The Forest of Death lived up to its ominous name in every respect. Perpetual shadows clung to the forest floor where ancient trees blocked most of the sunlight, creating an atmosphere of constant foreboding. Strange sounds echoed through the dense vegetation—unearthly calls of creatures unknown, the rustling of massive predators moving through underbrush, and occasionally, the distant screams of unfortunate genin encountering the forest's deadlier inhabitants.
As Konoha's traditional Chunin Exam testing ground, Training Ground 44 maintained its sinister reputation year-round, carefully preserved as a natural challenge for aspiring shinobi.
The moment they passed through their assigned gate, Naruto, Chiharu, and Shin immediately took to the trees, concealing their presence as they ventured deeper into the forest. They moved with practiced coordination, communicating through hand signals developed during their months of training together.
Shin's Super Beast Scroll technique proved invaluable during these early hours. Creating various ink animals from his scrolls, he dispatched them in all directions to gather intelligence and scout for potential threats or targets. This cautious approach served them well—during the first half-day within the Forest of Death, they avoided nearly all of the natural dangers that claimed less prepared teams.
However, they encountered no other candidates during this initial period. Given the forest's massive scale—ten kilometers in diameter—teams were widely dispersed across the terrain. Finding opponents possessing the Earth Scroll they needed would require patience and strategy.
It wasn't until the third day that their fortunes changed. Shin's reconnaissance beasts reported movement approximately two kilometers northeast of their position—a team of Sand genin moving steadily through the forest.
After carefully assessing the situation, Team 7 orchestrated an ambush at a small clearing along their targets' projected path. When the Sand ninja entered the open space, they found themselves surrounded before they could react.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto's hands formed the familiar cross seal, and the clearing instantly filled with hundreds of identical copies of the blond shinobi.
The three Sand ninja—each appearing at least a year or two older than Shin—reacted with visible shock. Creating a single shadow clone required substantial chakra; generating hundreds simultaneously was beyond the capabilities of most jōnin, let alone a genin.
Naruto's clones quickly encircled the Sand team, cutting off escape routes and forcing them to fight on unfavorable terms. Yet these weren't inexperienced rookies they faced. The Sand genin recovered from their initial surprise and began systematically counterattacking.
Working in coordination, they unleashed a series of wind-style jutsu that sliced through multiple shadow clones simultaneously. Their taijutsu skills proved similarly impressive as they dispatched Naruto's clones with efficient, practiced movements.
"Bang! Bang!"
One of the Sand ninja dispelled several more shadow clones with a sweeping wind technique, a smug expression crossing his face as the clones burst into clouds of smoke.
That moment of overconfidence proved costly. As the smoke cleared, a blur of movement shot through the dissipating haze.
"Flash!" Chiharu called out, her voice barely audible as she channeled chakra into her legs, accelerating to a speed that left afterimages in her wake.
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, she closed the distance to the Sand ninja and delivered a devastating punch directly to his chest. The impact generated a shockwave that rippled through the clearing.
"BANG!"
The unfortunate shinobi flew backward with incredible force, crashing through several massive tree trunks before finally coming to rest more than ten meters away, unconscious upon impact.
Chiharu stared at her fist in mild surprise, guilt flashing across her features. "I think I might have overdone it," she murmured, flexing her fingers.
Simultaneously, one of Shin's ink lions pounced on a second Sand ninja, pinning him to the ground with powerful jaws positioned threateningly near his throat. The third opponent found himself surrounded by Naruto's remaining shadow clones, with the original Naruto leading the assault that quickly overwhelmed him.
"That was Grandma Tsunade's technique, wasn't it?" Naruto asked, eyeing his sister with a mixture of awe and slight apprehension.
Lady Tsunade had always shown a particular fondness for Chiharu. In the weeks leading up to the Chunin Exams, Tsunade had personally taken the girl aside for specialized training sessions. Evidently, Chiharu had deliberately held back during their sparring matches—Naruto had witnessed firsthand the devastating power of Tsunade's punches when Jiraiya had been sent flying hundreds of meters after provoking her.
"Found it," Shin announced, retrieving a scroll from the Sand ninja restrained by his ink beast. The item bore the distinctive character for "Heaven" emblazoned on its surface.
"All that effort for nothing," Naruto sighed in disappointment. They already possessed a Heaven Scroll; what they needed was its Earth counterpart.
"We should keep it anyway," Shin suggested pragmatically, tucking the duplicate scroll into his equipment pouch. "It's already the third day, and we might encounter allies facing similar circumstances. A spare scroll could prove valuable for negotiation."
"Good point," Naruto agreed with a nod, releasing his remaining shadow clones.
They rendered the two conscious Sand ninja unconscious with precision strikes, ensuring they would remain incapacitated long enough for exam proctors to retrieve them. As expected, Konoha chunin examiners arrived shortly after Team 7's departure, their expressions registering visible shock at the destruction caused by Chiharu's single punch before evacuating the injured candidates.
With this encounter behind them, the three Leaf genin continued their journey toward the central tower, moving more cautiously than before. Though they possessed an extra Heaven Scroll, they still needed to locate an Earth Scroll before time expired.
Dawn broke on the fourth day, painting the forest canopy with golden light that barely filtered through to the shadowy undergrowth. The team had established a small, concealed camp to rest briefly when Shin's heightened senses detected faint sounds of conflict nearby.
Instantly alert, Chiharu awakened Naruto from his light slumber. The three exchanged silent signals before moving swiftly toward the source of the disturbance. Within minutes, they reached a sizable clearing where two teams were engaged in heated combat.
Taking positions within the dense foliage surrounding the battlefield, they quickly assessed the situation below.
"Sasuke?" Chiharu whispered in surprise.
"It's them!" Naruto added with narrowed eyes.
The combatants were unmistakable—Team 8 led by Sasuke Uchiha had encountered the Sand siblings, including Gaara. The confrontation had already escalated to full-scale combat, with neither side showing signs of retreat.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!" Sai's brush moved with fluid precision across his unrolled parchment. The ink illustrations lifted from the page, transforming into autonomous creatures that lunged toward Temari.
"Hah!" The Sand kunoichi responded by unfurling her massive iron fan. With a practiced sweep, she generated a localized cyclone that shredded Sai's ink beasts before they could reach her. The remnants of the technique dissolved into black splatters across the clearing floor.
Nearby, Sakura darted between trees as she desperately evaded Kankuro's puppet. The puppeteer was clearly toying with her, prolonging the chase when he could have easily captured or incapacitated her. His sadistic enjoyment was evident in his painted expression.
At the center of the clearing, Sasuke and Gaara faced off in the main confrontation. The Uchiha's Sharingan blazed to life, the single tomoe spinning hypnotically as he moved with impressive speed around his opponent.
In stark contrast, Gaara remained stationary, making no attempt to dodge or counter. His posture suggested complete disinterest, almost as if he considered Sasuke's attacks beneath his notice.
Sasuke flickered from view, reappearing instantaneously behind Gaara to deliver a powerful kick to his spine. The attack, which would have incapacitated most genin, never made contact with its intended target.
"Shhhhh..." Sand erupted from the gourd on Gaara's back, coalescing into a dense barrier that intercepted Sasuke's kick. The shield formed without any visible command or hand sign from Gaara, moving with seemingly autonomous intelligence.
"Is this the extent of your ability?" Gaara inquired, his voice inflectionless yet somehow dripping with disappointment. He had apparently expected more from the Uchiha prodigy, someone he had deemed worthy of remembering by name during their first encounter.
Sasuke leapt backward, reassessing his approach while casting concerned glances toward his increasingly overwhelmed teammates. Gaara's dismissive attitude clearly rankled him, his brow furrowing in concentration as he prepared to escalate the confrontation.
Just as Sasuke's hands began forming seals for a more powerful technique, three figures burst from the surrounding forest, intervening in the ongoing battles.
Shin propelled himself directly into the open space between Sai and Temari, who immediately shifted to a defensive stance at this unexpected development.
Chiharu materialized beside Sakura in a blur of speed, seizing the pink-haired kunoichi around the waist and carrying her beyond the reach of Kankuro's puppet before the puppeteer could react.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto landed directly between Sasuke and Gaara, his hands completing the familiar seal. More than a dozen shadow clones manifested in a circle surrounding the Suna jinchūriki.
Without hesitation, Naruto's clones launched a coordinated attack from multiple angles simultaneously. Yet Gaara remained motionless, his expression betraying neither concern nor effort.
"Shhhhh..." Once again, sand poured from the gourd, this time forming multiple shields that intercepted each of Naruto's clones in mid-attack. Every punch, kick, and kunai thrust was blocked by precisely positioned barriers of compacted sand.
"Impossible!" Naruto exclaimed, his blue eyes widening in disbelief.
A faint smile—perhaps the first genuine expression they had seen from him—curved Gaara's lips. "Are you not planning to employ a more clandestine approach?" he asked, almost sounding hopeful for a more challenging confrontation.
"I don't resort to sneak attacks," Naruto declared firmly. "I'll defeat you fairly, face to face!"
He signaled his remaining clones to attack once more, each approaching from different vectors in hopes of finding a gap in Gaara's defenses. In response, the sand flowed more abundantly, enveloping Gaara in a protective cocoon that left only a portion of his face exposed—a single turquoise eye regarding Naruto through a narrow aperture.
"What kind of jutsu is that?" Chiharu asked in astonishment, having secured Sakura at a safe distance. Despite her extensive training and knowledge, she had never encountered or read about a technique that functioned without hand seals or verbal commands.
Kankuro, observing from several meters away, couldn't suppress a smirk of fraternal pride tinged with fear. "That's Gaara's absolute defense," he announced smugly. "No one has ever penetrated it. No one ever will."
"Is that so?" Naruto murmured thoughtfully, quickly realizing that conventional physical attacks would prove ineffective against such a defense. If taijutsu wouldn't work, perhaps a different approach was needed.
As he began to raise his hands to form a new sequence of seals, a firm grip clamped around his wrist. Naruto turned to find Sasuke beside him, the Uchiha's Sharingan eyes narrowed in irritation.
"Don't interfere with my fight, you idiot!" Sasuke hissed, his pride clearly wounded by both Gaara's dismissal and Naruto's intervention.