Hunting in the Forest of Death [Part One]

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura entered Training Ground 44 separately from the other teams simultaneously. Considering that the training ground has been used for the Chunin Exam for a long period of time, there had been mutiple entrances that had been constructed for the various teams to enter from. This was to ensure that the teams did not fight each other straight away to obtain the scrolls they needed. The training ground was huge and each team had to go deeply in order to find another team to face.

As Team 7 leisurely made their way inside the Forest of Death, Naruto received a notification from the system.

[Multiple high level beasts detected in the forest. It is advised for Host to fight them as they provide good experience for Host and his team.]

'Hm? There are beasts in this forest?' asked Naruto in his mind.

[Affirmative. The weakest beast detected is at Mid Chunin Level. The strongest beast is at High Jonin Level.]

'Interesting! Is the experience points awarded for killing the beasts the same as defeating them?' asked Naruto in his mind.

[The experience points awarded for killing any living creatures are always the same as defeating them.]

'That is good,' said Naruto in his mind in relief. 'I don't want to kill them to the point they no longer exist. If they remain alive, I can always come back and fight them again until I'm satisfied. Can you tell me their direction?'

[Host can open the map function of the System and use that to find other living creatures!]

'You've had a map function all this time?' asked Naruto in his mind, astonished. 'Why did you not say anything?'

[Host never asked. Host has never truly explored the System so Host does not know everything the mighty System is capable of!]

'Shut it! I've never relied on anyone else to get stronger and I'm not planning to either. That includes you.'

[It's OK to rely on others from time to time. However, overrelience can be dangerous so System understands! The System is part of your powers! Using the System to the fullest can help Host grow stronger!]

'You know, I still don't know where you came from,' wondered Naruto as he kept his vigilance up.

[That is classified information! Host can only access that when Host becomes stronger!]

'So secretive,' muttered Naruto in his mind. 'Well, whatever. Maps'

As Naruto said Maps, a map interface of the Forest of Death appeared in front of him. It was in 3D and was very detailed. He could see the terrain very clearly. There were dots flashing all over the map in different colours which piqued Naruto's curiosity.

'System, can you explain the flashing dots?' asked Naruto in his mind.

[The dots represents other living creatures, which includes humans, animals and beasts. The blue dot is the Host. Red dots belong to those that bear hostility towards the Host. Green dots are those who are friendly towards the Host and yellow dots are those who are neutral towards the Host.]

'Hmm ... There are quite a large number of red dots in the forest,' thought Naruto. 'It seems like I'm going to be gaining quite a lot of experience points from this forest. Hold on! Status!'

[Name: Naruto Uzumaki | Age: 13

Level: 70 (0/0)

Rank: Genin | Class: A+

Status: Healthy

Title: Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails Fox

Bloodline: Uzumaki, Uchiha

Attributes:

VIT: 700 | STR: 700 | AGI: 700

DEX: 700 | INT: 683 | WIS: 682

Attribute Points: 80

System Points: 210,000

Chakra Point: 100,000

Abilities:

Healing Factor - Rank: S-

(Able to heal 20x faster than normal.)

Sharingan - Rank: S+ {Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan - Locked}

Chakra Reserve: S+

Chakra Control: A+

Skills:

Ninjutsu Mastery: A+

Taijutsu Mastery: A+

Kenjutsu Mastery: A+

Fuinjutsu Mastery: A+

Genjutsu Mastery: A+]

'That's right, at every 10 levels, I need to bring my stats up to the require amount,' thought Naruto grimly. 'Dammit! If it was simply an accumulation of Experience Points, I would have at a higher level.'

[Host needs to realise he needs to possess both brain and brawn in order to fully develop into a peak existance in this mortal world.]

'I get it, I get it,' mumblee Naruto in his mind. 'Now then, let's put those excess points into wisdom and intelligence.'

Naruro equally distributed the 80 unassigned attribute points into wisdom and intelligence. Mental stats have always been harder for him to raise than his physical attributes. Using his Shadow Clones helped to increase them faster than normal, however, they have been becoming harder and harder to raise them with each passing level.

As Naruto confirmed his selection, he felt a swift breeze rush past him and his thought pattern became slighty clearer than before. Raising the intelligence and wisdom attributes bu 40 points at one go was no small matter. Despite having his eyes closed, Naruto felt his mental awareness increasing rapidly. He also felt his thought pattern becoming clearer and sharper. He also felt he could make faster judgement calls when the situation called for it.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at his Status window that was still opened. He saw that he had leveled up to Level 71 and needed 710,000 experience pointa for the next level. He looked down and also noticed that he had 10 more attribute points that had been awarded to him by the system. He quickly placed them equally in his Intelligence and Wisdom bringing his stats up to a wooping 728 for intelligence and 727 for wisdom.

At this point, Naruto did not have to worry about his mind attributes to hold him back from leveling up to Level 80. Once he had reached level 80, if he was still being held back by them, he would simply use the attribute points to increase them. However, Naruto had a strange feeling that it was going to become harder to raise his mental attributes at the speed he had been going so far. But the feeling went away as fast as it had arrived.

Naruto realised that he was only 13 years old despite looking like a 16 years old. There was still room for both his mind and body develop naturally. He was still growing. With him accumulating a large amount of experience by traveling to different parts of the world, he would gain the necessary impetus to unlock his physical body's potential, further strengthening him.

With that thought placed at the back of his mind, Naruto happily examined his surrounding area. He then referred by to the system map to view the location of any red dots in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, he could not tell the power level of the red dots nor their identity. He found out the location of the tower that was in the middle of the forest and knew which direction to go to. However, what piqued his interest was the largest group of red dots in a one mile radius that was in the north-east in the direction they were facing. There were three orange dots flashing brightly amongst the multiple red dots.

"Shadow Clone," muttered Naruto as a clone puffed into existance from a cloud of white smoke. "You know what to do."

"Of course," said the clone with a smirk before vanishing from his spot.

"Naruto, where did you send your clone?" asked a curious Sakura. Even Sasuke's ears perked up.

"You'll find out later," said Naruto with a smirk of his own. "For now, let's go somewhere exciting."

Without waiting for an answer, Naruto rushed towards the group of red dots. He made sure to keep his speed steady to make sure that Sasuke and Sakura kept up with him. It did not take long before Team 7 arrived at the location Naruto was looking for.

There were numerous giant spiders that had encircled Yugito's team from the Hidden Cloud Village. They were doing well so far against the massive spiders so far as the spiders were not that strong to begin with. They were mostly at Mid Chunin Level with one that appeared to be at High Chunin Level.

'That one must be the leader,' thought Naruto as he watched his fellow Jinchuriki and her team defend against the spider groups attacks. 'They're doing OK so far but how long can they last against those 10 spiders. Hmmm ... as I figured ... Yugito is at High Chunin Level. She can probably take out most of those Mid Chunin Levels given her agility if she didn't have to protect her two teammates. I wonder if she can use her Tailed Beast's Chakra.'

"Urgh ... just look at those big spiders ... they look so gross ...," whined Sakura as she pulled a face.

"They're pretty strong," said Sasuke, ignoring Sakura. "That Cloud team can't last that long against them."

"Observe their fight properly," said Naruto in a serious tone. "They have excellent teamwork. Judging from how they're fighting, they should be able to take out at least have of those spiders easily. That is if the boss spider doesm't join the fray before that happens."

"You mean that bigger spider?" asked Sakura, looking at the leader of the spiders.

"It does appear to be stronger than the rest," commented Sasuke, activating his Sharingan.

"Yes, that one," confirmed Naruto. "The Cloud Ninjas have excellent coordination. If they fought against the spiders individually, only the blonde girl would be able to match more than two. Look, they've now taken down the third spider already. If things get ugly for them, we'll jump in to help. Pay close attention."

*** With Yugito ***

'Dammit!' cursed Yugito in her mind as she took down the third spider. 'These spiders are stronger than the average Mid Level Chunins. If it wasn't for our special training this last year, we would have been toast already.'

"Hey, kitten, why not use my Chakra and toast these insects?" asked the Two-Tails.

"I don't want to draw too much attention to myself this early in the exam," replied Yugito in her mind.

Yugito and her team were quite unlucky to run into a colony of mutated spiders shortly after entering the Forest of Death. However, some luck had still played its part as the spiders were not too strong. Yugito could handle a few of the spiders on her own easily due to her greater speed and stamina. However, with her team struggling against the spiders, she had to be mindful of them and protect them against the mutated spiders.

"Kitten, at this rate you'll get injured," argued the Two-Tails. "You'll be fine in this forest since the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki is also here. Use my Chakra and finish off these spiders. It'll be dangerous if you get injured by them."

"What! Whiskers is here?" asked Yugito in surprise as she looked around.

"What are you in a daze for, pussycat?" asked a male voice in a strict tone. "Pay attention to your opponents!"

Yugiti's head quickly spun around, following the direction of the voice. 'It's really whiskers. What's he doing here?'

"Kitten, look out!" called out the Two-Tails in Yugito's mind, snapping her out of her daze.

Just then, the leader of the spiders had shot out a purple liquid heading straight for Yugito. However, she was fast enough to avoid being hit by the poisonous attack. The poisonous liquid fell at where Yugito was standing moments ago and started melting the ground. The remaining spiders also began shooting the poisonous liquids, as if imitating their leader. The Cloud Ninjas just barely avoided being sprayed by the poison.

*** With Team 7 ***

"Seriously, who falls into a daze in the middle of a fight," said Naruto angrily, glaring at Yugito. "What's wrong with you?"

"That poison is pretty powerful," commented Sasuke, looking at the poison that was melting the ground.

"That was so scary," said Sakura, pale faced. "That would have melted their flesh and bones directly if it connected."

'Hmmm ... these spiders looks quite useful,' thought Naruto as he looked at the spiders with a glint in his eyes. 'Their poison alone has so many uses. Also, I really want to extract their silk. It's just as useful as their venom."