Naruto: I, who didn't want to be hacked to pieces, saved the ninja world.

Chapter 115: Real Fear or Fake Fear?

Below Fire Shadow Rock, there is a quiet mountain path.

There was no sound of battle erupting in the distant forest; only silence.

It felt like we were in two different worlds.

Shirokumo Aoba and Sakura had already set off on the mountain path.

They walked along the path leading to the top of the Hokage Rock.

This test of courage activity is conducted in batches of ten, with twenty people each time. However, each batch takes a different route, so there will be no overlap.

"Aoba!"

Sakura suddenly said, "I heard that this used to be a mass grave."

"A mass grave?" Bai Yunqingye blinked. What a classic rumor!

"Sakura, are you sure you heard me right? Who would bury someone here for no reason?"

"Absolutely not. I heard that because there used to be frequent wars, there were too many wounded in the hospital, and people died every day. The hospital couldn't hold all the bodies, so they would be secretly buried here. I also heard that every night, especially late at night, there would be painful wails coming from here."

"..."

If that's the case, wouldn't using a fire jutsu be more convenient than burying someone in a mountain?

Baiyun Qingye almost laughed, but he still comforted Xiaoying, "How could that be? I go to the hospital often, and I've never heard of such a thing. Besides, ghosts don't exist in the world at all."

Even ghosts are in the Pure Land.

"But it seems like someone really did hear the wailing." Sakura was still a little worried.

"Perhaps someone is experimenting with ninjutsu," said Shirakumo Aoba.

"Is that so...?"

At this point, Sakura froze in place, and Shirokumo Aoba was suddenly pulled back by her.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yunqingye asked, puzzled.

Sakura trembled all over, staring straight ahead, and pointed to her feet with a trembling hand, "Ao...Aoba! Help...help me see, I think I just kicked something!"

"what?"

Baiyun Qingye looked down at Xiaoying's feet and saw what looked like a spherical object in the shadows, covered in hair.

No way?

Bai Yunqingye was startled.

"Don't rush, let me take a look."

He moved closer and found that it was indeed a head, still bloody, with its eyes wide open, staring at him.

He looked like he died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

"What...what is it?" Sakura's voice trembled slightly. "It's not the heads of those corpses, is it?"

"How could that be? I don't know which kid was playing in the mountains and left the ball here." Baiyun Qingye kicked the head away.

Your head is so fake.

Even if someone only has a head left, their eyes can still move.

"Look how scared you are." He patted Sakura's head again, comforting her.

"Why don't we go back first? We've only come a short distance, and we can take another route."

"No...no need!" Sakura shook her head vigorously, while holding onto Shirokumo Aoba's arm, clinging tightly to him and hiding behind him.

"If I were alone, I would definitely be scared, but if two people are together, we can become stronger!"

Seeing that Sakura insisted, Shirokumo Aoba stopped trying to persuade her.

"Then let's speed things up a bit."

He walked for about ten minutes, and everything was calm. Except for encountering some props, which he kicked away beforehand, nothing else happened.

Baiyun Qingye felt somewhat puzzled. Could it be that someone had embezzled the funds for the test of courage competition? Apart from some props, they hadn't encountered any traps along the way, and the event was surprisingly simple.

“It seems this is how the ‘Path of the Ninja’ is going to be,” said Shirokumo Aoba.

"Whoo~"

Sakura, who was initially nervous and scared, relaxed considerably after walking for so long without encountering anything strange, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"Maybe I'm just scaring myself..."

"ah!"

Sakura suddenly jumped up, and Shirokumo Aoba quickly helped her up to prevent her from twisting her ankle and falling to the ground.

"What's wrong?"

As Shirokumo Aoba asked, her gaze drifted towards Sakura's feet.

Then he understood why.

It was a distorted shadow, seemingly a shadow technique of the Nara clan.

"I...I felt something touch my foot!"

Sakura's voice was trembling with tears.

"It's a tree branch." Bai Yunqingye casually picked up a tree branch and threw it away.

"Let's go faster."

"Mmm!" Sakura nodded as well.

The two went from walking to jogging.

A short while later.

This ninja journey is already halfway complete.

The two emerged from a dense forest, where a relatively open area appeared in front of them.

under the moonlight.

A little girl with long hair was kneeling there, her head down and her face covered with her hands.

Faintly, a sobbing sound could be heard.

Both of them instinctively stopped in their tracks.

"Aoba, was that person abandoned by his friends because he was injured?" Sakura tugged at Shirokumo Aoba with some concern.

Baiyun Qingye: "..."

Isn't this an obvious trap...?

Is Sakura such a clueless girl?

"Shall we go over and take a look?"

Sakura nodded, took Shirokumo Aoba's hand, and walked towards the girl.

"Um... are you alright?"

As she got closer, Sakura asked softly.

"I...I tripped and fell while I was running, and my face is hurt. It hurts so much..." A sobbing voice rang out.

As the other person spoke, it appeared that blood was still dripping from her face.

Sakura kindly said, "It's alright, we know medical ninjutsu, we can help you."

"Really?!"

The girl suddenly raised her head, revealing a pale face under the moonlight. Her features... were nonexistent; her face was filled with five black holes, from which flowed dark blood. She stared intently at Sakura with her empty eye sockets.

"Help...help me!"

All the joints in his body twisted strangely, like a marionette.

Baiyun Qingye's complexion remained normal.

"Ah!" Sakura screamed.

"Please help me first!"

Another hoarse and unpleasant voice rang in their ears.

Suddenly, two hands were placed on their shoulders, and both of them instinctively turned around.

An elderly, hunched-over woman stared intently at Sakura with a pair of eerie, pure black eyes.

More importantly, this old woman actually had a cat's face, with her mouth stretched all the way to her ears, revealing her dark gums.

"what--"

The screams echoed throughout the forest.

Sakura jumped and clung to Shirokumo Aoba, holding him tightly, her body trembling slightly.

"..."

Baiyun Qingye could only support the other's body, and then he swung his fist at each of them.

After two loud bangs, the two puppets were shattered into pieces.

Shirokumo Aoba patted Sakura on the back, wanting to say something, but Sakura spoke first.

"Qing...Qingye, my legs are weak, I can't move..."