having a break, and lucky for them, a river ran just before them. From that, they could drink clean water from the mountains. While Minami and Saburou were exhausted, Ochinko hadn't necessarily jumped as much as they did, and had spared his energy. But he stopped for the sake of his comrades and sketched something on his notebook while they rested.

"This view is nothing like I have ever seen before. It's so…magnificent" Ochinko remarked while looking at the view before him. "I but we'll even get a better view once we'll reached the top of the mountains" he added while sketching.

Minami only raised an eyebrow at his teal-haired teammate. "We've been jumping and you don't feel exhausted or anything?" she asked while stroking Riko's fur.

Ochinko faced the dark blue-haired girl with a friendly smile on his face. "I don't prefer using up all my energy" he replied before refocusing his attention on his notebook.

Saburou surprisingly chuckled in amusement at his teal-haired friend who continued sketching. "I must admit that I have learned something from Ochinko" he remarked. "I should act more reasonable next time" he added while he suddenly got up on his feet.

Suddenly, Riko sniffed something in the air and began barking towards the mountains. Minami noticed this and looked at the same direction her dog was. "What's the matter, Riko?" she asked him while looking at the same direction Riko was. "Byakugan!" she activated her Byakugan in order for her to get a better look at what Riko was barking at. She could see someone nearing was nearing the snowy tops. "I don't believe it! There's Inojin, Chouta and Shikaien!" she exclaimed with amazement.

"Obviously they must have chosen to travel to the snowy tops way before we did. We were stuck wondering which way we should've taken before we ended up here" Ochinko remarked while eyeing the Hyuuga.

"But there's more! Someone's travelling the same path they are!" Manami exclaimed again as she saw someone far behind Team Ayumu. "It's those ninjas from the Mist Village. They must also be un their way to the tops" she remarked while seeing them thanks to her Byakugan.

"But what does it matter, Minami? You do remember that right now, all other teams are our enemies" Saburou said sternly to her. "If you think Inojin will help you out, then you are sadly mistaken" he added.

The dark blue-haired girl fixed an angry look on her face after hearing him say that. "Of course I know that, bugboy!" she hit back at him. "Do you think I'm stupid or something?" she then asked him.

Saburou only smirked in return. "No, but I think someone's very keen on meeting Inojin" he teased her, much to her anger, although her cheeks somewhat reddened.

As his comrades began to bicker, Ochinko could only sigh in disappointment at them. They always had to antagonize each other for no reason. But still, the teal-haired boy refused to believe that this was the end of their road. They would still make it through, one way or another.

"Once we reach the tops, we must take great caution while searching for a key. Who knows, this could probably be the end of us" he thought grimly while eyeing the snowy tops. He then sketched some ink rats and they became alive from his notebook. He then ordered them to search around the area for any keys and come back to him if they discovered a location. "This will do. I just hope they won't be spotted" he added to his thoughts.

At Team Hideki's location

Rock Guy, Hisoka Sado and Kimiko Inoue had reached the inner parts of the jungle. As such, they were technically in a labyrinth of fauna. They were now facing some dangerous plants that actually had teeth. The plants were giving Kimiko the creeps, while Guy and Hisoka were not intimidated by their large appearance.

"Those things look incredibly nasty!" Kimiko shouted in a girly manner.

Guy only smirked and prepared his fighting stance, a trait he had inherited from his own father. "Heh, those plants are nothing, Kimiko. Just watch this!" he said as he dodged one of the planst trying to eat him with his fast speed. As he tried to punch it, he realized that the plant couldn't be broken, much to his embarrassment. "Whoops…not perhaps the best decision to use taijutsu" he said while sweating.

Hisoka only stood still with his eyes closed before opening them up again, as one of the other plants were coming for him. He did a few hand seals in a fast way and faced all the plants. "Lightning Style: Four-Pillar Trap!" he shouted and he summoned four large pillars around the plants and eventually they created electricity around them. This only made the plants explode into bits.

Guy and Kimiko received some disgusting slime from the dead plants after Hisoka's attack and it the girl pissed. "EWWWW….GROSSSS!" Kimiko whined while her kimono was covered in slime. "Couldn't you have come up with a better attack, one that did not result in your enemies getting blown to bits!?" she asked him while freaking out.

Hisoka only grunted in reply. "If you don't like my attack then why don't you try taking out foes? You could use your sewing for something good" he asked her. But the blonde-haired woman ignored his question with a huff.

Guy only laughed while at this while taking off some slime. "Well, at least the slime isn't poisonous" he said before taking a glance at the spot where the plants had stood before. His face shifted into that of curiosity. "Well, we didn't get a key for that, but the way before us is clear" he added.

Hisoka only cracked his knuckles. "Then we better proceed walking. And Kimiko?" he suddenly asked the girl who was stunned in return.

"Yes?" she said in confusion.

"Next day, could you please refrain from using that perfume of yours? I mean, it stinks, plus it attracts all kinds of monsters, even the plants we fought just now" he asked her while complaining.

Kimiko's eyes narrowed in return. "You are such a douchebag, Hisoka. No wonder why most girls reject you" she said with annoyance.

Hisoka didn't seem to care and started walking, with Guy tagging along. Kimiko only sighed deeply before following her teammates in hopes of finding a key as soon as possible so she wouldn't hear any more complaints from her black-skinned teammate.

To be continued…

Author's note: Wasn't this chapter lovely? We know follow Nashiko as she and her friends are in the second phase. We will get to see what the others are up to and where they are. I hope you enjoyed what Naruto and the other adults discovered. Stay tuned for more excitement.