The Forest of Death loomed before them like a living thing.
Towering trees stretched so high they swallowed the sunlight. Strange birds cried in unnatural tones. The very air carried the scent of blood, poison, and decay.
Naruto couldn't stop grinning.
"This… is awesome."
Sakura looked like she might throw up.
Sasuke was already analyzing the terrain.
Anko Mitarashi stood at the front gates, holding up a sealed scroll.
"Listen up, brats!" she said. "You have five days to get one Heaven scroll and one Earth scroll, then make it to the tower in the center of the forest."
She tossed the scroll in her hand to Team 7.
"Heaven, for you. That means you need to take an Earth scroll from another team. Or trick them. Or kill them. Whatever works."
Sakura blanched.
Anko smirked. "Oh, and if you open the scroll before reaching the tower… you die."
"…Seriously?" Naruto asked.
"Very," she said sweetly.
---
> Main Quest Updated:
Chūnin Exams Phase II: Survival
Objective: Reach central tower with both scrolls
Duration: 120 hours
Sub-Objectives:
– Team survival (mandatory)
– Collect bonus scrolls (optional)
– Identify anomalies (hidden)
Warning: Deadly threat detected within area – Classification: S-Rank
---
As soon as the gates opened, Team 7 bolted.
No hesitation.
They moved quickly through the undergrowth, keeping low, eyes alert. Sasuke led the way, Naruto followed with clones rotating as scouts, and Sakura covered their rear.
They didn't speak much — not because they didn't want to, but because the forest listened.
Branches moved without wind.
Eyes glimmered behind trunks.
And occasionally, Naruto felt something brush against his chakra field… then vanish before he could lock onto it.
---
After the first hour, they stopped at a moss-covered clearing.
"We camp here for now," Sasuke said. "Naruto — send three clones out in a triangle pattern. One every hundred meters. Sakura, set up traps on the perimeter."
Naruto summoned the clones, nodding.
> Clone Command Active:
Pattern: Triangulation Scan
Synchronization: Enabled
Current Chakra Reserve: 81%
Clone Chakra Allocated: 6%
"Let's not forget," Sasuke muttered, "we're not just avoiding ambushes. We need to ambush someone else."
"Yeah," Naruto said. "Sooner the better. I hate waiting."
Sakura tied her last wire trap and straightened up. "Let's just not pick a fight with anyone too strong. We only need one scroll."
Naruto's system flared red.
> Danger Alert: High-Level Threat Approaching – Estimated 200 meters
Chakra Classification: Unknown
Nature: Malicious
WARNING: This is not a Genin.
---
"Everyone down!" Naruto hissed.
His team ducked into the bushes just in time.
A figure passed into the clearing.
At first glance, it was a Kusa Genin — dark hair, slitted eyes, strange smile. But the chakra… it crawled. It felt cold and ancient, like it belonged to something not human.
Naruto's system was blaring.
> Hostile Identified: Orochimaru (?)
Classification: S-Rank Missing-nin
Threat Level: Lethal
Objective: Unknown
Combat Recommended? → NO
Escape Recommended? → YES
What the hell is he doing here?! Naruto thought.
The Kusa-nin paused. Sniffed the air.
Then smiled.
"I know you're here… little fox."
Sakura froze.
Naruto's blood ran cold.
"How does he—?"
The figure turned its head inhumanly far. His tongue extended far longer than it should have. "Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchūriki. And now… something more, yes?"
He stepped forward.
Naruto sprang up immediately, hurling a kunai — not at the enemy, but at the base of a tree.
Boom.
A trap tag exploded, triggering a chain of wire-snaps and logfalls as the team scattered.
Sasuke grabbed Sakura and dashed left.
Naruto went right — deliberately drawing attention.
---
> New Quest: Survive the Snake
Objective: Escape Orochimaru
Duration: Until out of range
Bonus Objective: Gain intel
Hidden Objective: Unknown
REWARD: Survival.
---
Naruto dashed through the trees, heart pounding like a drum.
He threw four clones ahead, two behind.
They detonated seconds later.
Too fast.
Suddenly, he was grabbed.
A hand like ice clamped his throat and lifted him into the air.
"Such reckless courage," Orochimaru said, still wearing the Kusa-nin's skin. "But that's the price of power, isn't it?"
Naruto tried to summon a Rasengan — too slow.
He spat in the man's face.
Orochimaru laughed.
"You've grown more defiant than I expected. That thing inside you… the System. It's not Konoha's work, is it?"
"…You know about it?" Naruto rasped.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. "I know more than you do. Fracture… Nodes… Seeded Hosts. You've only scratched the surface."
He dropped Naruto.
Not out of mercy.
But to play.
"You're not ready," Orochimaru said. "But you will be. If you survive."
Then he vanished.
No noise.
No chakra signature.
Just… gone.
---
Naruto lay on the forest floor for several seconds, coughing.
Then his HUD blinked.
> Quest Complete: Survive the Snake
Bonus Objective: Partial intel gained
Reward: +2 WIS, +1 END
Hidden Stat Detected: "System Sync" – 14%
New Perk Gained:
→ Instinct Override
→ Once per day, avoid a lethal strike by 0.5 seconds of precognition
He pulled himself up slowly.
He couldn't stop shaking.
But he was alive.
---
An hour later, Team 7 regrouped at a riverbed under the roots of a hollow tree.
Naruto recounted what happened.
"He knew everything," Naruto whispered. "The System. The Fracture. He even called me a 'Seeded Host'."
Sasuke was pale. "That was Orochimaru. He's… insane. Stronger than almost anyone in the village."
Sakura's hands trembled. "Why was he here?"
Naruto looked at the scroll in his hand.
"He's not after the scrolls," he said. "He's after us."
---
Elsewhere in the forest…
Orochimaru stood beneath a twisted tree, gazing into a scroll made of living flesh.
"So… the Uzumaki has awakened early," he murmured.
Then he grinned.
"The harvest will be bountiful."