The Red Flash Chapter 55 (The Forest of Death) (Patreon)

All the genin teams arrived at training ground 44, where the second part of the chunin exams would be held.

Naruto was standing with his teammates, observing everything around him. There were a total of around 23 teams that were going to be taking part in this round. He was also waiting for further information on what they were going to do in this round. He could see some chunin and jounin level shinobi standing there. But what got his attention were the Anbu officers that were present.

One thing he realised was that this round was not going to be easy like the last one. He had heard quite a lot about this particular training ground. It was dangerous, and only chunin and above level shinobi had permission to enter the field. But he didn't know what made this training ground so difficult.

At that moment, Anko decided to announce the rules and couldn't wait to see just how many would die. "Welcome to training ground 44, also known as the forest of death. My name is Anko Mitarashi, and I will be your proctor for the second round. Before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all."

She took out forms from her jacket and continued, "These are just standard consent forms. Before the test, you all have to read over this form and sign it."

Yugito asked in confusion, "But, why do we have to sign it?"

Anko smirked, and her tongue licked her lips slowly, making many male Shinobi blush, and not mentioning her arms were crossed under her bust, making them look bigger. "There's a very high chance of death involved in this. Some of you may not come back, and by signing it, you agree that you will be taking part in this round at your own risk. Neither I nor the leaf village will take responsibility if anything happens to any of you in the forest." She said while grinning evilly.

Most of the genins gulped after hearing her say that, and some of them hesitated to continue the exams.

Anko noticed that Naruto wasn't paying any attention to her; while she would bet all her life saving's that Naruto would reach the Final, that didn't mean that the brat shouldn't pay her attention.

Her hand reached a kunai; she knew Naruto would probably see her doing this; he was trained by Kakashi for four years after all, but where was the harm in having some fun.

She threw the kunai towards his left cheek with an evil smirk, but Naruto suddenly put two of his fingers and caught it mid-air. Many genins around gasped at seeing him catching a kunai with that speed.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn't seen the kunai coming, while Sakura looked horrified, her eyes searching for whoever threw the kunai.

Anko suddenly appeared behind Naruto, her impressive bust pressed against his back; Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly from the close contact with his big brother's lover.

"I see you weren't paying attention, little brat, those that don't usually are the first to die... Slowly" she whispered in his ear and dragged the word 'slowly'.

Naruto chuckled at her words. "You don't need to worry, Anko-chan, after all, Big bro Kakashi did train me", Naruto replied and feeling malice intent coming from behind them.

Naruto's muscle tensed immediately, something Anko noticed and moved away; her eyes saw Naruto glaring at someone behind her.

Her eyes glanced behind to see a woman; at first glance, she looked normal, but Anko couldn't help but feel uneasy at her presence. She also noticed someone standing close to her, a male with what she thought were white hair since he was wearing a round hat, covering his head, with little snake figures hanging at the edge of the cap.

The hat was made of straw, with a thin white rope around the top.

Anko walked back to her old position. Most of the students hadn't noticed her or Naruto eyeing the grass Shinobi team, except a few who had glanced in their direction and seeing nothing amiss except a certain Iwa Shinobi.

Interesting, But I wonder what are the likes of him doing here; if he's here, that means Orochimaru is taking this 'Invasion' plan seriously. I wonder what the old man would say, Ikano thought.

"Well, if you, please hurry so that I can explain what you're going to do in the forest," the proctor spoke once again.

Naruto had no hesitation on his face; he was not going to back down from it. He was fully confident in himself. He also had complete confidence in both his teammates that they were capable of handling anything. Even Sakura. He looked at them and asked, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah..." They both said to him with grins. They took their forms and signed them without reading them.

Sasuke cracked his knuckles, he felt ready to complete this second challenge, and unlike the first one, this one will test his powers.

As Sasuke thought of his current strength, his mind returned to what Kakashi-sensei said; that day, Sasuke had spent the whole day thinking about Kakashi's words, every time his mind told him that his sensei was perhaps right, but every time he saw the house empty...

Sasuke blocked that thought from his head. He needed to focus on the Chunin exams.

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't feel ready, her mind was trying to tell her that she was ready, but every time she looked at Sasuke, Naruto, the girls from Taki and a few other genins, she couldn't help but compare them to herself and couldn't help but feel worthless, what good can she even do in this situation, here she was walking towards danger, blindfolded without any information who the enemy could be or how can she even counter the enemy.

What am I even adding to the team? Both Sasuke and Naruto are capable, and I'm nothing but just 'here', standing...

After all the genins had signed their forms, Anko started again. "Alright, listen carefully, everyone. I'll explain what you'll be doing in this test. This will test everyone's survival skills. Each team will be assigned a different entrance gate to enter the forest. In the centre of the forest, there's a locked tower located 10km from each gate."

"It will be a race to reach the tower. But to enter the tower, your team needs to have both these Heaven and Earth scrolls." She showed them the scrolls in his hand. "Half of you will receive the Heaven scrolls, and the rest will receive the Earth scrolls. So you have to fight to get both the scrolls."

"That means half of us will fail this test," Shikamaru mentioned.

"I said it will be a race. We can't allow a large number of squads to pass this test for the next round. And if any of you poor genins die, your whole team will fail along with you, not that will be your concern once you become food," Anko mentioned, shocking the genins.

"WHAT..." were the cries of many genins present there. "You can't do that. That's totally unfair."

"Rules are rules. One more thing, the test has a time limit. You will get five days to finish this test, and the most important thing you should know is that you must not open the scroll before reaching the tower. If you open it, then your team will be disqualified immediately from the exams," Anko proctor informed the genins.

"WHAT? What will we do about FOOD" Choji cried out with anime tears on his face.

"There's plenty of animals and plants in the wilderness, of course, try to eat any poisonous plant like Mōmoku, eat that, and you can say goodbye to your eyes, and of course try to hunt animals, but you can always end up their food," Anko said grinning from the pale looks of many Genins around, except a few teams that didn't look intimated.

"Alright, please take your form over there." She pointed behind her. "And exchange it for the scroll, and after that, each team will be assigned a gate to be let inside."

After finishing the process and getting a debrief, all the genin teams stood at their assigned gates and waited for the signal to enter the forest.

Naruto was also behind the gates with his teammates. He was deep in his thoughts. This test was very tricky and had a very high chance of failure.

This exam was crucial for him, not only because it was the Chunin selection exam. It was essential for him, too, because he wanted to test out his limits, and there was no other platform better than this. He wanted to dominate these exams.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Sakura spoke, clearly seeing that Naruto was thinking.

Naruto grabbed their earth scroll; he puffed a scroll from his wrist seal and opened it; he put the earth scroll nearby and started writing a Seal. Sakura looked curiously at what he was doing. Sasuke minded his own business.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked curiously seeing the word 'ここ' written in Naruto's scroll, he then drew a circle around, he kept on drawing weird symbols and lines she couldn't understand, but then he saw him write another word close to the other one '召喚', she noticed he wrote almost the same lines and symbols around the other word, but she wondered what he was doing.

Naruto took the earth scroll, he wrote the word 'リンク' on the scroll, but the next thing she knew, the ink in the earth scroll disappeared, almost as if it was never there, to begin with.

"Very well, now we are ready, and I Will be the one keeping the scroll, got it" Naruto ordered with a much different tone, his usual carefree and kind tone changed to a commanding one, his eyes looked colder, almost ice, both Sakura and Sasuke nodded their heads in agreement.

Team 10

"Five days without food..." Chōji mumbled in fright as he opened a bag and started checking how much food he had.

"Will you shut up already!" Ino hissed. "Is food all you can really think about?"

"Chōji, you don't have to be worried about the food. Because there will be plenty of animals and plants that we can eat in the forest, we will not starve." Shikamaru noted.

"Mph..." The Akimichi frowned. "I know, I know."

"So stop moping and help us think about how we are getting another scroll!" Ino stated.

"It would be wise of us to lay a trap. I believe I can set up one in the forest, but I will need your help." Shikamaru said.

"Hmm...if you say so." Ino replied, thankfully Shikamaru knew how to make perfect plans.

Choji kept looking as he counted how many bags of chips, homemade cakes, and not mentioning sandwiches with meat he had.

Ino looked baffled at the amount of food Choji had on his bag, while Shikamaru was scratching his head and thinking if his friend was trying to lose weight since it seemed he hadn't brought as much as he used to.

Team 8

"Alright, guys, let me lead! This is my speciality." Kiba informed his teammates. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I'm fine with that. You use your nose and lead us to another team. My insects will find anyone nearby; then we ambush them and take their scroll." Shino said. "It's a simple plan, but it should work."

"Right." Hinata agreed. She saw the logic and agreed with it. She also knew that Kiba was not weak.

"After the mission in Lędar town, we can handle anything! This exam will be cake!" The Inuzuka proclaimed confidently with a grin.

"Hinata, you active your Byakugan the moment the doors open. We need your vision," Kiba said.

"Hai", Hinata agreed.

"I think we should also think about the teams we should try to avoid, why you ask? Well, the teams from Kumo, the team from Iwa and especially Naruto's team are not to be underestimated," Shino stated.

Hinata nodded in agreement immediately, and she didn't want to fight Naruto.

"None of them is as strong as us, and I'm actually praying that we encounter Naruto", Kiba exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

Akamaru shook his head in disapproval.

Team 9

"I will hold the scroll, you Lee will stay close to me, TenTen stay a bit further away for a surprise attack", Neji organised, looking at his teammates.

Neither Lee nor TenTen held any objections, "Neji, what should we do if we encounter any Konoha team?" Lee asked, hoping they would avoid any encounter with any Konoha team. He would instead get the second scroll from a team from a foreign country.

"We take it, of course, even if it isn't the one we need, fewer teams, the better", Neji stated.

Lee didn't like the idea but didn't say anything, but then he remembered something.

"What about the Two Kumo teams?" Lee asked with a hint of dread.

At the mention of the Kumo team, Neji's eyes looked covered in shadows. "If we encounter them, I will make them curse the day their leader..." Neji stopped making his point clear where he stood with the problem of the Kumo team.

TenTen said nothing, but she didn't want to do this. Revenge wouldn't help, and not to mention, the genins held no responsibility for what their leader did.

Suna Team

"Stay out of my way. I'll handle this exam." Gaara ordered his teammates.

"R-Right. Of course, Gaara." Kankurō replied nervously. Just the thought of spending so much time alone with the likes of him frightened him.

He could only hope that the other teams would take the end of his rage.

Temari said nothing. She only sighed in annoyance and boredom. There was no reason for her to do anything. Gaara could take on every genin in this forest. This was too easy and boring for her.

She knew the risk that the redhead genin possessed, but Gaara was much stronger than him.

Team Kumo

"Very well, I'm in the front, Omoi, you stand behind me, same for you Karui, if we encounter any enemies, you can deal with the other two, I will deal with whoever is the strongest," Yugito said at his friends.

Omio just shrugged his shoulder while Karui looked deep in thought.

"Yugito, what should we do if we encounter the Taki team or The redhead's team," Karui asked since both teams had their own Jinchuuriki and, therefore, not to be underestimated.

Yugito licked her lips slightly at the mention of Naruto.

"Don't worry about Naruto-kun. We will get along Just 'Fine' "

Iwa Team

"Ikano, you stay behind me, Lulja, you will stay at my left, Triangle 3A position, Ikano leave the bond activated during the whole exam, if we encounter any enemy, I will use my Yashi, if they have what we need, We Take it. If not, we will be in our merry way," Ikamana explained.

"Roger that Firecracker," Lulja said with a carefree tone and with a mocking gesture of her hand

A tick appeared in Ikamana's eyebrow at being called that.

"Ikano, do you see anyone interesting?" She asked, turning to look at her brother, who looked deep in thought.

"Suna Jinchuuriki, I would like to test something", Ikano stated with a clear indication of his tone.

Lulja rolled her eyes at his tone but just decided to tag along with whatever he was trying to do.

Sound Team

Karin was as silent as the grave, her "Teammates" were explaining what they should do, but the young Uzumaki was barely paying them any attention.

She couldn't help but wonder if there was any way to talk with either Naruto or the other Uzumaki that she still didn't know the name.

"Kaa-chan, where is our clan? Do you think we will ever find them?" Young Karin asked with tears in her eyes, after so many years of her mother telling her that their clan was out there, their true Home.

"Why have they abandoned Us?" Karin screamed, crying at seeing her mother in bed with bite marks around her arms.

She felt a hand on her cheek; she opened her eyes to see the violet eyes of her mother looking at her with love.

"An Uzumaki never abandons their family, sweetheart, Never", she spoke weakly. On the top of her head, her red hair had started slowly turning white, losing its pigment.

Her mother put her fingertips where her heart was.

"The Will of Life is alive within you" '

Karin felt her eyes watering from the memories; if only you could be here, Kaa-chan, the Uzumaki Clan is Not Dead; Karin thought and remembered her mother sometimes talking about how Uzushiogakure looked before they took it away from them ...

"KARIN" she escaped her thoughts, and a slap hit her straight in the face; she turned her eyes to look at her "teammate", looking at her with a smirk.

She tried to slap the Uzumaki again when Karin grabbed her hand, Tightly.

The girl whose name Karin didn't remember tried to move it away when her grip tightened, causing her to scream in pain.

Her chakra chains tightened around her whole arm, the red mark on her cheek from the slap healed immediately, but the girl felt weaker and weaker.

"Next time you slap me, you will go to sector 0", Karin threatened with cold blood eyes.

The girl paled even more and looked even more frightened.

Karin let go of her hand, and the girl fell in the grass, almost motionless now. Her chest rising up and down was the only sign that her soul was still there.

"I will keep the heaven scroll", Karin stated.

Later

"The second round of the exams, Start Now", Anko shouted.

All the gates opened, and they got a green signal to enter the forest. Wasting no time, Naruto and his teammates flew into the woods at high speed.

Naruto crossed his fingers, "Shadow Clone Jutsu" over a hundred clones spread far and wide across the forest.

"Be ready for everything?" Naruto said, having a feeling of dread on his stomach.

Team 8

A Konoha team was rushing through the trees when one of them tripped over a wire; before they could process what was happening, a big chain wire fell over them, the ropes around the edges of the trees nearby tightened around them, multiple lice fell from the trees around their bodies as they started drinking their blood.

"You should have been careful; insects can be quite frightening."

Their scream of agony was heard throughout the whole forest.

At the gates, Anko smirked from the screams, "Only 3 minutes, that's a new record", Anko said, smiling.

Team 9

They kept jumping from tree to tree when several shurikens flew towards them; Neji and Lee jumped away to an open area, trees all around them.

He activated his Byakugan; much to his disappointment, it was a tiny village.

"How about you give us your scroll?" The one who Neji thought was the leader spoke.

The Hyuga instead smirked, knowing they had the scroll they needed.

"Lee, they have it," Neji said; Lee nodded his head and jumped towards the third guy; his speed caught him off guard, a good kick in the chin broke his jaw, his body was sent flying crashing against a tree.

He screamed in agony, his mouth full of blood, desperately trying to speak.

"Aka" the girl screamed when Neji showed up behind her.

"You should never let your guard down", he stated.

"Two Palms"

"Four Palms"

"Eight Palms"

"Sixteen Palms"

Before he could finish, the leader tried to slice him when an arrow pierced his leg, followed by two more around his left arm and right arm.

Neji saw TenTen winked at him; he turned his eyes to the girl but saw her on the ground, crawling away.

Neji checked the bags and found the scroll, and they left immediately.

"We have both scrolls; what now, Neji?" TenTen asked.

"Let's find another team, a Kumo Team", Neji stated.

Karin

She kept jumping from tree to tree, her team behind her; when her senses screamed at her, she immediately jumped to her right, avoiding a paper bomb.

Her eyes saw an ANBU rushing towards her; his sword swung down, meeting gold chakra chain sword.

Karin fell to the ground; her eyes saw both of her teammates in the ground bleeding from several places. Two other ANBU soon joined the ANBU, and she immediately recognised the word 'ROOT' written on their forehead.

Karin was trying to come up with a way to get her teammates away and deal with them.

When the one ANBU behind them suddenly grabbed two long Needles and pierced their neck.

Karin saw in surprise as the two ANBU fell to the ground, but they were still alive, somehow.

Karin couldn't see anything to identify the one ANBU left.

"Who are You?" Karin asked, still holding her Chain Sword tightly.

The ANBU glanced at her, and she noticed no eye holes in his Mask; he said nothing but put his hands in the chest of the ANBU in the ground.

Karin gasped when he slowly started getting invisible and disappeared without leaving a single trail behind.

"Who was he?"

Naruto

The young Uzumaki could feel the two of them getting closer and closer.

"Sasuke, Sakura be ready", Naruto shouted at them. Before they could respond, a massive wave of wind flew towards them, only to be met with an enormous wall of stone.

Sasuke looked behind to see Naruto with his hands on the ground when suddenly a man with white hair rushed at Naruto, swinging at him.

The redhead blocked the 'bone' just in time with his sword.

"You fight with me," the man said as he attacked again. Naruto blocked his attack again and tried to kick his chest when he suddenly saw multiple bones sticking out of his chest.

He stopped himself before he wounded his own leg, but the man attacked again at his heart; Naruto moved his left hand, the bone pierced his palm.

Naruto grabbed the bone with his left palm and kicked the man in the head, throwing him to a tree.

Naruto jumped away, pulling out the bone; he felt that Sasuke and Sakura were far away from him, close to them was the shinobi with a Large level of Chakra.

Kurama healed his palm within a minute, and Naruto looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Before we can begin, can I at least know the name of my attacker?" Naruto asked, taking the 'One Drop of Water' Sword position.

The man threw his hat away revealing, a white-haired man wearing a thin white shirt, bones sticking out of his chest.

His right hand moved towards his left shoulder, a bone slowly came out of his shoulder, his skin split open but no blood, as he took on his bone and aimed it towards him.

"Of course, my apologies. My name is Kimimaro Kaguya"