บท 37: Forest of Death
Everyone stared, stunned at the confident woman who had just entered through the broken window. Could this eccentric woman really be the examiner for their second test?
For a moment, silence filled the room as everyone tried to process what they'd just seen. Even Lee found himself staring, surprised.
"Anko, please be more professional," Morino Ibiki called out, sounding a little exasperated as he poked his head out from behind the curtain.
"Fine, fine," Anko replied with a slight blush, brushing it off. "Still, 78 people and 26 teams made it through. That's more than expected. The first exam must've been too easy," she said with a hint of disdain.
"No, they were just better than we anticipated," Ibiki replied calmly.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Anko grinned. "In the second test, I'll be cutting that number in half."
The exam room tensed. Just hearing Anko's words, everyone sensed that the next stage wouldn't be easy.
"Hehe, I'm already looking forward to it," Anko said, a glint of excitement in her eyes. "Tomorrow, I'll give you all the details when we meet at the exam site. Ask your instructors for the time and place."
This woman is… intense, Lee thought, feeling a bit wary. She seemed even more ruthless than Ibiki.
"Alright, everyone, you're dismissed!" Anko announced.
The next morning, at 8:00 a.m., the exam location...
"Welcome to the second test," Anko said, standing in front of a dense, wild forest surrounded by high fences and barbed wire. "This is the 44th training area, also known as the Forest of Death."
A chill ran down the group's spines as they looked at the dark, foreboding forest stretching out before them.
"I always get a weird feeling about this place," whispered Aiko, a gentle-looking kunoichi standing nearby. Hearing her voice, Lee glanced over and noticed her timid expression. Their eyes met, and she quickly looked away, cheeks flushed.
Anko sneered. "Oh, you'll see soon enough why we call it the Forest of Death."
Naruto, still buzzing from his unexpected pass in the first exam, couldn't resist. He swayed his hips, mimicking Anko's voice. "You'll see soon enough why it's called the Forest of Death!" he repeated mockingly, clearly unfazed by her warning.
"Is that so?" Anko grinned playfully, though her eyes held a dangerous glint. In one swift motion, a kunai appeared in her hand and shot through the air toward Naruto, grazing his cheek and narrowly missing the long-haired kunoichi behind him as it embedded in a nearby tree.
Before Naruto even registered what happened, Anko reappeared behind him in a blur. "Brave kids like you are usually the first to die," she said, her voice low and intense.
Lee's eyes widened. So fast! he thought, realizing just how far he still had to go to reach Jōnin level.
Naruto, meanwhile, was frozen in shock, standing stiffly as blood trickled down his cheek. Anko leaned in, wiping the blood from his face with her finger. "Ah, red blood—my favorite color," she whispered with a slight smirk. The scene sent shivers down the spines of everyone watching.
But then, Lee noticed something odd. The kunoichi whose hair had been grazed by Anko's kunai stepped forward, reaching out her long tongue to retrieve the kunai from the tree.
That's… strange, Lee thought, feeling an unusual sense of caution around her. There was something unsettling in her aura that he couldn't quite place.
As the kunoichi returned the kunai to Anko, she looked completely calm. "Here's your kunai," she said, unfazed.
Anko smirked back. "Thanks for picking that up. But be careful about sneaking up on me with that creepy aura. You might get hurt," she warned, accepting the kunai.
"Sorry," the kunoichi replied, slipping her long tongue back in. "I just got a little excited seeing blood. Couldn't help myself."
With that, she turned and walked back into the crowd.
Who is that woman? Lee wondered. Her casual exchange with Anko and the dark energy around her made him uneasy. She seemed like someone not to be underestimated.
"Well, looks like we've got some tough ones in the group this time!" Anko said with excitement. Her eyes sparkled as she looked over the remaining participants. "Before we start, I need each of you to sign one of these," she said, holding up a thick stack of papers.
"What are those?" someone asked.
"These are consent forms," Anko replied. "Before we begin, each of you must sign one."
"Why do we need a consent form?" another voice asked, puzzled.
"Because," Anko said with a wicked grin, "some of you might die during this part of the exam. So, we need your consent so it doesn't cause trouble for us."
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