As time passed, the eighty-nine teams quickly lined up in orderly rows. Once the gymnasium staff had confirmed that everyone was ready, Dan Katō swept an arm out and led them all to the entrance of the Forest of Death...
The Forest of Death looked like a primordial jungle. Ancient trees of all shapes and sizes soared into the clouds; even those around the forest's edge stood over thirty meters tall. Their massive roots coiled across the ground like dragons, twisted and fearsome. WWW WCOM
The thick canopy formed by the dense leaves blocked out the light. The great swaths of trees made the forest's interior dark and silent, a gloomy, terrifying, and mysterious place that seemed like a bottomless abyss. Anyone with claustrophobia who saw it would have gotten chills.
An iron fence enclosed the forest's perimeter, as if guarding this forbidden zone. If a passerby accidentally wandered into this strange forest, they would likely lose their way completely and never find a way out.
Several metal plates displaying maps of the Forest of Death stood before the iron fence!
Most of the examinees had already noticed the maps. They gathered around the ones mounted on the fence, studying the terrain inside the forest: the swamp, the dense forest, the less dense forest, the hills, and the Tower of Death at the center. Each area was clearly marked.
After about twenty minutes, the staff opened the twelve iron gates in the fence. Beyond them lay long passageways leading into the forest. Each passage pointed in a different direction, obviously meant to scatter the participants...
Facing the teams, Dan Katō pointed to the Forest of Death behind him and shouted again, "As you can see, this forest is the 'Forest of Death.' The beasts inside are three times the size of ordinary animals, and their attacks are more than five times as powerful. If you lose your way in this dense forest, you may never find your way out..."
"You, who have yet to set foot in the Forest of Death, still have one last chance to change your minds. But once you step inside, you will lose any chance of calling for help... One step forward means danger; one step back means safety. The choice that will decide your lives is yours to make!"
At Dan Katō's words, several timid examinees turned deathly pale. They fought down their fear and glanced at the gloomy forest, their legs trembling as they slowly backed away...
"E-Examiner, c-can I withdraw now?"
One candidate finally couldn't bear the terror brought on by the darkness and gloom. Raising his right hand, he asked with a pained expression. Dan Katō nodded his consent, and the boy left with a dejected look, though there was also a hint of relief on his face. Following his example, several more candidates withdrew. They left the waiting area for the staff's rest area behind it, where they would wait to return together...
Ten minutes later, all the examinees who couldn't overcome their fear had left!
Standing before the iron gate, Dan Katō swept his right hand to the side and said in a soft voice, "The competition begins now...!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless dark figures shot from where the examinees had been gathered, speeding through the gates in the iron fence and racing down the passageways into the forest. The forest's silence was shattered. Some sprinted along the ground, while others leaped between the towering trees, darting back and forth, appearing and vanishing like ghosts...
Sato Hideaka charged in with the crowd, but his two teammates weren't with him. Instead, Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Ningxiang followed behind him, entering the Forest of Death in a triangular formation.
Since a person could qualify by obtaining two different scrolls alone, there was no need to stick with their assigned teammates. Rather than choose two teammates they didn't trust and constantly had to watch out for, it was better to pick two familiar people...
Yuhi Kurenai was a genjutsu ninja specializing in support; Hyuga Ningxiang was a taijutsu ninja specializing in sensory abilities; and he was a versatile ninjutsu ninja. A team of three people who trusted one another and complemented each other's strengths was far better than having teammates they'd have to guard against even while sleeping.
The only drawback was that they had to seize at least six scrolls, perhaps even more!
Dark figures flashed through the forest as everyone raced madly forward. Falling behind meant not only risking a sudden attack from the ninjas behind them, but also running into the larger groups around them—and getting ambushed by teams ahead. In these circumstances, only those at the front had the right to choose how they would fight!
The time limit was only half an hour. The battle for the scrolls would begin after that!
Sato Hideaka ran through the trees with Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Xiangning for about ten minutes before suddenly dropping down to the ground beneath a tree surrounded by bushes, with a large boulder off to one side. Yuhi Kurenai and Hyuga Xiangning followed him down.
"Hideaka, why are we stopping? If we fall behind, we'll have to face even more opponents later!" Yuhi Kurenai asked anxiously, standing beside him.
"Kurenai, don't worry. The three of us belong to three different teams. Right now, we've all come out on our own, and none of us has a scroll. To qualify for this competition, we'll have to seize at least six scrolls, so we'll have to face more opponents. We can't avoid that. What I need to do now is decide on our next move..."
Sato Hideaka gently reassured Yuhi Kurenai. As the three of them gathered together, he picked up a branch and sketched a map on the ground. "I looked at the map just now. The Tower of Death is due north, and that's the direction we're heading. There's a swamp that way, and none of us is good at Water Release Ninjutsu, so we'll have to take a detour..."
"There's a stretch of hills to the west, which would be good for an ambush. I'm sure many of the teams at the front have already planned to get there first and ambush the examinees behind them. That route is rugged and difficult to cross, and if we waste too much time there without getting enough scrolls, we'll still lose. So we can't go west either!"
"That leaves the dense forest to the east. The ground is easier to travel on along that route, so I expect it'll be most people's choice. There'll also be more scrolls to go around. And if we don't get enough by taking them, we can try another approach: head straight to the Tower of Death and wait for the other examinees to come to us..."
Sato Hideaka calmly traced the map with a branch and analyzed their route. The two girls watched his profile and the way he concentrated on the map. They couldn't help staring, their bright eyes full of admiration...
"I'll lead the attack. Ningxiang, use your Byakugan to observe our surroundings, and Kurenai, provide support with genjutsu from the side. Ningxiang, your taijutsu can cover Kurenai. With your taijutsu and her genjutsu, taking out one opponent shouldn't be a problem. I'll handle the other two!"
"Hey! Are you two even listening to me?"
After explaining for a while, Sato Hideaka turned around and saw the two girls staring blankly at him, lost in their own thoughts. He waved a hand in front of their faces, then called out loudly beside them.
"Oh, right! I'll use the Byakugan to watch our surroundings... Byakugan, activate!"
Hyuga Ningxiang snapped back to attention and stammered through her reply. She quickly formed six hand seals at her chest, then opened her eyes wide. Veins bulged at the corners of her eyes, lending her cute face a slightly fearsome look.
"Three people at two hundred and eighty meters in the eight o'clock direction, three at three hundred and twenty meters in the four o'clock direction, and three at two hundred meters in the six o'clock direction. There are nine people in all, waiting in the trees around us. Th-they seem to be after us."
Hyuga Ningxiang sounded flustered. She was clearly frightened and at a loss after three teams had targeted them as soon as they entered the Forest of Death. Sato Hideaka was surprised, but he understood the situation moments later.
The three of them were, on average, only seven years old. To anyone looking at them, they seemed like an easy source of free scrolls. No wonder three teams had targeted them before the exam had even officially begun...
They were going after the easy targets first!