The air smelled of damp earth and rusted metal. The breeze blowing from within the forest brought no peace, only a warning.
Anko Mitarashi, with her customary predator's smile, stood before the assembled genin.
"Welcome… to the Forest of Death," she announced, her tone seeming to relish the fear on their faces.
"Here, you will have to fight, survive… and if you're lucky, come out alive."
Some swallowed hard. Others exchanged nervous glances.
Arata, however, watched her in silence. He knew perfectly well what was coming next.
He knew this exam wasn't just a test… it was the stage where Orochimaru would appear, where Sasuke would receive the cursed seal, and where many would lose their lives.
Anko continued speaking with her characteristic mocking air, explaining the rules of the second exam:
each team had to obtain two scrolls, one of Heaven and one of Earth, and reach the central tower before the time limit.
Then, she pulled out a stack of papers and began distributing them among the groups.
"Read this carefully. It's a consent form for death," she said, smiling. "If you sign it, it means you accept the risk of dying here.
So think it over, kids!"
When the paper reached his hands, Arata held it between his fingers, staring at it fixedly.
The murmur of the others grew distant.
For a moment, he saw himself before all of this… sitting in front of the screen, watching Naruto for the umpteenth time.
That world had always been his refuge.
A story where he could lose himself without thinking about his own problems.
Where death, pain, and war were viewed from afar, through the comfort of a screen.
Everything there was safe.
But now… he was inside.
"What am I doing?" he thought, lowering his gaze.
The weight of the paper in his hands seemed to multiply.
"I'm here… in the world I always dreamed of, and instead of living it, all I do is worry about the canon."
He clenched his fists.
He slapped his own cheeks, hard enough for Tsubaki and Rei to glance at him sideways.
"How stupid I am!"
He had died once, that was certain.
And yet, here he was, breathing, walking, living a second chance.
If all of this was real, why not enjoy it to the last drop?
If Orochimaru took notice of him… so be it.
If the story deviated from the path he knew… then he would adapt.
He no longer wanted to live in fear.
He was no longer a spectator.
He was part of the ninja world.
A soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"You seem fired up," Tsubaki commented, approaching with a slight smile.
"That's good. Orochimaru expects everything to go perfectly; we can't afford to fail."
Arata looked at her and nodded calmly.
"We won't."
As she walked away, Arata looked at his own hands.
The faint tingling of flowing chakra reminded him how little he truly understood his own power.
Until now, he had been using it without control, crudely.
He then remembered one of the most basic lessons from the manga:
"Chakra is born from the union of physical energy and spiritual energy, and must be refined within the body before use."
Refine… that was the key.
Naruto could waste chakra because he had the Kyūbi; his reserves were nearly infinite.
But he did not.
If he wanted to survive—if he wanted to truly fight in this world—he had to learn to control, not just release.
He took a deep breath, feeling the air fill his lungs.
The fear dissipated, giving way to something else: determination.
He put away the now-signed paper, stood up, and looked toward the forest.
The wind blew strongly, making the branches creak as if the place itself was impatient to devour them.
A new light shone in his eyes.
He was no longer the boy who feared altering the canon.
He was a ninja of the Sound… and he was ready for whatever came next.
The wind howled through the trees of the Forest of Death, carrying the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves. The atmosphere was thick, almost suffocating, and the silence before the exam's start felt like a rope stretched to its breaking point.
Each team stood before their respective gate, awaiting the signal.
Arata could feel his pulse racing in his neck, a mix of adrenaline and anxiety.
It wasn't exactly fear, but something more primal—a total awareness of the danger.
Tsubaki broke the silence, her tone firm yet warm:
"Let's go, team. Remember the plan. Stay together, don't separate, and prioritize stealth over force.
If you want to get out of here alive, trust me."
Arata glanced at her. Her confidence was contagious, and Rei, the quietest of the group, nodded without a word.
The dynamic between the three was tense but synchronized; for the first time, Arata felt he was part of something real.
A metallic clang echoed in the distance: the sound of gate locks disengaging.
Then, an almost simultaneous roar.
The gates lifted, and teams surged into the thick wilderness.
The forest swallowed them whole.
The terrain was hostile, covered in roots, branches, and countless insects. Light barely filtered through the canopy, creating a humid, oppressive environment.
The air was thick with chakra.
Every step could mean an ambush.
Arata advanced cautiously, his senses on high alert.
They hadn't even been moving for ten minutes when a blood-curdling scream shattered the silence.
The echo traveled through the entire forest, sending birds fleeing in panic.
Arata froze in his tracks.
"What was that?" Rei asked, his hand moving to his kunai.
Arata narrowed his eyes. He would recognize that scream anywhere, even if he'd only ever heard it in the anime.
"Shino…" he murmured under his breath.
"Did you say something?" Rei asked.
Arata shook his head, though internally he thought with bitterness:
So the casualties have already started…
Tsubaki shot them a look.
"Maintain formation. If we get distracted, we'll end up just like them."
Arata nodded, though a part of him couldn't shake the knot in his stomach.
He knew many of the faces he saw today would be gone before the exam ended.
It was different seeing it from a screen… and being here.
They pressed on.
The sound of snapping branches made them halt abruptly.
"Careful," Tsubaki whispered.
Too late.
A group of three ninja emerged from the shadows, unleashing a volley of shuriken.
Arata rolled to the side on pure instinct.
The metal sliced through the air where his neck had been just a second before.
"They're from the Land of Rain!" Rei shouted, unsheathing his kunai.
"Dammit…" Arata thought, getting to his feet. "It had to be them…"
The symbol of the rain, marked on their headbands, confirmed his suspicion.
His memories of the canon blended with what he saw before his eyes:
at this point in the timeline, the Land of Rain was embroiled in a civil war.
Hanzo still ruled, though his power was slowly crumbling before the rise of new, hidden forces.
"I guess it's not dangerous yet…" he thought as he retreated.
But the enemy gave no quarter.
One of the Rain ninja lunged forward, trying to stab him.
Arata raised his arm, deflecting the attack with his chakra-reinforced forearm.
The impact made him stagger, but he kept his balance.
His body still wasn't as fast as the others, but his training with Dosu had left its mark.
"Now, Rei!" Tsubaki yelled.
Rei formed hand seals rapidly and launched a compressed gust of wind, strong enough to throw the enemy off balance.
Tsubaki seized the opening, appearing behind him and delivering a precise blow to the neck that rendered him unconscious.
"One down," she said coolly.
Arata barely had time to dodge another kunai.
The enemy who had thrown it smirked mockingly.
"You Sound ninja have guts, but you won't last long."
"We'll see about that," Arata retorted, lunging forward.
The exchange was brief but brutal.
Arata didn't have the same technique as his teammates, but his body moved on pure instinct, and his mind analyzed every detail like a player in a game he knew by heart.
A punch, a distraction, a spinning kick that sent the enemy crashing to the ground.
He breathed heavily, his heart pounding in his chest.
When silence returned to the forest, the three enemies were either unconscious or fleeing.
Rei lowered his weapon.
"That was faster than I expected."
Tsubaki smiled.
"Just the beginning. Stay alert. We don't know how many more teams are watching us."
Arata nodded, wiping sweat from his brow.
Chakra still pulsed in his veins, dense and warm.
He felt a spark of excitement.