The bunker was suffocatingly tense. Well, for the other people at least. We were told by the Chunin proctors to hang tight while the final preparations for the second stage were being set.
I leaned against a concrete pillar, and took a moment to scan the room. Out of the 408 total participants, the brutal culling of the initial stage had sliced that number down to 240. That meant there were only 80 teams left. It was a pretty massive cut, but funny enough, it was still far too many people. And within this group were the deadliest "Genin" the Elemental Nations had to offer.
Well, mostly, I thought, looking at a bald Genin, attempting to look menacing as a vein popped out the side of his head. Goddamn, relax! This ninja shit surely can't be that serious!
As I continued to observe the bald psychopath in training, a realization hit me that I had never really processed when I was watching the show.
The Konoha 12—twelve and thirteen-year-old kids—had been locked in an unsupervised, lethal forest to essentially fight to the death against other kids and mid-to-late teens on some 'Hunger Games' shit. And nobody really batted an eye about it; things proceeded as they were because people didn't want to ruin any brief moment of peace they had gained after years of fighting non-stop. A system that's nothing but trash. All you can really do is laugh at the thought of—
"Sasuke!" a loud, overly energetic voice yelled, shattering the grim silence of the bunker. "Where've you been, cutie?"
Ino Yamanaka launched herself through the crowd, completely ignoring the murderous glares of the foreign elite, and latched onto Sasuke's back like a koala.
"I've missed you so much! I haven't seen you since we graduated! Hopefully, forehead hasn't been dragging you down too much," she continued, only to get an irritated grunt from the boy.
"Ino, you pig! Get your hooves off Sasuke!" Sakura reprimanded.
"Ah, speak of the devil," Ino replied, then started looking around. "Now that you're here that blond idiot is surely to follow too."
Trailing behind Ino were Shikamaru and Choji.
"Troublesome blonde," Shikamaru muttered, scratching the back of his head, while Choji just munched away on a bag of chips. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke, then his eyes slid over to me. He paused, and a confused expression crossed his face. "Naruto?"
"Hey, how's it goin'?" I asked, giving a casual upward nod.
Ino finally stopped harassing Sasuke and turned to look at me, blinking in surprise. "Wait... Naruto? Why do you look..." She trailed off, struggling to find the word.
"Competent?" Sasuke offered dryly.
"Close," she said. "But I was thinking less like a circus act."
Tch, this bit—
Before I could retort, a voice rang out to us.
"Well, well. Looks like the gang's all here."
Kiba Inuzuka swaggered over, Akamaru perched on his head. While Shino and Hinata trailed behind him.
"Hey! Don't count us out!" he grinned, thumbing his chest. "We practiced like crazy for this. Team 8 is gonna breeze through—"
He suddenly paused as the puppy scurried into his jacket.
"Akamaru, what's wrong boy?" he frowned, looking confused at the shaking puppy. "What's gotten into you? Are you sick?"
Akamaru whimpered something out to Kiba that made him look at me. When he did, he sniffed the air and his eyes widened.
"He says he can't pick up your scent at all," he said, his expression morphing into pure shock. "And he's right, it's like you're not even standing here! What's going on?!"
Hinata tried to step forward to offer a greeting to the tense situation, but she stopped before she could get any words out. Her body stiffened, and her eyes widened, causing her to involuntarily take a half-step back. She didn't have her Byakugan active, but it looked like something was stopping her from carrying out what she wanted to do.
Hmm, it must be my [Presence], I thought observing her physical reactions. I had it on to counteract the pathetic killing intent aimed from the other ninjas. Better do something about that.
As soon as I adjusted my [Presence], her body began to relax. She then looked at me, surprised at the sudden change in the aura surrounding me.
"Kiba's correct," Shino said, adjusting his dark glasses. His usually stoic face was drawn into a tight, unnerved frown. "My Kikaichu are refusing to come out and interact with the space around you. It's like… they're terrified."
"Reaaally?" I asked, stepping closer to them, my demeanor calm. "Now ain't that something. Must be my new shampoo."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed slightly, tracking my feet as I moved. "Not only that, you aren't making a single sound on the floor."
Choji swallowed a mouthful of chips, looking nervous. "My dad mentioned something about the Land of Waves... He said there was a rumor going around about 200 men being slain. Is... is that true?"
Before I could answer any of their questions, my enhanced hearing picked up on the hushed whispers of the other teams listening in.
"Look at them."
"Fresh out of the Academy brats."
"The blonde one looks like a pushover. I mean do you see what he's wearing?"
"We should kill them first."
"Easy targets."
I barely suppressed a smirk. Bring it on. I need more info on the other nations anyways.
"You guys really shouldn't be so loud," a smooth, overly friendly voice interrupted my musing.
A silver-haired Genin wearing round glasses stepped out of the crowd, a deck of cards shuffling neatly in his hands.
There he is, Orochimaru's little geek himself, I thought, watching his movements carefully.
"The foreign teams are already on edge," he continued, pushing his glasses up his nose with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, and?" Ino questioned. "Who the heck do you think you are?"
Hahaha, she's funny as hell, I thought, a smirk stretching across my face.
"I'm Kabuto. Kabuto Yakushi. And since you guys are the new rookies, I figured I'd offer some help. I've got info cards on almost everyone here."
"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why help us?" Shikamaru questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"Because I remember what it's like to be a rookie," Kabuto replied. "You think you know everything, until you're faced with an immovable obstacle you just don't have the experience to deal with."
"So does that mean you've taken these exams before?" Sakura asked.
Kabuto nodded, then rubbed the back of his head. "It's actually my seventh. I…"
While Kabuto was putting up a convincing act for the others, I discreetly looked around the room. I not only saw many occupants listening carefully to what Kabuto was saying, but I spotted Orochimaru's gaze firmly fixated on Sasuke.
Hmm, what am I going to do about him? I mused. I don't think I'm strong enough to fight him yet. Hell, even a fight with Kabuto right now would probably take a good amount of effort. After Anko's elixir, I'll have to find a way to put him down permanently. I won't allow this freak to live a good life. Not after all he's done. He needs to di—
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do," Kabuto said, breaking me out of my musings, pulling a blank card from the deck, and channeling a sliver of chakra into it.
The ink instantly swirled across the paper, forming a detailed profile. "Let's look at the heavy hitters you should avoid. From Kumo, there's Kaminari—a six-foot-five brute who wields a chakra-cleaver as heavy as a boulder. From Iwa, Gantetsu—a juggernaut whose unique Earth Armor makes him completely immune to standard blades. From Kiri, Chigiri—an assassin who supposedly graduated by slaughtering his entire class in the dark."
The Earth Armor will be interesting to get through, I thought. And it's interesting to hear that there are still remnants of the Bloody Mist era.
He flipped another card. "From Ame, Ajisai—a kunoichi who specializes in summoning techniques and quick sealing. And from Suna, Gaara—uses sand exclusively, B-Rank missions completed as a Genin, and comes back from every mission unscathed. They are all incredibly dangerous."
That Ajisai chick… she becomes one of Pain's paths, I thought observing the card of the young kunoichi. I should probably put a Soldier on her to see the events leading up to that, as well as how the Hidden Rain looks and operates from a youngling's perspective.
Kabuto paused, looking directly at our group with a calculated gleam in his eye. "But surprisingly, the biggest names circulating are all from Konoha. Neji Hyuga—hailing from the Hyuga Clan and having an exceptional talent for Taijutsu. His teammate Rock Lee—another Taijutsu specialist that's considered a standout among Genin. Sasuke Uchiha—who hails from the famous Uchiha Clan, and is considered a top Genin..."
He pulled out one final card, infusing it with chakra. A picture of my face appeared on the paper, along with a dense wall of text.
"...and Naruto Uzumaki. Bingo book monikers: The 200-Man Slayer and The Phantom of the Frost. Known for defeating Doto Kazahana, wiping out a mercenary army, and turning the Land of Snow into the Land of Spring."
The entire bunker went into a chorus of varying reactions, with every single head focused on me.
"Two... hundred?!" Shikamaru's lazy demeanor evaporated. He stared at me, his expression shifting from lazy indifference to genuine alarm. "You're joking, right?!"
"So dad was right," Choji muttered, eyes widening in pure shock.
Ino covered her mouth, her eyes darting between me and Sasuke in disbelief. Shino just pushed his dark glasses up, murmuring, "That explains the behavior of my Kikaichu..." while Hinata looked at me with a mix of awe and deep concern.
"That's bullshit!" Kiba barked, though he looked unsure, glancing at Akamaru who was still hiding. "Naruto?! The class clown?! Killing two hundred people?! No way!"
"The card doesn't lie," Kabuto shrugged.
Then a cumulative killing intent from the other ninjas in the room spiked so hard the air actually felt thick.
Oh, is that all you have on me? I questioned internally. Or is it part of your plan to have these weaklings try to draw out the full extent of my abilities?
As I continued to muse, a Kumo ninja scoffed loudly, breaking the heavy silence. "Him? Please. Look at him. Kakashi of the Sharingan is his squad leader. He probably did it."
"Exactly," an Iwa Genin sneered from across the room. "The Copy Ninja probably slaughtered the army himself and just gave his Genin the credit to pad their resumes. There's no way a brat like that took down Doto Kazahana with the kind of technology he had on hand."
Ayo, man, fuck these guys, I thought. But, they've given me an opportunity like no other.
I flexed my biceps and squeezed my eyes shut, letting out a loud, arrogant laugh. "What?! You bastards ain't never seen what the peak of human capability looks like?"
"Peak human capability?!" a Kusa ninja sneered. "You probably just threw a few kunai you little runt!"
"Aye, whoa! Don't undermine my contributions, bastard!" I replied with exaggerated anger.
"Yeah, he's right," said a Kiri ninja. "That Uchiha kid's also on his team too. Him and The Copy Ninja probably did all the work while this phony hung on the sidelines!"
I did a double take at the absurdity of what he just constructed.
"I knew it!" Kiba barked out a laugh, looking incredibly relieved. "There's no way the class clown was taking out armies!"
Ino looked at Sakura for confirmation of if there was any truth in what Kabuto just relayed. And Sakura, in return, quickly pinched the bridge of her nose. "Naruto, stop embarrassing us," she groaned, playing her part perfectly.
"Phew, I was about to say," Ino sighed, waving a hand dismissively as her posture completely relaxed. "For a second there, Kabuto actually had me fooled."
Sasuke just scowled, clearly annoyed by my idiot act, but Shikamaru stayed completely quiet. His eyes darted between my exaggerated anger and the foreign ninjas. He was starting to catch on.
Shino remained perfectly still, adjusting his dark glasses. He didn't say a word, clearly trusting the terrified vibrations of his hive over the arrogant assumptions of the crowd. Beside him, Hinata offered a small smile, visibly relieved now that the room's suffocating killing intent was no longer focused entirely on me.
"Man, fuck y'all" I retorted, pointing at the foreign ninjas angrily. Not gonna lie, I'm getting cooked. They're attacking me from all sides right now, and I just have to let it happen. I'm gonna remember their faces though. Fosho, FOSHO!
The tension in the room began to instantly evaporate into a collective groan of disgust. The foreign ninjas rolled their eyes and turned away, dismissing me as a loud-mouthed fraud riding his Jonin's coattails.
But the peace didn't last long.
"Hey, four-eyes!" a raspy voice snarled.
The Sound trio—Dosu, Zaku, and Kin—shoved their way through the crowd.
"You named all those weaklings but didn't even mention the Hidden Sound! We had a majority of our participants make it through the first phase!" Zaku yelled, raising his hands menacingly. "We'll show you who the real heavy hitters are!"
"Pipe down, you bandaged freaks!" a Kusa ninja shouted from the back. "He disrespected all of us! None of our guys were even mentioned as strong, and he named almost half the Konoha rookies!"
"Say that to my face!" Zaku roared back.
"Could you two idiots shut your mouths already?!" a Kumo ninja barked. "Taking the words of a Konoha shinobi to heart. How pathetic!"
"Easy for you to say Cloud scum," a Kiri ninja brandishing a kunai said. "You think your physical prowess makes you all high and mighty! I'd like to see you put your money where your mouth is!"
Within seconds, the bunker devolved into a chaotic shouting match. Insults flew, kunai were drawn, and the already strained tension of eighty elite teams trapped in a confined space finally snapped. The room was seconds away from a massive, bloody riot.
BAAANG!
A massive cloud of smoke erupted at the front of the bunker, and a heavy, suffocating wave of killing intent washed over the room, instantly silencing the brawl.
When the smoke cleared, Ibiki Morino, Anko, and a dozen Chunin proctors were standing at the front of the room. They commanded the room's attention instantly.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Ibiki said calmly, his demeanor seeming more menacing than his scarred face. "My name is Ibiki Morino. I am the proctor and chief examiner of this exam. So, I'll ask you to kindly put away your weapons at this particular time, there will be time for that. Unless, you'd rather be disqualified?"
Everyone who had been fighting immediately straightened up.
"The Replica Village was a filter," he continued. "It was a way to see if your teams could gather the information given to you, decipher the coordinates, formulate a plan within the details of your objective, and carry that plan out under extreme duress. The teams standing in this room have proven they have what it takes to do that consistently."
Anko stepped forward, a wide, sadistic grin spreading across her face. "Now for the fun part. Welcome to Phase Two. Behind me is the Forest of Death—a place filled with predators and poisonous hazards so deadly, even experienced ninjas fear it. Your pair of scrolls are your tickets inside, but your objective is far from over. As you all know, there are six scroll types in total. To pass this phase, you must acquire the other four scrolls your teams do not possess, and you must do it within five days. Fail to collect all four, lose a member to death or serious injury, or fail to reach the central tower in time, and you'll suffer elimination."
"Hang on, why is there such a high priority on these scrolls?" Temari called out from the crowd, resting a hand on her massive fan. "What makes them so important that we need them so desperately, and they come with all these rules? They just seem like regular old pieces of paper to me."
"It's not the scrolls themselves that are important, it's what they represent," Ibiki said, his eyes narrowing. "They represent information that a village would send a squad out to either collect or deliver. At times you may even need to get information to uncover another piece of information."
He began to take off his bandanna-style headband to reveal his bald head, covered with deep slash marks, lacerations, severe burn marks, and various circular puncture wounds, which made a majority of the participants lose some of their confidence.
Oh yea, they got him good, I thought, seeing all the damage he was inflicted with. Who was he beefing with, and what did he do to make those ninjas that mad?!
He covered his head back up and continued with his grim explanation. "And in the ninja world, information is as valuable as the water you need to drink or the air you need to breathe. Without it, your village may crumble. So, you protect it with your life."
And he's not wrong about that either, I mused. The act of collecting info is like when the System has me collect random items to craft better or more useful gear. The process may suck, but the rewards are just too sweet to overlook.
Anko held up a clipboard. "Those scrolls you're holding also determine what resources you get to enter the forest with. Based on the scroll combinations you successfully retrieved, your team will be assigned one of three survival packs."
She held the items up as she explained them. "In one, you'll get a highly detailed topography map of the forest and its many, many hazards. In another, you'll get a top-of-the-line med-kit packed with high-grade antidotes, various medical supplies, and food pills. And in the last pack, you'll get a tool bag loaded with specialized weapons that'll help you deal with other combatants and environmental hazards. Now listen to the other proctors, form lines, and come get your gear!"
We were all ushered into a larger room connected to the waiting area, and lines formed quickly. Teams murmured nervously to each other as they prepared to step into the great unknown. When Team 7 finally stepped up to Anko's booth, we gave her our Storm and Stillness scrolls and our consent waivers. She handed Sasuke a survival pack and tossed two new, sealed scrolls—one Sun, and one Mountain—onto the desk.
As I reached out to grab them, Anko leaned over the counter, lowering her voice so only I could hear.
"You copying me brat?" she teased, looking at my shin guards.
"Yea, and all I need is a trench coat to finish off the ensemble," I replied sarcastically.
"You take this exam seriously and you might get it," she said, causing me to raise a brow. "There's a betting pool that happens every exam running for the tournament matches and the overall winner of the Exams. There's even a ranking and everything."
"Yea, and?" I replied, brow still raised.
"And, every exam several daimyos and extremely wealthy people bet a ludicrous amount of money on these matches," she whispered, grinning ear to ear. "So, this year I'm betting big money on you, so you better take this seriously and win every match you're in."
"Oh yea? What are my odds looking like?" I questioned.
Anko chuckled darkly. "Because Kakashi's your sensei, people think you're just dead weight being carried. They assume that he and the Uchiha are doing all the heavy lifting in your missions. So, you're ranked dead last, and your odds are sitting at one-hundred to one."
My eyebrows raised in genuine surprise. "Reaaally?"
"Mhhm," she acknowledged. "So fight hard, climb the rankings, win these matches, and make your beloved Anko sensei richer than her wildest dreams."
Beloved Anko-sensei—ah, the forest air must be slipping in and making her delusional, I thought, shaking my head.
Before I could say anything to her, a familiar chime rang out in my head.
[SUB-QUEST UNLOCKED: Beat the Odds]:
Objective: Place 1st in the overall Chunin Exams Rankings.
Rewards:
+10,000,000 Ryo (Gambler's Payout).
+5,000 XP.
New Title: 'The Undisputed' (Passive: Enemies of lower levels suffer a 10% debuff to resolve and morale).
I guess I have no choice but to show these bastards who's above them, I thought, laughing at the absurdity of my odds.
I reached into my pockets—accessing my [Inventory]—and pulled out three thick stacks of cash. I dropped the 5,000,000 Ryo directly onto Anko's clipboard with a heavy thud.
[-5,000,000 RYO]
[36,520,000 → 31,520,000 RYO]
"Put whatever life savings you have on me," I said, my voice completely deadpan, staring right into her eyes. "And while you're at it, put this in for me, too. Because I'm going to win the whole damn thing."
For the first time since I'd met her, Anko Mitarashi was utterly speechless. Her jaw practically unhinged as she stared at the mountain of cash sitting on her desk. She looked from the money, up to me, and back to the money, completely stunned.
Without waiting for her to recover, I turned and walked toward our assigned gate.
Sasuke and Sakura stood by my side as we waited for the heavy iron gates connecting to the forest to unlock.
"Alright, everyone on your mark," a proctor yelled out, getting ready to unlock various gates. "Get set… Go!"
The gates unlocked with a deafening screech. They swung open, revealing the dark, ominous canopy of the Forest of Death.
We stepped through the threshold, and the gates slammed shut behind us, signifying the start of the survival phase of the Exams.