As if he had anticipated it from the very beginning, Zoro already knew what the Kumogakure jōnin intended to do.
The mont the man vanished from sight, Zoro moved ahead of ti.
With a light leap, his body shot upward, landing atop a nearby tree branch just as the place he had been standing exploded apart.
"He dodged?"
The Kumogakure jōnin looked genuinely surprised for the first ti.
His speed under Lightning Release Chakra Mode should have been overwhelming—far beyond what an ordinary genin could react to.
Yet Zoro had escaped before the attack even fully began.
Standing atop the tree, Zoro narrowed his eyes.
Just as he rembered.
This type of fighter relied on a surprisingly straightforward combat style.
Using Lightning Release chakra to stimulate the body, they drastically increased physical activity, reaction speed, attack power, and defensive capability. So specialized in explosive offense and speed, while others focused more heavily on defense.
And the man before him clearly leaned toward the latter.
The layer of Lightning Release chakra covering his body no longer looked like simple chakra at all—it resembled an actual suit of armor wrapped around him.
Once the nature of the technique beca clear, the battle imdiately beca easier for Zoro to handle.
Information.
In combat, information could decide life or death.
It was just like the battle against Pain in the future. Even Jiraiya had risked his life just to send intelligence back to Konoha, proving how terrifying an unknown ability could be.
Of course, understanding part of the enemy's abilities did not an Zoro would lower his guard.
Who knew whether this jōnin still had hidden cards left to play?
After all, this was still an unfamiliar opponent.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
Wrapped in violent blue lightning, the Kumogakure jōnin rampaged through the forest like a lightning beast. Every tree Zoro landed on was smashed apart monts later, wood exploding in all directions beneath the sheer force of impact.
"Running away? Is that all you know how to do?"
After several failed pursuits, the jōnin finally stopped on the ground and looked up toward Zoro, mockery surfacing openly on his face.
This slippery brat was infuriating.
Every single ti he attacked, Zoro sohow managed to dodge at the perfect instant, as though he could predict the movent before it happened.
But that wasn't what irritated him the most.
What truly annoyed him—
Were those invisible flying slashes.
Every mont he relaxed his pressure even slightly, Zoro would counterattack with another air blade, forcing him to remain constantly alert.
Standing on the branch above, Zoro ignored the crude provocation completely.
Instead, his eyes grew sharper.
Sothing felt different.
The jōnin's speed… Was slowing down.
No—
Not exactly.
It wasn't that the opponent had beco slower.
Rather… Zoro himself was adapting.
His perception was improving.
His body was growing faster.
At first, he had barely escaped each strike by relying on Sharingan prediction and instinct. But now, he was already beginning to dodge with room to spare, even finding opportunities to launch counterattacks during the openings.
A cold glint flashed through the Kumogakure jōnin's eyes.
He deliberately allowed his breathing to beco rough and unstable, pretending to show signs of exhaustion.
"Damn it. I'm done playing with you. You're wasting my ti."
His tone sounded irritated as he cast one last wary glance toward Zoro before turning as though preparing to leave.
Unfortunately for him—
Zoro still didn't move.
He remained crouched atop the branch, eyes half-narrowed, calmly watching him.
The killing intent hadn't disappeared.
Not even slightly.
Unlike the jōnin, whose Lightning Release Chakra Mode continuously drained chakra the longer the battle dragged on, Zoro's condition was the complete opposite.
The more intensely he fought—
The hotter his blood beca.
Every desperate dodge at the edge of death pushed his body further beyond its previous limits.
He was adapting at an astonishing speed.
After waiting for so ti and realizing Zoro still refused to take the bait, the Kumogakure jōnin finally understood.
He probably wasn't going to kill this brat today.
After cursing inwardly, he abandoned the idea entirely and prepared to leave for real.
This was only a commission.
There was no reason to risk his life over it.
And if shinobi from other villages discovered his involvent here, it would inevitably create unnecessary complications for Kumogakure.
Only after sensing the jōnin's presence gradually disappear did Zoro finally move.
Without hesitation, he also left the area.
His body flashed rapidly between the trees, but as the tension faded, the consequences of pushing himself to the limit began surfacing.
Pain spread through every muscle.
It felt as though the fibers throughout his entire body were tearing apart and rebuilding themselves at the sa ti.
Every narrow escape…
Every movent forced beyond its limit…
Had continuously shattered the boundaries of his body during the fight.
"Why does this feel exactly like the first ti I trained myself to death?"
A bitter smile appeared on Zoro's face.
This soreness—
This burning pain—
It was exactly the sa as the agony that had wracked his body after his very first reckless training session years ago.
But beneath the pain—
He could also clearly feel it.
He had grown stronger.
"Danzō… and Kumogakure, huh?"
A cold light flickered within Zoro's eyes.
"That grudge… I'll rember it."
That old bastard Danzō Shimura had already tried to kill him more than once.
Sooner or later—
Zoro would personally cut him down.
When Zoro returned to the place where they had encountered Iruka Umino earlier, he imdiately saw several Kirigakure ninja lying unconscious on the ground. Judging from the aftermath of the battle, it seed Rin and the others had ultimately won.
"Zoro-kun?! What happened to you?!"
The mont she saw him, Rin Nohara rushed out from the grass where she had been hiding. Her expression changed instantly when she noticed the blood on his forehead and shoulder.
At the sa ti, Obito Uchiha hurried over as well, worry obvious on his face.
"Zoro, why are you injured? Did another village ambush you?"
Zoro casually wiped away the blood trickling down from his forehead and answered calmly, "They're just minor injuries. Nothing serious."
To him, these wounds truly weren't much.
The bigger problem was the exhaustion spreading through his body after pushing himself to full strength. That kind of fatigue couldn't be recovered from imdiately.
"Hmph. What do you an 'minor injuries'? Hurry up and squat down!"
Rin put her hands on her hips, dissatisfaction written plainly across her face. Without giving Zoro any chance to refuse, she forcibly pressed him down into a seated position.
Her movents were skilled and practiced as she quickly removed the dical kit attached to her waist. After examining the wound on his shoulder, she imdiately began treating it.
"Thankfully the injury is only on your shoulder…" Rin muttered softly, sounding noticeably relieved.
"By the way, where are your clothes?"
Obito stared at Zoro's bare upper body in confusion.
"Mm… Zoro-kun, your clothes…" Rin finally reacted as well. Her gaze unconsciously swept across Zoro's exposed torso. The sharply defined muscles across his body made her fingers tremble slightly while wrapping the bandages. Her ears gradually turned red, and she quickly turned her face away a little.
"My clothes?" Zoro replied casually. "I'll go back and get them later. More importantly, did you find the scroll?"
"The scroll? Of course we did." Obito imdiately puffed out his chest proudly. "We got lucky. Not long after the fight started, we ran into the team led by Might Guy."
As he spoke, Obito pulled the Heaven Scroll from inside his clothes with a smug expression, as though he had personally snatched it through so heroic battle.
Might Guy, huh?
Zoro silently noted the favor in his heart.
If the opportunity arose in the future, he would help Guy's father once.
Of course… if fate was simply too unfortunate, and he happened to be elsewhere at the ti, then there would be nothing he could do about it.
After obtaining the Heaven Scroll, the three of them continued toward the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. This ti, they encountered no further trouble along the way.
By the ti they arrived, several teams had already completed the second stage.
Among them were i Terumī, Zabuza Momochi, and Kisa Hoshigaki from Kirigakure, along with Darui from Kumogakure and Sasori from Sunagakure.
Without exception, every one of them was a monster among their generation.
As expected, the opponents in the next round would most likely co from this group.
The mont Zoro arrived, many expressions subtly changed.
So nodded toward him in acknowledgnt.
So revealed unconcealed shock.
Others smiled faintly, showing traces of goodwill.
"How… how did this guy co out completely fine?"
Beside Darui, C stared at Zoro in astonishnt.
Seeing Zoro once again wearing his black coat, looking largely unhard aside from a few traces of blood, C was completely stunned.
"C, do you know sothing?"
Darui's tone imdiately grew serious.
The intelligence had been wrong.
Terribly wrong.
This so-called swordsmanship genius from Konoha was an outright monster.
Among people their age, defeating him was practically impossible.
Thinking of that, Darui unconsciously glanced toward Omoi beside him. Ever since their earlier encounter, Omoi's expression had remained blank and lifeless.
He probably wouldn't touch a sword again anyti soon.
That sentence—"A shinobi should focus on playing with ninjutsu"—had likely shattered him completely.
"Didn't I tell you earlier that one of our village's shinobi went to intercept Zoro?" C lowered his voice.
"And now I'm telling you… the person who intercepted him was very likely one of our team-leading jōnin."
Darui's pupils shrank violently.
His face filled with disbelief.
Kumogakure only had a handful of team-leading jōnin, but every single one of them possessed terrifying strength.
"What?! Then what's even the point of this exam?!"
Darui's sudden outburst imdiately drew confused looks from the surrounding genin.
Only after noticing everyone staring at him did he realize he had lost his composure.
Awkwardly calming himself down, Darui could only pray inwardly that he wouldn't encounter Zoro during the third-round preliminaries.
Unfortunately, reality often worked against people precisely at monts like this.
The more one feared sothing—
The more likely it was to happen.
Looking at Zoro now standing calmly atop the battle platform, three katana hanging at his waist, Darui suddenly found himself speechless.
Completely speechless.
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