Chapter 52: The Forest of Death
After the purple-haired woman appeared, she laughed heartily and said to everyone:
"Congratulations on passing the first exam of the Chunin Exam. I am the proctor for your second exam—Mitarashi Anko. Next, follow me to the second exam room."
That's right. The woman who had broken through the window and jumped in was none other than Konoha's special Jōnin and the examiner for the next round—Mitarashi Anko.
After Mitarashi Anko finished speaking, Ibiki looked at her with a helpless expression and said:
"I said, can you stop showing up like this every time?"
Anko ignored Ibiki's words and turned to look at the genin.
Seeing that about a third of the genin were still there, Anko frowned and said with dissatisfaction:
"Ibiki, your test questions today were a bit too easy. Why are there so many people left?"
Hearing Anko say that there were too many people, many genin felt ashamed. There were less than a third of them left. If Anko thought that was too many, it meant she was also a ruthless person.
Seeing that Anko ignored him, Ibiki shook his head helplessly. Then he turned and looked at the remaining genin with appreciation and said:
"This year's genin are outstanding."
Ibiki's words of praise made Anko pause for a moment. She knew that Ibiki didn't praise others easily.
Suddenly, Anko became interested. She turned her head, licked the corner of her mouth, looked at the genin as if they were her favorite prey, and said with a faint smile:
"Is that so? Then let me see how these little ones perform."
After speaking, Anko turned around and jumped out the window.
The remaining genin were stunned by Anko's words.
Sign a life-and-death waiver?
To sign the waiver meant that the next second exam would be life-threatening.
The life-and-death waiver meant that their lives were no longer Konoha's responsibility. Even if they died during the exam, it had nothing to do with Konoha, and Konoha couldn't be held accountable.
Suddenly, the genin started murmuring among themselves.
But they had already passed the first exam and made it this far. So they simply gritted their teeth, made up their minds, and followed.
Naruto and his team didn't hesitate. They followed Anko to the location of the second exam.
The location of the second test was the entrance to a massive forest.
The genin arrived one after another. After signing the life-and-death waivers, Anko appeared and began explaining the rules of the second exam.
The second exam was a survival exercise. The location was the Forest of Death.
The rules were very simple. Each team would be assigned one of two types of scrolls—the Scroll of Heaven or the Scroll of Earth.
Each team would only receive one scroll.
The teams assigned the Scroll of Heaven, after entering the Forest of Death, would need to collect a Scroll of Earth. After obtaining both the Heaven and Earth scrolls, they could rush to the tower in the center of the forest and pass the assessment.
That meant that after entering the Forest of Death, everyone except your own teammates was an enemy.
They would have to use any means necessary to obtain the other scroll they needed to have a chance at passing the exam.
Hearing this, many genin gasped.
Only now did they understand why they had to sign the life-and-death waiver.
Because this wasn't a simple assessment.
This was combat. This was a gladiator battle between genin.
And the Forest of Death was their arena.
Everyone would have to fight—or use other methods—to pass this test. Moreover, there was no rule saying a team could only collect the scrolls once.
That meant that if a powerful team disliked other people, or didn't want too many people to pass, they could simply rob other teams of their Heaven and Earth scrolls and deprive them of their qualifications through hunting and elimination.
This was a place where genin could run wild without any restraint.
Now they finally understood why Anko had said that anyone who wasn't afraid of death should follow her.
Because inside was a paradise for the strong. And a hell for the weak.
There were no rules inside. It was a real battlefield.
After speaking, Anko looked at the genin with a smile and asked if anyone wanted to quit.
No one answered. They had already signed the waivers, and it was too late to quit now. Anko was just mocking them with the question. Besides, they all had great confidence in themselves.
Seeing that no one said anything, Anko didn't push further. She immediately announced that the second exam—the Forest of Death—had officially begun.
All the genin, led by Chunin examiners, went to different entrances and entered the genin arena.
As soon as they entered the Forest of Death, Naruto and his team saw the nearby genin teams rushing into the dense forest, trying to hide their figures and cover their tracks.
It made sense. In this cruel assessment, whoever showed themselves first would be followed by other teams as the first hunting target.
None of them wanted to be that early bird.
But Naruto and his team weren't in a hurry. After entering, Naruto glanced at the massive forest and then said lightly:
"Let's head to the tower in the center first. Someone will bring us the scrolls along the way."
Sasuke and little Sakura paused for a moment, then nodded obediently.
Sure enough, just as Naruto had expected, a team soon came to them.
Those teams saw that Naruto and the others weren't attacking first. They assumed Naruto's team was weak and didn't dare to make a move, so they all tried to steal Naruto's scroll.
And without exception, they were all instantly taken down by Naruto and Sasuke. Their scrolls were taken as well.
What those teams didn't know was that Naruto hadn't attacked first simply because he couldn't be bothered to deal with them—not because he was afraid.
By the end of the day, quite a few teams had tried to attack Naruto and the others. Naruto and his team had reaped a lot. They had assembled countless pairs of Heaven and Earth scrolls. Finally, some people started to realize that Naruto and his team were not to be messed with.
Just as Naruto and his team had traveled a certain distance and were about to find a place to rest for the night—
Suddenly, Naruto spotted a figure standing on a large tree in the dark forest in the distance.
That figure was very slender, with sickly pale skin. It was glowing with bewitching eyes, licking the corner of its mouth in a bloodthirsty way, staring at them like delicious prey.
Seeing this person, Naruto's pupils suddenly shrank.
"Sasuke, little Sakura—be careful. An enemy is coming."