Into the Forest of Death

Ibiki's rules were like a boulder crashing into a still pond, stirring waves of panic.

"I... I give up!"

A timid ninja was the first to raise his hand, his face pale as paper.

The first domino had fallen. With the first came the second, then the third.

The decision to give up spread like a plague. Examinees raised their hands in droves, then left dejectedly with their teammates under the examiners' cold announcements.

The number of people in the classroom dwindled at a visible rate.

Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead. Though he had already decided to answer the tenth question, he still felt immense pressure.

"The price for getting it wrong is too high. What if I get it wrong...?"

He looked at Naruto.

Naruto had his eyes closed, as if he were detached from everything around him. Even his breathing remained unchanged.

"Next. You're up."

Ibiki's oppressive presence bore down on Naruto. The scar on his face was aimed directly at him, his gaze chillingly cold.

Naruto slowly raised his hand, but he did not say the words "I give up."

"Your intimidation logic doesn't hold up."

With that one sentence, the noise in the classroom vanished instantly. Everyone in the room, including the examinees preparing to leave, froze and stared at Naruto in astonishment.

The scar on Ibiki's face twitched. He had not expected that answer.

But he did not press the matter. He merely snorted and continued walking down the line.

At last, when no one else chose to give up, Ibiki slammed his hand onto the podium.

"Time's up. Everyone still here... congratulations. You've passed the first exam!"

"..."

One second.

Two seconds.

The entire classroom was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

"What?" Kiba Inuzuka was the first to speak. He pointed at his own nose, his face filled with disbelief. "We passed? You've got to be kidding! What about the tenth question!?"

That question voiced everyone's thoughts.

The smile vanished from Ibiki's face, replaced by a deep, sharp intensity.

"There was never a tenth question."

His words sent the room into an uproar once again.

"Or rather," Ibiki paused, his gaze seemingly drifting toward Naruto, "the choice you made just now was the tenth question."

"The first nine questions tested your ability to gather intelligence as ninja. You should have noticed by now that this exam contained planted 'answers.' Trash who don't know how to use rules and methods to obtain intelligence aren't worthy of becoming Chunin."

"And this so-called tenth question," Ibiki said solemnly, "tested your resolve!"

"Imagine this: during a mission, you receive intelligence saying your companions may die. Do you abandon the mission to save yourself, or do you summon the courage to trust your companions and yourself and face that unknown risk?"

"Let me tell you this! In the ninja world, intelligence can sometimes be wrong! Anyone who can be scared off by a little intimidation, anyone without the courage to face danger, will only get their companions killed—and themselves!"

Sasuke let out a breath. Only then did he realize that cold sweat had dampened his back. He still could not understand why such a bizarre part of the exam had been necessary.

"Using collective emotion to screen for willpower may be primitive, but it is effective."

Naruto had opened his eyes at some point. He stood and adjusted his equipment, his movements without the slightest hesitation.

"Still, the examiner's lie was far too easy to see through."

"How could a Konoha examiner possibly have the authority to decide whether ninja from other villages are promoted?"

Sasuke's body stiffened.

So Naruto had seen through the nature of this test from the very beginning.

Yet he had still been shaken by that false choice. The repeated realization that he fell short of others made him unbearably frustrated.

If he kept following this person's commands, could he truly surpass that man and kill him? Perhaps he could.

But would he gradually become... a convenient tool in his hands? And forever remain beneath him?

Forest of Death, entrance to Training Ground 44.

The air was thick with the scent of rotting leaves and dangerous beasts.

The chief examiner, Mitaraishi Anko, announced the rules of the second exam in a tone of almost pathological excitement.

The examination site was a sealed forest with a radius of ten kilometers, filled with poisonous insects, savage beasts, and natural traps. In teams of three, the examinees had to carry both the Heaven and Earth scrolls to the central tower within five days.

The twenty-six teams each started with only one scroll, either Heaven or Earth, and needed to defeat other teams to seize the other one. This meant that at least half the teams had to eliminate opponents through battle.

"Inside, you'll find your enemies, man-eating beasts, and me!" She licked her lips like a snake eyeing its prey. "Anyway, you'd better not die too ugly a death."

The instant her words fell, she flicked her wrist. A Kunai whistled through the air, grazing Naruto's cheek before embedding itself in the tree trunk behind him.

A thin line of blood seeped from the cut on Naruto's cheek.

Sakura let out a short gasp.

Sasuke's pupils contracted, his hand already resting on his ninja tool pouch.

Anko's figure appeared behind Naruto like a ghost. She reached out as if to pinch his chin, a provocative smile on her face. "Kid, you don't look like you can take much of a scare."

Naruto did not move. He did not even wipe the blood from his face.

He merely turned his head and looked at Anko, who stood inches away, with an icy gaze.

"Your attack angle was fifteen degrees off from a vital point. The force was insufficient to kill. It was an ineffective deterrent."

The smile on Anko's face froze instantly.

"Also," Naruto said, his voice dropping lower, yet piercing Anko's eardrums like an icicle, "don't touch me with hands stained by his scent."

Anko's body suddenly went rigid.

Beneath the skin at her neck, hidden by her collar, the three Tomoe-shaped Curse Marks seemed to have been seared by a branding iron, sending a burst of scorching pain through her.

That scent...

Other than Lord Third Hokage and a handful of others, how could this brat possibly sense the Curse Mark Orochimaru had left behind!?

Her hand trembled slightly, almost unable to hold the Kunai.

"The exam begins!" Anko practically shouted the words, trying to hide her loss of composure.

As the iron gates opened, Team 7 was the first to charge into the forest, with the other teams following close behind and entering their respective positions within the woods.

"Sasuke, search the thirty-meter sector on the left flank. Kill anything that moves."

"Sakura, fifteen meters to the rear. Focus on trap identification and chakra sensing. Maintain vigilance."

"I'll support from the center. Maintain formation around me. Silent march."

Naruto's commands were concise and cold.

One moment, they had been a Genin team. The next, they had become a silent, efficient war machine.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, but his body had already carried out the command instinctively. His Sharingan activated as he scanned the jungle to their left with vigilance.

Sakura immediately entered the zone as well. She focused completely on sensing everything around them, not daring to relax for even a moment.

Deep in the forest.

A faint fluctuation of chakra was caught by Sasuke's Sharingan.

"Three enemies. Amegakure ninja. They appear to be preparing a genjutsu." He reported in a low voice.

"Sasuke." Naruto's voice came from ahead.

"Thirty degrees to the left. Eliminate the targets within three seconds."

There was no need to think. No need to hesitate.

Under Naruto's hellish training, Sasuke's body had already developed a conditioned reflex.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A blazing fireball roared forth, striking the thicket where the enemies were hiding with perfect accuracy.

The screams lasted only an instant before abruptly cutting off.

The battle had ended the moment it began.

Sasuke looked at the hands that had just formed the seals, then at the scorched ground in the distance. An unfamiliar emotion welled up within him.

It was not jealousy, nor was it resentment.

It was... awe.

Once again, in actual combat, he had felt with absolute clarity the almost crushing advantage Naruto's training methods brought.

Then Naruto suddenly stopped.

He sharply raised his head and looked toward the center of the forest.

A filth far deeper and more evil than the aura surrounding Gaara, filled with a willful desire for corruption, swept toward them like a tsunami.

It was not passive contamination.

It was a walking source of plague, a devotee from the depths of Chaos actively spreading decay and despair.

"A priority-one target has appeared." Naruto's expression darkened to its utmost limit.

"This isn't a passive source of contamination. This is a follower of the Great Unclean One."

He murmured under his breath, every word carrying bone-piercing cold.

With a turn of his right hand, a sealing scroll appeared in his palm.

Haku's smoke dissipated.

Bzzzz—

That savage Chainsword, brimming with brutal aesthetics, was tightly gripped in his hand.