That afternoon, the second stage of the Chūnin Exams began.
Outside the Forest of Death, a dense crowd of examinees from every village had gathered.
Standing among them, Naruto's golden hair made him stand out like a beacon.
His striking looks, tall frame, and composed demeanor had many kunoichi sneaking glances at him.
Among the Genin present, there were all sorts of eccentric styles—
Some had their faces wrapped in bandages, others wore half their outfits, seemingly believing that looking bizarre made them look strong.
But true strength never needed theatrics.
Just then, a kunoichi from Konoha stepped to the front.
Her voluptuous figure, fully accentuated by her netted bodysuit, immediately drew attention.
Naruto recognized her in a glance—Anko Mitarashi, still in her pre-"sweet potato" form.
He gave her a mental nod of approval.
"Gotta admit, her figure was pretty great during this period… shame she let desserts ruin her by the time Boruto rolled around."
Anko grinned mischievously and greeted them cheerfully:
"Yo! Welcome to the Forest of Death! Just a heads-up—some of you really might die in there~"
After her teasing intro, she began explaining the rules.
Same as the original: teams must collect both Heaven and Earth scrolls and reach the tower to pass.
Naruto told Kimimaro and the others to form their own teams. Whether they passed or not didn't really matter to him.
Besides, with Kimimaro's current strength, there really weren't many in this exam who could threaten him.
Naruto then sought out Hinata and Ino's teams.
The Forest of Death still carried some danger, and Naruto wasn't about to let them go in alone.
When he offered to team up, both groups immediately agreed—especially Shikamaru, who couldn't believe his luck.
"Carried by Naruto? Why bother walking when you can ride a bullet train?"
Meanwhile, Sasuke shot them a look but didn't come over.
Ever since the "Grandpa Dream," he'd started to believe he could surpass Naruto on his own.
He grabbed a scroll and stepped into the forest without looking back.
Sakura quickly followed behind him.
Inside the forest, Naruto didn't feel like wasting time.
He immediately activated Kagura's Mind Eye.
Every ninja's presence in the area was laid bare to his senses.
Walking behind him, Hinata felt her tension melt away.
Just seeing his back was enough to fill her with peace.
Not even Kurenai-sensei could give her that kind of security.
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Dozens of Naruto clones burst into being.
Each clone scattered across the forest, guided by Naruto's Kagura Mind Eye to locate enemy teams with pinpoint accuracy.
—
In one corner, a team of dark-skinned Kumogakure shinobi had just appeared when a flash of gold streaked by.
They were instantly knocked out by one of Naruto's clones. Scroll secured.
—
Similar scenes played out all over the Forest of Death.
Once again, the shinobi recalled their old fear of the Yellow Flash.
Any Genin who caught a glimpse of that golden light turned and ran in panic.
Thankfully, Naruto didn't need many scrolls.
Once he had enough, the lightning blitz came to a stop.
"Pick one."
Naruto pointed to the pile of scrolls at their feet.
It had taken less than two and a half minutes.
Staring at the growing mountain of Heaven and Earth scrolls, Shikamaru couldn't help but give a thumbs-up.
"Now that's a teammate. Carry me, senpai!"
Ino gave him a sidelong glance.
"So you're saying me and Chōji aren't good teammates? Did we not carry you tons before? You're the laziest of all when we're on missions."
Shikamaru raised both hands in surrender.
"My bad, my bad…"
Arguing with girls? No thanks. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
Each person picked a scroll.
Just as they were about to head for the tower, Naruto halted and said:
"Ready?"
Then he flung a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Shwoop—!
It vanished instantly.
—
At the tower's entrance, Hayate Gekkō, the proctor, suddenly felt something flash past his ear.
A kunai whizzed by, slicing off a few strands of his hair before embedding itself in the tree behind him.
He instinctively prepared to counterattack—thinking he was under assault—
But the next moment, Naruto and his entire group appeared beneath the kunai in a golden flash.
Hayate's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
His already pale face somehow managed to go paler.
Naruto glanced at him casually.
He remembered Hayate—not for his strength, but because his death had marked the beginning of a great arc.
Also… his girlfriend, Yugao Uzuki, was quite the knockout.
The others felt a momentary loss of gravity from the teleportation.
Once they steadied themselves—
"Wait, we're… already here?"
Hayate Gekkō silently checked their scrolls.
"All verified. You pass."
Seeing how easy it was, Kiba puffed up in mock frustration:
"Tch. That's it? I was ready to throw down! Once they saw my Fang Over Fang, those other villages' Genin would've pissed their pants!"
From behind, Shino ghosted into view.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
Kiba jumped, startled.
"Shino! Don't sneak up behind people like that! You scared me half to death!"
Shino adjusted his sunglasses.
"Sneak up? I've been standing behind you the whole time."
Kiba groaned.
'There's no winning with this guy.'
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were facing off against a dark-haired kunoichi.
She stared hungrily at Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, licking her lips with a forked, snake-like tongue.
"Such… delicious eyes. But they'll be mine soon enough. Kekekeke…"
Naruto's Kagura Mind Eye sensed the confrontation from afar.
He recognized it immediately—Orochimaru was making his move.
Still, Naruto chose not to interfere.
"Maybe letting Sasuke get modified by Orochimaru isn't such a bad idea after all."
Sasuke had already unlocked Three-Tomoe and had trained under Naruto for a bit.
He was much stronger than his canon counterpart at this point.
Sakura tried to stand by Sasuke's side, ready to fight…
But the moment combat began, just a single shockwave from their clash sent her flying.
She wasn't even qualified to "stand."
Sasuke, using Sharingan and the Chidori he'd learned early from Kakashi, actually managed to hold his own against Orochimaru at first.
This boosted his confidence immensely.
Orochimaru, however, was still on guard. He'd been traumatized by Itachi's genjutsu and stayed alert for illusions.
But soon, he realized—Sasuke didn't even know genjutsu.
Despite his growth, Sasuke was still far from Orochimaru's level.
When he finally made a mistake, Orochimaru's neck stretched unnaturally long and lunged forward like a striking viper.
His snake jaws clamped down on Sasuke's neck—drawing blood.
When he pulled back, the wound didn't just show fang marks…
It bore three tomoe-shaped marks, like a dark Sharingan etched into flesh.
Sasuke clutched the wound, his body burning up.
"You! What did you do to me?!"