Chapter 26 – Interrogation Before the Exam
As soon as Ren and Sakura Haruno arrived near the entrance of the Forest of Death, several gazes immediately locked onto them.
Three pairs of eyes, to be exact.
Temari was glaring at Ren with an expression that clearly suggested she wanted to strangle him. Meanwhile, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga were smiling at him.
Far too sweetly.
Ren shivered.
As Ino and Hinata began walking toward him with identical smiles, the surrounding boys suddenly found something extremely fascinating.
Shikamaru Nara tilted his head toward the sky.
"Hmm… the clouds look interesting today."
Choji Akimichi nodded seriously.
"Yeah… very interesting weather."
Naruto Uzumaki crossed his arms dramatically.
"I think it might rain later."
Kiba Inuzuka joined them immediately.
"Definitely feels like rain."
Ren stared at them in disbelief.
Those backstabbing bastards…
Ignoring me when I need them the most.
Fine. Just you wait.
Before he could escape, Ino and Hinata each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him toward the edge of the forest.
Sakura followed behind them quietly.
Once they were gone, Naruto and the others finally relaxed.
"Man," Naruto muttered, scratching his head. "I don't know what Ren did… but I hope he comes back alive."
Shikamaru nodded.
"Yeah… troublesome situation."
Deep inside the forest, far away from the other participants, Ren cleared his throat nervously.
"Ahem… Hinata, Ino," he said innocently. "Why exactly did you drag me here?"
Hinata smiled sweetly.
A vein popped on her forehead.
Her hand tightened around Ren's right shoulder so hard that Ren nearly cried.
At the same time, Ino grabbed his left shoulder and squeezed with equal force.
Ren instantly broke into cold sweat.
Ino narrowed her eyes.
"Why," she asked slowly, "was the Suna princess glaring at you like she wanted to kill you?"
Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan and stared directly at Ren.
Even Sakura folded her arms, waiting for an answer.
Ren swallowed nervously.
"Okay… fine," he said. "It happened like this."
A few minutes later, after Ren finished explaining everything—including the kiss—Hinata, Sakura, and Ino stared at him in silence.
Sakura slowly cracked her knuckles.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't go looking for more girls?" she asked sweetly.
Ren quickly raised his hands defensively.
"Didn't I also say there's only one more girl?"
Hinata blinked.
"So… it's the Suna princess?"
Ren nodded honestly.
He had liked Temari since the first time he saw her in the anime. She was a tomboy, talented, beautiful, and confident.
Ino huffed loudly.
"Fine."
She turned around and began walking back toward the exam area.
Hinata and Sakura followed her.
Ren stared at them in disbelief.
Then he grabbed Ino and Hinata by the collars and pulled them back.
"You two dragged me all the way here just for that?" Ren asked, his eye twitching.
He looked directly at them.
"What happened to 'we should trust Ren'?"
Ino whistled innocently.
Hinata suddenly became very interested in the clouds above them.
Ren smirked.
Suddenly, wooden vines burst from the ground and wrapped tightly around both girls.
At the same time, sealing tags spread across the vines and suppressed their chakra.
"R-Ren!" Ino stammered nervously. "We can talk about this!"
Hinata looked completely embarrassed and stared at Ren with watery, pleading eyes.
Ren almost released them immediately.
Almost.
Instead, he activated a small illusion barrier around the area.
Then he stepped behind them.
Smack!
"Heyyyy!" Ino and Hinata shouted at the same time, their faces instantly turning red.
Ren nodded calmly.
"Next time," he said, "don't jump to conclusions."
He released the vines and seals.
As they walked back toward the exam area, Sakura sighed in relief.
But before she could say anything—
Ren suddenly teleported behind her.
Smack!
"Owww!" Sakura yelped, jumping forward.
Ren crossed his arms.
"You think I'd forget you?"
Sakura rubbed her sore backside while glaring at him.
Ino and Hinata were doing the exact same thing.
When the four of them returned to the others, they were chatting casually as if nothing had happened.
No one could tell anything unusual had occurred.
At that moment, Anko Mitarashi arrived in front of the gathered participants.
She quickly explained the rules of the second stage and distributed the Heaven and Earth scrolls.
Each team was assigned a different entrance into the forest.
Ren, of course, stood alone.
Once everyone was ready, Anko grinned widely.
"Alright, kids," she said.
"Let the second round begin."
The gates of the Forest of Death slowly opened.