The small island in the lake was densely vegetated, and Leng was somewhat puzzled by such an environment—would those feudal lords really come to this godforsaken place to watch Genin fight to the death?
Putting herself in their shoes, Leng certainly wouldn't come to watch such a match; the environment was too poor, with countless mosquitoes, poisonous insects, and leeches.
If not for Leng's Wind Release Chakra Mode protecting her, she would have been annoyed long ago; having Full Elephant clear the way was already good, as personally traversing the Rain Forest would definitely be a torment.
"Damn it, why do mosquitoes only bite me and not Kakashi!" Obito's face was swollen with a large red bump; it seemed he had been bitten terribly by poisonous mosquitoes.
"Idiot, I told you to bring insect repellent when you left, but you forgot, didn't you?"
Kakashi was already somewhat immune to Obito's foolishness; he had been notified that they would be traveling through the Rain Forest and there would be poisonous insects, but Obito didn't take it to heart.
Among the twelve of them, only Obito was itching all over, constantly waving his hands to drive away mosquitoes, and his face was visibly turning red.
Leng looked at Obito's furious expression, somewhat suspecting that if he were bitten for a bit longer, it might even make him awaken his Sharingan out of anger.
"Obito-Nii, this is my insect repellent; I haven't used it, so you can have it. Next time, remember not to be so careless, okay?"
Leng took out the incense-like insect repellent from her Ninja tool pouch and threw it to the flustered Obito, which made Kakashi and Shisui glare at Obito.
"Thank you, Leng, it's really effective; there are no annoying mosquitoes now."
"Leng, are you really okay without insect repellent?" Shisui was a bit worried about Leng's condition, because Leng's Wind Release Chakra Mode was colorless and transparent, making it impossible to detect without close contact.
"It's fine, haven't you noticed there are no mosquitoes around me?" Leng was not a good person who would sacrifice herself for others; she merely helped others when she could.
As Full Elephant pushed aside the surrounding large trees, everyone's eyes lit up, and their vision immediately widened. Before them was a lake.
From the mist rising from the water and the warmth that assailed them, it turned out to be a natural hot spring lake, and its area was particularly large.
"It's a hot spring! Can we soak in the hot spring? We're all sticky from traveling through this Rain Forest."
Obito looked at the serene and beautiful hot spring lake before him and immediately wanted to perform a high-dive, but Leng grabbed his ankle, causing him to fall flat on Full Elephant's back.
"Leng, what are you doing? You hurt me so much, I'm bleeding from my nose!" Obito clutched his nose; that fall almost broke his nasal bone.
"There's danger in the lake. If you don't want to die, don't go."
Leng looked at the several huge Salamander lying on the small island across the lake. Their yellowish-brown backs were pitted and uneven, almost the same color as the surrounding corpses, making them almost impossible to distinguish without careful observation.
These Salamander actually looked like giant Salamanders, but their size was quite large, each at least six or seven meters long, and they could also spit out highly toxic venom.
"Those are Salamander. Don't disturb them; they are highly poisonous." Kakashi's expression was solemn; their destination was the island in front of them, but there were many Salamander in this lake.
"Then what should we do? Wouldn't it be very dangerous for us to land on the island?" Obito also noticed the camouflaged Salamander.
"Our destination is on the island, so it's naturally impossible for them not to let us pass. Perhaps we can try a different direction." Shisui was unsure how many Salamander were in the lake, nor was he sure of their habits, so he could only suggest looking for other places to get to the island.
Leng held a bubble in her palm, using the Telescope Technique to observe the situation on the small island. This small island had no vegetation at all; it was completely covered in volcanic rock and ash.
However, besides the hot spring, there was no other geothermal activity; it was a dead volcano. The island's area was not large, an irregular circular island about a thousand meters in diameter.
The center of the small island was a raised circular battle arena, similar to the Colosseum, and at the entrance of the arena, several Amegakure Ninja were waiting.
And on the west side of the small island, there was a bridge that directly connected the small island and the Amegakure, nestled tightly among the treetops, making it impossible to spot without careful observation.
All Chunin Exams participants were arranged to start from the east, so unless they circled the island, they wouldn't find this bridge at all.
"Let's go. There's a Stone Bridge on the other side of the small island, which leads directly to the center of the small island."
Leng immediately controlled Full Elephant to walk along the hot spring lake's edge towards the other side of the lake. These Salamander also looked very docile.
As long as they weren't attacked, they shouldn't be swarmed. It must be said that Hanzō, that old guy, really put a lot of effort into it, even building a Stone Bridge specifically for the examinees and nobles.
Leng looked at the Salamander in the lake and couldn't help but feel a little hungry, mainly because the name "Salamander" made one think of how to prepare Salamander.
Leng planned to find a way to get one and try it once she arrived to see if it tasted good. These Salamander were all Ninja beasts, so she believed they must be highly nutritious.
She would also try to get some Mount Myōboku toads or Ryūchi Cave snakes to taste if she had the chance. As for the Slug from Shikkotsu Forest, she'd pass on that; although Slug looked pretty and had a nice voice, it was still a Slug after all.
At this time, no one had arrived on this island yet, so Leng could quickly find the scrolls if she wanted to.
However, Leng felt that it was better for others to deliver themselves than for her to foolishly risk searching for them. As for the question of whether she would fail, Leng stated that even if they all teamed up, they couldn't make her fail.
"Yosh! I see it! It really is a big bridge! Now we can pass safely!" Might Guy was the first to notice the not-so-conspicuous dark green bridge.
"Then speed up, Full Elephant, run!" Hearing Leng's command, Full Elephant let out a high-pitched snort, raising its trunk high and spraying a high-pressure water jet.
It directly cleared a broad path in front of itself, sweeping away all sorts of trees and bushes, and then began to gallop wildly.
"Leng, where did you find this summoning beast? It's too amazing! I feel it's no worse than Minato-sensei's stinky Gamabunta!"
Obito was somewhat envious of Leng's summoning beast, Full Elephant, as Full Elephant's strength was almost on par with a typical Jonin, which was a significant help for a Chunin like Obito.
Leng smiled without speaking. Arriving at the bottom of the bridge, everyone jumped onto the bridge, and Leng also dismissed Full Elephant. They then successively crossed the bridge to the island on the other side.
"I suggest we guard the bridge here. Anyone who wants to pass must give us a scroll." As a master of direct confrontation, Leng naturally knew the benefits of guarding the bridge.
To attract those Ninja to the right location, Leng personally caught a Salamander cub, used a genjutsu to make it docile, and then began the dissection.
After removing the venom sac and internal organs, she cut it into small pieces for later use. Leng heated oil in a wok, then added green onions, ginger, garlic, and various seasonings in sequence, and immediately, a powerfully aggressive aroma diffused outwards.
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