Naruto: Paradise for One [R-18]

The Saul and Hinata clones caught up with the originals and handed them the group's Earth scroll. Technically with this they could make a mad dash for the central building. However, Saul still needed more material. He and Hinata took out many teams of Genin, taking their scrolls in the name of reducing future competition.

He targeted Ninja of every faction except for the Sound Village and Konoha. Firstly, he didn't want to come under Orochimaru's radar by attacking his only team. Second, while technically allowed in the case of the Chunin Exams, there was a very strong incentive not to go after Teams from the village. The forest of death was part of Konoha. If saddened family members went to look for remains and found nothing, there would be more questions than answers. Saul could become a pariah overnight. Especially considering Orochimaru's coming actions, wouldn't he be considered another potential Orochimaru?

"Saul-kun. I found another team."

"Oh? What village?"

"Amegakure. They're about to rest for the night."

"Hinata, why don't you use your bow for these ones, then."

Saul didn't really care much for Amegakure. He was curious, just how far had Hinata's skills in archery advanced? Could she really accurately shoot through such a dense forest like this?

"Of course, Saul-kun!" She sounded a little excited.

Hinata readied her bow and a singular arrow. She walked up a tree to get a better angle, where the trees thinned. And then she waited.

Breathing softly, making minor adjustments, then an exhale. She drew the bow a little further. Her white eyes narrowed in focus, unmoving. And then she fired.

"BANG!!!"

A bunch of Genin wearing rebreather masks sat within a tree. While up so high, there were very few routes to approach or ambush their position.

Oboro, a spiky haired Genin, played around with two scrolls in his hands. His voice was muffled by the mask over his face. Every syllable reverberated with the metal mask, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Lucky! That one Konohagakure team, with that pink haired pushover and the sharp eyed bastard. I was able to steal their scroll pretty easily after putting them in a Genjutsu. And look, look! It's a Heaven Scroll! Just what we needed!"

"Lucky! Lucky! Hahaha!"

"Could we be the first team to finish the exams? Oboro, you're so lucky!"

In the original series, it was only with the help of the Sharingan that Sasuke had been able to defend against Oboro's ambush. He had awakened it during the land of waves mission. Yet now it seemed something had gone wrong.

"Hahah! Maybe? We'll have to work hard and set out tomorrow!"

"Well done, Boss!" The Genin, sitting on his side, tried to pat Oboro's shoulder.

In one moment, he was there, chatting animatedly with them. In the next, his body literally exploded. Gore splattered everywhere as the Genin were blown back by the impact. And then the sound, an incredibly loud sound like the clap of thunder, finally caught up and blasted in their ears. They were horrified!

"BOSS!!! No no no, this must be some sort of Genjutsu. Release! Release!!!"

The one eye of his that was shown from underneath the headband he wore, trembled in fear. He used a crossbow. He recognized the signs. This was an arrow. Someone had shot Oboro with an arrow. But what kind of fucking monster could shoot arrows like this!??

"KAGARI! TAKE COVER!!! IT'S AN ARCHER!!!"

He got behind the tree they had been resting on, planning his next move. He'd have to run. Fuck the scrolls. If he stayed, he was going to die. For now, he should be safe behind-

*CRACKKK*

"KUGH!"

There it was, the second clap of thunder. The arrow had pierced through the entire tree, penetrating through his chest. The arrowhead was smeared in fragments of his shattered ribcage, muscles, and what he hoped weren't his organs. He couldn't breathe.

Mubi tried desperately to free himself from the arrow that had penetrated through both him and the tree, keeping him in place. He was bleeding out. There was so much blood. His struggles grew weaker and weaker, until his arms slumped as he hung limply from the trunk of the tree.

Kagari was terrified out of his fucking mind! Just moments ago he had been chatting animatedly with his teammates, gloating about how they were going to pass the Chunin exams, and... Now... Could he even survive?

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Kagari was running, forming the hand seals for Earth Release: Earth Escape Jutsu. He completed it just in time too, because right as he disappeared into the ground he heard the now familiar death toll of thunder. The sound of an explosion resounded in front of him.

Hinata furrowed her brow. "Tsk."

"What's wrong, Hinata?"

"Saul-kun... I failed. I didn't recognize the hand seals for the Jutsu he was making, and the man sank underground."

"Can you locate him?"

"...No. I'm sorry. My Byakugan can't penetrate into the ground much from so far away."

Well that was too bad. Every draw of the bow required Hinata's full strength, so it took some time between shots. They had scattered clones all over the area. Hinata didn't have enough chakra to make another clone to assist in the long range bombardment. It was just unlucky the last Ninja remaining had a Jutsu that happened to help hide from Hinata's Byakugan.

"No matter. They're already disqualified. Let's go and collect the scrolls. Next time though, you should let me get closer before the attack, so we can synchronize our efforts."

Saul really couldn't do anything from the ridiculous lethal range that Hinata had. It was a shame for sure that two died, but he had to give Hinata a chance to build confidence.

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan. "Okay, Saul-kun. That sounds like a good idea."

After a little while, the two arrived at the sight of the carnage, only to find one thing was missing. The scrolls that were dropped were also gone.

Interesting... There was also likely a third party of some sort. The last surviving Amegakure-nin had no reason to come back and get the scrolls with two of his teammates dead. Who could it be? Saul whispered something to Hinata, and they both dispelled themselves.

A woman, hiding within a tree, slowly emerged while licking her lips. She wore a long, wide brimmed hat with a Kusagakure forehead protector.

"Interesting... Truly interesting... This calls for a change of plans..."

Hinata and Saul had returned to their original bodies, next to Yakumo. They waited outside of the center of the forest of death.

A bored Yakumo, sitting inside a field of flowers, exclaimed, "Why don't we just head inside? We already have more than enough scrolls."

Another Hinata and Saul returned to the group, handed over a pair of heaven and earth scrolls, then vanished.

Yakumo's mouth twitched, "Even more now!? How many do we need!?"

Saul smiled. "More. Don't you think it would be quite a statement if we eliminated most of the teams from the outside of Konoha?"

Unfortunately, Gaara's team had been faster than them. Saul wanted to see if his so-called 'absolute defense' would be able to handle his Genjutsu. It was too bad that they had Yakumo slowing them down. Her sickly body, while kept stable by Saul, was not strong enough to keep up with a team of physically fit Ninja.

"That's fine, I guess... Yakumo sighed. "Still, this is boring. When will more teams be showing up?"

"Soon. The time limit of the exams is five days, and it's only been one day. Not everyone has someone like Hinata to guide them in the right direction - a lot of ninja must be lost."

Just then a couple of snakes slithered by them, not noticing their presence. Yakumo had set up a flower field surrounding the entire building. The Illusion technique was cast within the scent, causing any onlooker affected by the Genjutsu to be unable to find them.

Saul grew concerned however. Snakes?

More and more snakes slithered around the area, tasting the air curiously. He started to feel as if something was very, very wrong. What in the world were so many snakes doing all the way here? They were nocturnal, solitary hunters. Unless they were summoned by a shinobi of some sort, they would not be in groups.

"Hinata. Can you tell me how many snakes are around in the area?"

The woman paled. "N-no... There are too many of them."

"Can you find anyone else?"

"I can try..."

There were only two shinobi he knew of that used snakes, Anko and Orochimaru. If they were Anko's, they might be looking for Orochimaru. But why would she think she could use snakes to find him? No, they must be his...

Orochimaru was supposed to be going after Sasuke right now, to mark him with the cursed seal. Suddenly both Saul and Hinata groaned, holding their heads.

"You guys? What's wrong?"

Someone had assassinated all of his clones scattered within the forest of death, all at once. The pain from their death assaulted him as Saul gritted his teeth. There was only one man who could do something like this, despite Hinata's Byakugan keeping surveillance.

"Yakumo, we need to go. Inside the center building, now!"

He was coming. All Saul could hope now is that he wouldn't want to cause too much of a commotion just yet.

They turned to find a woman emerging from the ground, blocking their path to the building. She looked directly at them, unbothered by even Yakumo's illusion. The lady took off her wide brimmed hat, licking the edge of it with a small smile.

"Found you♥️"