Just as Qi Luna had expected.
The second exam was a team-based competition to obtain the Four Symbols Scrolls.
A total of 17 teams took part. At the start, each team received one scroll from among the four symbols: Azure, White, Vermilion, and Black. In addition to those 17 scrolls, another 15 Four Symbols Scrolls of various kinds were scattered throughout the forest.
To pass, a team had to reach the building in the central area within 72 hours, carrying four different Four Symbols Scrolls, without losing a single member, and submit the complete set to the examiners!
In other words, in theory, at most eight teams could pass this exam. But that was only in theory...
Once the rules had been read out, each team collected its scroll and headed to its assigned entrance, ready to wait for the exam to officially begin.
"So it's the Vermilion Scroll, which symbolizes the Vermilion Bird. That means our targets are Azure, White, and Black, right?"
After seeing the scroll Qi Luna had received, Hayama instinctively figured out what they needed to go after next.
As the bell rang to signal the start of the exam, all 17 teams plunged into the Forest of Death through their various entrances.
"Keep formation. Once we're in the Forest of Death, follow my instructions. Nonō, start with a basic assessment of the surrounding environment and its safety. Hayama, stay alert and be ready to fight at any moment!"
Qi Luna's instructions were concise and clear, yet carried an unquestionable authority.
"Understood!" Hayama and Nonō replied in unison, their expressions focused.
Qi Luna's team moved like forest spirits, swift and stealthy. Thanks to her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, they could always spot danger lurking in the dark ahead of time.
"There's an ambush! Three hundred meters to the front left. Two Sunagakure puppets. Judging by their designs, they're 'Crow' and 'Black Ant'! Three chakra signatures behind and to the right of the puppets. There are probably two rogue ninja guarding the puppeteer!"
Qi Luna's voice rang out in the dim forest, as calm and matter-of-fact as a weather report.
Her Mind's Eye of the Kagura had already pierced through the trees, precisely detecting the malicious chakra of the three Sunagakure ninja!
As soon as Qi Luna finished speaking, Hayama understood and rushed forward, forming Hand Seals.
"Got it! Wind Release: Thousand-Faced Wind!"
A thousand tiny Wind Cutters burst from Hayama's blade, instantly flattening the trees ahead and exposing the three Sunagakure Genin hiding behind them in the open.
"Yare!" (Charge!)
"Ute!" (Attack!)
Two shouts rang out across the clearing. Having already seized the initiative, Qi Luna's team struck first.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sword!"
"Ninja Art: Explosive Kunai!"
Seeing their ambush foiled and the advantage taken from them, the three Sunagakure ninja reacted swiftly.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
"Secret Technique: Ibuse!"
The gust created by Wind Release: Pressure Damage knocked away the explosive-tag kunai thrown at the two puppets, Crow and Black Ant.
Wind Release: Wind Cutter barely managed to sever several blades of wind unleashed by Wind Release: Vacuum Sword. Its user was still injured, but at least he wasn't in mortal danger.
But no ordinary person could withstand the high-pressure water jet shooting straight at the Sunagakure puppeteer. Even after he summoned Ibuse, a puppet renowned for its defensive power, he still couldn't escape the fate of having his heart pierced by Qi Luna!
"Baka na..." (Impossible...)
The Sunagakure puppeteer suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. With eyes wide in disbelief, he crumpled to the ground.
"That level of ninjutsu isn't something a Genin could possibly master!"
The two Sunagakure Genin beside him watched their strongest teammate get killed in a single exchange and immediately panicked.
"Damn Konoha! This has to be a long-planned scheme! They're trying to wipe out the up-and-coming talents of the other villages!"
"Run! We have to get this message out! Everyone needs to know how sanctimonious Konoha really is!"
The two Sunagakure Genin exchanged a glance, made up their minds, and fled in opposite directions!
Watching the two Sunagakure Genin turn to run, Hayama furrowed his brow.
"What should we do? Chase them, Qi Luna?"
"No need. Their team's scroll should be on the puppeteer. Sorry for the trouble, but go search his body, then we'll look for our next target."
Qi Luna shook her head, showing no intention of chasing the remaining two Sunagakure ninja. In the vision of her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, a mission scroll marked with special chakra lay quietly in the Sunagakure puppeteer's ninja pouch.
"Haah... Well, that sure is a lot of trouble for me..."
Hearing Qi Luna's answer, Hayama immediately grumbled. But thinking it over, Qi Luna had to keep her Mind's Eye of the Kagura active the whole time, and she'd also taken down the enemy in one blow. And Nonō was a delicate young girl, so he really was the only one suited to "pick up" the spoils... Yeah, right!
Qi Luna was a chakra monster; that little expenditure was nothing to her. And Nonō was a medical ninja who regularly dealt with severely injured patients. There was nothing delicate about her!
In the end, Hayama reluctantly went over and started rummaging through the spoils.
"Oh! The White Scroll, symbol of the White Tiger! Not bad luck at all! Hahahahaha!"
When he saw that the spoils included one of the scrolls their team needed, all his resentment vanished. At least his hard work had paid off!
Over the next two days...
Similar scenes to Qi Luna's team's first battle kept unfolding throughout the Forest of Death.
Thanks to Nara Shikaku's extraordinary intelligence and the team's seamless coordination, the Ino-Shika-Cho Team successfully found or seized scrolls, eventually collecting all four.
Under Minato's leadership, Team Minato fought alongside Kushina and Yoshimaru. After taking out two teams from other villages, they also managed to collect all four Four Symbols Scrolls.
Over those two days, Qi Luna's team also found the Azure Scroll and seized the Black Scroll from a Kumogakure team. Along with the Vermilion and White Scrolls they already had, this let them pass the second exam—and reduced by at least one the number of slots available to other teams.
Another day passed, and the second exam of the Joint Chunin Exams officially ended. Any teams that had lost a member, failed to collect all the scrolls, or hadn't reached the drop-off point in time were eliminated.
Only five teams passed the exam in the end, three fewer than the eight teams the available mission scrolls could have allowed!
Of those five teams, one each came from Kumogakure and Iwagakure, while the remaining three were from Konoha: the Ino-Shika-Cho Team, Team Minato, and Qi Luna's team.
Additional note:
If Sakura's Super Strength can smash Hiruko, a puppet with even greater defensive power, to pieces with one punch, then it's perfectly reasonable for Water Severing Wave to pierce through the Ibuse puppet and kill a Sunagakure Genin, right?
Before you continue