Chunin exams #2

Ibiki expressed his genuine admiration, "The genin in this year are exceptionally skilled."

Anko's sadistic demeanor instilled fear in many of the genin as she announced, "I'll reduce the participants in the next round. It will take place tomorrow morning, so inquire about the time and location from your sensei."

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The following morning, the genin assembled outside the forest of death, bright and early.

Anko revealed the objective of the round, "Your goal is to reach the tower. Half of you will be given an Earth scroll, while the other half receives a Heaven scroll. The rules are straightforward: if you possess an Earth scroll, you must obtain a Heaven scroll and vice versa. Once you have both scrolls, you must make your way to the tower, located in the forest's center. Any team with only one or zero scrolls will be disqualified," she said with a sadistic grin spreading across her face.

Anko clarified the timeline, "You will have 120 hours from the moment you enter the forest, which gives you five days to complete the objective. However, before we proceed, you must sign these papers to ensure that Konoha is not held responsible for any fatalities," she stated, once again flashing a smile, and allowed them some time to contemplate before continuing.

Once the teams had signed up, they were handed their corresponding scrolls. Team Tenji was given an Earth scroll, which Menma held onto. Before departing, Menma cautioned Naruto to steer clear of the Sound ninja and exercise caution. Naruto acknowledged his advice with a nod.

They made their way to their assigned paths and waited for the signal. After a while, a firework shot up into the sky, prompting them to race towards the tower. As they progressed, some genin halted to lay traps and conceal themselves, while others sought out adversaries to seize their scrolls.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and inquired, "Where are we now?" However, he did not answer and instead glanced at the blond, who had suddenly ceased moving.

Without warning, Naruto hurled a kunai at a tree, and a scream reverberated through the air as a Rain ninja emerged, thinking in confusion while fleeing, 'Shit!'

As they witnessed the Rain ninja flee, Sakura questioned, "Why didn't you pursue him?"

Naruto countered, "He didn't have a scroll."

Skeptical, she probed, "How can you be so certain?"

"It's because he attacked us solo. He was just a scout," Sasuke interjected.

After a brief discussion, they concluded to proceed deeper into the forest.

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After a couple of days had elapsed, Team 5 was observed moving through the forest at a leisurely speed. While scouting for any potential dangers in the surroundings, Tenya was using his activated Byakugan, but grew frustrated when he found no one nearby, causing him to deactivate his Dojutsu.

Subsequently, they proceeded to climb the trees and ventured deeper into the forest where they encountered a group of Sound Ninjas, one of whom was wounded by a kunai.

Tenya gestured for the team to halt and activated his Byakugan. He grinned and announced, "Got it. Yuko, tend to the injured one; Menma, pursue the ninja carrying the tanto, and I'll go after the one holding the scroll."

The team members nodded in agreement and leaped down from their position, causing the Sound Ninjas to become frightened.

Menma hurled a kunai at one of the ninjas, who quickly drew his tanto to block the attack. The ninja then fled into the forest, with Menma hot on his heels. 'I don't have time for this,' Menma thought to himself.

After catching up with the Sound Ninja, he halted and performed a series of hand seals. Next, he inhaled deeply with his hand cupped around his mouth and spoke,

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," causing the ninja to be engulfed in flames and perish. "That's one down," he thought to himself.

Upon returning to his companions, he discovered that they had already taken down the other Sound Ninjas and obtained the heaven scroll.

Menma then mentioned that he had to attend to something and suggested leaving a shadow clone in his place. After contemplating the situation, the team agreed, knowing that Menma would not act without reason.

Subsequently, he parted ways with his comrades as they set out for the tower and dashed deeper into the forest, all the while thinking to himself, 'I'm just hope I'm not too late.'

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Sasuke is currently engaged in combat with a female ninja from the Rain Village, who is preparing to strike him. However, her attack is suddenly halted by the arrival of a kunai that lands in front of her. Upon looking up, she sees Naruto perched on a nearby tree branch.

"Sorry about that, guys. I had to take care of a giant snake that was about to devour me," Naruto exclaims.

He then shifts into a battle-ready stance and warns, "Now that I, Uzumaki Naruto, am here, you won't be able to escape!"

Sasuke interrupts the impending confrontation by shouting, "Wait!" as he retrieves the scroll from his belongings. "This is what you're after, right?" he asks the Rain Ninja.

Naruto interjects, "What the hell are you doing, teme?"

"Shut up and mind your own business!" Sasuke retorts before turning to the Rain Ninja and instructing her, "Take it and leave us alone." He tosses the scroll towards her, but Naruto dives to catch it, then jumps back and glares at Sasuke with frustration.

"Hey, dobe, what do you think you're-," Sasuke begins, but is abruptly silenced when Sasuke is punched in the jaw by Naruto. "You're not Sasuke." He says.

Sasuke flips but manages to land on his feet, looking back at Naruto incredulously.

"What are you talking about? I am me," Sasuke declares.

Naruto retorts, "No, you only resemble Sasuke in appearance and voice. The Sasuke I know despises defeat and wouldn't surrender without a fight! Even if you gave her the scroll, how can you be certain that she won't harm us?" Sasuke becomes motionless.

The Rain Ninja chimes in, "Indeed," as she licks her lips with her unusually long tongue.

Naruto shifts his attention to the Rain Ninja and dashes towards her, she pricks her finger and places the blood on a seal on her arm, she chants

"Summoning jutsu." Suddenly, a strong gust of wind arises, and a massive serpent emerges from it.

The snake lunges at Naruto, but he nimbly evades it and lands on a nearby branch. The serpent then whips its tail towards him, flinging him up into the air. He collides with a branch, coughing up blood, and falls down with his eyes closed.

Upon reopening them, his eyes transform into red with pupils shaped like those of a feline. His hair and whiskers become more animalistic, and his canine teeth lengthen. He leaps from one tree to another and delivers an axe kick to the serpent, followed by a flurry of punches, but the serpent remains unphased.

Jumping backwards, Naruto propelled himself off a tree, but the Rain Ninja shot a stream of fire towards him, sending him flying back.

The Rain Ninja shifted her attention to Sasuke, who was still frozen in place. "You're next," she said as her serpent slithered towards him. However, before it could strike, Naruto reappeared and stopped it by driving two kunai into its body. He was badly wounded and bleeding profusely.

"Hey... *huff *huff...are you hurt, Scaredy Cat?" Naruto asked, addressing Sasuke, who snapped out of his stupor.

"This coward isn't the Sasuke I knew," Sasuke declared, glaring at his raven-haired counterpart.

The Rain Ninja extended her abnormally long tongue and picked up Naruto, who squirmed and screamed in disgust. She lifted his shirt, and as chakra gathered at her fingertips, she jammed her finger into his gut, saying, "Five Pronged Seal." Naruto gasped for air as his eyes returned to their normal blue color, and she tossed him aside.

"Sakura, he won't survive that fall!" exclaimed Sakura as she watched Naruto fall to the ground. Acting quickly, she took a kunai, hitched it in his jacket, and lodged it in a nearby tree.

Witnessing this, Sasuke closed his eyes as memories of his older brother flashed through his mind, berating and insulting him. He shouted, "No!" and managed to overcome his fear, opening his eyes which glowed a deep crimson with two tomoe spinning lazily. He locked his gaze on the Rain Ninja.

The Rain Ninja then dispersed her summon, causing smoke to envelop the area. Once the smoke cleared, the two fighters took their stances, with Sasuke placing a kunai in his mouth and another in his right hand, then dashing towards the Rain Ninja.

Sasuke delivers a drop kick and an uppercut to the Rain Ninja, but she manages to block both attacks and counter with a punch aimed at his face. She then leaps to the trees as her lower half morphed into a snake and moves at blinding speeds, slithering across the branches.

"I can see... I can see her movements clearly," Sasuke thinks as he remains locked onto the snake-like lady. Suddenly, she lunges from above, but Sasuke jumps back and dodges. He manages to evade her again as she swipes at his leg.

Sasuke tightened his grip on his kunai and charged towards his opponent. He jumped from tree to tree, positioning himself above her before leaping down and grabbing her around the waist. As they plummeted towards the ground, he held onto her tightly, but as they landed, he found himself holding onto nothing but mud.

'Substitution!' he realized, and quickly threw a set of stringed shurikens that embedded itself in a tree as he glided through the air, landing on a large branch. But as he looked up, he was punched in the nose, causing him to lose his balance, and was hit again with another punch to the chin that sent him crashing to the ground.

The Rain Ninja walked towards him, taunting him, "Such a disappointment." Suddenly, her clothes exploded, providing Sasuke with the opportunity to jump back.

He proceeded to throw several kunai with strings attached and tied her tightly to a tree. After doing so, he performed the "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu," igniting the flames that ran across the strings and enveloped the rain nin.

She screamed in pain as she burned. After a while, Sakura descended from a tree and approached Sasuke, telling him that it was over. However, just then, they heard the sound of snapping strings.

Looking up, they saw the rain nin with half of her face burned and the other half exposed. Despite this, she clasped her hands together, causing Sasuke and Sakura to stop in their tracks.

The Rain Ninja commented, "You possess remarkable Sharingan skills despite your young age. You truly are an Uchiha, just like him." As she spoke as her voice slowly shifted to that of a man.

"Without a doubt, you're his brother, and your eyes are even sharper than Itachi's," he added.

Sasuke, furious, demanded, "Who are you? And what do you want?"

The Rain Ninja, now revealed to be Orochimaru, replied, "My name is Orochimaru. As for what I want, you'll find out after you complete this test with the highest score. We won't meet again until then." He then burned the scroll, and with a hand sign, his neck became elongated and stretched out, biting Sasuke on the neck, leaving a mark behind.

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While jumping through the trees, Menma heard a nearby scream and accelerated towards a clearing where he saw Orochimaru's neck retracting to its normal length, while Sasuke knelt on the ground in pain, holding his neck.

Menma then threw a kunai at Orochimaru, who caught it and looked at him in surprise. "Another one has appeared," he thought to himself with a smile before asking, "Who might you be?"

Menma glared at him and rushed in with a feint punch that transitioned into a heel kick. Orochimaru grabbed his leg and said, "Quite a rude guest aren't you."

Menma ignored his comment and quickly turned mid-air and delivered a powerful heel kick to his head. Orochimaru stumbled, and Menma took the opportunity to pull out some kunai laced with paper bombs and threw them at him, hitting their mark and causing an explosion.

Although he knew it wouldn't do much damage, Menma hoped it would stall Orochimaru for a while. However, a tongue emerged from the smoke, rushing toward Menma's chest at lightning speed. Menma managed to fend off the attack, but he found it annoying and decided to use something that would scare Orochimaru off.

He shouted, "Sakura, stop being useless and get Sasuke and Naruto out of here, NOW!!!" Sakura snapped back to reality and saw Menma trying to hold off Orochimaru.

She then picked up Sasuke and ran to Naruto and picked him up aswell as she ran, carrying them as far as her legs could carry her. When she reached a safe distance, Menma jumped back and prepared to launch an attack in the form of a small orb surrounded by rings.

Orochimaru, with a menacing glare, asks the boy, "What are you doing?" The boy jumps up onto a branch and responds, "Nothing much, just disposing of some garbage." He drops an orb and declares, "Great Rasen Ring."

The orb collides with the ground, causing mass destruction in the area destroying the surrounding trees and making a crater in the earth.

Emerging from the rubble, he sees that Orochimaru is still standing strong, ready to attack. However, he senses the presence of the Hokage drawing nearer with each passing second.

"I may not have caught you today, but don't think you'll get away for long, kid," he warns before vanishing into the ground. Menma breathes a sigh of relief and flops to the ground once he confirms the enemy has departed.

However, he still feels a sense of disappointment that he couldn't reach the enemy fast enough or delay him until backup arrived. As he lies on the ground, the Third Hokage suddenly appears before him.

Hiruzen questioned Menma, "Where are your teammates, and what happened here?"

Menma responded, "My team and I separated earlier, and they should be at the tower by now. Orochimaru ambushed my brother and his team."

Hiruzen's expression shifted from that of worry to seriousness.

The Third Hokage's tone became grave as he asked, "Are you certain it was Orochimaru you encountered?"

"Yes, Lord Third. He was disguised as a female ninja from the Rain Village," Menma confirmed. He then recounted the events that had transpired with Sasuke and Naruto, as well as Sakura's sudden departure, and his own decision to return to the tower.

Menma sprinted at full speed and made it to the tower before nightfall. He reunited with his team and settled near the entrance, patiently waiting for his brother.

Despite his foreknowledge of the future, he found that his attempts to intervene often led to unpredictable outcomes, and he couldn't rely on it entirely.

Therefore, he remained stationed at the entrance until the conclusion of the exam, taking occasional bathroom and meal breaks.

On the third day, Menma spotted Team Guy, Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, and Gaara's team passing through the gates one after the other. He inquired if they had come across Naruto and his team, but they replied in the negative.

As the fourth day dawned, Menma grew increasingly restless, pacing back and forth in agitation. "They should have arrived by now. Why haven't I seen them?" he muttered to himself. Frustrated and worried, he contemplated sneaking back in to search for them. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice in the distance.

"Hey, Menma!" his brother's voice called out.

Looking up, Menma struggled to hold back tears as he saw his brother and teammates approaching the tower. Wiping his eyes, he whispered, "What took you so long, idiot?"

When they arrived, Menma led them directly to the medic for treatment. He stayed by Naruto's bedside, chatting with him until he drifted off to sleep. Observing his brother's peaceful face, Menma eventually fell asleep himself, drifting off into a dreamless dream.

The next morning, all the genin were instructed to gather at the main arena by 10 am. Until then, the teams spent their time hanging out, playing games, and engaging in some light sparring. Menma, however, ventured out in search of Temari.

He quickly realized that his efforts were in vain as she had already departed with her team. He let out a sigh and returned to his own team.

'She's probably already at the arena,' he thought to himself as he made his way back. As he walked, he suddenly collided with a man wearing an orange spiral mask with a single eye hole.

"Oops, my bad... I wasn't paying attention," Menma apologized.

"It's cool," the man replied with a shrug before continuing on his way.

As Menma kept walking, he lost himself in his thoughts again. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening as he realized who the man ahead of him might be.

He snapped his head back, startling his teammates, and hurried towards the man. Menma grabbed the man's shoulder, and as he turned around, Menma hoped he was wrong about his suspicion.

"Excuse me, sir. May I ask for your name?" Menma asked, hoping to confirm his suspicions.