Ibiki looked at his overly-dramatic colleague with a somewhat helpless look.
"All I can say is that this batch of candidates are exceptionally talented!"
Anko Mitarashi flashed a mischievous and malicious smile as her eyes scanned the candidates below.
"Well~ It doesn't matter. Anyway, at least half of you will be eliminated in the second exam!"
...................
"This place is also called the Death Forest. It's a paradise for many evil creatures. Not only the Genin, who are your rivals, but also the creatures here can easily take your lives!"
Gigantic trees were intertwined within the bars. The dense foliage and green moss made the whole forest appear dark, cold, and lightless. Occasionally, there would be a few eerie animal cries. It definitely didn't seem like a good place.
"Let me tell you beforehand. This exam differs from the first one. Accidents can occur at any moment, and you could easily lose your life. Therefore, all candidates for the second exam must sign the notice form to continue. If you don't sign, you'll be considered to have automatically given up!"
"Ha~ Do you think I'm scared easily? I've encountered scarier places than this forest during my missions. I'm not afraid of this place at all!"
Anko looked at Naruto, who was looking confident and arrogant. She couldn't help but think to herself that it was this brat who ruined Ibiki's plan in the last exam. And now he was still being so cocky in front of her. She really had to teach him a lesson!
Thinking like this, she casually took out a Kunai. The attack came so suddenly that Naruto didn't expect it. The Kunai grazed his face, and a trickle of blood slowly oozed out.
"Hey? Aren't you an Examiner? Why did you suddenly attack me?"
"Listen up, brat. This is my turf. If you dare to make me unhappy, I can get rid of you at any time!"
Anko flashed behind Naruto and wrapped her arms around him. Naruto's head was pressed tightly against Anko's curvy body, and his face instantly turned red. He even forgot about the pain on his face.
"O...Okay."
Orochimaru, who was in disguise, was eager to do something. Maybe he hadn't seen his apprentice for many years and wanted to have some close interaction with her. He stuck out his long tongue, coiled it around the Kunai on the ground, and passed it to Anko from behind.
"Here's your Kunai, Examiner!"
"Oh~ Really? Thank you. But I'm warning you, don't ever appear behind me again, or I'll kill you as an enemy!"
"Thanks for the warning, Examiner!"
He noticed Orochimaru as soon as the second exam began. He had been waiting for a chance to have a private talk with Orochimaru, a talk about his future, the future of the Uchiha clan, the future of Konoha, and even the future of the whole ninja world!
Although he had never shown any respect to Orochimaru back then, he had to admit that this guy was truly knowledgeable and talented.
?_?
Can't he ever get rid of this habit of sticking out his tongue? It's always so disgusting...
Naruto, standing beside him and looking at that long tongue, stuck out his own. How on earth can this guy stick his tongue out so long?
"Now, the second round of the Chunin Exams, the wild extreme survival challenge, begins!"
Several gates of The Death Forest swung open simultaneously. Groups of candidates entered the suffocating forest one after another in batches.
"Tsk! This exam is such a hassle. Not only do we have to survive in such a dangerous place, but we also have to seize the scrolls of other teams. And the scariest part is that we don't even know what kind of scrolls they have!"
"Shikamaru, why don't we just give up?"
Chōji mumbled as he munched on chips, starting to have second thoughts. Why did they have to take this dangerous exam?
"Absolutely not! We finally passed the first round. Sakura is here. As her friend, there's no way I'm quitting!"
"Ino... Speaking of Sakura, she's so lucky!"
"Yeah! She gets to be with Naruto and Sasuke, two super-hunks! Oh, I'd be grinning from ear to ear in my dreams if I were her!"
"That's not what I meant. Sasuke and Naruto are the top two students in our class. They are the twin prodigies in our batch. With them, Sakura will breeze through this exam. Unlike us..."
"Us? What's wrong with us? We're pretty good, too! Chōji, if you keep talking like this, I'll gobble up all your chips!"
Ino got really fired up. According to Chōji, it seems that Sakura doesn't have to do anything to pass. But only Ino knew that every time she visited Sakura, the latter was either doing intense training or practicing.
Sakura is well aware that she is in the same class as two incredibly talented geniuses. Even so, she never gives up. She always tries her best to catch up with them through her own practice.
"Sorry, I was wrong. You two are really close, huh?"
"Of course! We promised to be friends for life!"
Ino beamed brightly, like the most beautiful flower in this gloomy forest.
.................
"Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!"
In the already dim forest, several Puppet: Corpse Crows uttered strange cries that made one's hair stand on end.
They didn't notice it when they were outside the bars, but once they stepped in, the stench of death became stronger. With the occasional wails from all around, the atmosphere became even more oppressive.
"Sasuke, Naruto, I just heard someone screaming!"
Sakura is a bit scared. After all, she is a girl. It's hard to hide her uneasiness on her first visit to this place.
"Actually... I heard it too!"
Naruto swallowed hard, feeling terrified.
"What are you two talking about? The second round of this life - or - death battle has started!"
Everyone is putting their names on the line to snatch each other's Scrolls. Naturally, they're going all out to fight each other to the death. The sounds we're hearing now mean someone has already suffered misfortune. Why don't you guys snap out of it!"
Sasuke said this while his eyes showed nonchalance, as these were just kid - stuff he'd been through in his past life. To him, this forest was nothing; what matters more is when and where Orochimaru would appear.
Sasuke's sharp words failed to ease the tense atmosphere; instead, they made everyone even more nervous. Naruto's hairs stood on end and he shivered.
"Ah!"
"Nar... Naruto, what's wrong with you?"
................
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