Forest of Death!

Training Ground 44, also known as the "Forest of Death."

A massive wire fence sealed off this primeval jungle completely, as though it were containing some indescribable terror. The roars of wild beasts that occasionally came from deep within the forest, mixed with the shrill cries of unknown birds, left every Genin standing at the entrance pale-faced and weak-kneed.

At this moment, the proctor for the second exam, Mitaraishi Anko, was waving a stack of papers with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Before you go in, sign this first."

Anko pointed at the "consent form" in her hand, her tone sinister. "This is a waiver of life and death. The next exam is so brutal that there will definitely be corpses. I don't want the higher-ups bothering me every time someone dies."

"C-Corpses?!"

Ye Tian's two teammates, Tanaka Ichiro and Sato Jisuke, instantly clung to each other. The sound of their chattering teeth was clearly audible.

As members of Team 11, these two "dead-last students" who had repeated the previous year had only made it through the first written exam through luck—or because Ye Tian had secretly used his Divine Sense to alter their papers. Now that they faced a true test of life and death, their mental defenses were on the verge of collapse.

"Y-Ye Tian, should we just withdraw?" Tanaka Ichiro asked in a trembling voice.

"Withdraw?"

Ye Tian took the consent form without even looking at its overbearing terms. He picked up a pen and smoothly signed his name.

His handwriting was messy and wild. Rather than signing a life-or-death waiver, it looked more like he was signing a bill at an upscale restaurant.

"Why would we withdraw?" Ye Tian tossed away the pen and took a deep breath of the air drifting through the wire fence. It carried the scent of decaying leaves, damp earth, and... an intense aura of demonic beasts.

To his senses, this was no Forest of Death.

This was clearly a huge, free, all-natural "cultivation resource buffet"!

"There are lots of good things inside..." A barely noticeable gleam flashed through Ye Tian's eyes. "Tanaka, Sato, stay close to me. As long as I don't die, I'll make sure you eat and drink well—ah, no, I'll make sure you pass."

After signing, Ye Tian did not inspect his Shuriken or Explosive Tags like the others. Instead, he quietly slipped over to a supply exchange point meant for examiners and, while no one was paying attention, bought a pile of bottles and jars.

This scene happened to be seen by Sasuke, who was standing nearby.

Sasuke had always been highly wary of this seemingly frail but unfathomably deep sickly fellow. He walked over and coldly stared at the things Ye Tian was stuffing into his ninja tool pouch.

They were not poison, nor were they Soldier Pills.

They were... cumin powder, chili powder, refined salt, and even a small bottle of sesame oil?

"What are you bringing those for?" Sasuke's brows furrowed deeply, his tone filled with disbelief. "Are you here for a picnic?"

"Shh. Keep it down."

Ye Tian raised a finger to his lips and lowered his voice mysteriously. "Sasuke, you're too young. These aren't ordinary seasonings."

He picked up a bottle of chili powder and explained with complete seriousness, "This is my special Blazing Red Lips Powder. Once it gets into an enemy's eyes, it causes continuous burning damage. It's deadlier than smoke bombs. And this cumin..."

"It can conceal your scent and prevent ninja hounds from tracking you. Understand? These are high-end tactical tools."

Sasuke's mouth twitched. Though reason told him it was all nonsense, Ye Tian's utterly confident expression of you're an amateur, you wouldn't understand still made him doubt himself.

Could it... really be some special kind of ninja tool?

"Alright, stop spacing out." Ye Tian patted his bulging ninja tool pouch and turned around in satisfaction. "The gates are about to open."

"The second stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams begins!"

At Anko's command, the iron gates at all forty-four entrances were thrown open at once.

"Charge!"

Countless black silhouettes shot into the forest like arrows loosed from a bow.

Team 11 rushed in with the crowd. Terrified out of their minds, Tanaka and Sato shamelessly stuck close behind Team 7—in their eyes, only by following Sasuke, the "strongest rookie," could they have any hope of surviving.

The moment they entered the forest, the light dimmed dramatically.

Ancient trees towered overhead, blotting out the sky. Enormous roots twisted over one another, while suffocating humidity and the stench of mold filled the air.

"S-So scary..." Sakura gripped her Kunai tightly and watched their surroundings vigilantly.

Tanaka and Sato were so frightened they nearly wet themselves, one on either side of Ye Tian. "Ye Tian! There are monster sounds! Let's go back to the entrance!"

"Shut up. Stop making noise."

Ye Tian shook the two of them off in disgust, his eyes fixed intensely on a patch of bushes ahead.

"Pretty lucky. We found an appetizer the moment we came in."

As soon as he spoke—

"Hissss—!!"

A scalp-prickling scraping sound rang out. Then the ground ahead suddenly bulged, dirt spraying everywhere.

A giant centipede five or six meters long and as thick as a water barrel burst from underground!

Its shell gleamed with a black metallic sheen, its countless legs flailing wildly through the air. Purple venom dripped from its grotesque mouthparts as it let out a piercing hiss and lunged straight at them.

"Aaaah! Help!" Tanaka and Sato screamed, turning to run.

Team 7 was startled as well.

"Damn it! A monster this big right from the start?!"

Naruto reacted first. He shouted to bolster his courage and reached into his ninja tool pouch for Shuriken. "Watch this! Shuriken Shadow Clone—"

"Stop!"

A sharp shout abruptly interrupted Naruto's movement.

Ye Tian, who had been leaning on a cane moments ago and looked as though he might cough up blood at any second, suddenly seemed like an entirely different person. He threw away his cane, darted in front of Naruto, and pressed down Naruto's hand.

"Idiot! Who told you to use Shuriken?!"

Ye Tian looked at the giant centipede with a pained expression, as though it were not a monster but a slab of premium wagyu. "The Shuriken will ruin its meat! If you puncture the venom sac, the meat will be inedible!"

"Huh? Meat? Eat?" Naruto was completely dumbfounded.

In that flash of time, the giant centipede had already pounced over their heads, its foul wind crashing toward them.

"Sasuke! Sakura! Get out of the way!" Naruto shouted anxiously.

But instead of retreating, Ye Tian advanced.

Facing that horrifying gaping maw, an excited smile actually curled across his lips.

"Beast, it is your good fortune to encounter me—because you get to become my meal."

Ye Tian shifted his feet slightly, and his figure flashed like a ghost, easily dodging the centipede's lethal strike. Then he formed his fingers into a blade, a faint pale-blue thread of Spiritual Energy coiling around his fingertips, invisible to ordinary people.

"Acupoint Strike: Meridian Severing!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, Ye Tian lightly tapped three times at the soft flesh connecting the third, seventh, and twelfth sections of armor along the centipede's belly.

That seemingly light attack contained precise penetrating force, directly severing the centipede's central nerves.

Boom!

The giant centipede, which had been baring its fangs and brandishing its claws just moments ago, instantly stiffened. Then it crashed heavily to the ground like a massive log, kicking up a cloud of dust. It was not dead—only completely paralyzed. Its countless legs still twitched faintly, but it had utterly lost its ability to attack.

The entire area fell silent.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He had not even had time to activate his Sharingan.

He had seen it clearly. Ye Tian had not used any Chakra-enhancing technique. Relying only on taijutsu and an extreme understanding of biological structure, he had instantly subdued this fierce beast, one at D-rank or even close to C-rank.

"Done."

Ye Tian dusted off his hands, pulled a rather dull little knife from his waist, and expertly walked over to the centipede's body.

"This shell is as hard as refined iron. Skin it off and it can be made into several decent breastplates. They may be ugly, but their defense is far better than Konoha's standard vests."

Ye Tian muttered to himself as he worked, his knife rising and falling.

The hard shell came apart in his hands as though it were tofu, revealing snowy-white, translucent muscle tissue resembling lobster meat.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at this meat! Firm! Springy! This is a mutated breed that grew up absorbing the forest's Spiritual Energy. It's packed with protein and trace amounts of Spiritual Energy. A real tonic!"

He deftly cut away several large pieces of the best belly meat, then turned toward the petrified crowd.

"Hey, blondie—Naruto—and that Uchiha kid. What are you standing around for? Help start a fire!"

"Huh? Start... a fire?" Naruto's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.

Ten minutes later.

In one corner of the gloomy, terrifying Forest of Death, an utterly out-of-place aroma of... barbecue drifted through the air.

A bonfire blazed brightly, with huge skewers of meat threaded onto branches roasting over it.

Golden oil dripped onto the coals with a sizzling sound. Like the owner of a street barbecue stall, Ye Tian held the bottles and jars Sasuke had scorned earlier and sprinkled seasonings with practiced flair.

"Here, add some cumin. Elevate the soul."

"Then some chili powder. Wake up the taste buds."

"Finally, brush on a layer of sesame oil to lock in the moisture!"

Ye Tian picked up a skewer of roasted centipede meat and handed it to Sasuke and Naruto, who were still questioning their lives.

"Take it. This is good stuff. It restores stamina and Chakra. In this hellhole, you need a full stomach if you want the strength to fight."

Naruto swallowed. Although reason told him it was centipede meat and therefore disgusting, the overpowering fragrance was simply too tempting. Besides, he had been too nervous to eat breakfast that morning, and his stomach had long been growling with hunger.

"Then... then I'm digging in!"

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and took a huge bite.

The next second, his eyes snapped open and shone brightly.

"D-Delicious!!!"

Naruto was so excited that tears nearly streamed from his eyes. "This is way too good! It's even chewier than Ichiraku Ramen! And after eating it, I feel warm all over!"

Sasuke watched Naruto's pathetic display and had intended to refuse, but his stomach let out an uncooperative growl. With a dark expression, he accepted the skewer and reservedly took a small bite.

Then the cool and aloof young master of the Uchiha clan silently began chewing faster.

As Team 7 wolfed down the food, while Tanaka and Sato drooled greedily beside them, Ye Tian sat atop a rock and happily gnawed on the largest piece of meat in his hand.

"This is no Forest of Death."

Ye Tian narrowed his eyes, feeling strands of pure energy dissolve inside his body and nourish his parched meridians.

"This is clearly a heaven-sent 'holy land for nourishment.'"

"What should the next dish be? I heard there are giant pythons here too. Those would make excellent snake soup..."

Far away in the depths of the forest, Orochimaru, who was monitoring them, suddenly felt a chill run down his back and inexplicably sneezed.