Chapter 113: The Rules of the Second Exam

"Now, before the second exam begins, I’m going to give you this."

Anko Mitarashi took out a stack of documents filled with writing.

"Consent forms!"

The three words were clearly written at the top of the document.

Anko lightly waved the forms in her hand.

"Anyone who wants to participate in the exam must sign one of these first."

One of the participating genin raised a question.

"Why?"

Anko revealed a strange smile.

"Because people might die during the upcoming exam.

"So, to avoid any disputes, you must sign a consent form before you can proceed to the next exam.

"Otherwise, I’ll be held responsible."

Silence.

The entire venue fell into an eerie silence.

But no one backed down.

No one announced that they wanted to quit.

Anko smiled and handed the consent forms to the people in the front row. They were then passed from one person to another until every examinee had received one.

Anko continued,

"Now, let’s explain the rules of the second exam.

"Simply put, you’ll be undergoing an extreme wilderness survival challenge inside the Forest of Death.

"First, let me explain the terrain of Training Ground Forty-Four.

"Training Ground Forty-Four is a circular area surrounded by forty-four locked entrances. There are forests and rivers inside, with a tower standing at the center.

"The distance from the entrance to the central tower is approximately ten kilometers.

"In other words, the entire Forest of Death has a diameter of roughly twenty kilometers.

"Within this designated area, you’ll compete for scrolls."

As she spoke, Anko took two scrolls from her robe, one white and one black.

"Heaven Scroll. Earth Scroll."

The character for "Heaven" was written on the white scroll, while the character for "Earth" was written on the black one.

Anko gestured toward the scrolls in her hands and continued,

"There are twenty teams that passed the first exam.

"I’ll distribute one scroll to each team.

"Ten teams will receive Heaven Scrolls, while the other ten will receive Earth Scrolls.

"The two sides will then fight to take the scrolls from each other.

"When a three-man team possesses both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and enters the central tower, that team will pass the second exam."

Sakura raised her hand.

"So, does that mean that among the ten teams whose scrolls are stolen, half of them will be eliminated?"

Anko raised one finger and waved it from side to side.

"Ideally, ten teams will pass and ten teams will fail.

"But in reality, the number of teams that fail will definitely exceed ten!"

A failure rate of more than fifty percent?

Several examinees’ pupils shrank when they heard this.

Anko continued,

"The second exam will last 120 hours, which means five days."

She looked over the examinees.

When he heard that they would have to stay for five days, Choji looked stunned.

"Five days? What are we supposed to eat?"

Anko’s face darkened.

Of everything he could worry about, he was only concerned about food?

She glared at Choji.

Then she noticed the clan crest on his clothes and immediately became speechless.

The Akimichi Clan.

No wonder.

Anko said impatiently,

"You’re responsible for providing for yourselves. The wilderness is a natural treasure trove, and the Forest of Death naturally has enough food."

One of the examinees frowned.

"I bet there are wild beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants, and all sorts of things everywhere, too."

Choji looked utterly devastated.

"How could it be like this?"

Ino couldn’t help saying,

"You idiot. Otherwise, why would they call it wilderness survival? They might as well call it an outdoor picnic."

Naruto spoke up.

"In other words, during the five-day exam period, even if we obtain both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, we can’t immediately enter the tower.

"We have to wait until the five-day exam period ends before we can enter the central tower and hand them in.

"During that time, even a team that has obtained both scrolls can have them stolen by another team."

Anko glanced at Naruto and nodded.

"That’s right."

Several examinees’ pupils contracted upon hearing this.

Others, however, had their eyes light up.

Neji spoke thoughtfully.

"Indeed. Five days is too long, and there are too many variables. That means a fifty-percent passing rate is impossible."

Sasuke said,

"Everyone around us is an enemy. We can’t afford to let our guard down.

"We’ll have to remain highly vigilant every day, even during our rest."

Anko crossed her arms.

"If anyone can’t accept the harsh conditions of the second exam, you can withdraw now.

"Of course, if even one person withdraws, the entire team will be considered to have withdrawn from the exam."

The examinees looked at one another.

Shikamaru raised his hand.

"Um... can we give up midway through the exam?"

Anko shook her head, her expression turning serious.

"As a rule, you cannot withdraw once the exam has begun.

"You have five days. Spend them well in the Forest of Death."

Shikamaru sighed and folded his arms.

"Just as I thought... What a drag..."

Anko continued,

"Now, let me explain the elimination conditions.

"First: Any team that fails to obtain both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls within the allotted time.

"Second: Any team that loses a member, or has a member become incapable of continuing.

"And one additional rule: You are not allowed to look at the contents of either scroll before reaching the central tower."

Suigetsu raised his hand.

"What happens if we look?"

Anko smiled.

"You can try."

Suigetsu’s face darkened.

Who would actually try that?

Anko smiled again.

"Once you become Chunin, you’ll also have opportunities to come into contact with classified documents.

"This is a test of whether you can restrain your curiosity and whether you’re worthy of trust.

"All right. That’s the end of the rules.

"Those willing to accept the rules and participate in the exam should sign the consent form and hand it to the guards over there as a team. You’ll then receive your Heaven and Earth Scroll.

"The guards will tell you which entrance you’re assigned to.

"You have half an hour to consider whether you want to participate. After that, you have another half hour to reach your assigned entrance and wait.

"One hour from now, the exam officially begins."

After speaking for quite some time, Anko let out a long breath.

Then her expression became serious.

"Finally, I’ll give you all one piece of advice.

"Don’t die."

...

The three members of Team 7 sat against a large tree not far from the entrance to the Forest of Death.

Sasuke spoke.

"This exam is called a wilderness survival and scroll-retrieval test, but in reality, it’s making us kill each other."

Naruto nodded.

"Exactly. No one is going to willingly hand over the scroll in their possession.

"They’ve trapped us inside the Forest of Death and are using a survival-of-the-fittest method to determine which teams are the strongest.

"I’m afraid there will be plenty of people who’ll resort to anything to obtain the scrolls."

Sasuke’s heart stirred.

"Then we..."

A faint murderous glint appeared in his eyes.

Naruto smiled.

"Try to eliminate the weaker teams.

"Don’t leave too many teams for the third exam. They’ll only waste our time."

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.

So Naruto was already planning for the third exam.

But after the second exam ended, when exactly would the third exam begin?

He had heard that the feudal lords of various countries, and even some of the daimyos, would be coming.

Hearing this, Hinata spoke with a hint of reluctance.

"Naruto, we shouldn’t..."

Naruto reached out and rubbed her head.

"What are you thinking about?

"The Konoha shinobi taking the second exam are all our classmates.

"And one of the teams is your brother Neji’s team.

"How could we possibly do anything to them?"

They had no grudges from the past and no recent conflicts.

For a mere Chunin Exam, Naruto naturally had no intention of doing anything to them.

As for the future, if they became obstacles...

Hearing this, Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she wasn’t particularly close to everyone, she still didn’t want to kill classmates she’d spent so many years with.

Naruto raised the consent form in his hand.

"All right. It’s about time. Let’s sign these and get ready to go in."

Sasuke and Hinata signed their names on the consent forms.

The three of them then walked toward the guard station.

To prevent teams from observing other teams and learning which scroll they had received, curtains had been set up around the guard station.

The three lifted the curtain, walked up to the guard, and handed over their consent form.

Naruto said,

"Team Seven of Konoha."

The guard checked their signatures and compared them with the list of those who had passed the first exam.

After confirming that everything was in order, the guard took out a white Heaven Scroll and handed it to Naruto.

"You’ll wait at Entrance Seven."

"Okay."

Naruto nodded and immediately tucked the scroll into his robe.

After leaving the guard station, the three quickly headed toward Entrance Seven of the Forest of Death.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at Entrance Seven.

The guard at the entrance nodded.

They walked up to the iron gate and waited for further instructions.

More than ten minutes later, Anko’s voice came through the guard’s earpiece.

"The Chunin Selection Exam’s second stage begins... now!"

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