Phase 2

(AN: Unedited)

In front of us was a massive forest, with towering trees that reached abnormal heights. The shrubbery was so thick that one couldn't see what was inside.

As everybody looked at the forest in fear, Anko smirked.

"Welcome to the stage for the second phase... Practice area forty-four... Also known as the Forest of Death!"

"You'll soon find out why it's called that.."

Hearing her words, Naruto shot back at her with a glare.

"You think that scares me?! I'm not afraid!"

Anko's eyebrow twitched as she smiled awkwardly, pulling out a kunai from her pouch and immediately throwing it at Naruto.

I watched as the events of the main series unfolded, keeping my mouth shut. Now was the defining moment.

Suddenly, a woman wearing a conical hat approached Anko, giving back her Kunai with an elongated tongue.

That confirms it. Orochimaru is here.

That means that the Leaf and Sand have yet to take action. Or that or they don't know that he's here right now.

Ah... That's it. Orochimaru probably didn't mention that he would participate in the exams when he met with Rasa, opting to keep it a secret.

This would mean that all Rasa knows is that Orochimaru will meet him around a month from now, planning to kill him. If I had to guess, that's when action will be taken.

(AN: Sorry for the immersion cut. For those who don't remember, Orochimaru struck a deal with Rasa to attack the leaf ages ago in the story. Rasa, with Gaara's involvement, convinced Rasa to backstab Orochimaru, selling information about his whereabouts to Konoha. The sand got a lot of resources, and in turn, Konoha knows where Orochimaru will be a month from now. I hope this refreshed everything, bye!)

Well, I shouldn't concern myself with these matters. All I know is that if the third dies, it will be beneficial for the village. I should keep my distance from Orochimaru.

After explaining the test to all of us, we all received our scrolls and headed to a different entrance. Next to me were Shira and Kiyo, while in the gate adjacent to us were Kankuro, Temari and Hayaki. (The name of that weird sword guy.)

"Let's do this, Kiyo, Gaara!"

"Hm!"

Hearing my teammates getting excited, I nodded unenthusiastically. This would be a life or death test, there was no time to be this cheerful.

Once thirty minutes had passed, our assigned instructor opened the gates and we finally entered the forest.

Once inside, I concentrated and tried to locate the nearest team. Shira and Kiyo were used to this, so they remained silent.

"Follow me."

Opening my eyes, I ran up a tree and started jumping through branches in a specific direction. Of course, my teammates followed.

After a minute of rapid movement, we were close enough, so I raised my hand, signaling for everyone to stop. Following my orders, Kiyo and Shira did their best to mask their chakra signatures as we creeped towards the enemy team.

Once they were visible, I quickly tried to see if I recognized them.

It was a team of Kusagakure nin. The three of them looked alike, probably related by blood. They were in the middle of an argument.

"Ok guys. We need a plan of action."

"I say we just run until we find a team, and then beat the hell out of them."

"Baka. What if we run into a stronger team?"

Focusing, I gouged their chakra levels while remaining hidden. Once everything was confirmed, I raised my hand and held up three fingers for my teammates to see.

Once I confirmed that they saw it, I controlled started crushing the minerals under the enemy's feet with my magnet release. This was something that Rasa had taught me.

A few seconds later, sand rose up from beneath their feet, holding them in place. Their faces changed immediately, entering in immediate panic.

"Sand?! What the hell! I can't move!"

Before they could do anything, Kiyo jumped out of her hiding spot and started performing hand-seals in quick succession.

"Suiton: Dokugiri!" (Water Style: Poison Mist!)

Unable to react in time, the three Kusagakure ninja were enveloped in a dense purple mist. Only their screams could be heard as they suffered the acidity of Kiyo's mist.

Soon, their screaming stopped, meaning the paralysis had taken effect. Not wasting any time, I also started performing hand-seals.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

Releasing a massive burst of air from my mouth, the poison mist was completely blown away, and the three ninja suffered a direct impact.

Deep cuts could be seen on their skin, allowing for the paralyzing poison to seep in more easily.

Once we confirmed they couldn't move and that the air was no longer poisonous, Shira ran to the enemy ninja at high speed. In one quick motion, he grabbed all of their pouches and checked for any other hidden compartments.

Once he found the scroll, his face lit up in joy.

"Jackpot! It's a heaven scroll!"

Smiling, I quickly called him back. Once we confirmed the scroll's authenticity, our team got back on the move, this time towards the central tower.

This is how our team does things. Baki drilled into us the idea of making sure your opponent isn't even able to retaliate.

The one that attacks first always holds the advantage.

I didn't come here to play around. Today, I'll break Gaara's record by arriving to the tower in less than an hour. No one can stop me.

---------------------------------------------------

Twenty minutes later, our team had made it through a bit more than a third of the way to the central tower. Keeping the pace, we ran at top speed.

"At this rate, we'll be the first ones to arrive! Eliminate the closest teams until we get a scroll, and then speed towards the tower. While people fight it out back there, we're already a third of the way through!"

Kiyo was ecstatic. The teamwork that we had worked on so much through all the missions with Baki finally paid off. That team from earlier did not stand a chance.

"That's right. But even so, I really wanted to fight at least o-"

As if responding to Shira's wishes, a wave of metallic needles came out of the nearby trees.

Thinking quickly, I made a wall of sand, stopping every single needle. The three of us remained uninjured.

'These needles... It's him!'

Recognizing the needles, I wasn't surprised when three familiar ninja walked out of the trees. One had a bunch of umbrellas, while the other two wore conical hats. They were all ninja from Amegakure.

They were none other than the team Gaara killed in the main series. The leader was called... Shigure.

"Formation!"

With Shira in the front, me in the middle, and Kiyo in the back, our team got into our signature formation.

"Heh. Look at these kids, all uniformly lined up. Who wants to die first, huh?"

Saying this, Shigure lifted his umbrella and was about to throw it in the air, when the earth beneath his feet started shaking.

"Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!" (Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turnin Palm!)

Injecting a generous amount of chakra into the technique, I Broke up the earth of the surrounding area, causing a small-scale earthquake.

Losing his balance, Shigure wasn't able to perform his technique. That's when massive amounts of Sand rose from the broken earth, enveloping the three ninja's bodies.

"What the hell!? Release me!"

Gaining control, I lifted my arm slowly, as the sand raised the three up into the air.

"Sabaku Sōsō!" (Sand Burial!)

Clenching my fist, blood sprayed everywhere as I crushed all of their limbs. There was no need to kill them, so I didn't.

"Shira, go get the scroll."

Looking at me weirdly, Shira hesitated.

"If it's about what I did to them, can you blame me? They attacked wanting to kill us, so we should be just as cruel."

"But... Crushing their limbs? Wasn't that too far?"

this time, Kiyo interjected.

"It was the fastest and most efficient way to get what we needed. Now go get the scroll, it means one competitor less."

Finally understanding, Shira nodded his head and complied. There was no room for pity in the ninja world. It was kill or be killed.