The examinees were sent into the training ground through randomly assigned doors, there were forty-four doors in total. The finish line was the tower situated at the center of the Forest of Death, but there was a catch: everyone received a scroll, either of Sky or Earth, and they had to get the missing one from another team before being eligible to qualify for the next trials—all of this within five days.
Team Seven was assigned to the twelfth door, and after what seemed to be an eternity of waiting for the staff to finish unlocking the doors, they got the go! After running at full speed for ten kilometers—over six miles—Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto finally reached the forest, but without having time to catch their breath, they heard unsettling cries—someone was expiring, dying a brutal death in agony!
After Naruto came back from his toilet break, he was greated by a heavy mawashi-geri, right on his face, sending him straight into the green-hued woods of the Forest of Death! Sakura was shocked as the orange-haired boy, mouth full of blood, asked indignantly:
"What do you think you're doing?"
But well, Sasuke politely took the time to explain that he was wearing his shuriken pouch on the wrong side. Knowing he was discovered, the fake Naruto canceled his transformation technique and rushed to attack Sakura—probably the weakest link—only to be greeted by a huge fireball instead!
Offering the legendary Uchiha hospitality, Sasuke clashed violently with the masked ninja wearing the symbols of Otogakure, freeing the rope-bound Naruto with a cleanly thrown kunai in the process. In a two-against-one situation, yes Sakura did not count, and inexplicably missing his chance to kill Sasuke after appearing behind him, the masked assailant ran back in retreat! But too bad—he was too slow, and the black-haired young ninja landed a critical hit, largely missing the heart. Still, by some unknown means, he did not loose consciousness and kept fleeing, escaping his pursuer. Team Seven didn't wait too long either—they went further into the forest and, after finally finding a safe spot, held a meeting to figure out something that would allow them to identify each other.
As they were still arguing, they were hit violently by a wind explosion, and the creepy-woman-tongue-sugegasa-wearing ninja appeared out of nowhere with her two teammates!
After barely making an escape, Sakura appeared in front of Sasuke, who checked her identity with the Ninja's Duties' system they had agreed upon. She nailed it, of course. Then Naruto arrived, and he was subjected to the same test—he nailed it brilliantly too. To celebrate their reunion, Sasuke viciously launched a kunai toward the orange-haired ninja, as Naruto was the center of their previous bickering regarding it's implementation. As the impostor canceled his transformation, they discovered that it was the creepy-woman-tongue-sugegasa-wearing thing from Kusagakure! Again!
So where was Naruto? He was fleeing and fighting a giant snake! Gessō Garu was monstrously efficient in a forest filled with giant trees!
"Strike from below! Vanish before the howl! The moon sees the leap, not the landing!"Naruto ridiculed the clumsy snake by reciting the Bunny Philosophy!
The snake was too big—it made any direct attack tricky and highly ineffective against it! However, he knew a very adapted move: Sukage Hō. Moving and bouncing like a wild hare, Naruto baited and circled the big snake with little effort, then—BOOM!—the sneakily pasted explosive tags did God's work.
While Naruto was slaying the beast, his teammates were piously kneeling in front of the creepy-woman-tongue-sugegasa-wearing ninja, broken by her thick killing intent! Before their final destination could reach them, Sasuke used his kunai to shallowly pierce his lower right thigh! He saved Sakura's life, who was utterly useless in front of such an adversary! And who could blame her? It was already a miracle they lasted that long! And as if that creepy woman wasn't enough, a giant snake appeared again, breaking the silence and slamming hard into the tree just before they could narrowly escape! A second one appeared just where Sasuke was about to land but was nailed by Uchiha's hospitality just in the nick of time—before it was too late!
The scales of the reptile broke out with a creepy sound of tearing flesh as the creepy-woman-tongue thing crawled out—this time not wearing a hat and dressed in different clothes. Her body slithered through trees and branches like a snake at fast speed, her destination: the Huchiha brat! Her horrifying appearance reached a new high no one could have imagined before... but her momentum was suddenly stopped by some freshly thrown kunai and shuriken!