Chapter 53: Chapter 53 : Forest Of Death
The entrance to the Forest of Death signifies the real start of the Chunin Exams. Before this, it was just about filtering out those who had the will to continue. But from here on, things are going to get serious.
Our team received a Heaven scroll, and as long as I can get an Earth scroll, we can skip the entire 5-day trial and head straight to the preliminaries.
"So, what is the strategy?" I asked Kabuto, who appeared to be a harmless little lamb but was internally a snake waiting to strike.
"We need to find a team with an Earth scroll. That should be our primary goal. Rushing to the middle of the forest is pointless; we most likely won't find anyone there. Our best option is to track down a team until we can get a scroll from them," Kabuto replied while adjusting his glasses.
"Okay, I think you should lead us, Senpai. You have the most experience out of all of us here," I replied, while trying to blend into the background as much as possible.
There is no point in standing out here. If things go as they did in the anime, then this team should pass at least this round. I would rather only act if that isn't the case.
Given that I already know the test, I came prepared. I understood the geographical layout of the forest and used my shikigami to spy on other teams.
I only sent the rabbits to the teams I wanted to avoid, such as the Konoha team, the Sand team, and Orochimaru himself.
The cost of summoning a few rabbits was minimal. Rabbits are great for this sort of thing before creating distractions.
I kept my interactions with my so-called teammates as limited as possible. Sooner or later, I would need to eliminate them anyway, so there's no point in needlessly getting attached.
Although, honestly, I don't think I could get attached to this bunch of gloomy, sly people anyway.
---
After half a day, we finally tracked down a team. Thankfully, it wasn't any of the Konoha teams. But it wasn't a random team either. I actually knew this team. Though I can't remember the name of this particular team or their origins—there was hardly any mention of them in the anime—I do remember them because, in the anime Team 7 fought them first and later faced them again at the end.
If I'm not mistaken, they are skilled in illusions. I know this because we were currently surrounded by masked individuals.
"Do you have any idea which one is the real one?" I asked both Misumi and Kabuto, only to receive shakes of their heads.
I could easily resolve this by summoning my divine dogs, but I would rather not reveal them in front of these two. I couldn't help but sigh internally at the two spies.
I have other ways to handle this situation as well, but I'll just kick back and relax. Kabuto wants to pass this round, so let him handle it.
Not to mention, this is not the target I want to go after anyway. I still haven't killed a Chunin yet. This time, I'll make sure to choose wisely.
In Naruto, there aren't many Chunin-level shinobi that I can remember, and most of them are either Konoha shinobi or other important characters. So finding a suitable target to kill and gain their power for the Chunin level is harder than I first anticipated.
For a long time, we maintained a stalemate until Team Oboro decided to attack Misumi.
I considered just letting him die, but I needed both of them alive to pass this part of the test.
"Misumi, watch out!" I shouted in time, but Misumi's reaction time wasn't great.
He did move, but the Oboro genin managed to wound his leg, causing the others in the team to grimace. He is the weakest in the team, and I don't know much about him.
Seeing the clones surrounding us, I couldn't help but grimace internally. Maybe I would have to use the divine dogs after all.
Just as I was about to act, Kabuto moved. Apparently, he was able to dodge an incoming attack.
That was the chance I was waiting for. My shadow extended almost instantly, targeting the shinobi who had tried to attack Kabuto from the group. They all know Earth jutsu, which is how they attacked Misumi and targeted Kabuto.
"Got him," I said as Oboro froze in place while Kabuto captured him and held him at kunai point.
"Come out or he dies," Kabuto shouted, looking less composed than usual. It was clear he was frustrated with how the situation was unfolding and decided to drop his usual nice-guy act.
Seeing this, the other two members of Oboro paused. I, holding the person with Shadow Possession Jutsu, remained vigilant.
When there was no response from the other two Oboro members, Kabuto used the kunai to stab the enemy's shoulder, making him shout in pain. I was seeing a different side of Kabuto, but again, it wasn't surprising to me. After all, this is the same guy responsible for many deaths in the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
I let Kabuto handle things, but my eyes were always on Misumi, who was injured. There was always a chance that they might target one of our weaker members and take him as a hostage to even the odds.
And guess what? That's exactly what happened, which was exactly what I was waiting for.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" I readied my shadow.
xxx
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Chapter 54: Chapter 54 : Karin 1
It is well known in the ninja world that clone jutsus are hard to differentiate from the original. Even those with dojutsu are often helpless against them. Among the most notorious clone jutsus are wood clones and shadow clones, which are particularly difficult to distinguish from the real person.
I decided to use this to my advantage and replaced myself with a clone to accompany Kabuto and Misumi while I went my own way. This way, I wouldn't have to remain constantly vigilant around them.
I didn't have a specific destination in mind; I simply wanted to distance myself from them.
After leaving the spies behind, I navigated through the forest. My main goal was to find a strong chunin and eliminate him to gain an advantage for the upcoming one-on-one fights.
However, that proved to be more challenging than anticipated. Powerful chunin were scarce, and I only had one opportunity to choose and acquire a chunin-level power. If I couldn't find a suitable target, I decided it was better to wait.
Thinking about it, the Sound Four are also chunin level. Despite the curse seal, they shouldn't be jonin. After all, if the Konoha 12 can defeat them, they must not be jonin level.
Perhaps I should pursue them, but which one? I didn't remember much about them. They don't show up until the end of the chunin exam anyway.
Sighing, I continued searching for a strong target. After a few hours, I realized it was futile. The weakest team that managed to pass the Forest of Death was Kabuto's team. They succeeded mainly because of Kabuto, and if someone like him could pass, there was no point in searching for a strong chunin.
It seemed more practical to wait for the Sound Four to appear or to find other strong chunin-level characters later.
As I wandered through the forest, which I had become quite familiar with due to my preparation for the exam, I encountered a character I had been looking for: Karin Uzumaki. Killing her could have been an option, especially considering the Uzumaki bloodline or the powers like Kaguya's Mind Eye.
However, I decided against it. I wasn't willing to kill just anyone for power, and she didn't seem to be chunin level—perhaps genin at best.
I kept my distance and observed her and her team. Karin was part of the Kusagakure team. Given that I couldn't trust either of the spies and was uninterested in intervening in the plot, especially with Team 7 dealing with Orochimaru, I decided to keep an eye on Karin.
To my dismay, the Kusagakure team treated Karin poorly, worse than an animal at times. I noticed that she wasn't in great condition, though she only had a few bite marks on her hands. This struck me as odd.
Perhaps the Kusagakure team realized that killing her would mean losing a valuable resource or didn't know her blood had healing properties.
While contemplating this, I wondered if I should take her to Konoha. I wasn't planning to play the hero, but her story made me sympathetic. Helping her would be troublesome, but it might be better than letting her become Orochimaru's test subject.
This put me in a difficult position. It's not just about helping Karin; there are other victims of Orochimaru's crimes. Saving her alone wouldn't be fair to them.
Maybe I should focus on eliminating Orochimaru. That would save me from dealing with Sasuke's defection and Naruto's pursuit, but how?
If I could have killed Orochimaru, I would have done so already. Both he and Kabuto are adept with Edo Tensei, and removing them would resolve many of my concerns.
I continued to think and tried to use my Nara intellect. Was there a way to defeat Orochimaru?
He was near death when Hiruzen used the Reaper Death Seal. Even after changing bodies, his hands remained damaged. So, perhaps the only way to truly kill him is with the Reaper Death Seal.
Even if I can't kill Orochimaru myself, maybe I can assist Hiruzen in doing so. However, considering how many people Orochimaru has cursed, he might just resurrect.
Or will he?
Sigh...
The more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes.
Frustrated, I continued to follow Karin and her teammates, hoping for some clarity.
xxx
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