"The Forest of Death!!"
Anko, hands on hips, certainly exuded ample deterrence. Coupled with her expression and the eerie forest behind her, her words were indeed very convincing: "Each of your teams must take one Heaven Scroll and one Earth Scroll. The only way to qualify is to arrive at the tower within the Forest of Death with both scrolls! You have five days. Any team that hasn't arrived with two scrolls by the deadline will be eliminated!"
Anko's words undoubtedly made the examinees look at each other, and, satisfied with their expressions, Anko clapped her hands dramatically: "Oh~ right~~ One more thing. If you're determined to enter this exam, please sign a death waiver, acknowledging that you accept the possibility of death. Because this forest is full of dangerous creatures and plants, and when you're stealing scrolls, I imagine you won't be so gentle, so, you know. Now, go sign the contract, then go to the shed next door to collect your team's scrolls."
These words undoubtedly made the examinees nervous. Although they had long anticipated that the Chunin Exam could endanger their lives, this officially sanctioned fight to the death still made everyone a bit scared. At this moment, they could more clearly feel that the ninja profession was not a gentle one.
"Tch~ That big sister, trying to scare people with her forced cuteness~ Just wait and see, we'll be the first to arrive!"
Muttering disgruntledly, Naruto's words basically reflected the sentiments of most people. And needless to say, after a period of time, all the examinees present had submitted their signed death waivers and, after receiving their respective scrolls, were assigned different entry points.
"Alright, let's go! Something very interesting should happen in this forest!"
With a low cry, Hinata was the first to rush into the forest before them, with Sasuke and Naruto close behind. As she activated her Byakugan, her surroundings quickly expanded. After a brief search, she determined her direction.
"Shikamaru's scent is this way, let's go!"
On the other side, Kiba also accurately found Shikamaru's team's location using his sense of smell, then brought Shino and Sakura over at the same speed. Without a doubt, they intended to strictly follow Hinata's previously established plan.
With the aid of the Byakugan and ninja dogs, in less than five minutes, Hinata saw Shikamaru's team not far ahead. Knowing that their top priority was to gather, Team 10 hadn't gone far at all, instead waiting quietly with their backs against a large tree for their teammates to assemble.
"Found them, it's Shikamaru's team. Let's go down."
After confirming with her Byakugan that Shikamaru's group wasn't a transformation jutsu disguise, Hinata jumped down from the tree trunk with relief. Noticing the Byakugan girl and the others approaching, Shikamaru, who was standing still, frowned slightly and then spoke in a low voice: "Stop! Say the password first!"
"Urusai! I don't remember discussing a password, where are Kiba and the others?"
Completely ignoring Shikamaru's request, Hinata's answer made the pineapple-haired boy breathe a sigh of relief: "Alright, that arrogant answer, looks like it's really you."
"Ya-hoo~! We're here~! So, we've gathered safely, right?"
Jumping down from another large tree, Kiba paused as if he'd just thought of something, then grinned at Hinata: "So, Boss, confirm it with your Byakugan."
"En~ It's them, come over."
After also confirming all of Team 8, Hinata nodded, relieved. While there were ways to deceive the Byakugan, it was clearly impossible for anyone with such ability to exist in this Forest of Death, so the Byakugan's confirmation ability was very reliable. Thus, her first plan was successfully completed.
"Good, now that we've gathered, then~! First, over here, follow me!"
Turning around briskly, Hinata clearly intended to finish this quickly. Now that the Rookie Nine had a decisive numerical advantage, it was time to go all out.
Under the Byakugan's targeting, disguise and concealment were clearly meaningless. The group that Hinata had locked onto had just entered the Forest of Death and hadn't even gone 500 meters. Judging by their headbands, they should be a group of Genin from the Sand Village. This time, the Sand Village had sent a total of 30 Genin, excluding Gaara's team of three. However, as it turned out, none of the other 27 Sand ninja passed the second exam besides this one.
Given this, Hinata didn't think there was anything wrong with survival of the fittest here, especially since these guys weren't up to any good themselves.
"Wait, I think I heard something. Everyone be careful!"
The leading Sand ninja was clearly an experienced fighter, but before he could even prepare, he heard an excited shout: "Take this!! Tsūga!!"
Accompanied by a sound like a whirlwind, a spiraling attack figure suddenly burst out of the bushes.
The three startled Sand ninja quickly dodged, but just as they evaded the Tsūga attack in mid-air, they heard a lazy voice: "Kagemane no Jutsu(shadow imitation), successful~!"
"What?!"
At this moment, the belated Sand ninja realized their bodies were unable to move. Without a doubt, Kiba's Tsūga attack was just a distraction, and at that moment, Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu directly acted, easily capturing the three careless Sand ninja.
"Take this! Nikudan Sensha(Human Bullet Tank)!!"
Before the Sand ninja could even think about their likely fate, a massive spherical object appeared with a roar in the air, then rapidly expanded in the eyes of the three terrified Sand ninja.
Puff~ jiji!!
With a sound like rotten mud hitting a stone slab, the screams of the three Sand ninja were annihilated on the ground. When Chōji returned to his normal form, only three human-shaped craters were visible on the ground.
"Tsk~ How tragic. I bet they'll never eat kagamimochi again."
Looking at the three Sand ninja on the ground with considerable satisfaction, Kiba was clearly very pleased with the outcome of this battle.
He attracted attention, then Shikamaru controlled the enemies, and then Chōji cleared the field with one Nikudan Sensha – it was both decisive and swift.
"Stop messing around. Search their backpacks and see what kind of scrolls they have."
Hinata was not surprised by this result. Apart from the main characters, the combat strength of Genin was never outstanding. At best, like the Hidden Rain Village ninja who could use Ame Shigure Senbon in the original story, they were decent, but unfortunately, they were instantly killed by Gaara. By analogy, it was clear what kind of fodder the other supporting Genin were.
"Oh! Okay, hmm~~ They have the Heaven Scroll, perfect, we have the Earth Scroll."
Flipping through the Sand ninja's backpack, the ecstatic Kiba was about to speak when he saw Hinata shake her hand slightly. Clearly, her Byakugan had detected another group of Genin rapidly approaching.
"Set traps, everyone conceal yourselves."
With a low command, Hinata quickly gave her orders. According to the original story, the one who would actively seek out Sasuke was undoubtedly Orochimaru, so this time they needed to proceed with caution.
Soon, as footsteps approached, another group of Hidden Rain Village genin clearly discovered the messy scene.
"It looks like someone's been attacked, huh? Is that a scroll?"
A Rain ninja checking the scene instinctively felt a little excited. "It seems they either couldn't use this scroll or didn't have time to take it. We got lucky!"
"Don't be careless, there might be an ambush nearby."
Another Rain ninja cautiously scanned the surroundings. There was no doubt that the three unlucky Sand ninjas were instantly taken out together. An opponent with that kind of strength should definitely not be underestimated.
"Mind Body Switch Jutsu!"
However, they clearly didn't need to speculate further at this point. With a crisp, delicate way, the leading Rain ninja suddenly froze, then sharply turned around, grabbing a comrade next to him and pulling him off the branch he was standing on!
"Hey? What's wrong with you guys?!"
The remaining Rain ninja was greatly surprised, but before he could understand, another equally defiant voice rang out.
"Genjutsu! Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
With a scream, the remaining Rain ninja, terrified, stepped into empty space and followed the fate of his two comrades, falling directly from the high tree branch.
Moreover, the ground was clearly not empty; it was a large group of reddish-brown leeches. The fate of the three Rain ninjas after falling into the swarm of insects goes without saying. After desperately trying to drive away some of the leeches clinging to them amidst their screams, they lost the ability to resist.
"Sasuke-kun~ Did you see? My excellent performance just now?!"
Once this group of Rain ninjas was confirmed annihilated, Ino, flushed, sidled up to Sasuke, seeking praise. Not to be outdone, Sakura then hugged Sasuke's other arm: "Sasuke-kun~ How did I do? I properly cleaned up after a certain messy person~"
"What? Forehead-girl! You just took advantage of the situation! Why are you so arrogant?"
"Hmph~ Some people make a mess, and then when someone helps clean up after them, they're still ungrateful~ Ah, how shameless~"
Watching Ino and Sakura's behavior, the others simply shook their heads, used to it. After all, their cooperation was indeed excellent.
They easily used genjutsu and the Mind Body Switch Jutsu to make the three fools standing on the branches fall into the swarm of leeches Shino had attracted with his Insect Gathering Technique. The entire battle process could be described as a complete rout.
What should have been a cruel battlefield of life and death, due to the power displayed by Sakura and Ino, had become a scene where they could confidently squabble over Sasuke.
"Hmm, these guys have an Earth Scroll. It matches our Heaven Scroll perfectly."
Shikamaru also frowned as he found a scroll on the three unlucky Rain ninjas. Including the Heaven Scroll obtained from the three Sand ninjas, Team Ten and Team Eight had already completed their scroll collection.
"Ours is also a Heaven Scroll, but based on combat power, your scrolls have priority. For the next Earth Scroll, we'll continue hunting."
Tightening the gloves on her arms, Hinata was indeed slightly disappointed. From the current perspective, the difficulty of this Chunin Exam was a bit too low for them. In front of the assembled Konoha Nine Rookies, these two teams of Sand and Rain ninjas were completely overwhelmed. That meant...
Aside from Gaara's team, Rock Lee's team, and Yakushi Kabuto's team, the other teams probably wouldn't stand a chance. The only ones who could still be considered outstanding were probably just the three cannon fodder Sound ninjas.
"Keep going. There's another team to the northwest. Let's let them rest early."
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, the Byakugan girl's lips curled into an especially gentle smile.
"After all, as the hosts of this exam, we need to be a little considerate."
---
Kagamimochi is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration consisting of two round mochi rice cakes, one smaller on top of the larger one. It's a symbolic offering to the gods, symbolizing the passing and coming years, as well as wishes for a prosperous future. The name "kagami" (鏡) refers to the round, mirror-like shape of the mochi.