Desert survival

"I understand. So what should we do?"

Although Hayato Hyuga was somewhat impatient by nature, he was still quite reasonable, especially when lives were at stake. Sosuke had entered these chunin ninja exams largely for Hayato's sake. Even if they lost, Hayato did not want anything to happen to Sosuke. After hearing his explanation, Hayato stopped and turned an inquisitive gaze toward Madara Uchiha.

There was no helping it. Although Madara Uchiha was the youngest, his strength and intelligence had already earned their teacher's and Sosuke's recognition. Hayato wanted to surpass Madara, but when trouble arose, he still turned to him for help.

"Don't look at me. With Sosuke's intelligence, I'm sure he's already found a solution."

They were only the chunin ninja exams. If Madara wanted to, he could certainly find a way to get Hayato and Sosuke through them, but this was merely the first stage. There was no need for him to rack his brains yet.

"Before we set off, I sent quite a few insects to monitor the crowd. Since Sunagakure chose a long trek through the desert as its test, there was no way it hadn't made further arrangements. And sure enough, I was right. Three of Sunagakure's participating teams were specially assigned by the village. If we follow them, they'll show us how to find food and water in the desert. All we have to do is stay behind them."

Sosuke gestured with his eyes for Hayato to look to the right. Sure enough, another three-person team of Sunagakure genin was setting off at a leisurely pace on their right. Judging by their expressions, they were completely confident they would pass this exam.

"That's brilliant, Sosuke! Then we just have to follow them."

With their target chosen, Hayato settled down. He waited until the Sunagakure trio had passed out of sight, then activated his Byakugan and led Madara and Sosuke quietly after them. A ninja's tracking skills were part of the test, too. After all, Sunagakure would not let them pass easily just because they had figured out what the exam was really testing.

Unlike the others, who sprinted desperately ahead, this three-person Sunagakure team moved at a leisurely pace. Along the way, they occasionally dug into the sand before them. Through Hayato's Byakugan, it became clear that they were not digging at random. Every spot they dug showed signs of plant growth.

Where plants grew, there might be groundwater close to the surface. That was what Hayato and his companions learned from the team ahead. After that team left, the water they had uncovered had not yet dried up, so Hayato and the others could collect it directly without searching for it themselves. In a sense, this was Sunagakure's reward for clever candidates.

With their water problem solved, Hayato and the others were already most of the way toward passing this exam. But after following the other team for a day, Hayato's stomach began to growl again, and Sosuke was starting to struggle as well. Just then, the Sunagakure ninja gave these young candidates another practical lesson.

Although water was scarce in the desert, living creatures still survived there, such as desert lizards and insects in the sand. At night, the Sunagakure ninja lit a light to attract insects, then ate the insects and lizards raw to replenish their energy. Hungry as Hayato was, he still shuddered when he saw them eating raw insects.

Were those things really edible?

Beside him, Sōsuke Aburame, who fed insects with his own body, frowned as well. To the Aburame Clan, eating insects was as horrifying as making the Inuzuka Clan eat dogs. But apparently, in this resource-starved desert, there was no other option.

"Well, I can eat the insects. You and Sosuke can have the lizards."

As Sosuke's friend, Hayato naturally knew what he would not eat, so he volunteered to take care of the insects. As for Madara, although Hayato could not stand him, he believed Madara had also come to the chunin ninja exams for his sake. He would not let Madara get the short end of the stick, either.

Once they had decided who would eat what, Hayato took the lead in searching for food. Before long, he returned with two lizards and a large handful of protein-rich insects.

"Looks like surviving in the desert isn't that hard after all, huh?"

Having found so much "food" in one go, Hayato was quite pleased with his haul. Madara Uchiha, meanwhile, silently praised the ingenuity of Sunagakure's exam design.

Sunagakure had specified this route to their destination, most likely to teach the young genin how harsh the natural environment could be. After this exam, every participant would probably develop a healthy respect for the desert. And Sunagakure had been founded by ninja who struggled to survive in that very desert. To some extent, those who understood its hardships would also come to respect Sunagakure.

In a sense, this was Sunagakure advertising its own indomitable spirit. At the same time, it had put considerable effort into this desert route to leave ninja from other villages with nothing to complain about. The food Hayato had found, and the groundwater they could locate by looking for plants, were probably all part of Sunagakure's arrangements.

Putting so much effort into a single chunin ninja exam was genuinely worthy of praise.

"So, should I eat first, or do you want to try?"

Looking at the insects wriggling before him, Hayato felt nauseated despite his ravenous hunger. Beside him, Sosuke stared silently at the lizards. Even though the insects inside his body could eat these things, he was unwilling to do so himself.

Seeing how reluctant Sosuke and Hayato were to swallow their "food," Madara Uchiha finally decided to intervene. If his teammates were eliminated by hunger in the first stage, his chance of becoming a chunin would go up in smoke as well.

A searing flame appeared in Madara's hand. He also gathered some dead wood from the desert and built a fire. Raw insects and lizards were still too much for these two kids to stomach. This was where the advantage of Fire Release became apparent.

After Madara cooked the insects and lizards, they still looked like bugs, but at least they were less disgusting than when they had been moving. Madara Uchiha was the first to pick up a black beetle. He removed its head, tossed it straight into his mouth, and began chewing. Eating insects was nothing unusual to him.

When Hayato saw that Madara, the youngest among them, was being so brave, he immediately picked up an insect and began eating too. Sosuke soon followed, picking up a lizard. The three of them began replenishing their energy.

"We can consider picking up the pace now. We've learned everything we need to. There's no point in following them any longer."

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Madara Uchiha voiced his thoughts, and Hayato and Sosuke naturally agreed. After all, Sunagakure's demonstration team was moving rather slowly. If they kept following them, they might have to eat several more meals of insects and Lizard before reaching their destination.