Chapter 51
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Five hundred followers, damn. Thank you all!
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Into the Forest of Death
"Hey, Rezano, you ok?" Meshikamaru asked him, his hand holding a tissue Hinata had given him against the cut on his cheek. "Yeah, the cut was only deep enough to bleed."
"Man, that lady is crazy," Ino said. "You don't know the half of it," he sighed.
"Do you know her?" the blonde asked. "Sort of, I've met her briefly once or twice with Tri-kun or Naruto-kun and I'm pretty sure she has a screw loose."
Hinata offered him another tissue as the first had turned completely red by now, he silently took it, giving her a smile in the process, she smiled back. But when he lifted the used tissue away she saw no more blood flow, in fact, the cut looked like it had almost healed, Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. "Uh, Rezano-kun, y-your cut."
"Yeah! Your cuts almost healed!" Kiba exclaimed. "What did you do?" asked a baffled Meshikamaru. "Nothing," he said shaking his head.
Technically it was the truth, it had nothing to do with him, his tenant, however, did but they didn't know that nor would they. "It would be wise for us to focus back on the second Exam," Shino said sagely as their destination loomed in the distance.
They had been led to one of the quieter parts of Konoha's, there was little in the way of manmade structures, the area instead given over to training grounds. Metal fences divided the space into almost a dozen training fields but the area was dominated by one specific training zone.
Training Ground 44 was the largest training area in Konoha, it was almost the most restricted and infamous. It was a truly wild, feral place, circular in shape and around 20km wide and within resided dangerous creatures and species of carnivorous plants found nowhere else in the world. And all was hidden beneath the largest trees you would ever find, the thick canopy shrouding the ground beneath in perpetual shadow.
It was a locale where even Jōnin would do well to remain vigilant to their surroundings. 44 was merciless, Shinobi entered it maw and in return, it spat out bones and so it earned its nickname.
Anko jumped atop a wooden booth with a large curtain hanging from the front, a huge grin on her face. "Welcome kiddies to Training Ground 44, otherwise known as the 'Forest of Death'. A nickname you will soon understand."
Many of the Genin looked at one another sceptically, the nickname seemed overly dramatic, 'But then again, if it isn't dangerous then why is the perimeter fence twenty feet tall?' Meshikamaru wondered.
"Now before I explain how the second Exam works I need you to each sign one of these." She said jumping back down from the booth's roof to hand them out. "Waiver Consent Forms?" someone said aloud reading the title. "That's right. If you want to compete in the second Exam you must sign it."
"Why?" Kiba shouted. "Because you wouldn't want little ol' Anko to get in trouble should one of you get yourselves killed, right?" she said sweetly.
Meshikamaru furrowed her eyebrows as she read the text on the sheet.
"
I, [Insert Name] do hereby acknowledge my willing participation in the second Exam of this year's Chūnin Exams, held in Konohagakure.
By my signing, I hereby acknowledge the risks entailed with the second Exam of this year's Chūnin Exams, held by Konohagakure.
By my signing, I absolve the Chief Proctor [Mitarashi Anko], Konohagakure and Hi no Kuni of all liability in the event that I am either killed or permanently injured.
[Sign here]
"
"You really believe we're going to be killing each other in there?" the Nara asked. Anko grinned back, "Oh, my dear, it's not the other Shinobi you should be worried about. Giant Lions and Tigers and Snakes, oh my!" she sing-songed.
Most quickly conquered their apprehension as forms were filled in and signed. The Chūnin who'd accompanied them across the village checked the forms as they collected them.
The last form was signed and handed over, Anko clapped her hands, "Excellent, now that you've signed your lives away I'll explain the exam. Firstly, one at a time, cells will enter the booth behind me." She hiked her thumb over her shoulder as three of the Chūnin sat at the booth's table.
"The curtain will be pulled across so none of the other cells can see you. While you're there you'll be handed one of two scrolls, I'll explain their purpose in a minute. Make sure you hide the scroll on one of your persons before you come back out."
Anko unhooked the curtain before continuing, "Now the exam, as a whole, is quite simply, a survival test, as for rules… well – there are none, hence the waivers. On the fence panel over there you'll see an enlarged map of training ground 44." Anko walked over to it, the Genin right behind her.
Looking at the map the assembled Genin could discern some notable details. It was circular in shape, a river ran through the middle and the entire forest of death was around 20km wide. In the middle was a tower.
"Your objective is to reach the tower, from your entry gate to tower is about 10km. But now back to the scrolls, see, just reaching the tower isn't enough for you to pass. To pass you must reach the tower with one of each of these," she said holding out two scrolls.
In her left hand was a black scroll with the kanji for Earth written on it. In her right was a white scroll with the kanji for Heaven.
"And because you only start with one, you'll have to acquire the other from another team. There are thirty-two teams here, so a maximum of sixteen cells can pass – said I'd get rid of half of you." She threw the scrolls in her hands to the sat down Chūnin who placed them under the desk.
"Now since I haven't forever to make sure sixteen cells pass there is a time limit. You will have 120 hours to complete this exam, that's five days."
"Five Days!" Choji near screamed, "What are we supposed to do for food?" Anko stuffed her hands into her trenchcoat pockets and shrugged her shoulders, "You're welcome to eat the animals you'll encounter in there," she grinned, "Just keep in mind they may try to eat you too." Some of the colour drained from the Akimichi's face.
She let out a sigh, "Truth be told I'll be amazed of just eight teams pass. There is no margin for error, a single mistake will see your Chūnin Exams end. Now let's cover things that'll get you disqualified…"
"I thought you said there were no rules?" someone shouted. "Eh, I lied. Now the next person to interrupt me gets cut," she warned brandishing a kunai.
"The obvious one, if you fail to reach the tower with both scrolls within the five-day time-limit then you're out. If your team loses a member to serious injury or, you know, death, then you're out. If you leave the training ground at any point during the five days, you're out. And finally, don't open the scrolls until you've passed the Exam."
"What happens if we… Argh!" a Genin tried to ask but was cut off by a kunai putting a mean looking cut in their arm. "I said don't interrupt!" she barked in annoyance. "The first Exam tested your ability to obtain information, this Exam will test your trustworthiness handling sensitive information."
Walking back to the booth Anko pulled the curtain across hiding the seated Chūnin who would distribute the scrolls. A Kusa nin almost got themselves stabbed when they snuck up behind Anko, the kunai she'd thrown held out by their abnormally long tongue. The sight of blood seemed to gotten the Kusa nin excited and they'd vented some killing intent.
One by one, teams entered the booth, received a scroll and small piece of card with a number, they exited and another team replaced them. The final team to receive their scroll was Konoha's team 8, Kiba carrying that toothy grin that showed off his elongated incisors. Shino, hidden behind his tinted glasses and high collar was his usual stoic self and Hinata looked nervous.
"Ok then!," Anko shouted, "Those of you with even numbers on your card go west, those with odd numbers go east. The number you hold is the gate number you'll be entering from. In thirty minutes you'll hear a klaxon that will signal the start of the Second Exam. Good luck! Oh, and don't die!" was her final comments before the Genin divided into two groups.
Konoha team 10 of Shikamaru, Choji and Ino went east along with team Gai and that weird Kusa nin. Meanwhile, Konoha Team's 7 and 8, Kabuto's team, the Suna siblings and the Oto trio went west.
The Suna trio was the first to be left at their entry point, the number six on a sign above a locked gate. Next came Konoha team 7 but before they were left behind by the others Rezano hooked a hand around Hinata's elbow.
"Don't be nervous, you got this," he said positively releasing her arm. It was brief and simple but her frown subsided and she gave him a small smile. With a short nod, she caught back up with her teammates.
Kakashi's three Genin looked at one another, now alone, the number 12 above their gate, a Chūnin stood next to it ready to open the padlock and remove the chain.
"Ok you two, I have an idea on where to hide our scroll." Both boys looked Meshikamaru's way, "Sasuke, give it to Rezano for a second."
"Why?" he scowled, perceiving her request as an admission that he couldn't be entrusted with it. "Because I want Rezano to make a copy of it using one of his shadow clones. If we're ever forced into a situation where giving up the scroll is the safest option then we'll be giving them a fake."
He wouldn't say it but Sasuke actually thought it a good idea so wordlessly he took the scroll from his pouch and threw it to Rezano. A clone immediately appeared next to him and studied the scroll in great detail, ensuring it got every little scuff and scratch. When ready it henged into an exact copy.
Tossing the original back, Rezano picked up the copy and sealed it into a storage seal built into his outfit, that it would be held in a storage seal would only serve to make it look more genuine. "Ok, sweet. Now… I guess we wait."
And when they entered, they wouldn't enter alone, they would unknowingly be accompanied by a raven. Muninn would watch over them for the duration of the second Exam but only watch, he had been forbidden from revealing himself or aiding team 7.
In turn, Huginn had been assigned to watching the team from Otogakure, discovering the Oto cell's interest in Sasuke had been enough for Tri to argue they and team 7 be watched.
Thanks the mental connection shared between summons and summoner he could be kept abreast of what was happening inside training ground 44. Especially since he was forbidden from entering whilst the exam was active, it was a condition of Iwagakure's participation, a condition made to help reassure Iwa's elders that their Genin would be safe.
The perimeter fence surrounding the forest of death had been augmented with a Fūinjutsu array, it would activate shortly after the exam's start. It was a giant tripwire, any who set it off would be removed by ANBU, by force if necessary. There was only one exception to this, Anko.
"Are you both in position?" Tri asked his summons. "Yes, we are in place."
"Good, I trust you are both well rested, you'll have little chance for much over the next few days. And thank you," he made sure to say at the end. Due to the terms of their summoning contract, they had a far greater degree of autonomy than most other summon clans, it meant they never technically had to do what their summoner asked of them.
"We are fully prepared," they both replied. Tri took a breath, exhaling slowly. He was sat, legs crossed in a meditative pose atop Hokage tower. He would normally struggle to maintain the mental link at this distance but in a meditative state, he could extend the range. 'Be careful in there Rezano, that forest is no joke.'
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The half an hour was almost up, they'd had a few brief discussions on what to watchful of in the forest. And now Sasuke was pacing back and forth, impatiently kicking out at patches of long grass. The Chūnin assigned to unlock their gate checked his watch, nodding they fished a key out of their pocket. He released the padlock and removed the chain holding the gate shut.
"Ten seconds," he warned them, Sasuke stopped pacing, Rezano shot to his feet as Meshikamaru did a final hamstring stretch. Knuckles were cracked and necks were rolled as a deafening horn blared.
The Chūnin kicked the gate open and the Genin shot past him. He watched as they quickly vanished into the dense treeline beyond. "Good luck," he quietly muttered pulling the gate shut as a raven flew overhead. Rewrapping the chain he replaced the padlock and locked it, "You're going to need it."
Stepping back he looked at the sign bearing the number '12', it briefly flashed blue. He nodded and turned to leave, the Hokage's Fūinjutsu array was active in his sector.
"Think I'll get something to eat," he muttered beginning his walk back to the village.
'Jeez, it really is dark under here,' Meshikamaru noted as soon as they'd passed under the tree's choking canopy. Looking up no light broke through the thick green and brown of branches and leaves.
Sasuke had taken point when Rezano called out to him, "Sasuke, bank east. That team we left at Gate ten didn't look that tough. Seems a good place to start looking for the other scroll." Without a word, he landed on a thick branch and turned them east, "Go east and spiral inwards to the tower. Team 8's that way too," Meshikamaru added with a grin.
Unbeknownst to them, that creepy Kusa nin had entered from an odd-numbered gate, immediately murdering the other two and gone westwards.
-(*)-
Team 8
"Ok, finished. Do we set some more traps or wait to see… Oh, someone already found us," Kiba grinned, his and Akamaru's eyes looking off to the side. Their heightened sense of smell was a superb proximity warning, especially when they were daft enough to approach from upwind.
"Where are they?" Shino quietly asked in that calm, neutral tone he was known for. "To my left, Hinata?" the Inuzuka replied, Akamaru quietly growling atop his head. Channelling chakra to her eyes Hinata activated her Byakugan, with it her field of vision greatly expanded. She didn't have to move her head at all to bring them into view.
"I see them, on a tree branch about thirty feet up, they're a Konoha team but they've got a far bigger problem."
"AAAGH!" team 8 heard a male voice scream, soon joined by two others.
Those screams carried an awfully long way, Anko, sat atop the booth chuckled. "Well, that didn't take long. Ah, the first of many."
Team 8 slowly and cautiously approached the sounds of sharp metal slicing through flesh. Now on the ground having fallen out of the tree, three groggy Genin struggled to get to their feet, the eviscerated corpses of giant leeches doted around them, kunai and shuriken littered the ground.
Totally unaware of their surroundings a limb from one of them hit the trigger for a net trap team 8 had only just finished installing a few minutes earlier. The three of them shot into the air, a mesh net suspending them high in the air.
"You need to watch out for the flying leeches. This forest is home to some of the largest in the world, they home in on the smell of perspiration and they can really jump. You can't get them off in five minutes then…"
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Team 7
"Did you hear that?" Rezano asked, the sound of screaming carried on the wind, it was garbled, distorted by distance and obstruction but still possessed enough clarity to be distinguished as a scream. The scream brought them to a halt, "I can't be sure but I think it came from the west," Meshikamaru uttered looking over her shoulder.
The other two took in their surroundings too, they had travelled eastwards for several minutes, they had easily covered the distance separating their gates but hadn't found the team who'd entered from gate ten. "Damn," Meshikamaru muttered, "Guess it ain't going to be that simple."
"Ok, we ain't gonna find them now, not without running into someone else. Whatever our next plan is, can it not involve so much running, it's so humid," Rezano breathed. "Yeah, It really is, it's like a jungle in here, not a forest." Meshikamaru replied. Looking back up at the canopy it was easy to see why, rising moisture would just be reabsorbed by plant life while rain was heavy enough to break through the half permeable canopy above.
"Find the river," Sasuke grunted. Meshikamaru quickly nodded her agreement, "From the map Anko showed us, the river flows south-east so we can get our bearing. With the humidity, we'd best stock up on water too and be able to roughly estimate the time of day as there'll be a break in the canopy. Problem is everyone else will reach the river at some point."
"Dart in, get what we need, get out. No time wasting," Rezano said.
In silent agreement, they took off again, a slower pace than before as they sought to keep their body temperatures down in the energy-sapping micro-climate. They'd entered from the south-west so all they had to do was travel north-east and they'd eventually come across it.
"Team 7's heading for the river, they've given up on trying to find the team from gate ten," Muninn explained. While Tri could see through the Raven's eyes when they were mentally connected, he was perceiving events through eyes not human.
Their sight was sharper, clearer but it lacked advanced depth perception, not to mention this 'second sight' didn't come with sound, it sometimes made the images difficult to process so both birds had taken to also describing what he was seeing.
"Huginn, anything happening with your three?"
"Not really, they've reached the river already. They are definitely searching for the Uchiha though, but I don't know why."
"Are they not speaking?"
"No, they've been silent since reaching the river."
Tri's eyebrows furrowed, 'Why is Sasuke of such interest?'
The young Uchiha had again taken point, his eyes and ears on full alert when he suddenly dropped from the trees to the ground below. The sudden change of direction completely caught Rezano and Meshikamaru out, both needing a few seconds to safely drop down and re-join him.
"Sasuke?" Meshikamaru asked quietly, he held up a finger to silence them before pointing at his ear. Both understood and listened, they could hear it too. Off in the distance, the sounds of running water could be heard. "Good ears," the Nara whispered.
Strangely Sasuke began making hand signs, not seals used for Jutsu, but instead the rudimentary sign language they were taught in the Academy. What he was saying was simple, 'No more talking,' both nodded their understanding.
Silence would be necessary if they were to avoid detection around the river but it wouldn't be enough to hide them from the most determined of hunters. And right now they were being hunted.
The now sole surviving Kusa nin had a new companion in the form of a small, slender snake coiled lightly around their neck. Using Rezano's blood drawn from Anko's antics in the classroom the snake was able to home in on the teenager. An occasional quiet hiss directed the Kusa nin through the endless trees.
They too had reached the river and with a single, massive leap cleared the wide, fast flowing water below. Swinging under a thick branch they didn't slow down in the slightest, the snake's hisses becoming more frequent as their target drew closer. A smirkish grin crept across their lips, "Showtime," they whispered as team 7 came into view.
There was no warning, no sound, no challenge. Utilising speed none of them could possibly have reacted to, the Kusa nin struck. In the blink of an eye, Rezano received a foot to the side of the head catapulting him hard into a tree, the bark cracking and splintering under the impact. He slumped to the ground unconscious.
"Rezano!" Meshikamaru said alarmed, rushing to his side. Two fingers on his neck she quickly found his pulse, he was bleeding from multiple gashes on his head and opening one of his eyes his retina didn't focus. "Shit, he might have a concussion. Sasuke…"
Silence.
"Sasuke?" she said again turning her head. Their teams Uchiha was stood stock still, his eyes glued to the Kusa nin stood before him. "Sasuke! Snap out of it!" Meshikamaru tried only for the Kusa nin to glare at her. "You're going to be an annoyance, aren't you?" the Kusa Shinobi said in all too sweet a voice.
Sasuke heard Meshikamaru's voice and tried to tear his eyes away, but he couldn't, he was locked in place as this unwelcome arrival spoke again. "Let's be rid of you." Pulling up a sleeve they bit into their thumb and wiped the blood across a seal over their wrist.
A huge plume of smoke swallowed the clearing they were in, it was difficult to see more than a few feet in front of you. As it slowly cleared a large shadow was noticeable, it seemed to writhe and wriggle as a handled piece of string might. Then there was the noise, a rattle, constant and rapid in tempo, so loud it shook the very foundations of Sasuke's mind seeking to unhinge him.
Next came the sight of scales, each the size of a human head, splatters of brown, grey, bronze and green emerging through the thinning mist. Then there were the eyes, each a bright yellow orb with a narrow vertical slit of black down the centre of each.
With the dispersal of every wisp of smoke did this hulking creature become clearer to see, its size was massive, its body coiled around itself, a mass of scales and muscle. The bright red of a forked tongue contrasted strongly against dull colours surrounding it.
The Kusa nin stood beneath this great creature as it towered over him. "Gatapishi [1], get rid of the girl," they ordered the serpent. It slowly turned its wide, flat head to face a paled Meshikamaru. Another flicker of its tongue and the serpent had her scent. There would be no hiding from it now.
With her in its sights the snake opened its lower jaw, extending to an angle far beyond a humans capacity, it could easily devour her whole. But this isn't what instilled fear into Meshikamaru's heart, it was the two slender appendages that hung from the roof of its mouth.
Fangs, as long as swords, tips as sharp as needles. Fluid pooled at the tip of each, dripping down it struck the ground below and emitted a hiss as it began to eat away at the dirt and foliage leaving two small pools of black dissolved sludge.
Then the rattling returned and Meshikamaru moved and not a moment too soon as the coiled serpent launched itself at her. Carrying Rezano away too spared him begin crushed as Gatapishi slammed head first into the tree.
The tree trunk shattered, huge pieces of bark and wood were cast into the air landing all over the clearing. Meshikamaru hid Rezano's unconscious form between two thick tree roots and a mound of leaves as she continued moving, 'Sorry, Sasuke. You're on your own for a while'. Sasuke could only watch on as Gatapishi slithered off after her. The massive tree it had destroyed falling to the ground with a huge crash, the very ground shaking beneath their feet. All for miles felt the shockwaves.
"Tri-kun!" Muninn squawked in deep alarm. "They are a Genin competing in the Chūnin Exams, we cannot interfere," he reminded the Raven. Tri knew why Muninn was concerned, there were few who possessed a snake summoning contract but this Shinobi was from Kusagakure. A region known for its abundance of serpent wildlife.
The sheer size of the summon was a worry, the larger it was, the more intelligent and harder to control it became was the general rule of thumb.
Muninn shook his wings to loosen the tension that had built in them when he was struck by a tidal wave of bloodlust. It nearly overwhelmed the bird and was transmitted back to Tri who too was struck hard by how potent it was. Whoever this Kusa Shinobi was, they weren't an ordinary Genin, Tri was reminded of his fight against Fū.
The waves of killing intent brought Sasuke to his knees and froze him in place, never before had he experienced such malice as he was subjected to images of his own bloody demise repeatedly, each time a unique and violent end.
"Now it's just the two of us, Sasuke," they said slowly beginning to walk towards the immobilised Genin. Even if Sasuke could cobble together the words to retort he wouldn't have been able to. He mentally screamed for his limbs to respond and slowly, so incredibly slowly did his right arm respond.
He reached behind him into the pouch above his tailbone as his seeming soon to be killer stalked ever closer. In his shaking hand, he withdrew a kunai. The sight of the weapon paused the Kusa nin who stared at it curiously, wondering just what Sasuke intended to do.
"AGH!"
They smiled, a wicked, remorseless smile as Sasuke jabbed to sharpened tip into his own leg, twisting the blade drawing a small, slow flow of blood. The burning pain surged through his nervous system jolting his mind out of the lockdown imposed upon it. With a hiss of pain, he extracted the kunai and managed to stand on uneasy feet.
"My, my, how impressive. Using pain to overcome the oppressive fear of death. You are worthy of being played with so let's play a game."
"A-a game?" Sasuke asked, finding his voice, albeit a quiet and hoarse one. "Yes, a game," they smiled. Reaching into their outfit they quickly fished out a dark scroll.
Sasuke cursed himself when he looked at it a moment too long, the Kusa nin noticed. "This is the scroll you need, yes?" they said, their voice so strange, a twisted mixture of male and female, the outfit they wore made it impossible to discern a gender.
"Our game will be winner takes all," they said before literally swallowing the entire scroll right before Sasuke's eyes, a look of revulsion crossing his face. 'What the fuck is wrong with this weirdo?'
"Last one alive gets the others scroll." Sasuke mentally cursed, he had their real one and Rezano was KO'd so they couldn't even attempt to buy them off with a fake.
"Do you have a name?" Sasuke asked trying anything he could think of to buy time. Anything that might see Rezano awake or Meshikamaru defeat the snake and return to help him. The Kusa nin laughed, "I tell you what, Sasuke. If you can land a single meaningful hit on me, I'll tell you my name," they taunted.
"Since your teammate has the attention of my dear pet Gatapishi, I'll have to deal with you personally."
'Shit!', Sasuke thought, 'So much for my distraction strategy.'
-(*)-
Elsewhere in Konoha
"What the hell happened to this poor bastard?"
"I-I don't know," a second replied. A third had searched through the deceased persons clothing and pouches pulling out their ID papers, quickly finding the mugshot they held it by the bodies head. They compared the two for several seconds before they each turned to face one another, their faces pale.
"They're supposed to have competed in the Chūnin Exams, inform Mitarashi Anko," the third ordered in a voice filled with deep discomfort at the sight before them. A Shunshin left two to watch over the corpse.
Hurrying across the rural parts of Konoha they quickly reached the perimeter fence of training ground 44 and soon found Anko. All alone sat atop the distribution booth, a small pot of warm bean soup in her left hand, a stick of Dango in her right.
Coming to a stop the Chūnin knelt before the higher ranking woman. "Anko-san, we've found something disturbing we believe you should see," they said with ragged words interrupted by busy breathing. "…Care to be more specific?" she inquired in a bored tone. "A body, ma-am."
"A body?" her interest sufficiently peaked, "And what is about this body that requires my attention?"
"I… I don't know how to explain."
"You don't know… how to explain?" she drawled, distinctly unimpressed. "I just don't know how to describe it," the Chūnin added.
Quickly chugging the rest of her soup and devouring her Dango she leapt down from the booth's roof. "Well go on then. It better be interesting though, I don't like rushing my Oshiruko bean soup," she threatened. The Chūnin noticeably stiffen but nodded. Without another word, he led her to he and his comrade's discovery.
It took just a few minutes for them to reach their destination, a wide and open space in one of Konoha's more remote locales. The ground underfoot was grass and there was only one landmark on any note – A stone wall.
Not four feet high, the stone wall had a continuous line of identical carved Buddha statues running its entire length. Reaching the other two Chūnin Anko could see the streaks of red staining some of the Buddha's. She could smell that distinct metallic scent on the air and taste it on her tongue. The body lay before the bloodstains.
"Anko-san," the other two Shinobi said in welcome as they stood. Walking purposefully to the body, the head was obscured until the last moment. Looking down the puncture wound just above the jugular notch, it wasn't very wide but clearly deep enough to puncture the carotid artery. The pool of blood beneath the body was substantial and would also explain the blood spray.
But that wasn't the concern, it was the face – there wasn't one. Anko froze and a cold shiver ran through her, she'd seen this technique before, only once but there was only one person who knew it.
That shiver returned as her mind was assaulted by memories, memories of a once cared for Sensei. Her eyes became unfocused as the flashbacks continued. The three Chūnin looked on in grim silence. The poor soul's face was… gone, for lack of a better term, as if it had been melted off.
There was no definition along the jawline and chin, the lips had fused into one and lost all their colour, the nose was now little more than a tiny bump while the cheekbones were just absent. The eyebrows had disappeared entirely while the eyes appeared to have been covered in a thin layer of translucent skin.
One of the Chūnin took out a kunai and carefully slit the skin over one of the eyes. The eye itself was completely white with no retina or iris clearly visible. It reminded them of a Hyūga's eyes but where you might find pale violet in the eyes of a Hyūga in these you would find nothing.
"Did you find their ID papers?" Anko asked trying to suppress her apprehension. One of the Chūnin approached and handed her their photo and upon seeing the mugshot her heart rate slowed as a cold sweat ran over her. She'd seen this face before, not an hour earlier, it was the one who'd returned the kunai she'd thrown.
It meant he was inside training ground 44, he'd infiltrated the second Exam, her second Exam. "Inform the Hokage, take the picture and ask that he release every available ANBU squad into training ground 44 to find someone who looks exactly like this," she ordered pointing at the mugshot.
The Chūnin looked amongst each other, baffled by her order. "Uh… Anko-san?" one tried to ask before being abruptly cut off. "INFORM THE FUCKING HOKAGE!" she bellowed throwing the picture at him which lamely fluttered through the air, it was only a piece of paper, before lightly landing on the grass.
It was quickly snatched up by one of the Chūnin before all three shunshined away to carry out her orders. In her mind, she had satisfied the requirement to raise the alarm and with her duty performed the anger and years of pent up animosity came boiling to the surface. "It's time for justice, snake," she said with venom before shooting off, back towards the forest of death.
But until she could find him, if she could find him, Sasuke would be on his own.
-(*)-
"Gah!" Sasuke gasped in pain landing on the ground in a heap. He'd tried to get off the forest floor and control the high ground only to get a kick to the stomach. Hauling himself to one knee he was taken by a heavy cough. Each cough brought a mass further and further up his throat and with a final trachea shaking cough he hacked up a glob of blood.
Sasuke grimaced at the metallic taste as he spat out staining the grass beneath him red. Most Shinobi disliked tasting their own blood, it was somewhat synonymous with taking a beating. But it only served to fuel Sasuke's building anger. Something he greatly needed right now.
The fire was only stoked further by how obviously he was being toyed with and he hated it. His brother's words echoed at the back of his mind, mocking him, "You think your undeveloped Sharingan is going to help you? You'll be competing against Shinobi much older and far more experienced, some will be faster than your new Sharingan can currently compensate for."
His older siblings words burned him as more words reached his ears, "Take your time, Sasuke. I'm not expecting your teammates to return to aid you anytime soon," they taunted. "W-why do you know my name?" he growled.
"A pertinent question," he/ she chuckled, "Let's just say I have a vested interest in seeing just how strong you are. Although I must say, I'm somewhat disappointed, perhaps I'm spending my time with the wrong brother?" they grinned.
The thing was, Sasuke knew it was a taunt but he didn't care, he used it to fuel the fire within him. If this fool wanted to see the full might of an Uchiha then on their head be it. He just needed the right push to awaken his bloodline.
Pulling himself to his feet he groaned as the pain flared in his abdomen. Reaching behind him he pulled a kunai from his pouch and with a grim look of determination set his stance. Across from him the Kusa nin tilted their head to the side and smiled, it was a creepy, thin-lipped smile. The smile faded and Sasuke's opponent charged forward.
'I can't let them get close, I can't take many of those kicks.' He thought jumping backwards with a graceful flip. With his body flipped 180°, his head closest to the ground, he began throwing kunai and shuriken. Every single one missed.
The way they moved seemed so unnatural, the fluidity of their limbs made it seem as if they had no skeleton. Tri recognised the style of limited action, the art of absolute efficiency, only expending what energy was necessary. Every kunai, every shuriken missed by mere centimetres, none were blocked, all evaded.
They drew closer as Sasuke's feet planted on the underside of a large tree branch, using chakra and his momentum he swung around and landed right side up on top of the thick branch. Looking down the weapons he'd thrown formed a trail documenting the Kusa nin's path towards him. As they leapt up Sasuke leapt off backwards but not before slapping a lit explosive tag on the branch just out of view.
They saw the tag at the last moment as it burnt down to its last. Sasuke grinned as the branch was destroyed under the concussion wave of exploding chakra, wooden shrapnel scattered in all directions. Even if they weren't within the blast radius of the tag itself they couldn't possibly dodge every sharpened fragment of wood.
Landing lightly on the ground Sasuke's grin remained, the white cloud cleared to reveal a jagged stump jutting out from the trunk where the branch had been, what remained was scorched and glowed a dim red. But the clearing smoke revealed no body nor blood, nothing. He furrowed his eyebrows, 'Where did they go?'
"My, my Sasuke-kun," a voice whispered in his ear, "Any closer and I might have been picked splinters out of my hair." The grin was scoured from his face in an instance as something struck him between the shoulders, whether fist or foot he knew not but he was sent careening across the clearing. Falling head over heels he struck the ground multiple times before coming to a stop, his shoulder slamming into a tree.
Collapsing to the ground there was a fierce pain at the top of his arm. Rising to his knees he looked and immediately felt woozy. Embedded in his arms deltoid muscle was a slither of wood he guessed at over an inch thick and several inches in length. He didn't know where it had come from.
The Kusa nin laughed, "Oh my, Sasuke, that looks painful." Sasuke looked back up to them slowly approaching once again. He deliberately looked away from them and the wound as he tentatively wrapped his fingers around the foreign body stuck in his arm. With a few short, sharp breathes he steeled himself, tightening his grip he pulled.
"AHH!" he tried to suppress the scream of pain as it came free, a small spurt of blood following its exit. Throwing it aside he tried to bring his strained body back under his control, looking down the blood flow from the wound was constant and required immediate attention.
Putting the Kusa nin from his mind a moment he drew another kunai and utilized one of the simplest chakra exercises he knew and kneaded Katon chakra in his stomach. Holding the kunai in front of his mouth he exhaled the heated chakra over the kunai's sharpened edges.
Ignoring the growing pain in his right hand as the kunai rapidly heated, the edges beginning to glow, he finished exhaling and after taking a deep breath turned the kunai's tip to face the wound and slowly, gently pushed it in. His free hand, his left, clenched into a fist as his teeth ground together, his nails digging into his palm as he fought down the wail of agony building in his throat as the sound of hissing filled his ears, heated metal touching blood and flesh.
"Such dedication," the Kusa nin chuckled, deliberately slowing their approach so Sasuke could cauterize the wound.
With the blood-flow stemmed Sasuke's arms fell limply at his side, turning his hands over he opened his palms, the still hot kunai falling to the grass. His right palm bore the imprint of the handle, despite the string covering the grip it had done little to stop the heat burning his flesh. His left palm had four shallow cuts where his nails had dug beneath the skin, a little blood pooling around each.
"Perhaps you might be capable of matching your brother's immense standards after all," the Kusa nin again taunted and with his wounds clear before him Sasuke's emotions finally took over. A blink of his eyelids and gone was the black and replaced by the Sharingan, two tomoe in each eye. Lifting his head slightly he glared at his foe, a look of anger etched on his face as his tomoe spun menacingly.
'Excellent!' the disguised Shinobi cheered, 'He possesses the eyes. Now all that's left is to lay the groundwork for him to come to me.'
"Ah, the Sharingan. Come then, Sasuke, test your eyes against me," they challenged.
"Tri-kun. Is there nothing you can do?" Muninn asked having found Rezano's still unconscious form. "No, I am forbidden from interfering in the Exams. He was incapacitated by another competitor. Now pay attention to Sasuke, this Kusa nin has far too great an interest in him. Huginn are your three still searching?"
"Yes, but I can sense we are still some distance from Muninn."
Pulling himself to his feet Sasuke extracted another kunai from his pouch, the cool metal stung against his burnt palm. He had few remaining and looking at it he could tell this one wasn't as sharp as it should have been and it was pot-marked with chips and scuffs. 'Guess I will have to recover my better ones,' he challenged himself.
With the throbbing pain in his arm and the sting on his palms, Sasuke went on the offensive.
Taking a wide approach he skirted around the edge of the clearing that had become their battle site, in doing so he was able to retrieve a few shuriken and one of his better kunai, it replaced the ill-maintained one in his hand.
The Kusa nin remained in the clearings centre, they slowly turned their body to keep Sasuke to their front as the first shuriken was launched at him. Leaning his upper body to the left he immediately noticed he had to move a little faster to dodge and how the four sharped tips had come within just millimetres of skin.
'As expected of the Sharingan,' they though dodging a second shuriken, this time leaning to the right. Sasuke's eyes had countered their fluidity somewhat, he was forcing their movements to be faster, more 'jerky', more abrupt.
They'd positioned themselves well, most of Sasuke's weaponry, however, the weaponry he sought to reclaim were littered about the centre of the clearing partially obscured by the grass. He'd have to get them out of the way first.
Not slowing Sasuke planted a foot on a tree trunk and began to ascend, reaching a height of twenty feet he pushed off and twisted in mid-air. He threw the kunai in his hand a few inches away to free his hands for hand-seals, briskly weaving he breathed deeply, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," he said quietly.
The fireball formed quickly and streaked away from Sasuke, it's bright red luminosity lit up the dim clearing, a hue of red mixing with the green and brown surroundings. The intended target just smiled up at it waiting until the ambient heat touched their skin. Then in the blink of an eye, they leapt high into the air, the fireball passing beneath them.
Sasuke grumbled at the ease of which his Jutsu was avoided but ultimately it had accomplished its purpose and made them concede the centre of the clearing. As he began to fall back towards the ground he grabbed his kunai out of the air as the Kusa nin, still rising, past him.
The fireball struck the ground and exploded, it's flames quickly burnt out diming the clearing once again. Little of the grass was burned, the moisture held within each blade protected it. It gave off little smoke that did nothing to hide Sasuke as he landed a few moments later quickly gathering as many of his munitions as possible before his opponent landed.
The Kusa nin was still in the air when something, thick and vine-like shot from beneath their sleeve. Sasuke tensed, noticing the distinctively scaly pattern of a snake but it wasn't aimed at him, it instead touched the ground and brought something back to its master, a kunai perhaps? But why? Would they not have their own?
A few seconds later they landed in near total silence, the grass underfoot seemed to make no sound as it bent. The snake was gone and in his hand was something smaller than a kunai yet larger and thicker than a senbon. Looking closely as they raised their arm, lightly twirling something between their fingers, Sasuke had his answer. One end baring a distinctive red stain.
"I'm a great believer in symmetry, Sasuke," they chuckled firmly grasping the same piece of wood Sasuke had pulled from his arm. That ever-present smile came towards him again and with a kunai in each of his hands, they duelled.
The clash of weapons didn't make any sense to Sasuke as he leaned out of the way of a stab attempt at his upper right arm, his enemy sought a very literal form of symmetry. Each time his kunai struck the wood it was instead his metal weapon that felt flimsy. Each of his strikes was deflected in such a manner so as to reduce the stress on the wood, never was it used in a blocking motion nor did it grind against the sharpened edges.
'I have to disengage,' he thought with worry as flaws in his form were exploited, the tip of the wood coming within a hair's width of plunging into his arm.
With the risk already high, it didn't matter much that he took another. Wildly lashing out with a kunai he caught them by surprise making them take a step back to avoid a potential cut beneath the eye. That back-step was what he needed and throwing the second kunai bought him the time he needed to break free.
Jumping back he grimaced, somehow they'd managed to land a stiff punch on his hip, he hadn't even seen it. Yet it was not their hand that bore the brunt of the impact but instead Sasuke's hip. They flexed their fingers to further emphasise it mockingly before they rushed forward once more.
The young Uchiha was struck by the similarities that his eyes perceived, he was standing in almost the exact same spot he was earlier and a plan quickly formed in his mind.
Just as he had when their fight had first started Sasuke threw kunai and shuriken and while the motion of avoiding them was less fluid than before they were still easily dodged. And just as before he pumped his leg muscles full of chakra and leapt backwards, more of his weapons cast towards his snake-wielding foe.
'Tut, tut, Sasuke. Run out of ideas already?' Jumping up in pursuit they fully remembered Sasuke's earlier attack pattern so weren't surprised when Sasuke attached himself to the underside of a branch, the earlier destroyed branch barely ten feet away. They expected the final kunai to be thrown just as Sasuke used his momentum to swing around and land on top of the branch. They also expected another kunai the moment he touched down on the branch.
And that's exactly what happened. Leaning their head to the right the first kunai flew past their ear. Sasuke momentarily vanished as he swung around the thick branch and upon his reappearance, he threw the second kunai. They noticed as they moved their head back to the left that the second kunai was thrown with much greater force.
Looking closely at that kunai as it flew past them they soon understood why. Tied with a simple knot around the kunai's hoop was a wire, thin spun steel.
The first kunai Sasuke hadn't used before now, it had been one of the few to remain in his pouch, it had steel wire pre-tied to it so it was simply a matter of taking it out and throwing. And with the moments he had obscured by the branch he'd tied the other end of that same wire off on the second kunai. His foe seemed to have realised the significance and Sasuke wasn't done there.
But for the Kusa Shinobi time seemed to slow down jerking their head back to the right and turn to look over their left shoulder as the first kunai again flew past their face backwards, the sharpened edge slicing a few strands of long, black hair.
And turning back to visually relocate Sasuke they were greeted by the sight of a Fūma shuriken, it's elongated blades a blur and it whistled through the air, a second, thicker strand of steel wire tied to it. Sasuke had thrown the weapon with all his might, there was no time to dodge, no time to deflect – certainly not with a bit of wood.
The clearing echoed as the Fūma shuriken struck, a metallic sound as it struck something far harder than flesh.
…
Sasuke stared in disbelief, they'd caught it, caught it between their teeth. 'How did they do that?' It was timed to absolute perfection, none of the four blades had left even the faintest of cuts. But Sasuke kept his cool, he wasn't done just yet, he'd attached the wire for a reason.
Perhaps it was a game of teeth? Because the teen had placed the other end of the wire between his. And with a toothy grin, he brought his now free hands together in front of his face to form the tiger seal, the wire passing between his index and middle fingers.
'Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu,' (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) he laughed in his mind his Jutsu charged.
He released and ignited the chakra, focusing it down the wire, it raced towards its wide-eyed target who still in mid-air was stuck. The speed at which it travelled left them no options, they couldn't dodge, they couldn't block – nothing.
They closed their eyes and it struck. By taking the large shuriken variant between their teeth they'd given Sasuke a direct shot at their face. Their head was immersed in flame, the fire combined with the smoke obscured their head, Sasuke couldn't see. Strangely they didn't make a sound.
'Maybe I took their head off?' he wondered as the unresponsive form of the Kusa nin began falling to the ground.
"Well I'll be, he actually did it," Tri said, nodding with a modicum of respect at Sasuke's apparent victory.
The body came within inches of the earthy ground when it became responsive again, rolling safely they stood up stock straight and began laughing, a deep, menacing laugh. Sliding vertically down the tree Sasuke reached the ground himself as they turned to face him.
Sasuke recoiled at the sight, the skin of their face had shrivelled and wrinkled and under the left eye had actually peeled away to reveal a second layer of flawless, undamaged skin beneath it. 'What the? What is it with this freak?'
It was the eye, the peeling back of the skin had revealed a golden eye with a slitted pupil, a band of purple running from the top of the eye down the side of the nose. The newly visible skin around the eye was pale as they continued laughing.
"Oh, marvellous, well done Sasuke. I'll admit I had my doubts but you've removed them. You really are your brother's sibling, there's no doubt about that now. You are worthy of the name Uchiha." Reaching up they place their nails against the surface of their Hitai-ate and slowly dragged them horizontally across the metal. Sasuke just watched on as the symbol of Kusagakure was ripped away to reveal the same musical symbol he'd seen worn by three others earlier.
"Tri!" Muninn said in deep concern upon seeing the musical symbol.
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded. They laughed again, "Well I suppose I did say I would. Sasuke-kun, my name is Orochimaru."
Tri's eyes opened, now he could intervene.
-(*)-
End Chapter
[1] – Gatapishi: Japanese word for rattle.