That afternoon, at the edge of the Forest of Death.
Seventy-eight teams had passed the written exam, totaling 234 Genin, and all of them had gathered there.
The chief examiner for the second exam was a female ninja.
She wore a black trench coat and had a wild, unruly smile on her face.
She ran her tongue over her lips, looking extremely excited.
"Listen up, brats!" Her voice was full of energy. "The second exam will take place at Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death!
"The terrain is complex, and it's crawling with poisonous insects and wild beasts. This is a real combat zone!"
"The exam's objective: a scroll battle!"
She held up two scrolls, one marked "Heaven" and the other "Earth."
"Each team will randomly receive one scroll.
"Your mission is to cross the Forest of Death and reach the Central Tower within seventy-two hours.
"The catch is—you must have both the 'Heaven' and 'Earth' scrolls."
"In other words, you'll need to steal the other teams' scrolls! Anything goes! There are no rules against killing!"
"In the end, only teams that reach the tower safely with both scrolls will pass."
"Now, come up and collect your scrolls, then enter the forest through the different gates!"
"The exam—begins!"
The crowd stirred.
Liuyu stepped forward with Team Seven and received a scroll marked "Earth."
"Liuyu, we have 'Earth,' so we need to take 'Heaven'..." Haruno Kazuya gripped the scroll tightly, his nerves showing.
"Yeah." Liuyu nodded, scanning their surroundings.
Many teams were already eyeing one another, looking for potential prey or allies.
The Sunagakure puppeteer team had drawn "Heaven" and looked rather relaxed.
"Let's go." Uchiha Ryūha turned and headed toward their assigned entrance.
Matsumoto Ryūichi saw them to the entrance and bowed solemnly to Liuyu. "Liuyu, I'm counting on you!"
Liuyu waved a hand and entered the Forest of Death with his two teammates.
Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, leaving the forest dim.
Thick soil blanketed the ground, and the air carried the damp smell of earth mixed with a faint scent of blood.
The howls of unknown beasts echoed in the distance, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
As soon as they entered the forest, Liuyu stopped.
"Liuyu?" Fujiwara Itsuki warily studied their surroundings.
Liuyu didn't answer. He closed his eyes instead.
His Reiatsu spread outward from him like a wave, instantly sweeping across the area!
A radius of five hundred meters!
That range was already comparable to the sensory abilities of an elite Jonin.
And he wasn't simply detecting Chakra. He sensed the more fundamental forces of "Reiatsu" and "life energy."
It was far more subtle, far more precise!
In an instant, everything around him was clearly "reflected" in his mind.
Three hundred meters to the left, a Konoha team was moving cautiously. Their Chakra was steady; they were probably from the Hyuga Clan.
Two hundred and fifty meters behind them, two cold Chakra signatures were hiding in the trees. They carried the distinctive aura of Sunagakure—puppeteers, perhaps?
Four hundred meters straight ahead, a fierce battle was underway. The Chakra fluctuations were wild; it seemed people from Kumogakure were fighting...
And to the southeast, about six hundred meters away—
Liuyu's senses locked onto a team fleeing in disarray.
There were three Chakra signatures, all with the distinctive style of Sunagakure.
One of them was clearly injured, his aura weak.
They were holding a scroll marked "Heaven."
But the ones who had driven them into such a desperate state weren't other ninjas. It was...
A gigantic saber-toothed tiger, over five meters long and nearly two meters tall at the shoulder.
The beast had clearly undergone some kind of mutation; its Chakra was unusually active.
It was incredibly fast and monstrously strong, relentlessly pursuing the Sunagakure team.
"Liuyu, did you find anything?" Haruno Kazuya asked quietly.
Uchiha Ryūha opened his eyes and pushed up his glasses.
"Six hundred meters southeast. There's a Sunagakure team with the Heaven Scroll."
Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki's eyes lit up!
"Great! Let's go take it..." Fujiwara Itsuki said excitedly.
"But they're being hunted by a giant, mutated saber-toothed tiger. They won't hold out much longer," Liuyu added.
The two froze.
"Being hunted by a beast?" Haruno Kazuya swallowed. "Then... should we wait until they've worn each other down before we move in? That'd be safest!"
Fujiwara Itsuki nodded too. "Yeah, Liuyu. Let them fight the tiger to the death, and we can swoop in afterward!"
Liuyu glanced at them and shook his head gently.
"No need."
He turned and started toward the southeast, his voice calm and indifferent.
"I'll see if I can tame that tiger."
Haruno Kazuya and Fujiwara Itsuki exchanged a glance. Though they didn't understand, they immediately followed without hesitation.
The three of them raced through the dense forest.
Liuyu's Reiatsu sensing worked like a perfectly calibrated radar, letting him avoid hidden dangers and other teams before they came across them.
He chose a flawless route.
A few minutes later, they were close to the area.
They could hear a tremendous roar ahead through the thick undergrowth.
Trees crashed to the ground, and Sunagakure ninjas shouted in alarm and fury.
Liuyu pushed aside the bushes and saw what lay ahead.
In a wrecked clearing, three Sunagakure Genin stood back-to-back, all injured.
One had an arm drenched in blood and could barely hold his Kunai.
In front of them, a saber-toothed tiger as large as a small hill bared its fangs.
Drool dripped from its jaws, and its amber eyes were full of savagery and bloodlust.
Another Sunagakure ninja lay on the ground, his chest torn open. He was already dead.
"Xinyuan Yi! Kato Yo! I can't hold on much longer!" the injured ninja rasped.
"Shut up! I'll strike when I find an opening!" growled a gloomy-looking Sunagakure ninja.
It was Kato Yo.
He was the leader of this squad, and his strength was already on par with that of an average Chunin.
He came from a prominent clan in Sunagakure, so having a few followers was only natural.
The three ninjas and the tiger remained locked in a standoff.
The saber-toothed tiger was clearly growing impatient. It let out a deafening roar.
Its hind legs coiled, and its huge body surged forward with a rush of foul air, pouncing at the most severely wounded Sunagakure ninja!
"It's over!" The ninja shut his eyes in despair.
Xinyuan Yi and Kato Yo tried to save him, but they were nowhere near fast enough.
At that critical moment—
A figure appeared without warning, like a ghost, directly in the tiger's path, between it and the Sunagakure ninja.
Black hair, glasses, a dark clan outfit.
Uchiha Ryūha.
He stared at the monstrous beast charging toward him, its gaping jaws mere inches away. His gaze was perfectly calm, without a hint of emotion.
He simply raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and pointed them at the saber-toothed tiger.
He spoke softly:
"Too slow."
"Bakudō 60—"
"Ten Directions Sealing."
Hum—!!!
An invisible force erupted from Liuyu's palm!
In the next instant, the saber-toothed tiger's pounce, the raging Chakra within its body, and the air within a few meters of it all froze in place!
A translucent, pale-blue cube-shaped barrier, about five meters along each side, enveloped the entire tiger.
Arcane symbols flowed across its walls, radiating powerful sealing energy.
Inside the barrier, the saber-toothed tiger hung frozen mid-pounce, unable even to move its eyes.
The Chakra surging through its body was forcibly suppressed and frozen, as if time had stopped at that very moment.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Kato Yo and the Sunagakure ninja who had just escaped death—
Both stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable sight before them.
No Hand Seals!
No sign of an intense Chakra surge!
He'd simply raised his hand, said a few words, and sealed that terrifying beast completely?!
Wh-what kind of ninjutsu was this?!
Liuyu lowered his hand, turned to the three Sunagakure ninjas still shaken from the ordeal, and pushed up his glasses.
"I'll take your Heaven Scroll."
"In exchange, I saved your lives."
"Fair enough, isn't it?"
Before you continue