The strange crash of the finish tower collapsing shook the Forest of Death.
A group of Genin examinees who had been hiding could finally no longer hold themselves back. Watching the finish line vanish in the distance, they began worrying about their results and hurried toward the center of the forest.
Akihara Kagura sat on the steps before the ruins, watching the birds in the forest take flight after being startled by the crowd. A slow smile curled across his lips.
"Fish always take the bait."
Akihara Kagura made the enormous wooden dragon beside him vanish, murmuring almost under his breath, "It's starting now, wooden dragon."
Obviously.
The first to arrive would surely be those traveling light.
As someone participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams alone, Uchiha Itachi did not need to worry about the pace of his teammates. The moment he neared the central area, he immediately hid himself.
The genius youngster of the Uchiha Clan concealed himself amid a patch of fallen leaves, secretly observing Akihara Kagura sitting among the ruins and the wooden dragon behind him.
"It's actually him..."
Uchiha Itachi was not the only one equally shocked.
Another team that had arrived also quickly saw Akihara Kagura.
They had originally intended to remain hidden, but as more and more teams gathered in this area, clashes were inevitable...
"Why are you hiding here?!"
"Bastards, were you trying to ambush us?!"
"Take care of these despicable bastards first!"
"Don't throw shuriken around carelessly!"
The scene rapidly descended into chaos!
This area was not particularly large, and small-scale battles soon broke out everywhere. The chaos of the fighting also affected others who had been hiding!
This was an opportunity!
With the finish tower collapsed, every team had been forced to gather in this area ahead of time. Some of the stronger teams took the chance to seize Heaven and Earth Scrolls.
Even Uchiha Itachi's hiding place, though extremely well concealed, was eventually noticed by the fiercely battling ninjas, forcing him to join the melee...
"The situation doesn't allow us to fight like this..."
"Uchiha Itachi, hand over your scrolls, and we'll naturally let you go!"
This team was no match for Uchiha Itachi at all. They were quickly defeated by him, and their scrolls fell into his hands.
"Very fortunate, and very smooth..."
Uchiha Itachi had gathered both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and swiftly withdrew to the side. He had no desire to take part in meaningless conflicts, and his gaze returned to Akihara Kagura.
"But..."
"Also unfortunate, and not smooth."
Besides Uchiha Itachi, quite a few others also realized Akihara Kagura was a threat. They ran about shouting, trying to gather everyone present together.
"Everyone, stop!"
"Get lost! We'll deal with you first!"
"Everyone, stop fighting! Deal with that brat first!"
"Don't forget the wooden dragon behind that brat! That isn't something one team can handle. Don't let him reap the benefits while we fight!"
Unfortunately.
Once a fight began, even if its participants still retained their reason, it was not so easy to stop.
Just as a long-haired ninja was trying his best to call on everyone to stop their infighting, a childish voice appeared in the field. "Hey, it won't be easy to stop the fighting. At this rate, people will die... How about I help you?"
"Who?"
The long-haired ninja turned around with some delight.
However, his expression soon froze, because he saw the person he least wanted to see: Akihara Kagura slowly walking down from the steps of the ruins.
"Wood Release..."
"Deep Forest Emergence!"
The ground throughout the entire area began shaking once again!
Vines and tree roots shot out from around Akihara Kagura's feet. In the blink of an eye, they grew into a forest of towering giant trees!
"What the hell is this?!"
"Run!"
"Come help me cut this thing off!"
The branches and roots of those giant trees continued extending rapidly, binding every Genin examinee they touched to the trees!
"Ninja blades are too inefficient..."
Uchiha Itachi swung his ninja blade and severed a branch as thick as an arm. He immediately sheathed the blade, rapidly leaped backward, and formed hand seals at high speed!
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball struck the vines attacking him. Flames instantly spread, forcing the vines back and even setting one of the giant trees ablaze!
However...
This was still far too inefficient!
The Great Fireball Jutsu was nowhere near powerful enough to burn down all the giant trees. It could not even stop Deep Forest Emergence from spreading outward!
"No!"
"I've already gathered the scrolls."
"I should watch from farther away!"
Uchiha Itachi looked at his two scrolls and ultimately chose to retreat first. His figure swiftly vanished from the area.
The other examinees lacked both his strength and his good fortune.
Akihara Kagura's Deep Forest Emergence was far beyond the ninjutsu they could deal with. The ninjas from the other teams were exhausted under the relentless attacks of vines and roots...
A group of Genin hung from the same tree...
They swayed back and forth like fruit hanging from its branches.
Akihara Kagura stood atop the wooden dragon's head and slowly rose to their level. "You're very lucky. Although killing is permitted in the second stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams, Lord Danzō won't allow me to kill anyone, so I won't kill you..."
"What do you want?"
One ninja asked what everyone wanted to know.
Akihara Kagura played with a scroll in his hand and asked, "First, hand over what I need. Second..."
"What are you doing?!"
A somewhat familiar female voice rang out!
When Mitaraishi Anko arrived with a group of Chunin examiners, they saw this bizarre sight, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
Akihara Kagura saw the arriving examiners.
The Genin hanging from the trees looked at the examiners with hope in their eyes, counting on them to intervene in the exam and rescue them!
However...
The newcomer had always called herself Konoha's cruelest female ninja.
Mitaraishi Anko ignored the pleading Genin. Instead, she pointed at the tower that had become ruins and loudly demanded, "Destroying the finish point for the second stage of the exam—are you trying to make sure no one can pass?"
"The village probably won't allow that to happen."
Akihara Kagura looked down at the Chunin examiners and explained, "I only wanted to draw them out. I'm not very good at wilderness survival, so I could only use this method to force them out and snatch some food from these people."
"What a shame..."
"I hooked the fish, but it seems the owner of the fishpond has come looking for me too."
"What kind of goddamn metaphor is that..."
Mitaraishi Anko still had a dango skewer in her mouth. She frowned and said, "Aren't you worried about being eliminated?"
"Not at all."
"Someone told me the password for passing the second stage in advance."
Akihara Kagura spread his palms and continued nonchalantly, "Strictly speaking, the requirement for passing the second stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams is simply to gather the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and arrive here. I'm guessing there are others present who know that too."
"..."
Mitaraishi Anko angrily bit into a dango.
"..."
Akihara Kagura licked his lips.
"Tch, brat, are you hungry?"
Mitaraishi Anko continued chewing her dango. As though she had thought of something, she suddenly grinned. "If you've gathered the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and want to pass now, you can accept food delivered by someone outside the exam grounds."
As she spoke, Mitaraishi Anko even pulled out a bag of food and slowly continued, "If you stay here and eat food made by these people, what if they poisoned it? There have been plenty of cases like that during the Chunin Ninja Exams..."
Mitaraishi Anko's thinking was quite clear. As long as she could send this brat out of the exam grounds, she could resolve any trouble he might cause inside later.
Honestly.
This brat was always causing trouble.
Akihara Kagura smiled and raised his hand. The Heaven and Earth Scrolls flew up from his hand and shot toward Mitaraishi Anko.
"Tch, you made the right choice!"
Mitaraishi Anko caught the two scrolls and giggled. "Normally, I should teach you how to open the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, but I think that would be a waste of time for you. Congratulations on becoming the first examinee to pass..."
"I choose to pass as well!"
Uchiha Itachi suddenly appeared there at some point.
When Uchiha Itachi saw the Chunin examiners appear, he immediately realized that as long as he found an examiner, he could probably pass through them directly!
Because the finish tower had already been destroyed!
"Congratulations on taking second place!"
Mitaraishi Anko swiftly glanced at Uchiha Itachi and added, "You brat from the Uchiha Clan, there's still time to go buy some three-color dango from the sweet shop in the village!"
Since they were both regulars at Konoha's sweet shops, Mitaraishi Anko knew that Uchiha Itachi liked three-color dango.
"Ah, thank you, senpai!"
Uchiha Itachi nodded awkwardly, then swiftly leaped toward the exit!
Akihara Kagura paid no attention to any of this. His gaze fell on the bag of food in Mitaraishi Anko's hand, as if waiting for her to give it to him.
Mitaraishi Anko took a dango skewer from the bag and took another bite herself. A fierce expression appeared on her face. "Brat, you caused us examiners so much trouble. Did you think I'd share my favorite sweets with you?"
"Tch, I got fooled again..."
Akihara Kagura could not help laughing, still looking at the fierce-looking Mitaraishi Anko. "Anko-senpai, I'm even a little afraid that I'll forget you."
First update!
I dug a little pit.
This chapter is almost three thousand words! I tried hard to make it longer!
Before you continue