Chapter 438: Tree Monster
Naruto continued to relieve himself.
Kids just have excellent kidney functions; the water volume was more than plentiful. However, Sasuke behind him was being truly annoying, poking and prodding at his lower back, nearly causing his stream to split...
"Bastard Sasuke! When did you become so boring!" Naruto pulled up his pants and turned around in dissatisfaction, his face instantly stiffening: "A tree branch?"
"Ah!!!"
Suddenly, a familiar shriek rang out. Naruto's thick nerves could no longer bother with why a branch had been repeatedly poking him just now; he hurriedly turned around and dashed madly toward the source of the scream.
"What's wrong! Sakura-kun!"
No one responded, so he could only pick up his pace. Upon arriving, Naruto was astonished to find that a colossal tree had actually 'come alive'. Sasuke was currently protecting Sakura-kun, ducking and dodging frantically amidst countless flailing branches, leaving him with absolutely no time to weave hand seals for ninjutsu.
"What kind of monster is this again! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto instantly formed the seals, his chakra condensing: "Rasengan!"
A single sphere slammed forward, snapping the tree monster cleanly in half. The monster twitched a couple of times and ceased to move.
Sasuke pulled Sakura-kun out from underneath the collapsing giant tree, letting out a soft sigh of relief: "Naruto, beautifully done!"
"How did a big tree start moving? Sakura-kun, are you alright?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
Sakura-kun's face was crimson: "I'm fine!"
Sasuke's body stiffened, a rare hint of pink creeping onto his face as well. He turned his head and whispered softly: "You were blocked by that tree just now, I didn't see anything."
With a flushed face, Sakura-kun nodded: "Mm..."
Naruto looked slightly bewildered, having failed to catch what the two of them were whispering about. Suddenly, he recalled the branch that had poked his lower back while he was relieving himself: "It feels like there's more than just one moving tree!"
Sasuke was startled. Activating his Sharingan, a grave expression appeared on his face: "You're right, four moving trees are closing in on us. I've never heard of the trees in the Forest of Death moving at night... Could this be part of the exam content?"
Naruto puffed out his cheeks: "Beating up logs isn't exciting at all. It's not nearly as fun as the giant crabs and the Dragon King!"
Sasuke: "...Be careful, don't let them surround us! I'll take two, Naruto you take one, and Sakura-kun hold one off!"
"...I want to beat all four!"
Sasuke helplessly rubbed his forehead. This teammate of his was truly a constant source of anxiety: "Do whatever you want."
During the day, a total of seven teams had been eliminated, but only three teams successfully cleared the stage—Tenten's team, Toneri's team, and the Hidden Sand squad.
Therefore, there were currently twenty-two teams surviving within the Forest of Death, each experiencing their own unique encounters.
Team 8, Hinata-kun's team. Although the night was deep, the visual prowess of the Byakugan—especially that of Hinata-kun, the Byakugan Princess—was completely unaffected by the dark, granting her a clear radius of one kilometer of vision.
Little Hinata-kun successfully led her two teammates to a secure corner, quietly waiting for dawn.
Team 10, Shikamaru's team.
Shikamaru's 200+ IQ proved its worth once again. He rapidly calculated the optimal escape route, leading Choji and Ino as they ducked and darted through the thickets, only to successfully get themselves surrounded by seven or eight tree monsters.
"Shikamaru, what do we do now?" Ino asked, on guard.
Shikamaru looked left and right, letting out a deep sigh: "I already told Asuma not to wager that much money... What a drag! Choji, prepare to break through, we'll have to use that move we just mastered!"
Choji's plump face warped in misery: "Oh!"
Using his Shadow Imitation Jutsu, Shikamaru rapidly connected to Choji's Human Bullet Tank: "Human Yo-Yo!"
On another side, Anko, serving as the chief examiner of the second test, had long discovered that anomalous events were occurring within the exam grounds. However, she was currently pinned down by an exceptionally troublesome giant tree, unable to break away.
Shattering several branches, Anko rapidly pulled back to dodge a fresh wave of incoming branches, her brow knitting slightly: "What kind of monster is this exactly? Has Konoha's reinforcement not arrived yet?"
"Are you waiting for reinforcements?"
Anko was startled. A terrifying human face had actually twisted out and grown from the trunk of the giant tree in front of her.
"What on earth are you!"
"Jia-jia-jia-jia! Mortal, since you have trespassed into the domain of this Tree Demon Grandmo (Grandmother), don't even dream of leaving!"
"Tree Demon... Grandmother?"
"Hand over Xiaoqian!"
Anko grew thoughtful; in her impression, there was only one person capable of executing such a ridiculous stunt...
"Senior Masahiko?"
"I am the Tree Demon Grandmo!"
Anko: "..."
Inside the central tower of the Forest of Death.
"Hahahahaha-hic..." Masahiko was practically doubling over with laughter: "This Genjutsu is hilarious, simply too magnificent!"
The three teams that had already passed the test looked at one another, secretly rejoicing in their hearts... Though these tree monsters weren't particularly strong, no one wanted to run into them in the dead of night; it was both highly annoying and deeply unsettling.
"Meow~ You heartless scoundrel, you're still making such a chaotic mess," the Fat Cat sighed, looking as though Masahiko was an immense source of worry.
Masahiko, however, felt he was acting with perfect moderation. The tree monster attacks only occurred at night, leaving the daytime entirely open for the squads to fight over the scrolls.
Yet these candidates didn't seem particularly grateful. They spent half their daytime sleeping, lacking even a shred of a ninja's spirit for enduring hardships...
The early bird gets the worm; Hinata-kun's squad had rested the best. The next morning, they crossed paths with an exhausted Hidden Waterfall squad and smoothly became the fourth team to pass.
Afterward, day by day, one team cleared the stage after another. By the time the five-day Forest of Death exam concluded, a total of seven teams—21 candidates—had 'successfully' passed, advancing to the next phase of the exam.
Among the seven teams, Konoha accounted for a full five, the Hidden Sand had one, and the remaining slot went to the Hidden Sound squad—Orochimaru's subordinates.
As for the Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Grass Villages, they had been completely dragged down into a total wipeout by Masahiko...
"You can't blame me for your lack of strength. At least the tree monsters didn't claim your lives, so be content."
The tree monsters had even left Naruto with a minor case of 'urination paranoia'; whenever he relieved himself, he always felt as though someone was standing right behind him... He didn't complain lightly about Masahiko's twisted sense of humor, while Masahiko merely smiled without a word.
The teams that passed early were fine, having plenty of time to recuperate. But as the absolute last group to clear the stage after being thoroughly tormented by the tree monsters, the trio of Shikamaru's squad was utterly exhausted. Yet they had no idea that a catastrophic piece of news was right ahead of them: the third round preliminaries were about to begin...
"Shikamaru, if you can actually make the top eight under these conditions, the Great Ancestor will accept his fate... a penniless fate."
"You all have a one-month resting period. One month from now, which is July 6th, the third phase of the Chunin Exams will take place!" Obito announced loudly from the front, leaving Masahiko thoroughly dumbfounded.
What happened to the promised preliminaries?
The candidates all let out massive sighs of relief, turning around to head back. They finally had time to rest...
Masahiko immediately tracked down Obito to question him. Obito looked entirely blank in response: "Why would we need a preliminary round?"
Masahiko scratched his head: "Twenty-one candidates, don't you think that's a bit too many?"
"It is a bit much, which is why the third round of the exam will have to be split across two days. Since the attention on this Chunin Exam is so high, it's absolutely necessary to spend a month selling tickets!" Obito chuckled and grinned: "I heard that the Konoha Stadium was named and built by you, and it can hold a full two thousand spectators!"
Masahiko stood frozen in a daze for a long while, entirely stripped of any desire to speak. With a single flicker, he vanished from the spot.
He had to quickly find the casino owner to change the payout odds and rake in another massive wave of betting capital... At the very least, he absolutely couldn't lose money!