Training Ground 44.
An enormous wire fence enclosed the entire forest. Inside, ancient trees towered overhead, their branches and leaves blocking most of the sunlight, and a dark, damp atmosphere washed over them.
"This place is also known as the Forest of Death."
Anko stood in front of the wire fence, her coat flapping in the wind, a teasing smile on her face.
"You'll soon find out that it earned that name."
Anko pulled a stack of papers from inside her coat and casually waved them.
"Before you go in, sign this."
Naruto craned his neck. "What's that?"
"A consent form."
Anko's smile turned rather sinister. "A death waiver, in other words. People die in here all the time, after all. Without your signatures, I'd have to take responsibility for anyone who died. What a pain that would be."
"Tch, quit trying to scare us."
Naruto folded his arms and wiggled his waist in imitation of Anko, speaking in a mocking tone. "'People die all the time~' Seriously, lady, drop the act."
Whoosh!
A kunai flew past Naruto's cheek, slicing off a few blond hairs and leaving a thin cut on his face.
Before Naruto could react, Anko was already right behind him.
"Brats like you who don't know their limits usually die first."
Anko stuck out her tongue and gently licked away the bead of blood seeping from Naruto's cheek, her gaze dangerous.
"And... I'm very sensitive to the taste of this kind of blood."
Naruto froze, cold sweat sliding down his forehead.
Just then, a long-tongued Grass Ninja offered the kunai with it wrapped in their tongue. Anko took it, and the atmosphere between the two was utterly eerie.
"Um..."
An ill-timed voice came from beside them.
Son Goten waved the paper in his hand.
"Once I sign this, can I go in and eat... uh, take the exam?"
He had almost let it slip.
When he approached the forest earlier, he had caught a rich scent of wild game.
Anko raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you scared?"
"Of what? Not getting enough to eat?"
Son Goten walked up to Anko, holding the paper.
Anko reached out to take it.
The instant their fingertips touched, Son Goten didn't immediately let go.
As though by accident, the tip of his index finger lightly scratched her warm palm.
Anko's hand jerked back. That tingling sensation traveled from her nerve endings through her whole body, making her shudder.
This brat!
Her eyes widened as she looked down.
Son Goten was looking up at her, blinking those big eyes, his face all innocence, with a mischievous smile on his lips.
He rose onto his toes, leaned toward Anko's ear, and whispered so only the two of them could hear.
"Anko, my wife, if you get scared of the dark in the forest, remember to call my name."
Son Goten's warm breath brushed Anko's earlobe as he spoke.
"It looks pretty creepy in there, but I'll definitely protect you, just like I'd protect my ramen."
The other examinees were too far away to hear what he was saying. They could only see that this kid actually dared to whisper in that she-devil examiner's ear.
Did he have a death wish?
Sasuke rolled his eyes beside them and turned his face away.
He even admired the idiot's nerve a little.
Anko took a deep breath, the fishnet fabric over her chest rising and falling sharply with her breathing.
He'd flirted with her again.
"Fine. Very good."
Anko was so furious that she laughed.
She suddenly reached out, two fingers clamping precisely onto Son Goten's baby-fat cheek like iron pincers.
Then she pulled hard to either side.
"Mmph, mmph, mmph-!"
Son Goten's face stretched out of shape like a lump of dough.
"Wait until you get out alive before talking big, you little pervert!"
Anko gritted her teeth, not holding back her strength at all. "Don't go crying for your mommy then!"
"Ow, ow, ow! Let go, honey! My face is going to split!"
Son Goten's screams were muffled, but his hands still wouldn't behave. He grabbed the hem of Anko's coat and took the opportunity to feel the pleasantly textured fabric a couple more times.
"Call me that again and I'll cut your tongue out!"
Anko let go and gave Son Goten an irritated shove.
"Next! Hurry up!"
She turned around, feeling her face grow a little hot, inwardly cursing that brat Goten for being such a freak.
He was clearly only ten, yet his gaze and actions were those of a seasoned flirt. Paired with that innocent face, though, they made it impossible to get truly angry.
Son Goten rubbed his bright red cheeks and returned to the group.
"Boss, are you okay?"
Naruto came over, his face full of admiration. "You actually survived that she-devil. That's our boss for you."
"That's called flirting. You wouldn't understand."
Son Goten grinned, looking nothing like he had when he was crying out in pain.
"If a girl hits you, it means she's got you in her heart. If she completely ignores you, that's when you have no chance."
Sakura kept rolling her eyes as she listened beside them. "Goten, could you cut back on the nonsense? She's an examiner!"
"So what if she's an examiner? She's still a woman."
Son Goten spoke with complete conviction.
As time passed, all the examinees finished signing their consent forms.
Anko checked her watch, her expression turning stern again.
"Listen up. The rules are simple. You'll compete for the Heaven and Earth Scrolls in teams of three. Collect both scrolls and reach the central tower within five days, and you pass."
She pointed at the tightly locked iron gate behind her.
"During those five days, no one will care what you eat or drink, and no one will rescue you."
"This is a survival game."
Clank, clank, clank-
The heavy iron gate slowly opened with the grinding of its hinges.
It revealed a deep green passage beyond.
The mingled smell of rotting leaves and earth drifted out, and they could even faintly hear the low growls of wild beasts.
The examinees' expressions all grew solemn.
Some checked their ninja tools, while others steadied their breathing.
Only Team 7 presented a completely different picture.
Son Goten stood at the very front and took a deep breath.
His nostrils flared as though he were trying to distinguish something in the air.
"That smell..."
Sasuke frowned. "Blood?"
"No."
Son Goten shook his head, and his black eyes actually began to gleam green.
It was the gleam of a hungry wolf spotting a flock of sheep.
It was the gleam of a gourmet spotting an imperial banquet.
His stomach obligingly let out a thunderous growl.
"It's the smell of a feast."
Son Goten wiped the nonexistent drool from the corner of his mouth, looking at that dark, terrifying forest as though it were an enormous buffet restaurant.
"Finally, I won't have to eat those stingy bowls of noodles from Teuchi."
He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking explosively.
"I can't wait to go in and... stock up!"
Anko stood up high, looking down with a slight frown.
"The second stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams begins!"
At Anko's command, dozens of figures shot like arrows from a bow into the gaping maw of that green abyss.
Son Goten led the charge, moving so fast that even his afterimage was impossible to make out.
"Charge! My grilled meat!"
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