Bully Lord In the Chunin Exam (NarutoVerse)

Kuro took a tiny step forward – just one, a subtle shift of weight, more to say "I'm here, I'm listening" than to start a brawl. He met the Cloud leader's best condescending glare with a completely level stare of his own. There was even this little ghost of a smile playing at the corner of his lips, like he'd just remembered a particularly silly joke.

"Lambs?" Kuro repeated, his voice steady and calm, a deliberate chill breeze compared to the Cloud leader's booming pronouncements. "Lost? In this forest?" He let that hang in the air for a moment, like it was the most ludicrous idea he'd heard all day. "Oh, please. We were just taking the scenic route, you see. Really enjoying the foliage. And then we just… stumbled upon you." He let that "you" linger, thick with all the unspoken things he wasn't actually saying.

"And this Heaven Scroll you're so excited about?" Kuro continued, still maintaining that air of casual boredom. "Well, funny you should ask. We actually went to quite a bit of trouble to protect this thing. You know, a little scuffle here, a little trashing of a rather… persistent team there. All in a day's work. So, the idea of just… handing it over to, what did you call yourselves? Oh right, 'scenic route bandits'? Just doesn't really add up in my book, does it?"

The Cloud leader's sneer tightened, the edges of his mouth going white with suppressed annoyance. He hadn't expected… this. He'd anticipated fear, maybe trembling compliance, definitely not this calm, almost mocking, composure. "Bandits?" he scoffed, trying to regain the upper hand, his voice rising slightly. "We are ninjas of the Hidden Cloud! We are taking what is rightfully—"

Kuro didn't even let the Cloud leader finish whatever booming pronouncement he was gearing up for. He just smoothly raised a hand, palm out, a 'hold up' gesture so effortless it was almost dismissive. "'Rightfully yours'?" he echoed, one eyebrow ticking upwards in a subtle arc of amusement. "Last I checked, these Heaven Scrolls weren't exactly hot off the Kumogakure press, stamped with your village insignia and all."

He paused, letting that little jab land. "But hey," Kuro continued, voice still even and conversational, "it is an exam, isn't it? So by all means, be our guest. You're welcome to try and 'take' it from us, of course." He let that word, "try," hang in the air, light as a feather but carrying the distinct weight of implied challenge. "Go ahead," he encouraged, a ghost of a smile now genuinely playing on his lips. "Consider this a… practical demonstration section. For you. See just how 'malevolent' you can be in engaging a fight you're definitely going to… loose in."

Before the Cloud brat could even start to untangle Kuro's predictably over-the-top, slightly theatrical threat – let's be honest, Kuro did lean into the dramatics sometimes – Xero just… detonated. Honestly, it was like watching a cartoon. Imagine a tightly coiled spring suddenly snapping free, all uncontrolled movement and pure, unfiltered joy at the prospect of a good old-fashioned brawl. That was Xero.

His grin went from 'happy' to 'absolutely terrifying' in about half a second, stretching way too wide, showing off a flash of teeth that were… well, let's just say 'feral' was the first word that came to mind. "Oh, you want our Heaven Scroll?" Xero basically screeched, his voice bouncing off the trees like a pinball and sending a flock of completely innocent birds scrambling for the nearest exit strategy. "Well, guess what, oh-so-smarty-pants geniuses?" he continued, practically vibrating with excitement. "You guys being so obsessed with 'heaven' and all… bet you anything you're pathetically clinging to some dinky little Earth Scroll, right?"

He didn't even wait around for a 'yes' or 'no' or even a confused blink from the Cloud dudes. Politeness? In Xero's world, that was a vaguely foreign concept reserved for… well, probably no one. Xero was a pure force of nature at this point, all wound-up and ready to release maximum chaotic energy upon the world (or at least upon these two unsuspecting Cloud ninjas).

"Cha-ching! Jackpot for Team Tsukigakure!" he bellowed, momentarily forgetting that these guys were supposed to be a threat, completely consumed by the delicious prospect of… loot. Yes, loot. Apparently, Earth Scrolls were ninja treasure now. He pumped his fist in the air like he'd just won the ninja lottery. "Hey, you oh-so-mighty Cloud ninjas!" he continued, his voice now practically echoing through the forest. "Tell you what! Instead of being all polite and 'pretty please' about it, how about we just… persuade you to donate that Earth Scroll to the cause? You wanna maybe test out our persuasive techniques? Because spoiler alert: they are extremely face-punching-centric! You guys ready to experience some… brutal generosity?!" His challenge ripped through the trees – loud, unapologetic, and just a tiny, tiny bit unhinged. You had to almost admire his commitment to maximum dramatic impact.

Predictably, the Cloud ninjas' reaction to Xero's… let's call it spirited challenge was exactly what Kuro had mentally predicted: a whole lot of very confident, very dismissive laughter. It was that booming, chest-puffing kind of guffaw, the sort reserved for people who genuinely, deep down, believe they're operating on a completely different level of existence from everyone else. Think hyenas who've just spotted a particularly slow gazelle – pure, unadulterated arrogance.

"Ooooh, scary!" the wiry Cloud ninja actually wheezed, reaching up to dab a fake tear from the corner of his eye. "Did you hear that, boss?" he choked out between giggles, " 'Face-punching!' Wow. Groundbreaking tactical genius right there. We are just trembling with intimidation." He then proceeded to double over in what was clearly intended to be a display of side-splitting mirth, though it mostly came across as slightly strained and possibly caused by his own internal organs being rearranged by his overly dramatic movements.

"Seriously though," he managed to gasp out, struggling to regain a semblance of composure and failing miserably, "are those... threats even supposed to make us… worried? About you?" He snickered again, sharing this incredibly smug, 'can you believe these clowns?' look with his leader. It was practically radiating off them, this thick, shimmering aura of self-satisfaction. Clearly, they weren't used to anyone not immediately bowing down to their obviously superior ninja awesomeness. It was almost endearing in its cluelessness. Almost.