The Forest of Death and a Daring Strike Against Orochimaru

The second preliminary round of the Chunin Exams exploded onto the scene with a deafening crash. The moment the first test ended, a window shattered as a black banner bearing her self-introduction was slammed onto the wall. The exhibitionist kunoichi Anko landed stylishly in front of it, striking a dramatic pose.

She swept her gaze across the room and shouted with absolute confidence, "I'm the second examiner! Mitarashi Anko!! We're moving to the next test location right now!"

The exam hall fell completely silent. When we offered zero reaction, Anko's face flushed bright red with embarrassment. She lowered her head and started fanning herself frantically with one hand.

While the exam hall had gone deathly quiet, the chat window was exploding. For some reason it was scrolling even faster than when we'd first seen Naruto and Sasuke. I shook my head at the viewers' insane perverted energy before turning my attention back to Anko.

She'd recovered her composure by then. With a serious expression, she declared that the second exam would cut the numbers down to less than half, instantly tensing up the other genin. Ah, well—except for Gaara... and Orochimaru... and Kabuto. Guess only the extras were actually nervous.

Anko kept trying to intimidate everyone, but as expected, a few of us—including me—weren't paying the slightest attention.

"It feels kind of creepy, doesn't it?" Sakura's nervous voice only made Anko double down on the scare tactics.

"You'll understand exactly why it's called the Forest of Death soon enough."

"Saying 'soon enough' isn't scary at all!! I'm not afraid!!"

"My, you're certainly full of energy."

In a swift motion, Anko pulled a kunai from her sleeve and hurled it at Naruto. He never even saw it coming. The blade grazed his cheek, leaving a thin cut that began to bleed. Before anyone could blink, Anko was behind him, hugging him tightly as she licked the blood from his cheek with her tongue.

At that moment Orochimaru extended his long tongue, caught the kunai, and tossed it back to Anko while radiating killing intent.

"Oh my! You didn't have to go that far... But I'd appreciate it if you didn't stand behind me radiating killing intent. Unless you want to die quickly, that is."

After warning Orochimaru, Anko continued explaining the test.

"Before we begin the second exam, everyone must sign a consent form! People will be dying from here on out, so we need your agreement... Otherwise I'd be the one held responsible~♡"

With a cheerful voice she delivered that grim warning and smiled. Once all the participants had signed, she continued.

"The second exam is extreme survival. There's a tower at the center of the Forest of Death. The distance from the entrance to the tower is roughly ten kilometers. You'll each receive one scroll. One is the Scroll of Heaven, the other the Scroll of Earth. Perfectly even split, right? Use any means necessary to steal the other scroll from different teams. Once you have both and all three members of your team reach the tower, you pass... within one hundred and twenty hours♡"

We drew our scroll and headed to our team's designated starting gate. Our team had drawn the Earth scroll. I reassured the visibly nervous Hinata and Ino while explaining the plan.

"We've got the Earth scroll. We'll move quickly to within one kilometer of the tower and hide. Once there, Hinata, focus on using your Byakugan to locate teams holding the Heaven scroll. I'll scout the surrounding area. Ino, the moment Hinata finds a team with the Heaven scroll, send me a signal."

The starting signal rang out the instant I finished giving instructions. Our team exchanged glances and immediately burst forward according to the plan.

From far away came the sound of screams. I realized fighting had already broken out in some areas. I moved to the rear of the team to guard our backs while we ran. Hinata took the lead since her sensory abilities were the best.

Thanks to Hinata we reached the area near the tower without encountering any other teams. We chose a good vantage point and concealed ourselves. I told the girls to stay hidden and carefully wait, then headed out to scout.

"Time to go find the main character squad, shall we?"

While searching for Naruto I spotted an enormous snake in the distance.

If I messed up here, Orochimaru could kill me. To have any chance of surviving I'd probably need to open four or five of the Eight Inner Gates, but the aftereffects worried me too much to use them lightly. This was the first time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd felt real tension since acquiring the playboy lifestyle.

I thought about playing it safe and turning back... but the chat had other ideas.

The Korean gamers' DNA kicked in at the sight of an impossible-to-decline quest, or maybe it just looked fun. Either way, viewers were even throwing mission money at me. The amount climbed quickly while I hesitated, but I told myself completing the quest mattered more. I'd just watch for a bit and leave.

Naruto was down. Orochimaru had stretched his neck out, preparing to bite Sasuke. That was when I made my move.

I leaped above Orochimaru and slammed my fist down with everything I had. The impact sent him crashing from the tree to the ground. Without missing a beat I opened the Eight Inner Gates up to the Gate of Rest and ran for my life with every ounce of strength I possessed.

As I fled I glanced back and saw Anko had appeared to fight Orochimaru. I stopped running and watched their battle for a moment.

Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands shot from his sleeve toward Anko. She caught the snakes, hurled them back, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and slammed Orochimaru into a tree. In the blink of an eye she closed the distance, pinned his hand to the tree with a kunai, then used his other hand to form seals.

"Are you trying to commit suicide?"

When Orochimaru's clone vanished and his real voice came from a nearby tree, Anko turned her head and asked, "Orochimaru... did you come here to assassinate the Hokage?"

"No, I don't have enough subordinates for that... I simply came to leave a little mark on some promising kids from this village. Though I was interrupted."

As he spoke, Orochimaru turned his head in my direction. A chill ran down my spine. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly backed away while keeping my eyes on them.

After a while Anko's eyes grew unfocused and she collapsed. Thanks to the time she bought, Sasuke and Sakura had already fled carrying Naruto on their backs. Orochimaru glanced once at me and once at the direction Sasuke's team had run, then chased after them.

With the tension finally easing, I returned to where my team was hiding. Hinata reported that she still hadn't located any teams with the Heaven scroll. I comforted her gently.

"We arrived at the tower too early, that's all. Keep watching. They'll show up soon. Don't worry, Hinata."

A short while later we found a team holding the Heaven scroll, defeated them, took their scroll, entered the tower, and passed without any issues.

Time passed and the second exam finally came to an end.

"First, congratulations to everyone who passed the second test."

Thanks to our team, one more squad had passed than in the original story—eight teams, twenty-four people total. The Third Hokage of the Leaf Village stepped forward, offered his congratulations, and launched into a long explanation about the history of the Chunin Exams and their true meaning.

I half-listened while observing the ninjas who had passed the second test.

Hinata and Ino's original team now had a kunoichi I'd never seen before. Whether she was an original character, from the canon, or had appeared due to the butterfly effect, her appearance was so plain that I quickly lost interest.

After the Third Hokage's boring history lecture ended, a ninja with a sickly complexion stepped forward. He announced that there were too many people to move straight to the finals, so they would hold another preliminary round.

Kabuto raised his hand and spoke in a calm voice. "I forfeit."

"Kabuto, why are you quitting?!"

"Sorry, Naruto. After fighting those Sound Village guys in the first test, my left ear hasn't been working. If it means risking my life, I can't continue..."

When Kabuto gave up, Naruto looked visibly downcast.

"Are there any other withdrawals? Since it's individual matches, feel free to speak up."

The unknown kunoichi from Kiba's team raised her hand and forfeited as well.

"Then the test to select eleven out of the remaining twenty-two will be one-on-one real combat. There are no special rules. The match continues until one side is knocked out or dies... If you don't want to die, surrender. However, if I determine that the outcome is clear, I may stop the match to avoid unnecessary deaths."

"Do your best, Ino! Hinata! You've done great so far, and if you stay confident in this next round you'll both pass!"

"Yeah♡ Jin is super strong, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no matter who you fight you'll knock them out in one hit!"

"Th-thank you. I'll do my best too, Jin. You do your best as well!"

The combination of Ino's playful cheer and Hinata's shy encouragement fired me up. I headed up to the observation seats overlooking the arena with a spring in my step.

I laughed while reading the chat, then looked up at the display board in anticipation. Who would I be fighting?