Exam at the forest

[Junan]

Juunin wondered why they left the blind kid behind. Even blind he could still be of use out there, but he supposed they were only kids and as such wouldn't recognize his full potential. This boys only hope would be finding a mentor to truly force the best out of him.

Team 1 sent out several puppets as they moved through the forest, one of these was sent after the other team (who were aware of being followed) found themselves 3 notes quickly. The first detonated, the first puppet going with the explosion. The second detonated, the second puppet shattered much like the piece of tree it was attached to. The third also exploded, and then suddenly there were no puppets... well... except for the one following the other group. It had been bad luck, but still it could have payed off if things had worked out slightly differently.

Team 2 stuck together and found themselves a single piece of paper, they threw a kunai at it, and sure enough it started burning before... you guessed it... kabloowey!

Juunin turned to the blind kid beside him as the explosions sounded one after the other after the other, pulled a oops face before realizing that the kid was blind and so would miss the comical expression entirely. He hoped they'd be okay, but it sounded like both groups had split up.

[OOC: I decided that puppets not being as sturdy as humans would only take a single explosion before they're taken out. On the bright side you're 4 bad notes down. Only 16 more to go!]

 

[Ryu Hime]

Shimete was glad to see that the explosive notes were indeed set the proximity; she was afraid they were sent to tamper-proof. If they were set to tamper-proof they would only go off upon removal. Having a puppet spy does come in handy. It seems the explosions were too much for her puppets to handle, which was not surprising considering they are only tier one. However the fact is that there were just so many explosive notes; there has to be a quicker way of handling them. If only she knew any area effect jutsu. Well maybe she did; she summons another fake pet. This pet had two upgrades: Small item slot and Grenade Launcher. She places a smoke bomb into the puppet. “He said some will go off on contact. Let see how sensitive these explosive notes are. Haru prepare yourself. If this works there are going to be many explosions.” The next note they see, she will have the puppet fire the smoke bomb near it. The grenade launcher will make the smoke bomb have a 10x10 area effect.

Expositions come from all different directions, which each one making Kazuma jump a little. “Sounds like they are going through the forest rather quickly.” He turns his head to ‘look’ at the examiner. “I assume you know why I decided to stay. I’ll try to only use the flat off my blade. If the other team wants to deliver the papers to you they’ll have to go through me. I may be blind but I am an excellent swordsman.”

Kirito was bored just watching, but did not want to touch a note. He looks around for a note when he finds one, he marks the approximate area (Not on the note itself) and sniffs around the note. Someone had to put up these notes. If he can follow the trail he can mark the area of each note.

[MFT]

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

"So many explosions! Seems like they can find these notes way more sufficiently. "Within that time we have only found exactly one note. Including our explosion with the other three explosions that's a total of four explosions. He said their was a total of twenty five pieces of paper. So their should be sixteen explosive notes left. In order to win this we must increase our note finding speed." 

Junko continued to run at a steady speed near Satoru as the game continued through out the forest. "Satoru we should put a small distance between the two of us. Enough distance so we can still see and reach one another. We will still be working with each other, but at a larger distance apart. If you give me  about six to ten shuriken I should be fine. This will allow us to work on separate notes. If I have to I'll use my sword to cut down limbs on trees with pieces of paper and as the tree limb fall I'll move out the way just in case it's an explosion. Doing this will let us cover more ground." 

Junko continued running. Junko bit his thumb to draw a small amount of blood as he pulled out his Summoning scroll. In an instant Junko formed various hands seals while opening the scroll and slid his bloody thumb on the formula within it. "Let's win this thing! Basic Summoning Jutsu!" Junko grabbed his sheathed Katana and would attempt to gather the shuriken before creating distance. Junko would use the shuriken until he ran out.


[Mft]
[WC:263]

 

[Ren]

Shimete’s puppets were taken out in one explosion each, all three had found a note and all three were now gone. She summoned another puppet with a few upgrades.

“He said some will go off on contact. Let see how sensitive these explosive notes are. Haru prepare yourself. If this works there are going to be many explosions.”

All right Shimete, good plan, can you tell me what the other group is up to?

Haru felt a tad useless Shimete was finding every note so far and Haru was only here to heal her if she happened to become injured. Second thoughts about joining the medical branch popped into his head. I hope I don’t have to live through feeling useless until I can go researching and learning about Kinjutsu.

Shimete shall we split up around 20 feet away; far enough we can look faster, but I can still come to your aid if I hear an explosion.

 

[Kousaki Satoru]

Satoru felt a bit demoralized when he heard the three or so explosions heard in the distance, while he and Junko only found one. He clenched his teeth and grimaced a bit. Not only were they slower than the other team, they also had to pay attention to the puppet following them, which might attempt to disrupt them in some way.

Junko then suggested they split a bit, share Satoru's projectiles and try to cover more ground, to which Satoru nodded with a determined look. "Right!" He took out about ten kunai and shuriken and handed them to his teammate. It was a good thing these weapons were smaller than usual, as he was able to fit many in his belt pouch, but he still had to be very careful with his aiming. Stopping to pick up thrown kunai would only waste more time they didn't have.

"Let's win this thing! Basic Summoning Jutsu!" Junko summoned his sheathed katana and Satoru smiled shortly. "Yeah! Alright then, I'll go ahead that way, try to destroy that puppet trailing us when you see it," he said while pointing and then sprinted that way. The boys were now about fifty to sixty meters away from each other. Satoru started checking his area for papers, kunai in hand, ready to aim when he had to. He looked focused. This was a test in which he had to be as agile as he could and fortunately, that was one of his top qualities, but he also had to be careful when checking the trees. Not wanting to risk stepping too close to a possible explosive note, he always kept moving and slalomed through the forest, turning his head to look all around him.

 

[Junan]

Juunin looked at the blind boy "If you can sense your opponent what makes you think you wouldn't be any use in the forest? Besides. Use the edge of the blade." he then looked out smiling as the explosions went off. That many so soon. This lot were an unlucky bunch.

After finding another note Shimete fired a gas canister near it... and nothing happened. Whether that meant that the smoke bomb didn't work, or whether that meant that it was a real note remained to be seen.

Junko and Satoru split, Junko finding a note first he threw one at a note he found. He missed... he threw another... he missed. Biting his tongue he concentrated REALLY hard and threw another. HIT! And nothing. He'd found one. Half-way there. But that meant that it'd be less likely for everyone else.

Haru moved off a little distance, partly because he didn't want this to be a one man show, and found himself a tag while Shimete fired her gas canister. Looking around he figured... why the hell not... and pulled it off. No explosion.

Luck seemingly had changed for everyone!

Finally it was Satoru's chance, upon finding a note he deftly threw a shuriken at it, hitting it only to have to spin around behind a tree to watch pieces of the shuriken he'd thrown at the note fly threw the space he'd been standing in. And on later inspection into the tree he was standing behind.

For Juunin and Kazuma it was a much quieter few moments. Only the single popping sound of an explosion reaching them.

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

"Nailed it! Let's go all we need now is one more!" Junko looked over towards Satoru as he had found a explosive note. "Let's keep going! One more to go my friend!" Junko quickly tucked his note away within his clothes in a tight spot. 

"I think now is the time to get rid of this puppet." Junko began to use a various amount of hand seals as he turned to search for the puppet that followed them throughout the forest. "Clone Jutsu!" Junko created two clones of himself. Junko would run side by side of a clone as he continued to search the forest while, his other clone would split from the group to make it seem as if it was the real Junko. 

If the puppet attacks Junko then he would use his quick reaction ability to attempt to destroy the puppet with "Cross pierce! as a counter attack.", if the puppet attacks Junko's clone to the left of him, then he would use "Cross pierce! As a precision strike." to attempt to destroy the puppet. With both attacks Junko's passive of "Huge power" would be activated.

Moves:

Spoiler

Huge Power - Boost (1 point)
Restriction- Can be purchased up to three times
Tough as nails, a Reckless fighter is never afraid to show their strength. Their melee attacks, whether with the brute force of their fists or the cold metal of their weapons, tend to be much stronger than normal.
Effect: +5% melee damage.

Precision Blow - Dependent Special Move (2 points)
The name Reckless is slightly misgiving, as Reckless fighters are actually not entirely hotheaded with their attacks. They simply like inflicting a lot of damage very quickly, though different means can be used to do so.
Effect: Adds +2 accuracy and +2 critical range to the next basic unarmed, Taijutsu, or weapon attack. Costs 100 Chakra.

Cross Pierce 
An attack from two sides that pierces the target in an `X` shape. Painful and effective.

Information
Prerequisites: D-rank, a weapon with the Piercing Damage Type

Rank 1: 2 Strikes at normal Accuracy dealing 270 Damage each. Each strike has a +5% chance to cause Bleeding.
Master Rank: 2 Strikes at +1 Accuracy dealing 325 Damage each. Each strike has a +6% chance to cause Bleeding.

Rank 1 Cost: 180 CP
Master Rank Cost: 215 CP

Notes:
- If both strikes hit, the target has a 12% chance to have their bleeding rank treated as 1 Rank higher for a full round.This does not stack.
- Bleeding can only occur once per use.

Quick Reaction
Some shinobi are able to move and react at a quicker pace than others. Because of this trait, the user is more skilled in hand to hand combat, knowing that by moving in close to attack, the enemy has left themselves vulnerable for a moment, giving them a window of opportunity for a more precise strike.

Information
Prerequisites: D-Rank

Effect: If the user dodges an attack, the user may declare a jutsu to be used as a counterattack against the attacker at +1 Accuracy/DC. The user pays all costs normally.

Notes:
- This includes Basic Strikes / Called Shots (They are a part of Taijutsu).
- This action is modded immediately after the attack they dodged, can only target the attacker, and cannot be a bind.
- This can only occur twice per round and may not be used in conjunction with the Teamwork ability.
- An Ally can not set off the effects of quick reaction.
- The user can not quick react and target multiple people, but may still use an AoE technique on a single target.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Well the note didn’t go off, so either the indirect attack is a failure or it’s the real thing. Considering there were no explosions from the gas in the 10x10 area; it is safe to conclude that test was a failure. Shimete then takes a twig and throws it at the note. Seeing multiple Junko with her puppet spy, she puppet switches with the puppet spy. If note did not explode she will have her puppet retrieve it. Her right eye allows her to see the aura of a person, which allows her to tell which Junko was real. Clones don’t give off auras or at least not ones as bright as the real person. Call it a sixth sense. She walks towards Junko with arms open as to tell him she comes it peace. Junko’s aura was green; the same as hers. Haku’s was yellow and Kazuma’s was red. She wondered if the colors meant anything. “Hello Junko.” She stares at the real Junko as she speaks. She wanted him to know that she could see through his little jutsu. “I have an idea. There is five pieces of paper out here amongst the exploding notes. My team needs three and yours two, so there is enough papers in this forest for us both to complete are task. So why should we fight against each other when we can work together and turn in all five papers as one team.” Shimete was sincere with her words for she just wanted to get this exam over with and the fastest way to do that would be if they all worked together.

Kazuma in the meantime was having an interesting conversation with the examiner. “I can hear a person walking and breathing, but I can’t hear a piece of paper stuck to a tree.” He sheaths his blade, figuring it will likely be a while before anyone is ready to deliver to the examiner. “I don’t suppose you know any way of removing a demon curse. Some darn fox demon cursed me with blindness around a year ago.”

 

[Kousaki Satoru]

Satoru smiled with confidence as he heard his teammate shout that he'd found one note. He then saw one himself, focused and threw shuriken at it, before moving out of the way. He didn't think it was all going to be that easy, and of course, the note exploded. The boy reacted swiftly and maneuvered behind a tree. He stopped for a moment and sighed, before continuing on.

Hearing Junko's voice encouraging him to go on, he turned his head in that direction and then saw him create two clones in the distance. Satoru figured it was probably to confuse the puppet that was most likely still trailing them, and then went on with his search for the last piece of paper. "With that, there should be nineteen left... at most." He focused and tried to 'feel' where another non-exploding note was and decided to go in a direction to the right and slightly back from where he first came from, a part of the forest to the side of where he and Junko first made their way through. Satoru was now at a steady distance from his teammate, not necessarily moving away from him with each step, as he looked around for what he had faith was the last paper they needed. The student was trying to use the environment as best he could to move quickly and efficiently. He used a stepping stone to jump on a tree's lower branch, pivoted around the tree and looked around for a note, before jumping in another direction. If he paused then, he could have perhaps heard Shimete's voice in Junko's direction, but he was concentrated on finding and aiming for another note and so he was unaware of Shimete's position.

 

[Ren]

Haru triumphantly took a blind stab at a note and didn’t die. What luck! Haru listened to Shimete begin talking to Junko, seeing as the two groups ran into each other a bit.

“I have an idea. There is five pieces of paper out here amongst the exploding notes. My team needs three and yours two, so there is enough papers in this forest for us both to complete are task. So why should we fight against each other when we can work together and turn in all five papers as one team.”

Well that’s no fun.. Haru thought to himself at Shimete’s peace offer, I hope she is lying to them and then we will steal their notes, or kill them, or something… Haru sighed to himself and just let Shimete go on with her plans while he looked for another note.

 

[Junan]

Little did Juunin know what was going on in the forest. But it didn't really matter to him anyway. The boy next to him was talking about how he can hear people breathing but can't hear a piece of paper in a forest. Juunin nodded silently before he was asked a question to do with demon seals.

"No, sorry. You'd probably need to talk to someone like Isaki Kushin or one of those Dark Sage people I'd think. Kushin's knowledge on Ninjutsu is probably one of the greatest in the world. However whether he can help or not I don't know. If he can't help directly he might know who can as he has access to the database on who has what kinjutsu.

Junko wasn't looking for the next scroll, instead he'd turned to fight the puppet, except that Shimete swapped places deciding to fight Junko herself rather than simply allowing him to take out the puppet.

Shimete's stick however exploded along with the note it'd been thrown at, so yet again unsuccessful.

Satoru continued the search as his partner was engaged in battle... or conversation... either way he found another note. Again he threw a shuriken and again it exploded.

Haru silently searching for another note while thinking naughty thoughts successfully erupted in flames as an explosion engulfed him. For the most part he was fine, but he'd taken some damage.

12 E-Notes Left
3 Passes remain

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

“Hello Junko. I have an idea. There is five pieces of paper out here amongst the exploding notes. My team needs three and yours two, so there is enough papers in this forest for us both to complete are task. So why should we fight against each other when we can work together and turn in all five papers as one team.”

"Hi, Shimete." "She wants to work together. That's quite interesting. It's actually not a bad idea." Junko hand seemed to begin to tremble as he griped his Katana while looking at Shimete with a smile across his face, this was due to Junkos instinct to the thrill of battle. 

"Hehehe! Don't get me wrong Shimete, that's a brilliant idea, except for the fact that you have provided me with too many reasons not to trust you. First, you left behind a teammate and that gives me reasons to believe that you would leave me or my partner behind at anytime. Second, you sent a puppet to follow us which meant that you wanted to deliberately spy on us for your personal reasons that could be anything. Last, but not least we as ninjas are trained in the art of deception, so at anytime I feel as if I could be deceived." 

A few explosions occurred in the distance and time was wasting. "Shimete, it's not you, it's me baby-cakes. I have trust issues." Junko laughed a little as he turned away after using a quote from a classic love story. Junko would start back on his search for the last note if he can leave uninterrupted. If Junko is attacked in any form he will enter into his "Bloodlust" state of mind and his "Mastered offensive stance", attacking with his "Multi-impaled" Taijutsu attack(Mastered) to attempt to injure his attacker. Junko mind set would seem to crack and his ruthless attitude for the thrill of battle would take over. Junko would almost seem to go wild.

Moves:

Spoiler

Bloodlust - Passive (3 points)
Restriction- C Rank and up
When in battle Reckless fighters can sometimes enter such an intense state of mind that they completely ignore small wounds and the effects of exhaustion, their love for battle surpassing all other concerns.
Effect: Exhaustion effects only apply half the penalties. Ignores up to rank 3 bleeding. 

Mastered Offensive Stance - Passive (3 points)
Restriction- C Rank and up
By maximizing the efficiency of their attacks and gaining the most offense for the amount of lost defense, a Reckless fighter can become insanely accurate for the same amount of lost evasion.
Effect: Allows user to gain +1 accuracy per -1 dodge, up to a maximum of +4 accuracy and -4 dodge.

With a quality boost in speed, the user can make use of their weapon's aerodynamic nature. Doing so allows them to strike quickly and accurately at one or many enemies. Good for testing your enemies' defenses.

Information
Prerequisites: E-rank, a weapon with the Piercing Damage Type.

Rank 1: 2 Strikes at normal Accuracy dealing 100 Damage each. Each strike has a +2% chance to cause Bleeding.
Master Rank: 2 Strikes at +1 Accuracy dealing 120 Damage each. Each strike has a +3% chance to cause Bleeding.

Special Action: By paying an additional 20% of the chakra cost and lowering the base damage of each strike by 20%, the user may attempt to have this technique treated as an AoE.

Rank 1 Cost: 65 CP
Master Rank Cost: 80 CP

Notes:
-Bleeding may only be caused once per use.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Junko denies her offer in the name of distrust. “Junko have you already forgot the reason I exist. I exist to serve; I was born to serve. I am a tool or weapon ready to be used. A tool has no motives of its own but serves its wielder unquestionably. My master has tasked me with the mission of collecting these papers and I will do so, but he is a good man. He may be a strong swordsman, but he is a gentle soul. I cannot believe he would want me to fight when there is a path of peace. You say you do not trust me because I had a puppet follow you and left a person behind. We are in the forest Junko; there is more than just trees out here. The puppet was meant to aid in protecting you as that same puppet now watches over Haru.” Shimete then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Junko would begin to feel a tingling sensation envelop him and disappear. This was the act of Shimete spiritually connecting with him. She made Junko a part of her pack and if he would to become injured, Shimete shall know.

The mention of Kinjutsu gave him an idea. People get uchiha and huga implants to gain special sight, maybe an eye surgery could make him see again. “Do you think an eye implant could work? I’m sure the medical ward has the spare eyes to do so, but I don’t think I want a kinjutsu. Do they collect basic eyes or just Huga and Uchiha’s?”

Spoiler

Loyalty to the Pack - Passive

Rank 1: If their pet takes damage equal to 30% of it's max Hp during a round, the Inuzuka gains +1 Secondaries for a full round. If the Inuzuka takes damage equal to 30% of their max Hp during a round, the pet gains +1 Secondaries for a full round.

Notes:
- This effect does not stack.
- For .5 Ap, The user may switch the target source of this ability, their pet, with an ally in battle with them. The ally does not gain buffs, however if they take the required amount of damage, the Inuzuka will gain the bonus.

~Target source changed to Junko

[MFT]

 

[Kousaki Satoru]

The next explosion only made Satoru more keen on searching and trying to use his intuition to locate the next note. He continued to do so and his search brought him closer and closer back to Junko's approximate position. As he investigated the area, he began thinking about the examination. "The proctor said 'win' so it *is* a competition but...did he decide this? Actually, who plans these exams? Is it just up to the appointed examiner or is he given instructions...?" He wondered about such things because he wanted to know if this race was the only exercise they needed to complete in order to get their Genin approval, and if it was, was winning the only way to reach that goal? Was it possible to fail even if winning the competition? Was it possible to promote even if losing it? Unless Juunin had a way of observing them while the students were inside the forest, the answer to both those questions was very likely no.

When he would find a note, the boy would once again test it using projectiles, missing the first throw but making the second. Regardless if the targeted note was an explosive one or not, he would then notice Shimete and Junko not far from him, at about 80 feet or so. If the note wasn't an explosive one, Satoru would pick it up, hide it in his belt pouch and, although aware that it was very likely that Shimete noticed him, he'd then signal to his teammate that he'd found a good note. If the note exploded he would start coming towards the two and ask out loud what was going on between him and the red-haired girl.

 

[Ren]

Haru continued the search for notes, everything was quiet now where he was. He had strayed off from Shimete a little bit. The last explosion harmed him a little bit but nothing too serious. Shimete's really got this mission under control, hopefully we can find another note soon and win already. Haru wondered what began to happen with Junko and Shimete, he noted the possibility that he was being betrayed as he thought. At least he had one note, if he was being betrayed maybe Satoru would join up with him and already have enough notes for them both to come out victorious. Haru tended to his minor wounds until he saw another note on the ground, he thought about shooting some lightning at it, but he didn't want to damage the note. He just went in and tested his luck again, Haru was a gamblin' man today.

 

[Junan]

Juunin and blindy's conversation continued on. The boy asked him now about eye implants. "I wouldn't know I'm sorry. I guess it would depend on the curse. If the curse simply physically damaged your sight then sure, I don't see why not. But if the curse affects your ability to see for other reasons then I wouldn't fancy your chances quite as much. I'm sure you can try an eye transfer, with Kushin... I'm sure he has plenty of eyes you can choose from." Juunin didn't trust the guy, but at the same time he'd run the hospital well and put up controversial but effective changes to the village in his time there. The issue was the scent of blood and murder around the guy.

Junko informed Shimete that he wasn't interested though the conversation wasn't over he went about searching for another note. The conversation went on though and though Junko found a note he didn't have time to check it this round.

Shimete's puppet went on in its search and found a note as well and blew itself up.

Satoru however found a note and as the projectile hit it nothing blew up. They'd found another note. His signals were being made, and Junko would be aware that they had another note.

Haru lost his bet. Explosions burned him again he wasn't in the best physical state now. Two explosions. He could only take so much damage.

What would happen next?

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

As Junko approached yet another note he thought about Shimetes words that still floated freshly within his mind. "Even though I walked away, I could still hear her final words. She makes a few valuable points and the tingle throughout my body seems to make me think of her intentions differently, she did seem quite sincere."<i></i>

“Junko have you already forgot the reason I exist. I exist to serve; I was born to serve. I am a tool or weapon ready to be used. A tool has no motives of its own but serves its wielder unquestionably. My master has tasked me with the mission of collecting these papers and I will do so, but he is a good man. He may be a strong swordsman, but he is a gentle soul. I cannot believe he would want me to fight when there is a path of peace. You say you do not trust me because I had a puppet follow you and left a person behind. We are in the forest Junko; there is more than just trees out here. The puppet was meant to aid in protecting you as that same puppet now watches over Haru.”

"I guess we might could help."<i></i> Junko would first test the note currently at hand with his last few projectiles. If it wasn't a explosive note, Junko would save the note, then notice Satoru. If their was a explosion, Junko would move on, noticing Satoru giving a signal that he had found another note. Junko would quickly follow ignoring his previous thoughts. Once they made it to the exam proctor Junko would begin to hand over his slip of paper, but stop before they would make contact as the sound of two explosions occurred. 

"Satoru wait! Lets make a team decision. Would you like to turn our notes in and hopefully be done with this, or turn our notes in and help our comrades. We could even go far as to keep the notes, help them, and turn everything in at once." 

(if Junko help)
If Junko found a good note earlier he would place it in the blind boys hand and tell him to hold on to it, grabbing the boys hand he would attempt to escort him to Haru, were he would play an important roll to talk to him, so he could simply regain consciousness. Junko then would go back to Shimete, and assist her with finding the last one or two notes. If the note or notes are found, Junko would assist Haru back towards the exam proctor, if no one offered first.

(if Junko don't help)
He would simply pass in his note and relax awaiting further instructions. If Junko managed to find a good note earlier, he would give it to the blind boy.

 

[Ren]

Haru was alone in the forest and he took a stab at a note that might explode and seriously fuck him up, he could get lucky and find a good note.

Bam, a huge explosion sounded off in Haru’s hands and being the second explosion Haru took full hell from in the recent minutes he got blasted backwards and fell bumping his head on a tree root as he fell. He blinked a few times and was miraculously ok other than a few cuts bruises and burns. Though the explosions made him a little loopy he still understood what was going on.

He began to stand up and he made the mistake of doing so quickly, his head felt like someone kicked him repeatedly. He stumbled around once he was up and grumbled a few curses. Ah, fuck sheeeit. Bleehhh then fell over in a loopy sling of words that didn’t actually exists. shakaboombaoompaloompa.

Haru’s eyes opened up and he was standing in some kind of temple that was built up on a cloud. What the fuck, I need to stop cursing so much.. Damn it, shit. AHH Haru aimlessly walked around before looking down at his body and seeing nothing but a floating note he looked at it and it, or he exploded destroying the entire temple, he then was falling from the sky.

Haru jolted awake from the falling sensation and this time slowly got up, he still had his one good note and walking was still a possibility for him. He slowly stumbled back in the direction he thought the other were in.
WC: 272

 

[Kousaki Satoru]

For a few moments, Satoru looked nervously at the last projectile he threw, ready to look away from the likely explosion. His heart jumped when he realized he'd really found a non-explosive tag and he quickly reached to grab it. He was very happy to have made his contribution to his team and he became more excited at the thought of how close he was to supposedly complete his exam now.

The boy then made his teammate aware of his accomplishment, who seemed to have just tried out another note. Then, as another explosion was heard somewhere, he saw Junko hurry towards him, ignoring Shimete. Satoru wondered what that had been all about with a slightly confused look at the girl, but then followed his teammate, who seemed concerned only with the completion of their assignment. Reaching up to him, Satoru asked while they were heading back, "What was that about? How did you two meet back there?"

Soon enough, Team 2 arrived back at the edge of the forest. Kazuma was still there, next to the examiner. Then, another explosion was heard in the distance and Junko asked Satoru about their next step, suggesting the idea of helping the other team. Satoru stood looking at him for a few seconds, catching his breath, then turned his head back towards the forest and then around at Juunin.

"Sensei! We have our two notes, but... what happens if both teams hand in their notes at the same time? Will there be a losing team anyway? ...Do only the winners promote the exam...?" he asked and kept his eyes on the man.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Shimete hid in the trees awaiting the examiners answer. How he answers will determine her actions. She had a plan either way. Form what she could see from her remaining puppet, Haru was in bad shape. If the other team was willing to help she could lead the Mednin wanna be to Haru. If things go badly and only one team could pass, she would have to implement plan B. In the meantime she spoke to Kirito telepathically, Kirito keep an eye on Haru. Try to protect him from any dangerous wild life. Kazuma drew his sword ready for battle, but he did not attack. He was curious how the examiner will answer the question. He may not need to fight after all, however if only one team could pass the exam there will be a battle.