Forest of Death
At this moment, Naruto and his squad had set up an ambush after reaching the core area of the jungle.
They waited patiently for someone to fall into their trap.
Naruto was unusually serious today, especially after Anko's reminder about how dangerous this forest truly might be. It was now overflowing with Genin like themselves, all sharing the same burning resolve to pass the exam.
Fights from here on out were bound to be intense if not downright bloody.
But even after an hour, no one triggered their trap, which left their team quite frustrated.
Naruto activated his Kagura's Mind Eye, hoping to locate any possible targets nearby — but he deactivated it almost immediately.
'So, we're already inside their ambush,' Naruto realized, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple as he forcing himself to act normal as he subtly moved closer to Sasuke.
He had just sensed three chakra signatures very close to their team — within a 400-meter range. They weren't moving at all, just standing in fixed positions, clearly waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
They might be planning to third-party his team. Wait until someone else walks into the trap, let them all fight it out — then swoop in and take the scroll while everyone's distracted.
"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto leaned in and muttered something into Sasuke's ear, quietly handing him something.
Sasuke heard him out but gave no reaction. He simply cast a discreet glance in the direction Naruto had indicated.
"You sure about this, Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly, suspicion in his tone.
"Yeah, pretty much," Naruto replied with a nod, slipping back into position and resuming watch.
Meanwhile, hidden not far away…
"Did they see us?" asked one of the Rain ninja, a boy with light brown hair and goggles resting on his forehead — Kaede. Suspicion laced his voice as he kept his eyes on Naruto. "That blond one… he was acting strange just now."
"No, they couldn't have," their squad leader replied calmly. Nobu, a robust man clad in standard Amegakure gear with a light grey cloak, didn't even look fazed.
"You know the technique I'm using — "It's a type of fuinjutsu that hides physical signs like breathing and scent and even dulls our chakra presence. There's no way they could detect us."
Still, noticing Kaede's uneasy expression, he added, "But stay alert. We don't know much about this squad. They might have some tricks of their own. If anything feels off, we fall back. No hesitation."
"Isn't that kind of cowardly?" the third ninja of the team, Shinsuke, said gruffly. His voice was slightly muffled behind his mask covering the lower half of his face. "Backing off just like that? They look weak to me. We should go straight at them."
"No," Nobu said firmly, eyes narrowing. "We don't even know if they have the scroll we need. There's no point in picking a fight that gains us nothing."
hearing this Shinsuke didn't respond, but his gaze hardened as he glared at Naruto's team.
"Sasuke, is something wrong?" Sakura asked, having noticed Naruto whispering something to him just moments ago.
Sasuke shook his head at her question. "There's nothing wrong, Sakura," he replied, but discreetly gave her a subtle signal to stay alert.
Sakura nodded and returned to her position, but unlike Sasuke, she wasn't as composed. The thought that someone might be watching them made her uneasy, and she instinctively began scanning her surroundings the moment she settled back into place.
The moment Naruto saw her doing that, his face darkened.
Why did he tell her that. Great. Now they'll definitely know we're onto them.
He sighed, already sensing that a fight was inevitable. Without wasting a second, he silently shifted into a battle-ready stance.
Meanwhile…
"Let's back off for now. They definitely know we're here," the Rain ninja leader Nobu muttered, watching Sakura's head move slightly. That small gesture was confirmation enough.
He hadn't wanted to engage in battle on the very first day of the exam. He wasn't desperate enough yet to gamble on a risky fight without even knowing if the enemy had the scroll they needed.
But not everyone in the squad agreed.
The masked ninja shinsuke scowled under his breath, clearly unsatisfied with the leader's call. When the other two moved to retreat, he didn't follow.
Instead, he remained where he was, crouched and watching as his teammates slipped away, vanishing quietly without anyone noticing.
Cowards, he thought, eyes narrowing as he watched them fade into the jungle.
Naruto and Sasuke remained on high alert the entire time. When the anticipated attack never came, they were left confused Naruto especially. He had been so sure they were about to be ambushed.
To be sure, he reactivated his sensory ability and upon seeing the current situation, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Only one chakra signature remained.
The other two Rain ninja had already retreated and were far away by now.
"Leader, why'd you let him stay there? What if he gets himself disqualified?" Kaede asked as they regrouped in the shadows.
"You're still new, that's why you don't know about Shinsuke," the leader replied, exhaling. "He only acts aggressive. But if we ever really get into trouble, he'll be the first to run away. Trust me he's all bark, no bite."
"I've even seen him ditch his clothes and run naked just to escape one time. You think the rest of us have thick skin like him to escape?"
Kaede stared blankly for a moment, stunned by the "glorious feat" he'd just heard. After that, he wisely decided not to get involved in Shinsuke's business again.
"He's not exactly weak either," the Nobu continued. "I've seen him go toe-to-toe with a Chūnin once. So don't worry — if things get dicey, he'll run. Let's focus on planning our next move."
"Yes, leader." The two of them began strategizing quietly.
On the other side, Naruto's mouth twitched in irritation as he spotted only one Genin still hiding.
'At least come out and fight. Why are you even bothering to hide now? 'He cursed internally, frustrated by this kind of behavior.
.
.
.
.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Still nothing.
Naruto's irritation was now peaking.
"Oy, Naruto," Sasuke grumbled, clearly agitated. "Was there even someone there? Or were you just making stuff up?" He had been on edge the entire time, expecting a fight to break out any moment — but he hadn't seen even a shadow of anyone until now.
Naruto gave him a serious look as he thought of something.
"Tell my story to my kids if I don't make it back."
???
'Is this really the time for jokes? And do you even have kids?' Sasuke's mouth twitched.
"I'm heading out to relieve myself. I'll be back in a few minutes or so," Naruto added, already walking off toward a more hidden area — leaving Sasuke behind, who muttering curses under his breath.
Naruto had traveled a bit farther from Sasuke and Sakura — far enough that if he got into a fight, it would take a while for them to reach him.
Not that he needed their help.
By the time Naruto reached this distance from their initial location, the Rain ninja didn't even bother hiding anymore. He now stood openly in front of Naruto, looking oddly confident.
"Hehe, you fell right into my trap too easily," the masked Rain ninja Shinsuke chuckled as he pulled out a kunai from his pouch, his gaze locked gleefully on Naruto.
'Does he have something wrong with his brain?' Naruto thought, eyeing him flatly as he scanned the area again. No one else was nearby. Even if Shinsuke's teammates were close, Naruto could probably take them all on — let alone just this guy.
"I've been watching for a while. You're the weakest one among the three, aren't you?" Shinsuke smirked.
"…"
Naruto had heard enough of his bullshit; this bastard was practically begging for a beating. Without hesitation, he pulled out a kunai from his ninja kit and hurled a shuriken straight at Shinsuke.
The Rain ninja dodged it easily, the shuriken embedding itself in a tree trunk nearby.
Shinsuke then immediately tried closed in the distance, aiming to engage in close combat — his specialty. He had far more experience in taijutsu than long-range fighting, and he wasn't going to give Naruto room to breathe.
As soon as he got close, he lunged for Naruto's left side, slashing with his kunai.
Clank!
Naruto's kunai met his in mid-air, sparks flashing between them as metal clashed violently.
From there, the fight intensified, with Shinsuke attacking relentlessly while Naruto remained on the defensive, dodging each strike by mere centimeters, sometimes even millimeters on dangerously close calls.
At first, Naruto struggled. Shinsuke's strikes weren't powerful, but they were fast and precise, always aimed at weak points or vital spots. This wasn't just a brawl it was a true shinobi fight, where one wrong move could mean instant death.
But Naruto began to adapt. He slowly matched Shinsuke's rhythm. His opponent may have been faster, but Naruto's instincts were sharper. And more importantly he was calm throughout the time.
"You're better than I expected," Shinsuke admitted mid-fight. "But that's all."
Suddenly, he flicked a kunai with subtle precision — aiming straight for Naruto's heart.
It pierced clean through him.
Shinsuke grinned… until the smile died on his face.
Poof.
The Naruto he struck vanished in a cloud of smoke — a shadow clone.
A Chills ran down his spine. As he instinctively tried to leap away.
But it was too late.
He felt a sharp numbness in his back that was unmistakable sting of a real blade hitting flesh.
Looking at his back, there was a small cut from Naruto's kunai just now.
He retreated after seeing this, realizing that fighting Naruto in close range wasn't worthwhile as he had thought earlier. He tried to gain some distance, but Naruto didn't give him the chance and kept harassing him every time he attempted to pull back to a safer range.
But eventually, he got a breather when Naruto missed one of his attacks, allowing him to finally create some distance and breathe a sigh of relief.
I might have to retreat. If this continues, I really won't last very long in a fight like that, he thought, and immediately becoming resolute as he formed hand signs, preparing to hold Naruto off with his jutsu while he was retreating.
But midway, he smelled something — like something was burning close by. As he turned toward the smell, his face went ghastly.
He was back in the place where he had been standing at the start — unknowingly returned to the exact same position. But that wasn't what made his blood run cold.
There was a detonating tag just near his foot.
Fuck! Where did that come from?!
He had to run, abandoning his hand seals midway to get out of the explosion range — otherwise, he wouldn't survive.
Even though he outran the blast, he didn't escape unscathed. His clothes still took the burn as he ran for his life.
Naruto looked at the blast with satisfaction, seeing the plan work just fine. Otherwise, he would've had to resort to ninjutsu — something he wanted to save for emergencies, especially if he could beat them without using it.
Under Naruto's watchful eye, wondering how things would go next, he saw something dash out from the midst of the fire at a very fast speed.
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Naruto had barely blinked, and the Rain ninja had already put quite a distance between them in just a second.
'Damn… how can he be so fast? He's running at least three times faster than before,' Naruto thought, astonished, watching as the Rain ninja disappeared into the forest within seconds.
Naruto didn't bother pursuing him after that. He probably could've stopped him, but he wasn't interested it was clear this guy wasn't the leader of their group, so there was no point wasting energy on him.