Chapter 16

The fortress named after the last Uchiha practically fell under the continuous onslaught of Haruno's pink army. They were spotted on dates a couple of times! Progress! And it seems that Sasuke was the initiator of one of them, but these are just rumors, I don't meddle in the personal lives of my comrades. It's okay if they really become a couple, I'm only happy for them and will be waiting with great pleasure for the addition of the black-eyed brothers.

According to established tradition, we go to our clearing, celebrate the successful completion of the mission and relax, we need to relieve tension, primarily nervous tension.

In the process, Kakashi joined us, also returning from some tooth-grinding multi-move mission to provoke a conflict between two aristocratic families.

Sensei also fell in love with this secluded clearing, where no one but us wanders. He could often be seen relaxing here with a fishing rod, although we never caught anything here except small fish for cat food, but the process itself! The process is much more important than the catch itself. They say that fishing is also a kind of meditation, you sit on the river bank, look at the float, listen to the water murmur and that's it. Nothing else around, peace and quiet.

I hinted at preparing for the chunin exam. Sensei said that from now on we train at training ground #44, the Forest of Death. Cheating? No! Who's stopping the others from training there? Judging by the map, the training ground is more than huge, there's enough space. At least for ours, Konoha's.

The forest was amazing! The trees are really huge, the trunks are as thick as a good house! You can safely call a single branch a tree. Gigantic foliage, on which you can even stand if you want! Terrible humidity and heat due to the greenhouse effect, it's quite gloomy from below, the sun is not visible. Moss and rotten leaves, small branches underfoot. There are a lot of living creatures here, snakes and all sorts of lizards almost at every step, it is better to keep quiet about insects altogether. Sakura, who came to training in shorts for the first time, did not last long, after which, with expressions inappropriate for a girl, she ran off to get other clothes.

A little about the fauna. Logically, animals avoid people, but here it is better to stay away yourself, because there is a risk of running into some herd of predatory mammoths, after which it is fun to play tag for survival. During the chase, you can also run into carnivorous trees with disgusting sticky juice (my discovery, a real nasty thing, I ended up throwing out my clothes, because it stinks so much that you can use it instead of a gas weapon).

Neiji did not remain on the sidelines either: the discovery of carnivorous butterflies for us is entirely his merit. Sasuke now has a hard time trusting the grass - once, jumping onto a green, cheerful lawn, he found himself up to his ears in mud. We barely managed to dig him out, to the satisfied laughter of sensei.

Kakashi teaches how to move around this forest in his own way - he gives a few general tips, after which he simply watches, allowing you to gain your own experience. If you are really stupid - he will pull you out as a replacement, say so reproachfully "Think", and go off to train the others. I don't know whether this is right or not, but we quickly learned to look under our feet and around, and then recognition began: I once flew into this crap, but it is better to go around that Sasuke.

To our surprise, Sakura was the best at orienting herself on the training ground, somehow miraculously guessing where to go, where not to poke her nose, etc. Even Ku and I's intuition worked worse. Mysticism! I openly advised the girl to check her family tree, to see if the Senju had sneaked in there, I couldn't explain the phenomenon in any other way. Sasuke wandered around in this forest like Susanin himself, and I was even worse. Neji saw almost nothing, because even the trees had their own circulation system, but he could lead you where you needed to.

In general, by the end of the month, even Sasuke and I were getting our bearings on the training ground, we made a few stashes, a couple of shelters. Neji got used to the terrain and could look around with his Byakugan, although it was less effective due to both broken legs.

There was simply a hellish influx of shinobi from other villages in the village, the ANBU slept every other time, trying to keep track of everything. There were an abnormally large number of Sunovites, and a lot of people from the Stone also arrived, I even saw several teams from the Mist with their political situation! In Peska, the genin teams have now been expanded to five people and training is being conducted by two jonin at once, supposedly to improve the effect. My intuition is sounding the alarm - all this nonsense is probably just so that more people can legally come straight to the Leaf. The guest houses are packed to capacity. Some bastards tried to set up a tent city in my neighborhood, after convincing arguments, the unsuccessful entrepreneurs went to the hospital. They also approached Sasuke about renting out houses for guests. He, quite naturally, refused.

So, it's time for the first stage! Written exam. Second floor. Crowd at the unnecessary classroom. We sigh and pass by. If they can't discern a simple illusion that was deliberately crookedly cast, then they have nothing to do in the second stage, some of the inhabitants there are no worse than the Uchiha or Yamanaka and can drive you crazy. Again, my bitter experience, I almost went to hug some cockroaches, and a simple "Kai!" won't work here, the attack is combined - some kind of perverted form of genjutsu and gas. So we arrived at the place, an old chunin accepted the application forms and a waiver of claims in case of injury (with a pencil, or what?). We entered the room. The atmosphere is tense. We look at the people around us, they look at us. There are few kind looks, very few. I look for my target. Here he is! Gaara. A guy with short red hair, with a huge dried pumpkin on his back. On his forehead is the kanji for "Love", his eyes are heavily outlined in black. A crazy grin, an equally crazy look. Judging by his emotions, he can barely hold back from throwing himself at the people around him. You don't have long left, Gaara, a couple of months.

What do I actually know about those who participate in the exam, at least according to "canon" data?

Shikamaru Nara, a tactician, quickly calculates situations, multi-move strategies are his strong point. Uses shadow-controlling techniques of his clan, extremely lazy, but I doubt that's true.

Yamanaka Ino. Can delve into other people's thoughts and possess bodies. Throws iron. Not much, but at least something.

Chouji Akimichi. Physical strength, increases parts of his body in battle, extremely thick-skinned in tai, but seems to be vulnerable to genjutsu.

Hinata Hyuga. In the anime, she played a simple role of "kawaii wimp". Byakugan and her clan's taijutsu, but she seems to be behind Neji in everything.

Inuzuka Kiba. Fights together with her dog partner. Clan taijutsu, animal feelings and instincts should be a good help.

Aburame Shino. A disgusting character. I don't even want to be close to this wandering anthill. Fights with the help of a colony of beetles living right in his body.

Tenten is dead, Neji is on our team. Rock Lee will probably miss the exam.

Temari. Waves her giant fan, giving out good air jutsu, I don't remember more. Her brother Kankuro fights with puppets and probably should be good at camouflage.

Gaara. A cage for Shukaku, the one-tailed bijuu, because I can't call him a jinchuriki like myself. He doesn't deserve it. He's extremely strong in sand techniques, presumably he has the element of earth. He has a static defense that protects against any attacks, created with the help of a voluntary sacrifice.

About three thousand people from all over the world are participating in the exam. Of course, the people are distributed among many buildings and classrooms, so there aren't that many people in each individual place, but enough. We crowd, exchange glances. There's zero friendliness. A truce doesn't mean peace, it's just not particularly profitable to fight us at the moment.

We were seated in our seats and given forms with assignments. The audience was covered by a rather weak ki. Morino Ibiki himself. I never thought that he would actually conduct this exam. However, he is a talented person, why shouldn't he rest like this.

Everything is as in the canon, 9 questions, 10 points in reserve, minus 2 for each noticed attempt to cheat. The 10th question is for the finishing blow.

I pick up the form. The questions are absurd, ridiculous and extremely confusing. I can solve them myself, experience and knowledge allow it, but I'm lazy. It's easier to just wait, because the tactics have been discussed in advance. Neji carefully peeks at the answers with his Byakugan and writes them, Sasuke copies the movements of his pen with his Sharingan and passes us the finished version using genjutsu. Everything is simple and brilliant. Sakura and I don't have to do anything at all. I sit, wait, look at the ceiling. Oh! Invasion of someone else's chakra, I don't resist. An illusion of a written sheet hangs in the air right before my eyes, I confidently scribble the answers.

Ki slowly increases, drops sharply, increases again, the genin are nervous. Morino plays on my nerves masterfully, occasionally concentrating on someone, just staring. I even began to doubt the correctness of what I wrote and was eager to double-check!

The people caught cheating begin to quietly, and sometimes noisily, leave the classroom. That's it, time is up. The examiners collect the forms and begin to check the answers, immediately naming those who can go for a walk. That is, if you copied the wrong thing or incorrectly, you're also out. Fun! A little nervousness, no matter how my name sounds.

-So, the tenth question. Each of you must now decide for yourself whether to answer it or not. Those who decide to answer and fail will no longer be able to take the exam for the title of chunin in our village.

Five minutes to think. - Ibiki said, jerking the ki pressure up to a very uncomfortable level.

I feel close attention, someone is brazenly drilling me with their gaze. I turn my head, one of the examiners is carefully gesturing in the language of the ANBU, asking to press harder, preferably with a little inadequacy. Okay, I comply. I answer with gestures, "Understood, I'm starting."

Ki pressure to maximum, a little demonic chakra in the air. The audience jumped, their eyes riveted on me. I remain silent, just smile and wave my hand. Gaara fixed a simply murderous look. Blow me a kiss or something? No fucking way, just joke once, and then once! And they won't go to the bathhouse with you anymore.

The demonic ki made even some of the examiners falter, a decent portion of the genin will have to change and diligently wash their clothes. Thank you for the lesson, Kakashi-sensei. Oh, how I cursed when I washed my own pants, learning to resist his thirst for murder. The genin fly out the doors in a slender stream.

"Enough, too much" is the command from the examiner. I release the pressure, and after a couple of seconds I remove it completely. The effect is astounding - they are afraid to the point of shaking in their hands, but they sit and wait for the question. There are no more cowards here. None of ours escaped, and they got it less, the main blow of the bloodlust was on the sandmen.

Morino shook his head disapprovingly, waited about a minute, and then declared:

-You passed. The tenth question is just a test of your determination. Congratulations.

Before the explosion of indignation could begin, the window shattered into pieces and Mitarashi Anko appeared.

-Hi, everyone! - Bloodlust throughout the hall, but there is absolutely no effect, they just experienced demonic, an ordinary person can hardly give out even half. - My name is Mitarashi Anko and I will be your examiner for the second stage! We will meet in two days at training ground #44. Find out the details from your mentors and in the booklets handed out at the exit.

Yeah, it's nerve-racking here, you can't believe it, but our team doesn't give a damn, we've been through worse. In principle, there are no difficulties as such for us in the second stage of the exam, we'll get to the tower in any case.

The third stage probably won't be too difficult either, although potential chunin have come here, you shouldn't relax, especially since if meanness' laws are true (and in most cases they work flawlessly), then the end of the third stage will be pure hell. If only we could drag all the sannin to Konoha, maybe there would be fewer losses. Decided! It seems like Orochimaru put seals on his students, and Mitarashi is one of them. If it's possible to contact through fuin, it's high time.

- Anko-san, can I ask you a question? - I approached the girl after most of the people had left.

-Ah, it's you, Artist-san. - A smile from ear to ear. -Hello, hello. What do you want?

-Do you have a connection with your teacher, Orochimaru-san? - Straight to the point.

-Yes. Why do you need this? -All the fun disappeared, a serious expression on his face.

-Will he be present at the next stages of the exam, if not, I would like to invite him.

-Reason? - Ibiki joined the conversation.

-My sensory abilities are sounding the alarm. Something is wrong with our guests from the sand. They are anticipating blood. This is not ordinary hostility, I can tell the difference. - I tell a pre-prepared version, which, by the way, is almost true, something like that is felt in them. - That's why I want Konoha to have as many strong fighters as possible in case of... unpleasant surprises.

-Why didn't you report it earlier? - Morino is more serious than ever. Judging by his emotions, if I were under his command, I would have just acquired a flashlight.

-There were doubts. After I saw the cage for the one-tailed, they disappeared.

-I understand, the Hokage will be informed of your suspicions. Anko, tell Orochimaru about this, let him decide for himself whether it is worth it for him to return.

After that, they let me go. However, not for long.

-Danzo-sama is calling you. Be at his office in five minutes in uniform. - An ordinary-looking passerby whispered in my ear.

History repeats itself. Are you sure, did you really feel it, are there suspicions about other villages. As a result of the conversation, the ANBU were transferred to the "yellow light" mode - increased readiness for attack. I have a feeling that my name will quickly become a curse word for them, because the special forces are already having a hard time at this time. However, the people working there are much more experienced than me. Most likely, I only pushed the already accumulated avalanche of suspicions.

I went out, and practically ran into Sarutobi in the corridor.

-Follow me. - An order from Hiruzen.

We come to the office, the kage takes a chair and gestures for me to take off my mask.

- Do you need something, Hokage-sama?

- Yes, Naruto-kun. Your team has already been approved for the title of chunin, and you will become them no matter what happens at the exam. However, this does not exempt you from participating. You are entrusted with a mission, rank C, possibly promoted to rank B. Destruction of enemy village teams. Pay special attention to the teams marked on this list. Don't worry about your request... Don't touch Gaara for now, we will "accidentally" distribute him among your opponents in the third stage. Got it?

- Yes, Hokage-sama. - I accept a small scroll with names and a pack of photographs.

I open it and quickly read, memorizing. I return it. You could say that the death sentence for 28 genin has just been signed. Several talented neighboring teams must cease to exist, because their development is not beneficial to us. I am sure that the strongest of the "allies" have similar missions.