Chapter 114: Entering the Forest of Death

The first written exam had begun at nine in the morning.

The written test lasted one hour.

At ten o’clock, the first written exam ended.

The second exam’s chief examiner, Anko Mitarashi, led the examinees toward the Forest of Death.

After arriving at the Forest of Death at around 10:30, Anko began explaining the rules.

By approximately eleven o’clock, the explanation of the second exam’s rules was complete.

The examinees were given one hour to consider and prepare.

At noon, the second exam officially began.

Team 7 entered the Forest of Death through Entrance Seven.

The Forest of Death rarely saw sunlight throughout the year, giving it a gloomy atmosphere.

The trees were dense, with ancient trees towering into the sky.

The trunks were so thick that they looked as though they had been pumped full of growth hormones.

A single tree could easily have a diameter of more than ten meters, or even dozens of meters.

Some were so massive that it would take more than a dozen people, dozens of people, or even a hundred people holding hands to encircle them.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata leaped through the enormous trees.

Naruto, who was in front, turned his head.

"It’s noon. Let’s find something to eat first. We can catch some fish while we’re at it."

They weren’t in a hurry to search for other genin teams and steal their scrolls.

Twenty teams were fighting over scrolls within an area roughly twenty kilometers in diameter for five days.

They had plenty of time.

Naruto couldn’t be bothered to search for them.

Wouldn’t it be better to simply let the others come to them?

"Okay~."

Sasuke and Hinata naturally had no objections to Naruto’s arrangement.

It was noon, after all, and they were both hungry.

They had prepared soldier pills with them, but...

Could soldier pills compare to the aroma of grilled meat?

Not long after, Sasuke, who was leaping through the forest while observing his surroundings, seemed to notice something.

He suddenly stopped on a huge branch and pointed behind a patch of grass.

"Naruto, let’s have that for lunch!"

Hearing this, Naruto and Hinata quickly stopped.

They followed Sasuke’s finger and looked over.

A wild boar!

Judging roughly, it weighed three or four hundred pounds.

That would be enough food for the entire day.

Naruto couldn’t help looking toward Hinata.

Hinata was staring at the wild boar, her eyes gleaming with an indescribable excitement.

Suddenly, she seemed to notice Naruto looking at her.

A trace of panic rose in the depths of her eyes, and her cheeks flushed red.

Seeing this, Naruto smiled.

He turned to Sasuke.

"Sure, Sasuke. I’ll leave it to you. Hinata and I will start a fire by the river ahead and wait for you."

After saying that, Naruto gave Hinata a meaningful glance before continuing forward.

Hinata was slightly embarrassed and hesitated for a moment.

But seeing that Naruto had already gone ahead, she stopped thinking about it and quickly followed.

Watching the two disappearing figures, Sasuke was left speechless.

Again?

Sasuke didn’t bother saying anything.

There was no point anyway.

Naruto and Hinata were already long gone.

He drew three kunai and suddenly threw them at the wild boar.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three sharp flashes of cold light streaked through the air.

In an instant, two kunai pierced directly through the wild boar’s eyes, while the third plunged straight into its neck.

Meanwhile.

After reaching the river, Naruto formed a hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Poof!

A cloud of smoke rose, revealing a shadow clone.

Naruto nodded at the clone.

The shadow clone immediately jumped into the water.

Splash!

Naruto turned to Hinata and explained,

"Roasting the whole wild boar will take too long. The shadow clone can catch a few fish first, so we’ll grill those to fill our stomachs.

"I’ll gather some firewood and start a fire. Hinata, keep watch.

"If we openly light a fire like this, it’ll definitely attract a lot of teams to investigate."

"Mm."

Hinata softly acknowledged him.

She then formed a one-handed seal, and the veins around her eyes bulged.

"Byakugan!"

Not long after, Naruto had built a fire.

Thin smoke slowly rose into the air.

Hinata vigilantly watched their surroundings.

Ten minutes later.

Sasuke returned carrying the wild boar on his shoulder.

Seeing several large fish already skewered beside the hot coals, he nodded in satisfaction.

He carried the wild boar to the riverbank and pulled the kunai from its body.

He expertly drained its blood and removed its hair.

Clearly, he was already an experienced hand at this.

Meanwhile.

The Sound Shinobi team entered the Forest of Death through Entrance Fifteen.

After traveling for a while, they stopped beside a large tree.

A large bird was perched on the tree.

Suigetsu turned to Jugo.

"Jugo, ask for some information."

Jugo nodded slightly and waved at the large bird.

As if sensing his signal, the bird spread its wings and flew over Jugo’s head in a circle.

Then it landed on his arm and began chirping.

Listening to the bird’s calls, Jugo looked in a certain direction and nodded slightly.

He then swung his arm, and the bird spread its wings and flew away.

Suigetsu asked from the side,

"Jugo, how was it?"

Jugo pointed east.

"Someone just passed through in this direction."

Suigetsu looked in the direction Jugo indicated, then nodded.

"Good. Hopefully, they have a Heaven Scroll."

With that, Suigetsu and Jugo quickly headed east.

Karin, who had been standing nearby with her arms crossed, stared blankly at them for a moment.

Jugo could ask birds for information?

Although she had known Jugo for quite some time, Karin had never really understood his abilities.

She only knew that he often went berserk.

He needed Kimimaro’s killing intent to suppress him, or a thorough beating to bring him back to his senses.

When Karin had first arrived at the Sound Village, she had been somewhat afraid of Jugo.

Someone who occasionally lost his mind was naturally intimidating.

Besides, if they wanted to find the locations of other teams, why hadn’t they asked her?

Why bother asking a bird?

Noticing that Karin hadn’t followed them, Suigetsu and Jugo stopped and turned around in confusion.

"Karin, what are you spacing out for?"

Karin rolled her eyes.

She then leaped forward a few times and caught up with Suigetsu and Jugo.

She formed a one-handed seal.

"Kagura Mind’s Eye!"

After sensing the situation around her, Karin’s eyes lit up.

She then said to Suigetsu and Jugo,

"There are three people about five kilometers to the east.

"Three more about seven kilometers to the northeast, heading toward the three people in the east..."

She continued, revealing the locations of all twenty teams throughout the entire Forest of Death.

After hearing Karin’s report, Suigetsu and Jugo were completely stunned.

Neither of them knew much about Karin’s abilities.

Back when Karin had been in the Sound Village, she hadn’t yet awakened the Kagura Mind’s Eye.

After recently returning to the Sound Village, they only vaguely knew that her sensory abilities were quite good.

They hadn’t expected her sensory range to cover the entire Forest of Death and accurately determine the locations and distances of the teams!

After recovering from his surprise, Suigetsu said speechlessly,

"If you had such powerful sensory abilities, why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Karin crossed her arms.

"You never asked."

Suigetsu was immediately rendered speechless.

He didn’t dwell on it.

After his momentary speechlessness, the corners of Suigetsu’s mouth lifted.

"Since we already know where the teams are, let’s deal with the team in the east first.

"Then we’ll deal with the team from the northeast that’s heading toward them.

"I believe one of these two teams will be carrying a Heaven Scroll."

Jugo was usually rather calm, while Karin had joined the team midway after replacing Guren, so Suigetsu was in charge of the Sound team’s actions.

"Deal with them?"

Hearing this, Karin raised an eyebrow and stared at Suigetsu with a teasing smile.

"Then, Suigetsu, you’ll have to handle them yourself later. Jugo and I will help collect your body."

Hearing this, Jugo seemed to understand what she meant.

The corners of his mouth curled slightly as he crossed his arms and looked at Suigetsu.

Suigetsu might have been an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid enough not to understand what was going on.

Then he thought of something.

The corners of his mouth spread into a grin, revealing his sharp teeth.

"Then go get my Executioner’s Blade back!"

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