Chương 36: Entering the forest of death
<Naruto's Pov>
After I entered the hall, I was greeted with the sight of many genin looking at us. They had a variety of forehead protectors. To be honest, I didn't even remember most of them, except for the main villages and a few others.
As I looked around, I saw Kabuto acting perfectly as a genin. This comes from me, who got the disguising skill from god. Yes, he was that good. However, I don't intend to let him live much longer since he could be quite a threat if left unchecked.
'I'll deal with him when I depart to find Tsunade.' I thought, recalling a white-haired man I had a great impression of. Indeed, it was none other than Jiraya. 'I won't let you die this time, pervy sage.'
My sudden smile caught the attention of others. They looked at me like a weirdo and returned to their work.
"Attention, maggots!" the main proctor, Ibiki Morino, said with a loud voice for everyone to hear. "Take your respective seats as instructed... The exam will begin in five minutes."
Hearing the announcement, I walked up to my desk and took a seat. I was sure that Hinata would be beside me. But I was proved wrong as I saw Ino sitting beside me.
'I see; my presence has made some minor changes.' I thought, looking at Ino.
After everyone was seated, the proctors gave us each a question paper consisting of ten questions and explained the rules and whatnot.
Just before the exam started, I caught Ino looking around subtly.
"What are you looking for?" I asked, giving her two pokes on the shoulder.
"Ah, it's nothing," Ino said as she glanced at me.
Actually, I had no reason to ask her. It couldn't be more evident that she was searching for her dear friend Sakura to do the mind transfer jutsu.
"Good luck then,"
"Good luck to you too, Naruto."
After our brief exchange, the exam finally started. Everything went the same as before. Sakura used her big brain while Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the answers.
I didn't have to use my byaku-sharingan since I can almost remember anything if I see it once. Therefore, I didn't have much trouble answering the questions. The exam went on the same as always.
<Pov End>
Finally, it was time for the last question. Everyone had nervous expressions, and their eyes were glued to Ibiki Morino.
"Now I'll explain the rules for the final question... First, you must choose whether to answer it or not."
"Choose?" Temari banged her hands on the table. "What if we choose not to?"
"Then you would be failed, along with all your teammates, reducing your points to zero."
"Of course, we would answer it then." Another student said, with a restless voice, failing to understand the point of his question.
"That brings me to the other rule," Ibiki said, scanning over all the genin. "If somehow you chose to answer and did not get it right, your right to participate in the future Chunin exams would be revoked."
Hearing this, everyone had panicked expressions. They couldn't come to a decision. Take the question, risking the chance to take part in the exam next year or skipping to have another chance.
'Shall I help them a bit?" Naruto looked around. 'I guess it can't be helped. The original me did so too ── It wouldn't hurt to have more participants, right?"
With that thought, Naruto spoke up, startling everyone, including Ino, beside him.
"I'm taking it ── What is the use of us if we don't even dare to answer a question? ... To hell with it; if I fail, I will become so strong that you do not have a choice but to promote me."
Naruto's worlds ignited a fire within everyone, as he had hoped. Aside from a few who left, all the others stayed.
'I guess I still have my superpower', He thought, 'What was it called again? ── Ah, right.. Talk no Jutsu.'
Seeing that no one was leaving, even after exclaiming many times that they wouldn't be able to attend the exams ever after, Ibiki stood and walked to the front.
"Good decision ── I congratulate you on passing the first test."
Everyone had confused faces hearing this and looked intently at Ibiko to make sure he wasn't joking.
"Have we already passed? … What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked with an uncertain voice.
"There was no such thing. You could say the answer to the last question was your own decisions."
After that, he explained the process, commending them for taking a leap of faith and reprimanding the ones who left.
Not a minute had passed after Ibiki finished explaining when a particular sweet tooth barged into the exam room, throwing two kunais at the ceiling. The ends of the kunais were connected to a poster that was fully displayed, covering Ibiki, who was at the front. Everyone was dumbfounded by this scene.
"You guys… This is not a time to be celebrating," She shouted. "I'm the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko... Now let's go!"
Hearing this, everyone got up from their seats and followed Anko.
──────𖥔⋅⋅──❀──⋅⋅𖥔──────
"That's seriously creepy," Naruto said, looking at the forest before him. It was packed with gigantic trees and had a damp, eerie atmosphere. If that was not enough, the growls of animals made it worse.
Anko explained the rules and made everyone sign an agreement stating they would be responsible for themselves. Following that, everyone was given their respective scrolls.
"Good luck, Naruto," Anko said, walking past Naruto. Then she spoke with a loud voice for everyone to hear. "The exam will start in 30 minutes... Get ready!"
Naruto nodded to Anko with a smile and walked towards Hinata.
"Good Luck Hina"
"Mmm… You too, Naruto-kun."
"I'll see after the exam then," Naruto said, kissing Hinata's hand like a noble. Which made Hinata flustered, and she could only nod to his words.
After that brief exchange, Naruto scanned the exam participants, subtly noting down every single face and their village symbols. He noticed Karin waiting in a corner with his teammates.
'It seems that Karin doesn't have a good relationship with them. ── Well, it makes turning her into my side easier… As I remember, she must have been abused by the villagers even now. I guess I'll use Zabuza and Haku to escort her safely from that shitty village... I wonder if I can somehow let her join Konoha. ── I'll see about that later.'
With that thought, I reached where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting.
"So what's the plan, Naruto?" Sakura said as she looked at Naruto.
"First, I will use my shadow clones to search for other teams. Then we can go after the teams that I have discovered. ── Sounds good?"
"Sounds good to me." Sakura looked toward Sasuke. "What do you think?"
"It's the best, I suppose. Otherwise, we would have difficulty finding other teams in this forest." Sasuke said, taking a glance at the dark forest.
"Hey, Naruto! Why won't you teach us the shadow clone jutsu already? You promised, remember?" Sakura looked at Naruto with a pouting face. She really wanted to learn that jutsu.
"Alright... Alright… I will teach you after the chunin exams are over. ── Deal?"
"Fine.." Sakura sighed. "But don't forget it like last time."
Naruto nodded at them with one fist clenched on his chest as if giving an oath. Looking at his serious face, Sasuke and Sakura couldn't help but slightly curve their lips.
However, their little chat was broken by Anko's loud voice.
"GET READY!! ── The exams start now!"
All the genin ran through the gates into the forest with her confirmation on the commencement of the second stage of the exam. After a few seconds, everyone disappeared into the woods.
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Zorvog
Zorvog Tell me your thought's on this chapter, and let me know if you like to see anything in the next chapter relating to the forest of death. {PS: These days, I'm not very well due to a bacterial infection. It's nothing serious, but still very annoying.}
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