I hate the Forest of Death, I hate drawn out events, I hate how obsessed it was with Sasuke...
The Forest of Death, it oozed terror and dread and for the next five days, he would be stuck in the damn place... lovely.
Really it was extremely excessive to spend five days in a five-kilometer forest, particularly when one took into consideration that most, if not all of the genin gathered were capable of a chakra-enhanced spring. However, fighting other Ninja and the natural forest beasties made it far less likely that it would be a joyous sprint. He knew that death would be commonplace and that... that was terrifying.
Still, while they waited for Mitarashi to begin the exam, "Do we have a plan of action?" he whispered to Kabuto. "I only want to avoid Team Guy and Team Seven. Sasuke is powerful and my brother has Shadow clones. Then Team Guy, I have fought them before and trained with them... Lee and Neji are both Jonin level by far. Or well, I've never fought Neji but I have heard stories."
Kabuto nodded. "We will have to be careful, plus there is that Sand team you sensed tremendous power from as well."
"Yes... I think we should use my sensory powers to target and slaughter the nearest genin not from the Leaf, then we can take their scrolls and flee... if we get the right scroll. We have an Earth scroll, so we need a Heaven scroll."
"That sounds fair, only you have a lot of chakra, this will be brutal if we do not get there quickly."
"ALRIGHT, Time to begin!"
They all lined up at their gates, Kagami nervous as hell. Reaching out, he sensed the nearest team, and smiled. "There is a team from Grass to our right... their chakra is not impressive... let's do this."
In a moment, as soon as the signal was given, they rushed forward and ran to their right. With chakra enhanced, weightless speeds, Kagami was the fastest person on his team by a huge margin. He knew he could blitz most people and that is what he planned on doing. Within two minutes they found their team and he acted without blinking.
Gathering chakra into his legs, he moved as fast as he could and pulled off a kenjutsu technique that Yugao had taught him. The first and only one he learned.
"Secret Sword- Moonlight!" Moving so fast he left an after image, he moved and with a single lateral slice, beheaded all three ninja in one fell swoop.
He puked a moment later as blood sprayed his face, entering his mouth. Shivering, he shakily grabbed their scroll. "Please be a heaven scroll... good..." Turning he saw his team looking at him with shock. "Sorry for the puke."
Kabuto smiled. "First kill?"
"Yeah."
"It gets easier... let's go, no point in wasting our time and risking attack."
They nodded and rushed to the tower as fast as they could. Thanks to his speed and sensory powers, they ran into no one.
"""
"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If Earth qualities are what you lack, train your body, prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, this perilous path will become righteous forever. This is something is the secret way that guides us to this path today. I think we open both scrolls..."
Kabuto nodded. " I concur..."
Together they threw the scrolls open and in a rush of smoke that erupted from the scrolls, a figure appeared. It was Yugao and she was smiling proudly. "You did it and you did well!"
"Awesome... so... what now?"
She shrugged. "You train, you wait and you rest. You got here really early, in only one hundred and five minutes. You are the second fastest team. Only the Sand team got here faster!"
"Wow, really?" And he stood straighter, smugger and more proud. "I didn't want to wait about, no point in showing off my skill when I don't have to." 'Have to show off to ANBU as well, but that's for myself...'
Yugao nodded. "Do you need me to explain the tapestry?'
"Not really, body and mind are important in equal measures to be ninja... I get that."
"Good... now have fun and behave. Come with me, I will show you where you will stay and where you can train."
:::
Kabuto cursed inside. 'The boy is talented, that sword slash was at jonin speeds, but I need more for Lord Orochimaru... and because he got us here too fast, I can't monitor Sasuke... oh well, I guess I won't be forfeiting this time. I want to really see what Kagami can do, and Sasuke, and this Neji and Lee, if they really are so strong. Hmmm... yes, this is going to be interesting.'
After they went to their bedroom, he followed Kagam to their training grounds. "You can train here, Kagami, you and your teammates." She smiled at Kabuto and Yoroi, her expression warm, belying her remarkable skill. Kabuto knew she was a powerful, Elite Jonin level ninja. Only Kakashi and Guy were stronger in the Leaf. She was probably the strongest Kunoichi in the Leaf at present. He personally would have trouble fighting her, she was that good.
"Thank you, Ma'am." Kabuto said, smiling.
"Not a problem... so, how did you get here so fast, you guys?"
"Kagami used a single swordslash, Midnight he called it. Beheaded three ninja all at once. It was very impressive."
Yugao nodded, her eyes softening. "You okay, Kagami, first kills are never easy. "
"I... I will be. I feel... not guilty, but... unsure I guess. I have no choice but to get past it though, given my choice of career I guess."
"I am here if you need to talk."
The boy sighed. "I will." Smiling, he asked. "Can you train me during this exam, or no?"
"I am afraid not, but you can train yourself, you know what to do and you have the skills. Just keep a low profile if you can, we don't want your skills spreading before it is time."
"Fair point... I can't even train with these losers in case we have to fight later." he smiled at the Kabuto and Yoro, playfully.
Kabuto laughed. "No offense taken... I have my own training to do so don't think you'll beat me, I think this is the first time I'll be able to perform fully at this stage since for once I am not out of it. Every time we are too beat up for me to go further but now... Now I will excel."
"Good for you!" Yugao said. "We need more medically trained ninjas, I cannot wait to see what you can do. Anyway, I have a shift to get to. Behave yourselves."
"Oh, Yugao, one last thing. I need to work on my information gathering, I had no means to get any during the First Exam... it was... embarrassing."
"We can work on that, I promise you... You need that skill if you want to reach beyond Chunin. In fact, I have just the thing for you to work on... but until then, behave." The woman vanished in a swirl of smoke, leaving them alone and giving Kabuto an excuse to leave. He needed to prepare what to say to Orochimariu...
Tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was easy to write, I hate the Forest episodes.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.