Survival Battle!

The next day, all the genin participating in the Chunin Exams gathered at the Forest of Death in Konoha. The exam consisted of two parts: the first was a survival battle, designed to train ninjas on how to survive in brutal conditions and how to seize resources from the enemy to supply their own side. The second part was a tournament. No matter how strong one's survival skills were, without true strength, one could not become a chunin. While the saying "a cockroach that cannot be killed" sounds impressive, in reality, a human could crush a whole swarm with a single step.

The Forest of Death, a place usually avoided by everyone, was now packed with people. Genin from various villages had all arrived, gathering in small groups to discuss the event. Li, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina chose a quiet corner to stand together, waiting for the examiner to arrive.

Before long, the examiner appeared. It was Orochimaru, who would be overseeing this survival battle. After passing by all the examinees, Orochimaru arrived in front of the main gate of the Forest of Death, facing the crowd. Seeing Orochimaru stand still, all the examinees fell silent and turned their eyes toward him.

Orochimaru wore a smile, but due to his snake-like face, this smile did not bring comfort; instead, it sent a chill down everyone's spine. Inadvertently, Orochimaru caught sight of Li and his two companions standing in the corner. A flash of sharp light crossed his eyes, but he quickly looked away and said calmly to the examinees below, "I don't think I need to say much, as you should all know that I am the proctor for this exam. My name is Orochimaru!"

Upon hearing Orochimaru's self-introduction, a wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. During the Second Shinobi World War, three ninjas had fought against Hanzo of the Salamander, who was known in the ninja world as a demigod. Not only did they not lose, but they were also bestowed the title of Sannin by Hanzo of the Salamander. By now, the names of the Sannin had long since spread throughout the ninja world. Some examinees even looked at Orochimaru with eyes full of worship; although they were ninjas from other villages, that did not stop them from admiring the strong.

Orochimaru did not pay much attention to these strange gazes. After nodding slightly, he spoke again, "This exam is a survival battle, testing your wilderness survival skills. Inside this Forest of Death, there are all kinds of poisonous insects and snakes, and even man-eating beasts. Your mission is to enter without any preparation, stay for three days, and seize the Heaven and Earth Scrolls from other teams!" As he said this, Orochimaru took two scrolls from his robes, one inscribed with the character for "Heaven" and the other with "Earth."

"Every team will receive one of these scrolls, either Heaven or Earth. Your objective is to seize the missing scroll from another team within these three days. Collecting a pair of Heaven and Earth scrolls counts as passing the exam!" Orochimaru smiled slightly, then pointed to a temporary exchange station set up in a nearby clearing and added, "If there are no questions, go there to register. The person in charge will provide you with your scrolls!"

Hearing this, the crowd immediately began to move toward the exchange station.

"Li, let's go too!" Minato Namikaze said to Li, seeing that everyone else had started moving.

"Mm!" Li nodded. However, he soon felt several gazes sweeping over him. Looking up, he saw three Sunagakure ninjas looking at him with ill intent. These were the same three he had encountered on the street the day before: a burly fat man, a somewhat thin and frail-looking one, and a third who looked quite terrifying, with his entire head wrapped in white cloth, leaving only his right eye exposed, and his back slightly hunched.

"Li, what's wrong?" Kushina asked, looking at Li in confusion, not understanding the situation.

"No, it's nothing!" Li snapped out of his thoughts, shook his head slightly, and looked toward the exchange station, saying calmly, "Let's go get our scroll first."

Sunagakure was likely targeting him because of what happened three years ago. The Third Kazekage and Elder Chiyo had not forgotten, so they wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate him. However, both the Third Kazekage and Elder Chiyo knew his strength, so these three genin were likely not as simple as they appeared.

"This is your scroll. Remember, never let anyone else know which scroll you are holding, understand?"

When it was the turn of Li's team, the ninja distributing the scrolls, perhaps out of a sense of camaraderie for a fellow Konoha ninja, specifically reminded Li to prevent them from being at a disadvantage. After all, they were very young; coming to take the Chunin Exams at nine years old was not unheard of in Konoha, but it was rare enough to count on one hand. As a fellow Konoha ninja, the examiner hoped his village would produce more geniuses.

"Mm, I understand!" Li nodded calmly, took the scroll, and glanced at the character on it. It was the Heaven scroll. It seemed his next task would be to seize an Earth scroll.

Once everyone had their scrolls, the examinees gathered again in front of the Forest of Death, waiting for Orochimaru to open the gate. The Forest of Death was extremely dangerous; even an average chunin might not return alive if they went inside. Therefore, it was surrounded by iron mesh to prevent ignorant children from wandering in—though, more importantly, it was to keep the poisonous snakes and beasts inside from getting out.

"I trust you have all memorized the rules. Then, the first stage of the Chunin Exams, the survival battle, officially begins!"

As Orochimaru finished speaking, the Konoha ninjas acting as assistants slowly opened the gates of the Forest of Death. In an instant, all the examinees rushed inside, each team choosing a different direction to begin hiding.

"Let's go too!" Seeing that everyone had entered, Li narrowed his eyes, glanced at the spot where the three Sunagakure ninjas had disappeared, and said to Minato Namikaze and Kushina.

"Oh, I've been waiting for this!" Kushina clenched her fists excitedly, her face flushed. She was very interested in the upcoming battle and was finally able to fight side-by-side with Li.

Minato Namikaze just smiled, then followed Li and Kushina as they rushed into the Forest of Death. In the blink of an eye, the three of them vanished into the dense woods. The Forest of Death was aptly named; the trees were so lush they almost blocked out the sky. Once you dove inside, it was very difficult to find anyone unless they chose to come out themselves.

"Little ghost, I hope you can make it out alive!" Watching the spot where the three had disappeared, Orochimaru smiled slightly and muttered to himself. He could also sense that the Sunagakure team had set their sights on Li, and he suspected this matter was not as simple as it seemed.

Thump!

On the branch of a large tree, the three Sunagakure ninjas stopped. The burly fat man grinned at the ninja wrapped in white cloth and said, "Boss, should we wait here for that kid to come by, or should we take the initiative?"