Training Ground 44 — The Forest of Death
The dense forest blocked out the sky. Even in the afternoon, the woods remained dim and cool.
Thud!
"Who hit me?"A Grass Village ninja lying on a massive tree branch rubbed the back of his head and shouted, "Haoxue! Pulling pranks at a time like this is too much!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" another voice replied. "I'm nowhere near you—how could I hit you?"
Thud! Thud!
"Are you kidding me?!"
This time no one responded.
The forest fell completely silent.
"Haoxue? Chiwu?"
"Hey. The scroll's with you, right?"A strange voice suddenly came from the treetop.
The Grass ninja's pupils shrank instantly. His breathing quickened, muscles tensing as he leaped away.
"Who's there?!"
After landing, he looked around nervously—but saw no one.
"Where are you looking, idiot?"An impatient, mocking voice came from above him.
"What?!"
The Grass ninja looked up, his heart pounding.
Standing in the shadow of the tree canopy nearby was a figure.
The person wore a white animal mask, a yellow cloak over black pants, and fingerless tactical gloves. A katana was strapped to their back. From the eyeholes of the mask, a faint cold light glimmered.
"Y-you!" the Grass ninja shouted in terror. "Where are my teammates?!"
"What did you do to them?!"
"Dead," Naruto replied expressionlessly.
The Root ANBU uniform he was wearing had been found in his system storage space. Kurama didn't eat clothes, so Naruto figured he might as well make use of it.
"You're not an examinee!" the Grass ninja shouted. "Is Konoha planning to break the exam rules?!"
"So what if we are?" Naruto said casually. "Why are small villages even participating in the Chūnin Exams? If you're smart, hand over the scroll and get lost."
Before the Grass ninja even saw Naruto move—
A sharp pain exploded at the back of his head.
He collapsed unconscious.
Naruto crouched down and searched through the Grass ninja's belongings until he finally found the scroll.
"A Heaven Scroll… duplicate," Naruto muttered.
Even so, he tucked it into his cloak before disappearing into the forest moments later.
The three Grass ninjas weren't dead—just knocked out.
Naruto wasn't sparing them out of kindness. There was simply no need to kill them. Bloodstains could be detected by tracking ninjutsu, which would expose his presence.
Besides, Naruto hadn't come here specifically for them.
They were just a random encounter that triggered a side option.
[Ding — Lightning Release: Thunder Strike has been granted.]
Thunder Strike was a minor Lightning Release technique. For Naruto it was somewhat useless, but he lacked Lightning-style jutsu anyway. It had only taken ten minutes to complete the task, obtain the scroll, and collect the reward.
Wrapped in his pale-yellow cloak, Naruto dashed through the forest, stepping across tree trunks as he searched ahead without restraint.
From what he could tell, none of the examinees in this Chūnin Exam were particularly strong.
Orochimaru's body-transfer vessel had compatibility issues, meaning he couldn't use his full strength.
As for Gaara, he could practically be ignored. Since the Sand Village was cooperating with the Konoha Crush Plan, they would definitely hold back.
Naruto insisted on dealing with the three Sound ninjas first for two reasons.
First, striking early would remove potential threats.
Second, he clearly remembered that the Sound trio carried the Earth Scroll.
Since casualties were allowed in the Chūnin Exams, things became much simpler.
For the five days of the Forest of Death test, the area was completely sealed off. The ANBU would only intervene in emergencies—like an Orochimaru-level invasion.
From the moment they entered the forest, Orochimaru's only target had always been Sasuke.
But considering that Snake Uncle, who loved "planting strawberries," didn't really have bad intentions, Naruto decided to leave him alone for now. He would eliminate the Sound trio first, then return to regroup with Sasuke and Sakura.
That way he wouldn't be forced into a passive situation later.
As for Sasuke's safety…
Getting a "curse mark strawberry" wasn't a big deal.
If Sasuke stayed in Konoha, he'd be starving half the time anyway. Following Orochimaru was a path Sasuke would eventually choose regardless.
The entire Uchiha clan was strange.
Naruto still didn't understand why Itachi had slaughtered the clan but left Sasuke alive.
If Itachi was already so absurdly powerful, why not just take Sasuke away and train him personally?
Instead everything spiraled into revenge.
Revenge against family.Revenge against the village.Then revenge against everyone.
Everyone wanted revenge. It was like they'd all gone insane—killing anyone they saw and trying to destroy the world.
Even Eren Yeager would probably give them a thumbs-up for their dedication.
In a world full of lunatics, Naruto's philosophy was simple:
Respect others' fate.Abandon the urge to save people.
All he cared about was using the system to refresh options and eventually extract the Nine-Tails from his body.
As for who ended up possessing Kurama afterward…
That had nothing to do with him.
"Hm? Someone nearby."
Naruto's mind sharpened instantly. He held his breath and carefully approached the source.
Parting the leaves, he saw three ninjas standing in a clearing—two men and one woman.
They were looking around nervously, clearly searching for something.
Naruto observed them for a moment before recognizing them.
The Sound trio: Dosu, Zaku, and Kin.
"Damn it! Where's Lord Orochimaru's mark?" Zaku said anxiously.
"It should be around here," Kin muttered, scanning the area nervously.
"Hurry up and find it," Dosu said hoarsely. "Without the mark, we can't receive Lord Orochimaru's next instructions."
"Oh shut up," Kin snapped impatiently.
"What did you say?" Dosu glared coldly.
Just as the two began arguing, Zaku suddenly spotted something.
His eyes lit up as he ran toward a nearby bush.
"Hey! Come here! I found the mark Lord Orochimaru left—"
Before he could finish—
Slash.
A katana suddenly pierced straight through his throat.
Everything happened too fast.
Naruto burst out of the bush like a cannonball, driving the blade forward with explosive force and pinning Zaku's throat.
Zaku's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the masked figure before him.
"Saku!" Dosu shouted.
Without hesitation, he attacked through his own teammate, releasing waves of sound toward Naruto and Zaku in a wide-area blast.
At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed in Naruto's mind.
[Option 1: Eliminate the Sound Trio.]Reward: Fire Release – Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
[Option 2: Capture and interrogate them for Orochimaru's intel.]Reward: Wind Release – Wind Blade.
The translucent system panel appeared before Naruto.
Both rewards were ordinary ninjutsu.
It didn't really matter which one he chose.
Naruto glanced at the remaining two Sound ninjas.
And instantly made his decision.
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