The location for the second Chunin Exams is called the Forest of Death.
This is one of Konoha Village's unique venues, and can also be said to be one of Konoha's Forbidden Lands. Of course, the term 'Forbidden Land' is relative to the ordinary residents of Konoha.
For the Ninja of Konoha, the Forest of Death is merely an excellent Cultivation ground.
Or rather, it's a place for conducting simulated assessments and combat training. There's no real danger, as the most dangerous things inside are just large wild animals.
But those creatures pose no threat to Ninja.
Standing outside the Forest of Death, Anko announced the rules for this exam.
The rules were simple: it was essentially a scroll-snatching battle.
Before entering the Forest of Death, each squad would receive either a Heaven or an Earth scroll.
Only squads that collected both Heaven and Earth scrolls could successfully proceed to the next round of exams.
"Hehe, it's finally an exam where strength speaks for itself."
Naruto wasn't the only one excited about these rules; the other examinees were too.
There was no other way, the first written exam had really put them through a lot.
Now, they just wanted a good fight to vent their dissatisfaction.
And just like that, the rules for the second round allowed them to fight openly, which was simply perfect.
Half an hour later, after all squads had signed the life-and-death pact, taken their scrolls, and entered the Forest of Death in single file through eighteen entrances, the curtain rose on the second exam.
"From now on, everyone we face is an enemy, and what we need to do is constantly snatch scrolls from other teams until we get the scrolls we need."
As soon as they entered the Forest of Death, Naruto said to Sasuke and Sakura seriously, his tone mixed with anticipation and excitement.
"Tch, do you even need to say that?"
Sasuke and Sakura weren't rookies anymore; they naturally knew what kind of situation they would face after entering the Forest of Death.
At this point, no one knew what scrolls others possessed, so they could only try their best to snatch scrolls from others until they achieved their mission objective. The most important thing was to guard against natural dangers like wild beasts along the way, as well as assassinations, traps, poisons, and other various methods from other teams.
Team 7's setup was excellent, so they weren't afraid of these tactics at all.
Whether it was a head-on confrontation or an assassination, Sasuke and Naruto were completely unafraid.
And if poison was used... hehehe, Sakura, the healer, wasn't to be trifled with either.
"Sasuke, Sakura, what do you say we try to eliminate all the examinees here?"
They hadn't walked far into the Forest of Death when Naruto came up with a very insidious suggestion.
"The Forest of Death is so big, how can we eliminate everyone?"
Sasuke was a little confused by Naruto's suggestion.
As he said, the place was so vast that eliminating everyone was simply unrealistic.
"Hehe, did you think I hadn't considered that?"
Naruto smiled slightly and continued, "The condition for passing this exam is to reach the Central Tower, located ten kilometers from the edge, within five days with both Heaven and Earth scrolls. Any team that peeks at the scrolls midway or has a member die or become unable to continue will fail."
"So, we just need to arrive at the Central Tower a step early. Sasuke and I can ambush at the two entrances of the tower, with Sakura providing support. Then, for every team that comes, we 'eliminate' them. With the strength of the three of us, do you think there's a chance to eliminate everyone?"
Naruto's suggestion was very tempting. Sasuke thought about it, and if nothing unexpected happened, no one in this exam should be stronger than the three of them.
Not even those three from Sunagakure.
Therefore, Naruto's suggestion greatly moved Sasuke.
If all the examinees were eliminated, wouldn't the three of them be guaranteed to become Chunin?
Why wait until the final exam when they could settle everything in the second round?
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
"I knew you'd agree."
With that, the two instantly drew the swords from their backs, flung them into the air, and with a light jump, successfully stood on their magic swords.
"What about Sakura?"
"It's fine, my intermediate magic sword can carry two people."
Hearing Sasuke say that, Naruto's lips curled, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
And when Sakura heard Sasuke say that, her face remained serious, but her heart bloomed with joy.
"Hold on tight so you don't fall."
A magic sword only had so much length, and Sakura barely managed to stand on it.
To prevent her from being thrown off, Sasuke had no choice but to let her hold onto him.
"I'm going ahead."
Seeing his two companions dawdling, Naruto immediately felt very annoyed, so he simply went ahead to avoid being 'fed dog food'.
"Alright, let's go too."
"Mhm."
Seeing Naruto go ahead, Sasuke didn't mind. After Sakura was completely steady, Sasuke controlled his Flying Sword to ascend, leisurely following behind Naruto.
"Huh~ Sasuke, look to the right, isn't that someone?"
"Hmm?"
After flying into the sky, their vision greatly increased. Because Sasuke was blocking the wind in front, Sakura, standing behind, could look around.
And with that look, she saw that there seemed to be another person flying to their right.
"Is that... Boss?"
Sasuke's eyesight was better than Sakura's. After a careful look, he naturally recognized the person.
After shouting to alert Naruto, Sasuke controlled his Flying Sword to fly towards Ge Liang.
Hearing Sasuke's shout, Naruto thought something had happened, so he quickly turned to look at Sasuke, and then he saw Sasuke flying to the side.
"Huh~ Isn't that Uncle? How did he get here?"
With a hint of doubt, Naruto also controlled his Flying Sword to fly towards Ge Liang... As for why Ge Liang was here?
It was mainly because he was extremely bored.
Because of the Chunin Exams, there were no customers today. Looking at the empty internet cafe, after telling Zabuza and Haku, he stepped onto his Flying Sword and came to the sky above the Forest of Death, hoping to find some fun.
Fortunately, when he closed the shop last night, he had anticipated that the internet cafe would have no business today. So, he specifically spent ten million Ryo to enter the enlightenment chamber and successfully learned Sword Flight, Myriad Sword Art, and Heavenly Sword.
Thinking of the ten million Ryo he spent, Ge Liang felt a pang of heartache.
"If I don't find some fun today, wouldn't that ten million Ryo have been wasted?"
Not long after he arrived high above the Forest of Death, he saw the three members of Team 7 also ascend, and they were flying towards him.