Outside the Forest of Death—
Twenty-one teams were scattered loosely in front of the massive gate, waiting in silence for the second proctor—Mitarashi Anko—to give the order to begin.
"Seventh gate," Izuno said quietly as she returned from the drawing station.
Naruto withdrew his gaze and nodded slightly. The rules for the second test were refreshingly reasonable—
There were basically no rules.
Only one objective:
Collect both a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll.
The proctors had just issued them a Heaven Scroll. That meant all they needed was to seize an Earth Scroll from another team and reach the central tower—then they'd pass.
Izuno and Raemon both breathed easier.
They'd been genuinely afraid the second stage would be as weird as the first.
Realistically, though, the second stage was far more dangerous than the first.
But they had confidence—in themselves, and even more so in Naruto.
"Candidates for the seventh gate, follow me!" a proctor called.
The three of them quickly moved out.
At Gate Seven, the trio instinctively looked toward Gate Eight—where an Ame team was lining up.
The two gates were only about a hundred meters apart.
Which meant that if they were fast enough, and lucky enough… they could qualify almost immediately.
Izuno and Raemon couldn't stop their smiles from creeping up.
"That gross look… are they that sure they've got us? Interesting. Real interesting…"
The Rain ninja weren't blind. They met eyes, and—
Coincidentally, they were thinking the same thing.
Six people, one glance each, and everyone understood what the others wanted.
Time ticked by.
Clack!
"Enter," the proctor said, pushing open the iron barrier.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Both sides surged forward with the same burning intent.
A hundred meters vanished in a heartbeat.
The Rain ninja in front looked at the young faces across from him and gave a cruel smile.
This wasn't his first Chūnin Exam.
He had his own way of judging whether someone was a veteran—or fresh meat.
"Three rookies straight out of the Academy. Our chance is here!"
His teammates grinned.
After so many exams… was it finally their turn to get lucky?
When the two groups were only a few meters apart—
Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh!
Kunai with explosive tags tied to the ends flew like "gifts" exchanged between enemies.
The blasts sent nearby birds shrieking into the air.
Through the dust, a shadow suddenly accelerated—
Naruto drew his blade.
His eyes sharpened, locking onto a single red point.
In the smoke, his movement turned ghostlike—so fast the three Rain ninja couldn't track him at all.
Pshhk!
That familiar sensation of steel entering flesh told him—
First target…
Down.
"Damn it!" The remaining two Rain ninja blanched, panic flaring as they hurled weapons from their ninja pouches in a frenzy.
Clink clink clink!
Naruto held the blade across his body and flicked it lightly—every shuriken was knocked away.
Then he sprang upward, body diving like a hawk.
Blade raised high, he fixed on one Rain ninja and chopped down hard.
Pshhk!
Hawk-Strike Slash!
"Lightning Style: Sparks!" "Cat Cloak!"
Izuno and Raemon didn't sit still either. With their combined assault, the last Rain ninja fell on the spot.
"Lucky us—an Earth Scroll!"
After a quick search, Izuno lifted the scroll with an excited grin.
"Let's move," Naruto said, nodding once. "Target: the central tower."
---
The Forest of Death had been called that long before it became an exam arena.
It wasn't named because of the examinees.
Predatory birds. Venomous insects. Brutal survival conditions—
Sometimes what killed you here wasn't an enemy ninja at all.
A few minutes later—
At the site of the clash, three Grass Village ninja wearing Kusagakure forehead protectors crept closer cautiously.
"Hey—no way, seriously?! We heard the explosion and rushed here immediately…"
One of them went pale at the Rain ninja corpses on the ground.
"Is anyone still nearby?" Any thought of scavenging vanished instantly. The only priority now was surviving—surviving whoever did this.
A red-haired Grass kunoichi closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then shook her head slightly.
"Go—leave now!" the Grass team leader said, exhaling in relief.
With a commotion that big, more than one team would be drawn here.
---
15:57 — Central Tower, Forest of Death
Naruto's team pushed open the door.
Seeing the empty lobby, they nodded with satisfaction.
"'If there is no Heaven…'" Izuno read softly, staring at the writing hanging in the center of the hall.
Naruto's gaze, however, dropped to the signature at the bottom—
The Third Hokage.
'That old man's handwriting…'
"It's missing some key parts," Raemon muttered, stroking his chin.
"Open the Heaven and Earth Scrolls," Naruto said after skimming the text.
"To be honest, I've wanted to open them the entire way here," Raemon chuckled.
"Ninja regulations—don't casually peek at confidential items!" Izuno snapped, smacking him on the head.
"That's why I didn't open it!" he whispered back, grumbling.
Raemon unrolled both scrolls.
"'Person'?"
Seeing the large character written on the scroll, Raemon yelped and tossed it away.
"It says 'Summoning Jutsu' on the exam tool—are you kidding me?!"
POOF!
A burst of white smoke exploded.
As it cleared and a figure appeared, Naruto froze.
"Iruka-sensei?" Izuno cried out.
Even though she and Raemon weren't in Naruto's class, Iruka had taught their class too.
Among all the instructors, Iruka had always stood out—good at teaching, good-tempered, dependable.
Not their homeroom teacher, but still someone they'd remembered.
"Long time no see." Iruka looked at them with deep pride. In just half a year… they'd already caught up to him.
"Honestly," he said softly, "I'm really relieved."
"And whose students do you think we are?" Izuno said with a cheeky grin.
"Hahaha…" Iruka couldn't help laughing.
The three of them exchanged smiles.
"Kids—congratulations. You've passed the second stage."
"I'm your receptionist and guide for now," Iruka continued. "As someone who's been through it, I'll explain what it truly means to be a chūnin."
"The Third Hokage's message up there is the spirit and character a chūnin must possess…"
A few minutes later, Iruka finished speaking. His eyes held hope as he encouraged them:
"Keep moving forward. Keep pushing yourselves."
"Yes!" ×3
Watching them disappear around the corner, Iruka touched his own face and murmured,
"They've grown up… and I've gotten older…"
Click.
He turned toward the three Sand ninja walking in—
and smoothly slipped back into his old role.
---
Central Tower — Monitoring Room
Proctor Mitarashi Anko pressed a hand to the back of her neck, which was throbbing faintly, and spoke to the two ANBU beside her.
"We can confirm it. It really was Orochimaru himself."
"You—" The ANBU wearing a white mask with red markings started to speak—
when a proctor suddenly burst into the room.
"What is it?" Anko frowned.
Stared down by three jōnin—two of them ANBU— the proctor swallowed hard.
"I'm very sorry, but you have to watch this tape!" he blurted, hurriedly inserting a recording into the machine.
"Please—pay attention to the time stamp!"
"15:57… less than ninety minutes after the exam started?!" Anko's face changed instantly.
In previous years, the fastest record had been four hours.
Was this year's batch trying to break reality?
On the screen—
the three figures were unmistakable.
Naruto's team.