Chapter 602 : Missed Opportunity...

[A/N: Wow! We were ranked 4th in Power stones in the last week! Excellent job guys! Keep it up!!!]

Hearing the name 'Forest of Death', every Genin turned their attention to the forest behind Fujin. Many gulped nervously, noticing the humongous trees and the darkness within. On the other hand, there were a few maniacal laughs.

Sakura looked at it and said nervously, "It looks like a creepy place!"

She looked at Fujin and thought, 'It's a good thing that Naruto is close with the proctor, though I'm not sure whether he'll help us during the exam.'

Temari was looking at Fujin as well but her mind wasn't on the Forest of Death. Instead, she thought, 'The ninja who controlled the winds in the exam hall should be him. They were right. His mastery over Wind Release is better than anyone from Sunagakure. Even Father and Baki sensei's Wind Release isn't as good as his. Still, how did he do that? And why were the winds so cold?'

As someone who focused on Wind Release, Temari became very interested in Fujin's control over the wind. Unfortunately, she wasn't in a position to ask him.

Fujin continued, "The second round will be a survival test. It means that you can die in this round. Similarly, you can kill others if you wish to. If any of you aren't willing to risk your life, you can turn around and leave."

Fujin looked around. Needless to say, no one did so. Fujin nodded and said, "Good. Hand them the papers."

A couple of examiners came forward, each holding a set of papers. They began distributing the papers. Fujin said, "You'll receive two sets of papers. The first one is a consent form. All of you have to sign it so that we won't be liable for any injuries you might suffer or your deaths.

The second is the topography of the training ground. As you can see, the training ground is circular with a radius of 10 kilometers, a river flowing through it and a tower at the center. Remember it properly as you will be disqualified if you step out of this training ground for any reason during this round..."

The Genins listened carefully and properly observed the map. Standing next to Fujin, Anko had a frown on her face. She looked at the Genins in confusion, 'Why is everyone so obedient and looking at him with such respect?'

Having proctored the exam a couple of times, Anko knew how arrogant the Genins were. It was why she resorted to taking actions that created an impact on them to keep them in line. However, Fujin had been chilling in his chair and then chatted casually with everyone. Yet, no one dared to pass any odd comment.

Anko looked at him and wondered, 'Is this also a part of one of his arrangements? Or did Ibiki put the Genins in line?'

She couldn't be sure. Fujin completed explaining the training grounds and answered a few queries before saying, "Now, about what the exam will be."

Fujin took out two scrolls and explained, "This is a scroll of Heaven and this one is a scroll of Earth. Thirteen teams will be given a scroll of Heaven while the remaining will be given a scroll of Earth.

In order to pass this round, your squad needs to collect both scrolls and bring them to the tower at the center. However, if any of your teammates die during this round, then your entire squad will be disqualified. In addition, if anyone opens either of the scrolls during the exam, your squad will be disqualified no matter to which squad that scroll was initially assigned."

Hearing Fujin's words, Sakura said, "In other words, at least half of us, the thirteen teams whose scrolls have been stolen, will fail."

Fujin replied, "More or less, though that is an unrealistic situation as well. Anyway, the time limit is 5 days. If you still want to participate, hand in your consent forms and collect a scroll.

Each team will enter the training ground from a different entry point, which will be assigned while you collect the scrolls."

"FIVE DAYS? What are we supposed to eat for food?" Choji exclaimed in surprise.

Fujin turned around and replied with a chuckle, "Your choice. If you have food with you, you can eat that. Else, you can eat the plants, insects and animals in the forest, though look out for the poisonous ones. If you somehow run out of those, then you can even eat each other. Whatever suits your taste. Anyway, try to stay alive. It'll be troublesome if too many of you die."

The nonchalant manner in which Fujin spoke those words gave most of the Genins a creep! Naruto muttered to himself, 'I knew Fujin was scary, but I didn't know he was this scary!'

Meanwhile, Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto, wondering whether he was the same Fujin that Naruto always spoke so highly about.

Fujin returned to his chair and looked at the participants once again. More specifically, his eyes landed on Gaara and Orochimaru's disguise.

He thought, 'Tsk… If it wasn't such an important event and the participants weren't so high-profile, I could have had so much fun. Instead of letting them go through different gates, I could have just thrown everyone randomly inside the forest. Wouldn't that be a sight to see?

I could have even thrown the teammates far from each other, making the Chunin exams completely chaotic. With everyone knowing the Transformation jutsu, it would have been a herculean task just to find the right teammates, hehehe.

The only drawback would be that such an exam would have been extremely difficult. I doubt whether anyone could pass…'

Fujin chuckled at the thought before concluding his thoughts, 'Oh well, it's probably for the best. If I showed off that skill too much, these bastards might give me that task during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Even though it is fun, I don't want it to be a job!'

With the rules explained, Fujin took a backseat. Anko handled the remaining work. Within a few minutes, everyone handed in their scrolls and were handed the scrolls secretly.

With all formalities done, Fujin lazily said without getting up from his chair, "Follow your examiners to your respective gates. When the signal sounds in half an hour, the exam will begin."

With those words, everyone dispersed. Half an hour later, the signal sounded and the Genins rushed in.

Anko approached Fujin and said, "You know, you could at least pretend to be interested."

Fujin chuckled and replied, "I'm plenty interested, Anko. I was just looking for the suspicious fellows. A couple of them really stand out. It looks like this round will be very interesting."

Anko was surprised. She asked, "You noticed suspicious Genins? Who?"

Fujin replied, "The bloodthirsty squad from Kusa and the squad from Suna. That kid carrying the gourd is especially dangerous. Don't engage him in a battle. Anyway, it's just a suspicion. Let me see if they'll actually dare to make a move."

Anko recalled the faces Fujin mentioned. Knowing the reason why Hiruzen had appointed Fujin as the Proctor, she had carefully observed the Genins as well. Before she could say anything, Fujin spoke again, "I'll leave the formalities here to you. Meet me in the tower once everything is taken care of."

Immediately, Fujin dispersed in a cloud of smoke. Anko's eyes twitched as she realized, 'He was a Shadow Clone! No wonder there wasn't a drop of sweat or a speck of dust on him! That brat fooled me!'

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she realized, 'Wait! Don't tell me he sent a clone to the Academy as well. No wonder those brats were so alert against him. I need to ask Ibiki what he did!'

Anko snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a loud scream. She looked towards the forest and said with a smirk, "Well, that was fast."

As in the original story, Kurenai's squad eliminated a squad very early. And, Naruto had an urge to urinate. So, he went away from the squad after getting punched by Sakura. He was peacefully doing his business when suddenly Sasuke appeared behind him.

Naruto was surprised. He looked at him and asked, "Why did you come here? Do you want to take a leak as we… What the hell, Sasuke???"

The poor guy hadn't even completed his business when he suddenly had to duck down to avoid a blow, nearly planting his face in his own urine! Not wanting to give up such a good opening, 'Sasuke' threw several kunai at Naruto, who had jumped away and was busy closing his pants.

Naruto barely managed to avoid them but his eyes widened as he saw that one of the kunai, which landed right in front of him, had a paper bomb which was burning! He exclaimed, "Well fuck me!" while hurriedly moving backwards and weaving hand seals.

The paper bomb exploded but before the impact could reach Naruto, he used the Great Breakthrough jutsu to blow everything away! He sighed in relief and muttered, "Barely safe! Now, which bastard was pretending to be Sasuke? I'll beat him u…"

Naruto's words were stuck in his throat as he heard a voice behind him, "One false move and I'll kill you! Now, hand over the scroll!"

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