(Chapter 24: Deadman's Forest)
It would be hours later before the 168 genin were assembled at the gates of the Forest of Death where Gohan for the most part had a predatory smile on his face that nearly went ear to ear; at the fact that everyone here was now on his home turf. Not only that but he, Sasuke and Yakumo could now unleash absolute hell on everyone like the wretched maggots that dared to think they had a chance at being something better than corpses for his hordes; the only thing he had to truly worry about was getting rid of Sakura and being on guard for Orochimaru.
(2 hours later, 4:37 Pm, Forest of Death, July 11th, 998 S.E)
It was 23 minutes till 5 in the evening with all of the genin present before a grinning Anko who was very happy to start cutting down the competition to size, with all of what was in store for them.
"Welcome to the Forest of Death maggots, because this is where the fucking lot of you will be taking the 2nd part of your exams." Anko said before holding up two scrolls that held the kanji for Heaven and Earth on them
"You're objective during this will be simple. Each team will be given their own Heaven or Earth scroll and your job is to take it from the other teams next to you by any means necessary if you want to advance. Which is why when I say by any means necessary, I mean it. So if you have to behead someone to get a scroll then go on and take their heads off, if you have to torture them until they give it up then a fun suggestion is plucking out their finger and toenails with pliers..as that always a fun one. Bottom line is that if you want to get a matching Earth or Heaven scroll to make it to the next stage of things, then you're gonna have to do whatever it takes." Anko added causing a few of the more green genin to almost physically wilt under hearing that
"Wait a minute, what the hell are we gonna do about food? You're not gonna leave us to starve to death out here?!" Choji asked as the thought of going without food for an extended period without food was one of the worst things he could ever experience
"Really Choji...out of all the things you could worry about, stuffing your face is your main concern!" Ino barked at the Akimichi for more worry about stuffing his face than the possibility of getting killed or tortured to death
"Hey, I gotta know if we're gonna get food or now; I refuse to go starving." Choji staunchly responded in refusing to go hungry whatsoever
"It's fine that he asked the question and the answer is that as long as you know how to hunt for your food, then you won't go hungry. If not then that's on you if you starve, not to mention that some of the little guys there might decide to snack on you." Anko told them with the last part causing some of them to nervously gulp at the last part
"W-what do you mean them snacking on us, what the fuck is in that Forest?!" An Amegakure genin questioned nervously while Anko grinned upon seeing it
"Oh, that wouldn't be fun if I told you." Anko said before letting a small bit of laughter
"It looks as though Fate has decreed this will be an easy task for me." Neji said with a smug smirk
"Oh really? Well, I guess your all-seeing eye can predict that since your fated to go through this like a walk in the park, that you won't have any trouble starting without any scrolls. After all, it shouldn't be too hard for you and your team. I mean Fate did decree that you'd this would be an easy task for you." Anko spoke while almost everyone looked at Team Guy predatorily
"You can't do this to me, you damned commoner!" Neji barked at Anko who soon appeared in front of him and had her hand around his throat
"I can do whatever the hell I like Hyuuga. Just because you've got those all-seeing eyes doesn't make you the goddamn boss of me. So try telling me what I can and can't do again and I'll take my sweet time tearing them out of your sockets. Better yet I'd have some fun with you and make you my bitch since you've got the hair for it." Anko spat as the idea of breaking Neji and turning him into a submissive gimp made her very turned on
"Are there any further questions?" Anko asked as she threw Neji to the ground all the while Tenten gave him a death glare and Rock Lee a look disappointment
"How long do we have to reach our destination?" Tenten questioned in wanting to know the time-table they had to get to the destination in question
"You will have 17 days to reach your destination, which is a tower at the center of the Forest of Death. If you fail to show up there by nightfall on the 17th day, then you fail. If you show up to the tower without both scrolls then you fucking fail, no exception!" Anko told them before snapping her fingers as the individual gates opened up for them and soon enough all of them rushed through it at breakneck speeds
"This is gonna be too much fun to watch, the only thing I do regret is not sending in some of my summons in there. That would've been great for this year! Oh well at least I have a checklist of things to improve upon for next year." Anko mused to herself as she made a mental note of things to improve upon for next year
Meanwhile with Team 7 who were speeding through the Forest of Death, Sasuke and Gohan were amidst themselves discussing what to do the moment a certain serpent came out of the woodwork to try and mark Sasuke as his own.
"Remember the moment we encounter the serpent, we do not engage whatsoever. We make a run for it as fast as possible." Gohan told Sasuke in having prior informed him that his spirits had found out that Orochimaru was in the Exams masquerading as a Kusa genin that was after Sasuke
"Understood Gohan. Even I know when retreating is the only option against something like him." Sasuke replied because he may have pride in his abilities but he wasn't prideful enough to think he could take on a Sannin
"Glad that we're on the same page. After all, it'd be a damn shame if I lost you to the serpent." Gohan spoke seeing as how he didn't put in so much work turning Sasuke over to his side, only for Orochimaru to fuck it up
"Trust me you won't, as nothing will deter me from getting retribution against Itachi...nothing." Sasuke replied his eyes briefly turning into the crimson red of their Sharingan in the determination of never letting anything steer him away from his revenge
(2 days later, July 13th, 998 S.E, Forest of Death, 8:40 Pm)
It was 2 days later as Team 7 had gone and so far killed off 3 teams with brutal efficiency to where Sakura had felt revulsion in the way in which her teammates were so easily able to do so.
"Gohan, there's a large mass of negative emotions headed your way. It feels like that serpent, you've warned your comrades about." Kurama informed him of the fact that Orochimaru was approaching them
"Thanks for the heads up." Gohan thanked the kitsune within
"Sasuke, Yakumo. We've got trouble ahead of, the serpent is coming. I repeat the serpent is coming!" Gohan told the two of them
"What's our game plan?" Yakumo questioned as they kept going throughout the forests
"That's an easy one, especially since Sakura is out of earshot for this." Gohan answered with an insidious smile on his face
"What do you have in mind Gohan?" Sasuke questioned while Sakura was blissfully unaware of the fate that would soon befall her
"Simple. I'll need your illusions Yakumo and Sasuke, you'll be needed to hypnotize her. If all goes accordingly, then we'll be able to get out of this alive and be rid of Sakura all at the same time." Gohan told him with a malicious grin on his face at what would soon be enacted
That in mind they soon began to enact their plan as they felt Orochimaru rapidly approach them with Yakumo and Gohan standing with their decoy in the hopes that the Sannin would take the bait. With it not being long before Orochimaru in his full menacing glory appeared before them, his serpentine yellow eyes, deathly pale face and slender form giving him an almost ghoulish appearance in the night.
"Holy shit this man is scary. Canon did not prepare me for this shit." Gohan thought to himself as even with his Gamer's Mind he still felt a subconscious fear well up within himself at being in close proximity to the snake Sannin
"Alright, Yakumo just follow my lead and we'll be in the clear from here on out." Gohan whispered to Yakumo who was very much nervous at the moment
"I'll t-try, but that's easier said than done. Especially, when one of the f-fucking Sannin is staring right at us." Yakumo responded as Orochimaru's penetrating gaze did nothing to ease her nerves
"Just take a deep breath and follow after me, everything will be ok." Gohan told her as she nodded and took a few deep breaths while Orochimaru continued to stare them down like a serpent would before it strikes at its prey
"So..what can we do for you?" Gohan asked the Sannin whose face remained a semi-serpentine mask of a face that curled into a smile
"Simple. I want Sasuke Uchiha, give him to me now and I leave your pitiful little team to continue these exams. You don't and I shall take great pleasure in seeing what secrets lie underneath your flesh, especially with you Gohan. It's been so long since I've ran experiments on an Uzumaki, such wondrous breakthroughs I made when I peeled apart their flesh to unlock the secrets of their longevity." Orochimaru answered back as he mused to himself on having ran so many fascinating experiments with Uzumaki
With the Uzumaki he found after Uzushio's fall being such wonderful test subjects to experiment on since they provided such great data and helped in making such breakthroughs towards his magnum opus, sadly their minds never lasted too long. Which was a shame in his mind considering that they provided such great knowledge in learning all about fuinjutsu, juinjutsu and other such things of that nature, even still they were so fun too see squirm and break like fragile glass once he truly got ahold of them.
"That can be easily done, since we have no intention of fighting against you." Gohan responded as he knew that even with Kurama backing him that his chances of holding out were slim to none
"Good that you realize where you stand compared to me, otherwise the tendons in your arms and legs would be slashed to ribbons. Now then bring Sasuke out here now." Orochimaru said with a voice that unnerved him by the nonchalant way he talked about doing so and the fact he could carry out the deed with relative impunity
"As you wish. Yakumo, please bring out 'Sasuke' to him immediately." Gohan told Yakumo who nodded and brought out 'Sasuke'
"I hope you don't mind that he's a heavy sleeper and all." Gohan spoke as he took the unconscious form from Yakumo
"Not at all, especially because it'll make all of what I do to him go much more quickly. Although, it will be a shame not to hear him screaming when I take his eyes out...nothing I can do about it now." Orochimaru spoke as he used his Shadow Snake hands to soon take the unconscious body and bring it towards him
"So I can assume that now that you have Sasuke you'll leave us alone?" Gohan questioned as it took all of his willpower to keep his composure
"Of course, despite the rumors peddled about me that I'm some treacherous boogeyman. I am still a man of my word, which is why I will leave you and the rest of your team alone for the rest of the Exams." Orochimaru answered as he took 'Sasuke' into his arms like he'd won a prize at the state fare
"However, I will be keeping a close eye on you. Since you've caught my interest and I can assure you Gohan Uzumaki, that this will not be the last time we meet." Orochimaru told him his golden serpentine eyes seeming to pierce into the necromancer's body and keeping him rooted to the spot
Once that sentence was finished Orochimaru then sunk into the depths of the earth with 'Sasuke' in tow, with Gohan having Kurama to track Orochimaru by his negative emotions and chakra to make sure that the Sannin was truly away from them. With it being moments filled with an uncomfortable silence between Yakumo and Gohan that felt like hours on end before the necromancer was given sweet, sweet confirmation that the serpent was gone that the illusionist and Gamer were able to breathe in sweet relief.
"I-I can't believe that worked. I seriously didn't think that we'd be able to pull that off." Yakumo spoke in feeling a massive weight off her shoulders at the fact that their plan went off without a hitch
"Neither did I, but I'm glad it did. By the way, how long is that illusion going to hold up?" Gohan responded in being extremely grateful that the plan had been pulled off
"It took up the majority of chakra to make due to who we were fucking with. So the best I can estimate is that it'll fool him for 8 hours, which should give us ample time to get some distance between us and him." Yakumo informed him of having to make her most layered and intensive genjutsu yet, which ate up 3 quarters of her reserves
"That should give us plenty of time to clear the distance between ourselves and him." Gohan spoke as the timeframe would give them plenty in terms of getting away from Orochimaru
"Good. The further away we are from him the better." Yakumo replied in wanting to be as far away from the snake Sannin as possible
"Although something I have to ask is where did you hide Sasuke at? Since I can't sense his chakra anywhere, so whatever you did was really effective." Yakumo wondered as to where Gohan had stashed Sasuke at
"That's easy as to where I stashed him at, but I will request that you look away when I get him out of his hiding spot. With how I hid him being something that would be rather...jarring to say the least." Gohan told her considering that he'd rather not freak out Yakumo in terms of how he stashed Sasuke away
"Alright, just hurry it up. Because I still have the creeps from him." Yakumo responded in having still been overwhelmingly creeped out and unnerved by Orochimaru
"Gotcha." Gohan said in having went a safe distance away from the weary Yakumo
'Hopefully Sasuke is still ok in there, especially because I've never put anything living in there before.' Gohan thought to himself as he reached into his inventory and pulled Sasuke back into the real world
"So did our plan work?" Sasuke questioned as Gohan had a triumphant smile on his face
"Yes, the plan went off without a hitch. We now have Orochimaru off our backs for now and he took the decoy; hook, line and sinker. Which means we can finally go all out." Gohan answered back as Sasuke breathed out a sigh of relief
"That's excellent news to hear. Still, I wonder how long it will be before he realizes he took Sakura instead of me?" Sasuke wondered as to how long it would take the snake Sannin to realize he'd been duped by the trio
"By the time he does, we'll already be on our way to Chunin rank. The only regret I have is that we won't be able to see the look on his face that instead of you, he took the world's most useless banshee!" Gohan chuckled to himself at wishing he had a front-row seat to Orochimaru finding this out
You do know you can do that with Astral Projection, heck I'll even tell you where he's at so you can watch him probably flip his shit. Since this is too good to not pass up seeing.
'Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had that.' Gohan thought to himself in remembering he had that spell
"So what do we do now?" Sasuke questioned the necromancer
"For now we can head over to my house which is about an hour's walk from here, a little under 40 minutes if we hoof it there." Gohan informed him of the fact that they'd be able to hide out at his place
"Good to know, let's get moving." Sasuke replied before returning swiftly to Yakumo
'Well, at least we came out on top with this.' Gohan thought to himself in knowing that they were lucky to have pulled this off
(Gohan's house, The next morning, July 14th, 998 S.E, 8:35 Am)
It was soon the next morning as Gohan and Sasuke were doing some light sparring with each other, before they had their team meeting with Yakumo.
"Well, Sasuke at this point I have no doubt you'll be able to carve up the competition with ease." Gohan said as he blocked a thrust to his neck from Sasuke's rapier
"All I'm truly focused on now is getting Karin on to our side. Her potential is wasted with Kusagakure." Sasuke responded while he groaned from having to block a Cleave attack from Gohan that cracked the ground beneath them
"Don't worry Sasuke we'll get to her the moment she signals for us to go to her. Until then we focus on destroying the rest of the competition." Gohan spoke as he slammed his Zweihander into Sasuke
That in mind they continued their furious bout with one another with Gohan's strikes crashing into Sasuke like an avalanche while Sasuke was able to parry and return with lightning-fast strikes that came one after the other with lightning-fast speed. With them continuing their sparring match that left small cracks within the earth for another 15 minutes before calling it quits for today, as Gohan's clone signaled them that breakfast was soon ready for them to eat.
With Gohan decided to hold off on doing so for a while as he decided to see if he had any new Necromancer spells or abilities he gained, something of which he felt would be needed to with everything that was to come.
Blood Clone
MP Cost: 36,000
This nifty ability is used for when you want to spread yourself out and still want your body double to have some oomph to it. Well, look no further than the blood clone.
When cast the user can create a blood clone of themselves that is among the most durable and useful of clones. This being that the user can donate an equal percentage of their HP, MP, SP and etc into the clone that will retain the original stats of the caster. Yet upon doing so they will suffer a 8-hour penalty to their HP and SP regeneration.
Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting
MP Cost: 72,000
Congratulations you've begun to reach the big boy spells of Necromancy and have now gained the power to cast one of them.
This spell causes you to unleash a black miasma that will violently drain the moisture of all creatures in a 60 foot radius. Until they're reduced to nothing more but withered husks, this spell however has no effect on undead or constructs. This spell deals 60,000-64,800 necrotic damage.
Undead Possession
MP Cost: 2,400
With this spell your able to now possess the undead so that you can get out of harm's way in a pinch. However, your true body will be left defenceless during this time and taking actual damage will force you back into it. With undead not under your control making the MP needed for possession cost triple its amount and stronger undead will be able to force you out.
Deadman's Legion
MP Cost: 30,000 MP
Your undead now are further empowered by necromantic forces and as such fight with far more ferocity and with a zealous resolve they lacked in life.
For one minute your undead now deal an additional 1,200 points of Plague damage, melee damage taken from opposing force is reduced by 15%
Aura of Decay
MP Cost: 150 per 10 seconds it stays active
Your power over undeath has become strong enough that it constantly permeates around you as a shield against your foes and decay and rot away at them. It deals Necrotic damage equal to your Necromancer class level in a 5 foot radius
'Well I can definitely get behind making Blood Clones of myself since I now have a means of physically spreading myself out in the world.' Gohan thought to himself, very much happy with the blood clone ability he gained and all of it implications
'However, fuck the weak damage that Aura of Decay gives me. Since I want that shit to have some more punch to it.' Gohan thought to himself as he upgraded Aura of Decay
Aura of Decay +1
MP Cost: 750 MP per 10 seconds its active
This upgraded form of the spell now deals 5 times the Necromancer's Class Level in Necrotic damage
"That's more like it." Gohan said to himself before heading in to eat breakfast with Yakumo and Sasuke
With it being once they finished their large breakfast that consisted of dire grizzly and dire wolf, hash browns and sunny side up eggs and relaxing for a bit afterward that they decided on what to do in terms of a game plan for what was to come.
"So tell me, who are we gonna go after first?" Gohan questioned as to who they were going to set their sights on
"I say we go after the ones from Amegakure." Yakumo suggested as to who they should target
"Any particular reason why we should go after them?" Gohan asked the illusionist as to why they should go after them
"Simple. They're ill-equipped for this environment and due to their village being more industrial and known for lacking in wilderness and survival training similar to Konoha after our demilitarization. They will have no doubt ran out of there rations and supplies at this point. Leaving them extremely vulnerable for us to take them out." Yakumo explained her reasoning behind why they should go after the Amegakure ninja first
"Excellent point Yakumo." Gohan said in having to admit that there was solid reasoning to Yakumo's plan
"Thanks, I've had a lot of time to read up on the world around me. After all, when your teacher abandons you and leaves you locked up in your own home. Then you have all the time needed to learn about the world that surrounds you." Yakumo responded considering that despite being an heiress of a minor clan that was left to unwillingly reside in her own home it gave her ample time to learn about the world around her
"Interesting. After all of this is said and done, I wouldn't mind talking over some things concerning the Elemental Nations with you. If you wouldn't mind." Gohan said as he wouldn't mind getting to know more on Yakumo's knowledge of the Elemental Nations
"Sounds great to me, but that'll have to wait for when Hinata is broken and dead." Yakumo responded, but first and foremost came Hinata's destruction
"Don't worry we'll get right on that immediately." Gohan assured the illusionist
"Now then, Sasuke. Is there anyone that you have in mind for who we should go after?" Gohan questioned his right hand
"Yes, it's that team from Otogakure and the one that has Kabuto Yakushi on it." Sasuke responded gaining the necromancer's interest
"I'd already planned on going after them, but it should be interesting to hear why Sasuke wants them dead." Gohan thought to himself in having planned to go after the Oto team and if time permitted Kabuto
"Any particular reason why you want to target them?" Gohan questioned the avenger
"I'll start with the team from Otogakure." Sasuke responded
"The reason why I want them out of the picture is that something doesn't feel right about them at all, especially with what happened last night. You can't tell me with a straight face that Orochimaru showing up right after a team from a village that didn't exist barely a full year ago enters the exams, is mere coincidence. No, no, no something is up that connects that serpent with them and I want answers." Sasuke added in having the distinct suspicion that there was something connecting the Oto team with Orochimaru
"I'd have to agree with Sasuke. Their showing up and then Orochimaru wanting to immediately come after Sasuke in quick succession sounds too fishy for something not to be up." Yakumo agreed in finding that it was pretty suspect for the team from Oto to show up and then right after Orochimaru show up and try to abduct Sasuke
"Well, Sasuke it seems as though you'll be able to ask them all of that when we hunt them down." Gohan said as Sasuke would be able to do all of which he pleased in getting answers from them
"Good, and as for Kabuto Yakushi in particular. The same reason applies to the Oto team..in fact a bit more so now that I think about it." Sasuke spoke his eyebrows knit in suspicion of Kabuto
"Where are you going with this Sasuke?" Yakumo asked as to where Sasuke was going with this
"For starters, even if he failed the Chunin Exams that many times. He has way too much information on people, too much for any single genin to know. Not to mention and I know you could see it too Gohan, that he seemed way too goddamn strong to still be a genin. His posture, eyes and demeanor all speak of someone who has skill and experience far beyond that of a mere genin. This is why my guess and this is a long shot, but somehow and in some fashion he's connected to Oto genin and Orochimaru. After all, it would make the best sense. Especially at the fact that Orochimaru to get into the Chunin Exams then someone who could get information on people as easily as Kabuto would be perfect for getting him undetected. Even though this is just my educated guess on this, I got the sneaking suspicion that there connected in something big." Sasuke surmised on how Kabuto was connected with the Oto genin and Orochimaru
With Sasuke knowing that somehow and in some way those 3 were all connected to one another, considering that it was beyond simple coincidence that one after the other showed up in the Exams and yet seemed in some fashion linked to each other.
"One thing is for certain Sasuke, is that we will be getting answers to this soon enough. Since you're right that this is all connected and soon enough we will have our answers to why Orochimaru wants you so bad. This is I swear to you, that we will get them one way or the other." Gohan swore considering that he wanted to see for himself it Orochimaru had any other ulterior motives within the Exams
(5 hours later, 1:54 Pm, Hokage Tower)
It was 6 minutes till 2 in the afternoon as Yugao Uzuki was reporting to Hiruzen on the status of Gohan and his strength and how he's been progressing up till now.
"I'm telling you Lord Hokage, that his strength and prowess is far beyond the genin in the Exams. If I were to wager anything, then I'd say he's at the level of some of our jonin. Not only that but if you've seen him lately then for one he's far more ripped than what I thought he'd be and secondly he looks great with red hair." Yugao reported at the fact that Gohan was exceptionally strong and in fact his power from what she was able to witness from him training was at that of a jonin
"That is...concerning, to say the least." Hiruzen spoke in finding that Gohan's Uzumaki heritage and true abilities were now awakened
"I don't see how this is a bad thing. If anything this is something that should be rewarded for his hard work considering that him being as good as he is with kenjutsu, ninjutsu and being as strong as he is now. Honestly, I don't see why you're making a big stink out of it." Yugao responded considering that she didn't she why the Hokage was making this out as something negative
Especially with the fact that Gohan was an exceptionally talented shinobi when it came to the areas he put his attention towards, so much so that she was a bit envious at how he took to everything he did like a falcon on how to fly.
"It is a bad thing because now I must go through making sure that with what must be done to make sure Gohan would stay in the village has broken. That I must get to work on making sure that he does not turn against the village, but make sure that he stays at a level more equal to those around him." Hiruzen spoke while internally cursing the fact that Gohan had managed to break the seals to repress his memories and his Uzumaki side
"Lord Hokage, what exactly are you going on about? Whatever it is you're talking about doing to Gohan, its nothing that he does not deserve. Seeing as how from the looks of it, your talking about holding him back and weakening someone who has so much potential." Yugao responded as she didn't want potential such as Gohan's to go to waste
"What I'm doing is making sure that Gohan doesn't turn against the village. What I must do to him is for his own good and for the good of Konoha, that I have to bring Gohan's level to one that is more manageable. Especially with what you reported to me, I can't afford to take any further risk once the exams are over." Hiruzen spoke as he knew that he had to start working on a stronger set of seals to restrict and repress Gohan's strength so that he wouldn't try to leave or betray Konoha
"I'm sorry to speak out of turn Lord Hokage, but what you're doing is completely wrong. Especially when Gohan has helped the village in not only having helped supply us with new weapons and armor. But on top of that has been helping to create new jutsu and most importantly gain us an alliance with Wave. An alliance of which has been proven to be invaluable concerning trade." Yugao protested in seeing what the wizened Hokage wanted to do to Gohan after all that he'd done as a great blunder and injustice towards the Necromancer
"Not to even mention do you even consider the fact that this will shatter any trust he has in you. For the trust he does have left in you from what I've seen him go on about has worn very thin, which is why if you do this you will destroy any chance of him ever trusting you again." Yugao added in knowing that if the 3rd Hokage did this then any remaining slivers trust Gohan holds for him would be obliterated
"That is a risk I'm fully willing to take. Even with all that Gohan has done for the village, I must still see this through to the end. Since he can not be allowed a modicum of a chance to turn against the village, which is why I must sadly do what must be done." Hiruzen resolutely said in his plan
With him seeing full well the cruelty, fury and sinister cunning in Gohan that grew in tandem with the immense power that reminded him all too well of his former student in Orochimaru and of his sensei's former rival Madara Uchiha. Therefore he was going to make sure that any form of Gohan wanting to betray or leave Gohan was squashed after the exams, as he would make sure that this time there was no way of Gohan breaking the seals placed on him.
"I..I can't believe you'd do something like this to him. Especially when all he's done is nothing but help the village, this is just completely horrid." Yugao responded in disbelief that her Hokage would go through with this abominable plan
"This is something that must happen for the greater good of Konoha. I've done and let many things I regret go on in the village. What's another to add to the list." Hiruzen spoke in knowing that this was one of the many things he'd simply have to add onto those that weighed on his conscience
"Well Lord Hokage, I hope you're happy with my report! If nothing else I will take my leave." Yugao nearly spat in tangible disgust of the elderly Hokage before leaving
'...If only they knew what I had to do behind closed doors to make sure that peace is maintained in the village.' Hiruzen thought to himself at the fact that he'd done a myriad of things to ensure that peace was kept in Konoha
Meanwhile Yugao stormed out of the Hokage Tower and began to race towards Anko whom she had to immediately tell of what the Hokage had planned in suppressing Gohan's strength for some misguided attempt of it being for the village and for Gohan's own good. Something that the ANBU operative couldn't allow to happen to the necromancer, not only for the fact he was extremely powerful but also for the fact that she couldn't let such talent go to waste..especially when that talent was dating one of her good friends.
'I just hope I'm not too late to help in stopping Lord Hokage from going forth with his foolish plan.' Yugao thought to herself as she sped towards Anko
"Since Gohan can't be allowed to be impeded, not when I can prevent someone with his talent from being repressed by my foolish leader." Yugao quietly said to herself while she sped off to warn Anko of the danger that was to come towards Gohan
So with things kicking off in the Forest of Death via Team 7 having successfully tricked Orochimaru into taking Sakura instead of Sasuke and their soon going after their chosen targets, we now see that Hiruzen plans to once again suppress Gohan's power..this time on a more permanent note. How will Gohan be able to overcome both the invasion to come and Hiruzen wishing to repress his level of power to being something lesser? Well, you'll have to find out on the new chapters of A Necromancer's Path to Power.
Now then onto the reviews from the last chapter.
Chris Nicks: Trust me I haven't forgot about it at all. I'm just gonna have Gohan level up Alchemist to a suitable level before he can get started on using it, after all there are all sorts of ideas I have for the types of poisons and by extension chemical weaponry that can be made from it.
Inritus: Happy you liked the prior chapter and yeah and I just honestly don't care for Hinata whatsoever, so sorry to burst yours and any other Hinata fans bubble out there. But what is going to happen to Hinata is indefinite no matter what. I like the idea for the Death Knight class since I have a few ideas for what can be done with it overall in terms of an actual class. Speaking of the Lich racial class having tiers going from basic Lich to Archlich to Elder Lich sounds awesome and I only plan on using the D&D aspect of it being in a protective hub world where everything else will be pulled from either Elder Scrolls or Overlord. Also, I do have plans for his Demonologist class and his eventually getting a Soul Mage class that'll make a lot of things I have planned be able to go together.
Silber D. Wolf: Happy you liked the chapter
awesomecb: Glad you like the story and I'll try to work on that to improve the story overall
Joshl1294: Honestly, the only person I can imagine he'd ever really have a problem with his Yamamoto whose stuck in his way and on the subject of Byakuya he's definitely one of my favorite characters in Bleach. I will eventually have Jiraiya teach him Swamp of the Underworld, because it definitely is an underrated jutsu. Also, love the idea for the future Gatcha token. Yeah Central 46 in all seriousness are a bunch of jackasses considering that if they're such wisemen and sages then not only counting half the crap that flies in the movies but the fact that they let Soul Society which is supposed to be Heaven btw be the way it is. Well...can't exactly argue with what Aizen did in wiping them out because man do they suck at their job. I'll think about the Bounts since the whole arc was pretty meh in my opinion. For DBZ companion gems I'll have to hold off on that, because I'd like to wait before Gohan summons planet-busters so that way he can be at an equivalent level to handle them. Panty and Stocking however I'm all for doing so.
L.B.N: Hope this chapter was a good follow up to the last one and I got what your saying man.
piddle: No problem answering your questions
Blazing Heart Frigid Soul: How Team 7 goes about acquiring Kin and Karin will be dealt with in the next chapter, and don't worry I already know how to get ahold of Kin considering the timeframe of her being made an Edo Tensei sacrifice.
The Dark Wolf Shiro: Fair enough I've been busy on my end due to College Classes taking up a huge chunk of my time. Also, Yandere Gaara is gonna be fun to play around with.
Vince Mera: Implementing the Blacklight Virus is something I'll be careful with doing if I implement it considering that there's a lot that goes into that if not careful can wind up bogging down the story.
Mckenray: That's something I'll think about when I get to Bleach. No, as I actually like his character so he'll be getting to live.
John50: He'll eventually learn the Rasenshuriken before the Tsunade arc. Also, concerning Tsunade, there will be a whole thing I have planned with her considering that I have a lot to unpack with the reality of her shenanigans. Good ideas on the fighting lineups of who should fight who after the Forest of Death. Once again I'm glad you like the chapter.
CuriousGuest: Fair point on not sticking it in crazy when he's with Anko and on the subject once she gets it off she'll be far stronger than what she is. Also yeah I very much like the idea of Sasuke and Yakumo being together because when you do think about it they would go incredibly well together. Trust me when Kushina is in power and finds out about how Grass treats Karin well let's just say that she'll be personally seeing them to give them her 'thanks' for taking care of a relative. Another fair point considering that it shouldn't be to hard to convince her to betray Suna seeing as how they've fucked her over. Hey its not Yakumo's fault if Anko takes her constructive criticism to heart and makes some interesting improvements. And yeah Tsunade is gonna get a reality check when its her time and also I can't wait to show off Tenten's lightning technique in the finals.
Starwing1995: Don't know what CTR is tbh.
CocoDu11: Well that's what he gets for making a deal with the System and trust me Yandere Gaara will be shown off more once things settle down in the village after the invasion.
NazgulBelserion: Nope you're not wrong about that happening and also hope you like the alternative to Orochimaru getting faked out into taking Sakura instead.
TheOnlyKing: Yeah he's overreacting a touch, but eventually he will assert his dominance over her and after everything is said and done she'll be another one added to the harem.
Harrison Aldrich Emrys: Dude I don't really care about Hinata and haven't been a big fan of hers to begin with. Not to mention that unlike most stories Hinata isn't gonna get a Deus Ex Machina or do over and be saved from what's gonna happen to her.
TheSixTails: Possibly I may add a Wheel of Gatcha update to it and I'll put implementing things like Chastifol later on in the story.
MasterofDragonsGod: Happy you liked the last chapter and hoped you like the next one
frankieu: Happy you like this chapter and I'll do my best to deliver on the Forest of Death living up to its name
And cut things there as we now kick off things into the Forest of Death/2nd part of the Exams that I hoped you guys liked with all that it entailed. However, without further delay, let's get down to it now, shall we.
First up we've got the bit of Anko giving the rundown of the Forest of Death portion of the Exams which I hoped y'all liked, as it wasn't much but just enough to get the ball rolling.
Next up we've got Team 7 duping Orochimaru into taking Sakura who was illusioned as Sasuke, which I did as a way to get Sakura out of the picture and out of the way of Team 7...at least until Shippuden where her fate will be set in stone.
Following that there is Team 7 now discussing further on whom to take out, as well the fact that Sasuke is starting to plan on going offensive concerning the Sound team and Kabuto considering that with all of the chain of events following so close together with Orochimaru, Sasuke ain't taking any chances.
Lastly we've got the bit with Yugao reporting to Hiruzen on Gohan's ever-increasing strength which I did in showing that now only is Hiruzen not out of the game at all. He's also trying to prepare for once again suppressing Gohan's power and memories, considering that for one he's afraid of Gohan's rapid growth in strength and combine that with his current personality fears another Madara or Orochimaru in the making.
That being said please favorite, follow, review and share this story as much as possible; because I'd like to see how far this story can be taken and become something pretty dope in the long run. Also please remember that flames won't be tolerated since they're merely a waste of everyone's time, and the fact that I appreciate constructive criticism as long as you do it in a well thought out and respectable manner.
With all of that being said this is Pravus666 signing out until next time with the next chapter being the continuation of the Forest of Death, so stay tuned for all of that.
Part 1 Theme Song: A New Game by Mudvayne
Random End Song: Dead Cell by Papa Roach