Chapter 63: Chapter 17: Enigmatic Challenge
Chapter 17: Enigmatic Challenge
A day had passed since the beginning of the survival test. Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead as the rest of his clones continued working. He didn't want to draw attention to his location hence having produced only 100 clones, half of which were working on the Hiraishin No Jutsu and the rest practicing the elemental techniques he knew. Falling back on the grass below him, he took out the map that Tsunade gave him. Unfolding the paper, he looked at the basic map.
It was drawn very simply, a round circle wherein there were pictures illustrating various landmarks. There were, all together 15 entrances, and the examiners were allowed a head start of 5 minutes. At the top there was a river which headed straight through from North to South however it broke off into three parts when it reached the middle. To the top right was a picture of a canyon and bridge surrounded by what looked like poorly drawn traps. The top left; there was a picture of a bamboo forest. The rest of the area was covered in a traditional forest with trees that were over 30 metres in height. Naruto's attention drifted to the bottom right of the map where he had drawn a picture of himself with the victory sign to signify his position.
The map, although undemanding, had taken him half of the previous day to understand fully. His position was quite comfortable as he chose to set camp near one of the three forks of the river. He knew it wasn't wise to have a set base for where to live but he was confident of the defence he had built. Staying near a river was an ideal choice since most ninjas wouldn't bother checking those areas believing no one to be stupid enough to situate there. Naruto inwardly smiled at his psychological tactic.
He rose from his seat and walked to the river, washing his face. Having freshened up he decided to check out the genin teams. He hadn't encountered anyone since he had been here and thought it would be an excellent idea to see how good the teams were. He was also curious to see what the Konohamaru corps were doing. As far as he knew, there were 7 teams and 3 examiners in the training area. He was one of the examiners as well as Gai but he didn't know the identity of the remaining one since he was late to the start of the exam.
Naruto stretched his muscles, proud to find that the gravity seal wasn't a problem anymore. He wasn't capable of fighting at his maximum capability but he was still superior to most jounins in speed. He began to run but stopped abruptly as a fireball passed in front of him, missing him by inches. He turned to his left, an angry expression on his face, "Baka! Watch what you're doing!"
The clone scratched the back of his head upon being reprimanded, "Gomen."
Naruto shook his head, leaving the clones to their training, as he left the clearing.
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Gai ran through the canyon making sure to avoid any traps. He was being pursued by a team of rain-nin. The enigmatic jounin had decided to test the teams in various ways. Currently he wanted to see how good their tracking skills were. He had enjoyed his time so far immensely finding himself to be enthusiastic as well as passionate towards his work.
He ran closer to the side of the canyon before jumping on the rugged rock and making his way upwards to the top. The canyon was extremely dry covered completely in hard rock and the surface was boiling after having the sun shine on it for so long.
Gai flipped to the side making sure to stick with his chakra as a kunai flew past him. He looked at the three shinobi at the base of the canyon, all intently staring at him, "Your tracking skills are strong however you will have to do a lot better if you want to obtain a scroll from the master of youth." He smiled giving a sparkle which added to the effect of the already blinding sun.
Turning he began to run straight to the top as the genin team began to chase him. Avoiding the numerous shuriken he jumped to his right, straight at one of the genins, before delivering a swift kick to his abdomen sending him to the canyon floor. Gai quickly grabbed the side of the canyon before beginning to run up it once again, laughing, "No one is as youthful as I! No one!"
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Naruto jumped through the dense forest swiftly, making sure that his movements made as little sound as possible. He kept an eye on his surroundings to locate any signs of a genin team. As he jumped onto a branch he stopped. He pulled out the kunai which was embedded into the thick wood.
Examining it, he realised that the kunai had just recently been used. He smiled before looking around at the vegetation for any more signs. As he scanned the area he found an explosive tag attached to one of the trees across from him as well as a thin piece of string a few feet ahead of him.
He threw the kunai, which he had acquired moments ago, at the piece of string cutting it. Instantly a thick log flew past him into the tree with the explosive note attached resulting in a deafening explosion. Naruto jumped out of the way as the tree had a domino effect making a few more trees collapse along with it including the one he was standing on.
Landing on the ground, he sighed since he would've jumped into the path of the trap if he hadn't stopped. "That was close." He was broken from his musings as he turned to catch three shuriken in his hand. Quickly flipping to the side he threw the shuriken back in the direction where they came from.
He heard two thuds before a muffled gasp followed by the sound of splattering. He focused himself since he knew that he wasn't alone, "It's no point in hiding. You gave away your position with your attack."
Waiting a few moments he heard rustling as three ninja appeared around him, one of them was injured. Naruto's eyes threatened to fall out as he stared at the attackers who had unveiled themselves. He couldn't believe that he had not recognised their presence in the written exam since they seemed to stick out clearly. Collecting himself he spoke, "Are you genins?"
The three shinobi looked at him quizzically before the leader of the team spoke, "Of course. What makes you think we aren't?"
Naruto coughed as he replied, "You look a little old to be genin."
He stared at the leaf-nin who were all visibly very old compared to the other participants in the exam. The leader of the team was dressed in brown trousers and a white shirt. He covered it up with a green tie and sleeveless sweater. The most distinguishing features were his glasses as well as his thick moustache. He spoke in a calm voice, "My name is Akamon Manabu, I am 41 years old."
Naruto's mouth fell on the floor, "41 years old!"
Manabu straightened his forehead protector which he was wearing on his head, "Yes."
Naruto shook his head, "How long have you been taking this exam?"
The older shinobi replied in a matured voice, "I am a 21 year veteran of the chuunin exam."
Naruto felt his heart rate increase not believing the amount of shock he was going through, "You haven't passed in 21 years!"
Manabu closed his eyes pushing his glasses upwards, "This isn't the first time we have met. I was also a part of the chuunin exam three years ago which you took."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, "You were?"
Manabu nodded, "You were the loudest ninja there."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at what he was assuming was an insult. "Is that so?" Inwardly he knew that it was true.
Manabu got into a battle stance, "You weren't who we were after but your scroll is as good as any."
Naruto looked at the three shinobi who slowly began to circle him. He remained calm as they each threw a kunai at him. Ducking, he let all the kunai pass him overhead, before jumping to his left and delivering a swift kick to one of the genins making him lose his balance. Quickly taking advantage, he drew his own kunai before grabbing the older shinobi and holding his weapon to his neck.
Naruto looked past his hostage at Manabu and the other remaining genin. "Your biggest mistake was revealing yourselves at the beginning. It is obvious that the examiners weren't going to be easy to beat head on. You should have kept the element of surprise since I'm far stronger than you."
Manabu smirked before speaking, "That hostage does you no good. You wouldn't kill him."
Naruto loosened his grip bringing his kunai back, "You're right." He delivered a hard elbow to the neck of the unsuspecting genin knocking him out instantaneously. "But I am going to kick your asses."
The unconscious leaf-nin fell to the ground. As his body impacted Naruto disappeared from his position appearing next to Manabu and his comrade holding a kunai to each of their necks. "21 years and you still haven't learned not to drop your guard." He turned his kunais the opposite way showing the blunt ends before hitting both the remaining shinobi hardly in their heads.
Naruto saw the genin lose consciousness as he put his kunai back into his pouch. He folded his arms smiling, "I must have looked so cool." He quickly turned realising another presence. His eyes widened as he looked at a familiar jounin sitting on a tree branch with his precious orange book in his hand, "Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?"
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The Konohamaru corps had spent the last hour roaming the bamboo forest which they were now regretting entering. Udon walked forwards moving the bamboo tree out of his way. "I think we're back where we started."
Konohamaru instantly stopped in his tracks. He turned, pointing at his glasses wearing friend, "Kuso…we've been going in circles for…for…I don't know but you're supposed to be good at these things."
Udon pushed up his glasses, "This forest is like a maze. It's hard to understand where to go." They could go straight however they found that the forest would get extremely dense if you continued in one direction. It seemed as if it was deliberately set up to test their navigational skills.
Moegi played with her hair, "Konohamaru-kun, don't worry. I'm sure we'll get out of here."
The Sarutobi ignored the girl before sitting down, "At this rate, we'll have to fight one of the other teams to get a scroll." He punched the ground, "I wanted to fight Naruto-niichan."
Udon folded his arms, "I don't think we have to worry about fighting other teams. It seems that the specific reason for us to try and acquire a scroll from one of the examiners is to see whether we really have the potential to be chuunins."
Konohamaru looked at the glasses wearing genin, "Baka! What if all the teams in here have the potential? We'll have to fight them then wouldn't we?"
Moegi began to think, "I'm not sure everyone could have the potential. And why is Naruto-niichan an examiner? I think he became one to test us."
Konohamaru slapped his head, "Of course! It's the job of the examiners to test us!"
Udon shook his head disagreeing with their team leader, "I think Moegi means that Naruto specifically wants to test us. It is weird for another genin to be an examiner isn't it?"
Konohamaru looked around whilst thinking over their words. He got to his feet throwing his long blue scarf around him, "Hey, I think you're right. There's no way Naruto-niichan would pass anyone else. If anybody's going to get his scroll, it's going to be us."
Pulling out a kunai the Sarutobi walked to the bamboo tree before slashing at it and making it fall. Udon looked at the genin with curiosity, "What are you doing?"
Konohamaru rubbed his nose, "I'm going straight through this damn forest. And I don't care if I have to take down half of it with me."
He cut a few more trees making them fall in different directions. Jumping over them he began to slash as many trees as he could. His arm was beginning to ache, "Udon, Moegi! Stop standing there and help out!" He never got a response.
The genin turned to find his friends looking at something which he couldn't see due to some fallen trees obstructing his view. Walking over towards them, he wanted to see what had caught their attention. His eyes widened as he saw three leaf-nin tied up and unconscious. "Nani?"
Udon turned to his friend, "I'm guessing they encountered one of the examiners."
Konohamaru scratched his head, "We should take advantage of this."
Moegi raised an eyebrow as she looked at the team leader questioningly, "Eh?"
Konohamaru waved off the weird expressions of his friends, "We should see if they've got anything valuable that we could use. We'll untie them after so they can make their own way out eventually."
The three nodded before salvaging any useful items from the unconscious team.
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Kakashi looked towards the blonde giving a small wave, "Yo," He jumped off the branch to the ground before walking towards Naruto, still engrossed in his book, "I'm an examiner."
Naruto was visibly confused, "They made you an examiner. A chuunin would have been enough."
The ex-Anbu nodded, "You're right but…Gai insisted that I take part." The copy-nin turned a page in his book, "You know you've just knocked out the genin team I was planning on testing."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Gomen…they did attack me first though."
Kakashi looked up from his book with his one exposed eye, "That is true." He looked at the unconscious leaf-nin, "If you continue like this, you're not going to pass anyone."
Naruto shook his head, "I've already got my sights set on a particular team. If I'm going to pass anyone, it's going to be them."
Kakashi turned his attention back to his book to continue reading, "I see."
Naruto stared at the jounin, "What about you?"
Kakashi sighed before speaking, "Well, I came across two teams yesterday but I don't think they were ready. A few hours ago I was in the canyon when a team of rain-nin began a fight with me. All was going well until Gai showed up."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And?"
Kakashi stared intently at the pages of his mature novel, "Well he said something about the youthfulness of green spandex to them. I wasn't really listening but soon after the rain-nin began to chase him, leaving me to go find another team."
Naruto laughed as he thought of the taijutsu specialist. He scratched his head, "Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi walked towards a tree before leaning against it, "Yeah?"
Naruto tapped his chin, "I was wondering why they didn't use the Forest of Death like all the other times?"
Kakashi continued reading whilst he spoke, "The last time it was used, a lot of events occurred which were uncontrollable. Orochimaru's interference was something that no one will ever forget. It was decided soon after Tsunade-sama became Hokage, that the survival test would have to change in order for us to have more direct control over what happens."
Naruto clenched his teeth as he heard of the now dead sannin. He ignored his growing anger as Kakashi resumed speaking, "I think out of all the tests that we've used over the past two years, this one is the best. Having three examiners inside the testing area allows us to make sure everything is in order, as well as deciding who really has the potential to become a chuunin."
Naruto was surprised to hear those words come from the masked mans mouth. He adopted a serious expression, "Gai-sensei deserves the credit he'll receive for thinking of this."
Kakashi nodded as both shinobi turned their attention towards the trees feeling a large chakra signature heading towards them. A few moments later a green blur jumped out of the trees landing in the middle of the small decimated clearing.
Gai smiled giving a vibrant sparkle, "Kakashi, my eternal rival, finally I have found you!" He noticed Naruto looking at him, "Ah! This is great! Naruto-kun is also here, this saves me a lot of time!"
Naruto didn't understand what was going on whereas Kakashi wasn't paying any attention. Both shinobi replied concurrently and obliviously, "Huh?"
The enigmatic Gai quickly recoiled, "WHY MUST YOU BE SO HIP!" Naruto stared at the taijutsu specialist as he slowly collected himself. Gai spoke in a sincere tone, "I have come to challenge both of you."
Naruto fell over when he heard the eccentric jounin. Kakashi abandoned his position, walking towards the two shinobi, "I don't think we have time to take challenges. We have a task to do."
Gai folded his arms, "That is correct my youthful rival but this challenge relates to our duties as examiners."
Naruto got up from the ground, dusting the dirt from his clothes, "What kind of challenge is it?"
Gai smiled before pointing at the two ninja, "Whoever holds onto their scroll the longest is the winner."
Naruto brightened over the idea, "Sugoi…heh heh, I'll leave you both in the ground."
Kakashi gave a wave, "Sounds reasonable."
Gai gave a thumbs up knowing they had accepted the idea. However, he stopped himself from leaving upon noticing the mature novel that Kakashi was reading. He quickly pointed at the recognisable book, "No! My eternal rival has resorted to reading such unbecoming books!"
Kakashi looked up from his book, "It's quite good. You should read it." He moved the book forward to the taijutsu specialist.
Gai couldn't believe what he had just heard the sharingan user suggest. He gripped his hair with his hands, "OH MY GOD!"
Hiraishin No Jutsu - Flying Thunder God Technique
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone