"Throw me the scroll."
Akihara Kagura amicably held out his palm.
The sheer size of the Wood Dragon Technique, along with the shock of seeing a wood dragon for the first time, would most likely extinguish any thoughts this team had of resisting.
Whoosh!
The scroll traced an arc through the air!
Akihara Kagura caught the scroll and rode the wood dragon away, leaving only a sentence on the wind: "Thank you for your cooperation. I hope we will have another chance to cooperate in the future."
"..."
The three Genin looked at one another.
It would be better if there was never another chance like that!
"Tch, not bad luck."
Akihara Kagura glanced at the scroll in his hand.
The first team he encountered had already allowed him to gather both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls.
Although the youngster had always believed that passing the second stage would not be difficult for him, gathering both scrolls so smoothly still put him in a better mood.
The rest of this exam...
Would probably be a leisurely outdoor break.
Akihara Kagura had no particular obsession with leaving early.
Akihara Kagura knew that Shimura Danzō had to be in a bad mood. Once he left, he would have to face Lord Danzō's deadpan face, so he might as well stay here a little longer.
When your superior was in a bad mood, you absolutely should not approach voluntarily, especially when you were the reason for that bad mood. You should give your superior as much time as possible and let him slowly come to terms with it himself.
"I wonder when I'll run into another team..."
Akihara Kagura guided the wood dragon through the Forest of Death, intending to look for a group of cooks for the coming days while also trying to find traces of Uchiha Itachi.
Unfortunately.
The Forest of Death was simply too vast.
The entire Forest of Death had a radius of at least ten kilometers.
More than a dozen teams were scattered throughout this forest of over three hundred square kilometers. Even their entry points were unknown, and the dense woods provided them with cover and protection.
This was a game of pursuit and survival, of hiding and plundering.
Only Akihara Kagura, relying on his wood dragon, could swagger through the Forest of Death and even use that advantage to search for enemies nearby.
However...
The wood dragon's disadvantage was also obvious.
Humans were born with the instinct to seek profit and avoid harm. Any enemy who saw the wood dragon, after their initial shock passed, would usually quietly hide.
Akihara Kagura possessed an enormous amount of chakra, which had also enhanced his ability to sense chakra, but it still could not compare to the Byakugan, the ninja world's most powerful sensory Kekkei Genkai.
The ninja teams participating in the exams all chose to conceal themselves.
With the situation inside the Forest of Death unclear and a huge wood dragon roaming overhead, the best choice was undoubtedly to hide from unknown dangers.
Even Uchiha Itachi had no choice but to lie low.
The entire Forest of Death gradually fell silent.
Akihara Kagura patrolled back and forth twice. The first team he encountered seemed to have used up all his luck, as he never came across a second group of competitors.
"Is no one willing to come out?"
Akihara Kagura frowned and guided the wood dragon toward the central tower. "If none of you want to come out, then don't ever come out!"
Outside the Forest of Death.
A group of examiners remained outside the Forest of Death, discussing an unexpected development during the exam. Their duty was to ensure that the second stage proceeded smoothly.
Clearly.
An unexpected situation had arisen in the Forest of Death.
Akihara Kagura, that child, was the biggest unexpected factor.
Because Mitaraishi Anko had reported that Akihara Kagura was a Wood Style Ninja, coupled with orders from the Hokage Building, the examiners had made this child their priority.
"Has he finally stopped wandering around?"
"What is that brat trying to do?"
"What we should be more concerned about is how long this technique can last."
"At present, we don't know. We have never seen the First Hokage's Wood Style Ninjutsu either, so we don't know how long Wood Style Ninjutsu can be maintained..."
"The Hokage has told us not to worry."
"If that brat intends to use this method to search for enemies, who can tell him that it will not work? The enemies will only hide forever..."
"Great strength without sufficient brains is useless. His actions will only make the other teams too terrified to move..."
"It's getting dark..."
"Everyone needs to prepare supplies."
"This wilderness survival test may turn into a wilderness escape..."
"Has that brat even gathered both scrolls? Are the two scrolls in his hands the Heaven and Earth Scrolls? If he has them, he should come out already!"
"The surveillance cannot see clearly..."
As the examiners watched the gigantic wood dragon moving through the surveillance feed, they felt an immense headache coming on. They had never seen such a troublesome examinee in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
If Akihara Kagura relied on his ninjutsu to cause some major trouble and completely derail the Chunin Ninja Exams, that would be disastrous.
However...
Unexpected events were bound to happen eventually.
One examiner suddenly stared at the monitor before him in horror.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"That wood dragon has wrapped itself around the tower!"
"Don't panic!"
Aoba Yamashiro, the chief examiner, adjusted his sunglasses and forced himself to appear calm. "It's fine. That brat must be trying to seal off the Tower of the End and wait there to ambush the other teams..."
Aoba Yamashiro felt that he had grasped Akihara Kagura's intentions and slowly continued, "This kind of tactic is used every year, but very few succeed in the end. Even if his ninjutsu is powerful, he may not be able to catch those cunning..."
"But..."
Mitaraishi Anko spoke around a dango in her mouth, her words muffled. "I remember that shabby tower in the Forest of Death hasn't been repaired in years..."
"The Tower of the End has collapsed!"
An examiner responsible for monitoring the Tower of the End area suddenly cried out, his face filled with panic. "That wood dragon wrapped around the Tower of the End and directly destroyed it! The second stage's checkpoint has been destroyed by that brat!"
"What the hell!"
"Why cut off everyone's path!"
"How much trouble is this going to add to our work!"
All the examiners present instantly erupted!
This was practically adding a problem to the normal workflow that the staff could neither solve nor had ever considered possible!
Aoba Yamashiro, the sole chief examiner, broke out in a cold sweat. He had always been somewhat timid, yet he still seemed to want to remain calm. "Don't panic... Don't panic... Don't panic... Think about what we should do when something like this happens..."
"What are you standing around for?!"
Mitaraishi Anko bit into her dango and offered her suggestion. "The Tower of the End is only a marker signaling arrival. It merely contains the correct method for opening the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. As long as the examinees arrive carrying the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, it will be fine..."
"Quickly send people over to guard the area and prevent panic. When examinees arrive there with the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, tell them the correct way to open them, and there won't be a problem."
"Anko!"
Aoba Yamashiro looked as if he had been granted a reprieve. He rushed before Mitaraishi Anko. "This matter... is yours! Take people there immediately!"
"..."
At the center of the Forest of Death.
The Tower of the End had become a field of rubble.
Akihara Kagura sat before the ruins, while the huge wood dragon coiled atop the wreckage behind him. Under the lingering glow of the setting sun, it formed a scene of a youngster and an evil Dragon.
Second update.
Please keep reading, don't let it pile up!
Thank you to all my readers for following along. We finally passed the first round of testing, and tomorrow we'll enter the second round!
Before you continue