Forest of Death

"Hello, everyone. I'm the first examiner of the Chunin Exams."

"My name is Ibiki Morino."

A fierce-looking man stood at the podium, expressionlessly sweeping his gaze over the room.

Anyone he stared at felt uncomfortable all over.

Ibiki was quite satisfied as he looked at the expressions on these fledglings below.

He then began explaining the rules and content of this exam.

It was more or less the same as in the original story.

The test papers were handed out.

Naruto looked over the questions. Sure enough, they were all a bunch of bizarre nonsense.

The other examinees wore equally constipated expressions.

But someone quickly caught on—the purpose of this exam was to gather intelligence.

The Eight Immortals crossed the sea, each showing off their own abilities.

All kinds of cheating methods began to emerge.

As long as they were not too obvious, the examiners turned a blind eye.

For instance, someone activating the Byakugan, or someone activating the Sharingan.

Those were permitted.

Naruto took one look and instantly locked onto two people.

Those two were Konoha's cheating aids planted among the examinees.

At a thought, a trace of aura appeared.

The two were still writing furiously when their bodies suddenly stiffened.

What's going on? What kind of technique is this?

They were shocked, but their bodies could no longer speak.

Ibiki Morino, standing on the platform, was still observing the cheating methods below.

He inwardly sighed that this year's group had brought nothing new to the table.

Then he suddenly sensed something strange. His gaze fell upon the two, and his pupils contracted.

The names on their test papers had become Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga.

Is it genjutsu? No... what kind of ability is this? Even I didn't notice it.

Unable to hide his surprise, he looked toward Hinata and Naruto before finally fixing his gaze on Naruto.

The Hyuga family's methods were no secret. That little girl could not possibly have done this.

That left only the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. Though he had vaguely heard rumors about it before—

Seeing it for himself still shocked him.

"What a bizarre ability."

Even as a jonin, he felt a faint sense of wariness.

Naruto paid no attention to the others' gazes, simply lying there with a sleepy look on his face.

Hinata was not worried in the slightest. Naruto had already discussed everything with her before they came.

As for Sasuke, he activated his Sharingan, copied the movements of others, and quickly finished his test.

"Alright, we'll now begin the tenth question."

His gaze sweeping across the room, Ibiki Morino began explaining the rules for the tenth question.

Without Naruto's passionate influence this time, coupled with the earlier show of force—

Many people lost their confidence, and even fewer remained than in the original story.

The sound of shattering glass rang out.

A beautiful woman in fishnet stockings crashed in through the window.

"Yo, Ibiki Morino. Nice work."

Seeing the number of people in the classroom, Anko Mitarashi could not help praising him. There were far fewer people left than she had expected.

Ibiki Morino's face darkened.

"I'm your examiner for the second round, Anko Mitarashi. Gather at the Forest of Death now."

After introducing herself, Anko used the Body Flicker and left.

"Let's go."

Naruto rose to his feet.

Everyone gathered outside the Forest of Death, and Anko Mitarashi began explaining the rules of the second exam.

Heaven and Earth Scrolls—collect both scrolls and deliver them to the center of the Forest of Death to pass.

Naruto did not listen closely. Instead, he surveyed the people around him.

Orochimaru isn't here? Looks like the plot has already changed.

He could not sense that cold, sinister chakra. Naruto did not know whether he felt disappointed or relieved.

Then Naruto suddenly noticed someone.

The person wore a raincoat and carried an umbrella on his back. From his outfit, he was clearly from the Rain Country.

That was not what caught Naruto's attention. What truly drew his notice was that unusual chakra.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Naruto's pupils contracted. He had conducted too many experiments, and he was far too familiar with the Mangekyō.

Although the other party had concealed it well, Naruto still sensed it faintly.

There was no mistake. That person possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan.

Who is that?

He was deeply shocked.

"Kid, pay attention when I'm talking."

Standing at the front, Anko Mitarashi saw Naruto looking around as though he did not take her seriously at all.

She immediately felt irritated. This was also her first time serving as an examiner.

Her circumstances had always been complicated. Because Orochimaru had been her teacher, she had been sidelined for quite some time, only being reinstated after Tsunade took office.

So she wanted to perform well.

When she encountered Naruto's behavior, she immediately decided to make an example of him.

A kunai flew out in an instant.

It was unbelievably fast. Almost no one had time to react.

Naruto was still thinking about who this person with the Mangekyō might be.

Faced with the incoming kunai, his body instinctively defended itself, and he raised his left hand.

He steadily caught the flying kunai.

"Kid, you're quite strong, but that's no reason for you to be so arrogant."

A kunai was pressed to Naruto's neck, and warm breath brushed against his ear.

All the examinees instinctively backed away. Naruto Uzumaki, standing in the middle, had now snapped back to his senses.

Anko stood behind Naruto, holding a kunai to his neck.

"Teacher, don't casually make jokes like that."

No one liked having someone stand behind them. It was equivalent to handing their life over to someone else.

If he had not snapped back to his senses just now, who knew what that person behind him might have done.

Anko had no idea that she had already taken a trip through the gates of hell.

Seeing how stubbornly this brat spoke, Anko snorted coldly.

She had already made her example, so she withdrew her kunai and returned to the front.

"The rules have been explained. The exam begins now."

With that, she gave another cold snort.

Hinata hurried over.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

Though she knew Naruto's strength, she was still worried.

"I'm fine."

When Naruto looked again for that person from earlier, he found that the person had already vanished.

Could it be Danzo?

Naruto was puzzled.

But he quickly ruled that out. More than half of Danzo's Root had already been brought under his control. Danzo could not possibly still possess a Mangekyō.

Could it be the Uchiha clan?

Naruto casually glanced at Sasuke.

After thinking it over, he decided to forget it. As long as they were not after him, it did not matter.

Leading the other two, he found an entrance and swaggered inside.

Everyone had already witnessed Naruto's strength. Unless they were idiots, no one would dare seek trouble with him.

After entering the Forest of Death, everything became unusually quiet.

As for the poisonous insects and ferocious beasts within the Forest of Death, they were not much of a problem for ninjas as long as they were careful.

"Hey, Naruto, what do we do next?"

Sasuke spoke up.

"Don't waste time. We'll just seize the scrolls and pass the exam."

Naruto could not be bothered with nonsense.

The three reached an agreement and began heading toward the center.

That night, Naruto and the others were grilling food when Naruto suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked in one direction.