Chapter 31 (Patreon)

At noon the following day, the candidates gathered outside Training Ground Forty-Four—the Forest of Death.

Seventy-eight genin divided into twenty-six teams had passed the first exam.

Mitarashi Anko stood before them and began explaining the rules of the second stage.

Her taunting tone quickly got under Naruto’s skin. He immediately started mocking her, only for Anko to throw a kunai past his face and cut his cheek.

When another Grass shinobi stepped forward and returned the kunai to her with an unnaturally long tongue, Anko stared at the stranger for a moment.

Neither of them seemed to recognize the other.

It was a reunion between teacher and student, though only one of them knew it.

After Anko finished her explanation, all twenty-six teams were required to sign consent forms acknowledging that they could die during the exam.

The second stage was a survival exercise.

However, surviving in the forest was only part of it.

Each team would be given one of two scrolls: a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll.

Their objective was to obtain both scrolls and reach the tower at the center of the Forest of Death.

Since every team began with only one type of scroll, fighting other candidates was unavoidable.

The participating villages might appear cooperative during the Chūnin Exams, but they were still rivals. Once the teams entered the forest, serious injuries and deaths were almost certain.

That was why everyone had to sign the consent form.

The first exam had lasted only an hour.

The second would last one hundred and twenty hours—five full days.

After submitting their signed forms, Team 8 received their scroll in private and headed toward their assigned entrance, Gate Five.

With five minutes remaining before the exam began, Mihawk looked at the Earth Scroll in his hand before passing it to Hinata.

Shino adjusted his sunglasses.

“My insects have already confirmed that the closest team to us possesses a Heaven Scroll.”

Mihawk nodded.

“Then we’ll take it from them and head straight for the tower. There’s no reason to spend five days in a forest filled with wild animals, poisonous insects, and enemy teams.”

“Yes,” Hinata replied.

Shino gave a small nod.

At exactly 2:30 p.m., the proctor stationed at Gate Five unlocked the iron entrance.

The moment it opened, Team 8 entered the Forest of Death.

“Byakugan!”

The veins around Hinata’s eyes bulged as she activated her dōjutsu.

Her vision spread through the forest, covering everything within a one-kilometer radius.

“There are five teams nearby,” she reported. “Two of them are already fighting. Two others are moving away quickly, and the last team is advancing slowly.”

Hinata focused on the nearest group.

“The slow-moving team should have entered through Gate Six. One of them has an enormous amount of chakra.”

An enormous amount of chakra?

Mihawk immediately thought of Gaara’s team.

Among all the people taking part in this exam, only three possessed chakra reserves that truly stood out.

Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara were jinchūriki.

The third was Orochimaru.

Hinata already knew Naruto’s chakra signature, and Mihawk remembered that Team 7 had entered through Gate Twelve.

As for Orochimaru, he would be searching for Sasuke rather than moving through the forest without purpose.

That meant the slow-moving team was almost certainly Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō.

Mihawk turned toward Shino.

“Which team has the Heaven Scroll?”

“I’ll take you to them.”

Shino did not answer directly.

He leaped onto a nearby branch and began moving through the treetops.

Mihawk and Hinata followed.

After traveling for nearly twenty minutes, Shino stopped.

Before he could speak, Hinata had already located the targets.

“Mihawk-kun, there’s a team ahead of us. Their forehead protectors are from Amegakure.”

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

Mihawk pushed off the branch and shot past Shino.

His Observation Haki had already locked onto the three chakra signatures ahead.

Two minutes later, Team 8 emerged from the trees.

Three Amegakure genin were gathered in a small clearing, quietly discussing their plans.

The instant Mihawk, Hinata, and Shino appeared, all three Rain shinobi turned toward them.

Their expressions changed when they noticed the Konoha forehead protectors.

“Be careful,” said the oldest-looking member of the group, who carried a breathing tank on his back. “The girl is from the Hyūga Clan, and the one wearing sunglasses must be an Aburame.”

Another genin carried several umbrellas across his back.

“Two of Konoha’s major clans,” he muttered.

Mihawk showed no concern.

“You have a Heaven Scroll,” he said calmly. “Hand it over.”

The three Rain shinobi tensed.

“How do you know which scroll we have?”

Suspicion appeared in their eyes.

Had Konoha secretly given its own genin information about the other teams?

Mihawk placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Never mind. You weren’t going to hand it over willingly anyway.”

His red eyes moved across the three of them.

“This will be over quickly.”

“Wait—”

Mihawk disappeared.

A silver flash crossed the clearing.

The leader of the Rain team barely had time to open his mouth.

“Watch—”

A sharp pain tore through his waist.

His vision blurred, and darkness quickly closed around him.

All three Amegakure genin had been cut through at the waist.

Their upper and lower halves struck the ground moments apart.

Blood spread across the dirt.

Shino looked at the six severed halves lying in the clearing.

“Whenever I see Mihawk draw his sword, I’m reminded how fortunate we are to be on the same team.”

“Mm,” Hinata agreed.

Neither of them hesitated at the sight.

They were shinobi.

Once a fight began, killing and being killed were both possible outcomes.

They also understood the nature of Mihawk’s swordsmanship.

His blade was meant to end battles in a single strike.

“Found it.”

Mihawk returned his sword to its sheath and removed a Heaven Scroll from one of the fallen Rain shinobi.

He was about to toss it toward Hinata when a voice came from the forest.

“Give us that scroll.”

Team 8 turned toward the speaker.

Three figures emerged from between the trees.

A red-haired boy walked in front, followed by a blond girl carrying a giant fan and a boy dressed in black with a wrapped puppet strapped to his back.

Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō.

The team from Sunagakure.