The forest loomed in front of us like some kind of wooden amalgamation.
You couldn't even see past the first few trees. After a few meters, it looked almost pitch black with minimal sunlight making it inside. The place was definitely intimidating, that's for sure, and the large metal fence didn't help with that.
'I'm going to get jump scared by other Genin teams like this is a horror movie.' I sigh to myself.
Every single Genin looked older, taller, broader, eyes already hardened from field work.
"I can't wait to get this over with."
"It's because those stone fuckers kept running from us. I wouldn't be here!"
"Look, it's lord third's team..."
"They look so young."
The whispers and murmurs from the others hit my ear. They certainly weren't reserved in any way.
From what I can infer from whispers from some teams. They might have come back from the first shinobi war. Desperate to rank up, perhaps after not racking up any merits.
That's definitely a problem.
Dozens of teams gathered around the entrance, shinobi from every corner of the village. Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were with me, were silent as we chose a boulder to lean on.
The proctor, a sharp-eyed woman with a voice that could pierce eardrums, raised a clipboard.
"Listen up! The second phase of the Chunin Exams begins here. Each team will receive one scroll. This will be either a Heaven or Earth scroll. Your goal is simple. Reach the central tower with both. You'll need to take the opposite scroll from another team. The only two rules are not to kill and in no case whatsoever open the scrolls!"
She jerked her thumb toward the forest.
"What happens if we open the scroll by accident?" One Genin asked.
"Yeah, if we didn't do it on purpose and didn't look at the contents. It shouldn't disqualify us..." Another adds.
The proctor, though, didn't look impressed and glared daggers, making them shut up.
"You will fail." The simple statement made the hair on everyone's skin stand up.
Remembering the rules, I nod in understanding.
'There are no external villages participating, and a war ended just a year ago.' It was definitely reasonable enough that we shouldn't kill each other. Especially since we need more manpower if anything.
I caught Orochimaru's expression, a sly but dangerous grin. This smile wasn't the innocent one he'd show the team.
It gave me a bad feeling.
Tsunade, on the other hand, was visibly jumpy, unable to stand still. She leaned in close and whispered, "Hey, Jiraiya. What if you used that Transparent Jutsu of yours to sneak a peek at which scrolls everyone gets?"
I blinked, then looked at her in surprise. "Tell Orochimaru, let's see what he thinks of it."
"Orochimaru," she immediately grabbed him and dragged the kid over. Explaining the same thing to him.
Orochimaru's brows lowered a little as if contemplating.
"I already had a plan, but we can divert it a little. It depends on who we can target." He answers to which we nod.
Going behind the boulder and facing away from the entrance of the forest of death, I proceed to make a clone, even if there were a few people watching.
Tiger
[Shadow Clone]
Watching the clone immediately disappear, I make my way back to the team.
After a few minutes, the proctor began calling team numbers, handing each squad their sealed scrolls. Which was inside a small tent that looked more like a lemonade stand.
But the openings were covered in cloth.
It didn't take long
"Team seven!"
Hearing this, we walked in at triangle formation, with the shadow clone in the middle.
Entering the relatively small tent altogether. There were two proctors inside who had scrolls stacked up behind the desk. One was scanning over the three of us, while the other was sitting down over to the side.
"Team Seven. You'll draw your scroll here."
Orochimaru stepped forward, all calm precision, and pulled a tightly sealed scroll from the box. The red symbol for Earth was stamped across it.
All three of us nod to each other, now knowing that we needed a heaven scroll.
Making our way out with the scroll in Orochimaru's pouch, the shadow clone was off to the side. We started to wander off to the left of the entrance. Scanning around for any teams that could potentially be following us.
But by the fourth team, which had a girl with a Kurama clan symbol and a guy Aburame member. My shadow clone popped.
'First three have earth... Useless. The team that caught my clone has heaven, damn.' I thought annoyed.
They were more than competent, and catching my clone was troublesome.
Though I do wonder what their reactions were...
Orochimaru tilted his head. "You lost the clone?"
"Yeah. Someone spotted it." I whisper to him, replaying the last few seconds in my head. "The only team with a Heaven Scroll was the team with a Kurama and Aburame. I don't remember the last one."
"Nice! Should we go for them?" Tsunade brightened. Orochimaru, who heard this, was rubbing his chin in contemplation.
"We shouldn't. Hiruzen sensei told me that Sakumo Hatake had two teammates who almost became Chunin but lost to poison. If they are those two, it wouldn't be good." I interject.
My half-lie caused their eyes to widen.
It was unfortunate that my shadow clone didn't get to achieve too much.
Orochimaru glanced toward the forest again, his voice even but sharp. "Tsunade, Jiraiya, we probably have teams tracking us due to our age anyway. We can take advantage and set up traps. Ignore that team."
He finally made up his mind.
We slipped through the iron bars and ran under the trees; most of the light above us vanished almost instantly. Tsunade glanced up at the branches above us and frowned.
"Should we go higher? We'd have a better view," she suggested.
Orochimaru didn't look back. "There are blood sucking slugs up there in swarms," he said flatly. "They drop down in swarms and drain you dry if you don't remove them in time."
That killed any retort.
Tsunade muttered something about disgusting forests while I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly itchy all over.
We moved in silence after that, dashing through roots and low brush for nearly ten minutes. The deeper we went, the thicker the air felt. Every few meters, I'd hear something scuttle off or see a shape move at the edge of my vision.
A centipede that was over two meters thick and twenty meters long was spotted.
Tsunade actually hissed under her breath.
'Oh hell no.'
Orochimaru didn't even blink at this, stopping near a cluster of thick trees. "This area is the perfect place for me to set up my trap."
He crouched, running his hand across the dirt. "There's some space between the roots. Good for hiding or setting bait later."
We started checking the area, but before anyone could speak, the ground vibrated slightly. Then came a heavy growl, rustling coming from the bushes just a few meters from us.
All of us tensed up, ready to spread out.
A moment later, it stepped out from behind a tree.
A bear.
Massive, brown, and a bit bigger than anything back on Earth. Its fur was patchy, and its breath came out in rough bursts that stank like hell.
Tsunade exhaled sharply. "It's just a bear."
Orochimaru's eyes tracked its movements, calm as always. "We should kill it," he said. "Make it look like we fought here. If anyone's following, they'll follow the trail to find us."
I nodded.
The bear saw us and let out a deep roar that shook the leaves above. It charged, claws digging into the soil like blades.
"Now!" Orochimaru hissed, throwing a kunai.
*Swoosh* *Splak!*
A perfect throw right into one of its eyes, making it roar out in pain. Not waiting any longer, Tsunade and I throw shuriken, which embed themselves in the poor animal's skull.
Killing it slowly as its speed could not catch us.
We left the carcass behind, vanishing into the trees. While Tsunade and I hid somewhere not too high up in the trees. But from a mid-vantage point in the thick leaves.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, spent a few minutes setting up a trap before hiding in a bush nearby.
...
---
[Omniscient POV]
High above the forest floor, a team of three moved cautiously along the thick branches.
One of them, an Inuzuka clan member with sharp smell. Even without his dog due to its young age, his ability to read scents and detect movement was exceptional. His team's average age was around 11, with this being their first chunin exam.
He paused and tilted his head. "I smell those kids from the exam," he muttered to his teammates. "Not too far from here."
The others glanced around, hands ready on kunai and shuriken, their eyes scanning the shadows below and above.
As they moved closer, the Inuzuka kid crouched low on the branch and whispered, "I smell one down in the bushes, two up in the trees. We focus our sights on the solo first. I also smell the blood from the bear from before on him; he might be injured."
His companions nodded silently, gripping their weapons tightly, calculating their approach.
The forest beneath them seemed calm, deceptively so.
They crept closer, each step careful, branches barely creaking under their weight. The Inuzuka member signaled with a tilt of his head, and two of them leapt down from the trees, aiming for the target below.
Hurling a few kunai into a dense bush, expecting the occupants to flinch.
Inside the bush, a figure tensed.
A kid with pale white skin was left with "panic". He leaped outward, giving the impression of vulnerability, a bait for the approaching enemies.
The Genin believed they had the upper hand; their larger size and older age gave them confidence in a straightforward confrontation.
Two of them advanced, aiming to corner him and engage him directly in Taijutsu. The third hung back, watching for any surprises. As the attackers closed the distance, Orochimaru vanished in a blur and reappeared in a different position.
The Body Replacement Technique had been executed flawlessly, and for a moment, the two charging shinobi thought their target had escaped.
A log had taken Orochimaru's place in the original bush.
The two attackers slammed into the faux target, arms swinging and feet scrambling. They paused, eyes wide, glancing around for their prey.
From behind, the third teammate shouted urgently, spotting a certain seal on the log.
"Get out of there!"
The sound carried with the panic in his voice.
Jiraiya and Tsunade watching from a decent distance away on the trees. Had their kunai in hand, ready to strike when Orochimaru gave the signal.
Orochimaru, who was on top of the trees, looked downwards with a sadistic look at the two genin bellow him.
Making a hand seal.
Rat
The two genin, realising they needed to run, started to sprint through the bushes.
But as they ran, their legs felt a piece of string which halted their movement of any kind. A preplanned trap. Both of them fell to the ground in a loud thud as the Inazuka watched in horror.
*BOOM!*
-------
[A/N: I think the recent 3-star review is gonna make me never take any ratings seriously again xD.
Even with edits to show the MC is acting a little, even if he's over the top. Skim reading won't save me unless Jiraiya becomes a sigma Sung Jin-woo.
0 logic? Sure, everybody has their own interpretation of Naruto. But why is 80% of the reviews guessing how my story is going to go? To be fair, there isn't much to nitpick in three chapters to make a banger of a review.
On the topic of nitpicking. He's mad about the MC having zero taijutsu but he does know the katas from the originals memory? Either way, Jiraiya is 6 if he even read that part. With him being fresh out of the academy, trying to improve on the basics is the last thing that should be suspicious.
Especially since it's kid Jiraiya...
Remembering Jiraiya using the [Whatever Jutsu] makes this even funnier, because he genuinely is just cooked at ninjutsu. Idk, I've been reading fanfics for years, and it's the most niche problem I've ever read, which is why I have to rant abt this.
And just like I do on instagram, I went on his profile and read his own fanfic. And the first three chapters are Asuma bashing and him acting all "older" and better over kids by insulting them. Surely he's the alt account of the other guy who gave a 3-star...
He lives rent-free in my head.
My rant is over now lol, I should delete this later]