[Author-Notes: This chapter is very fast-paced.]

May 4th 2002:

Moonlight illuminated the darkness in the forest. Two wolf-themed Shikigami raised their heads, opened their jaws wide, and howled into the sky.

Perched on the top of a thick tree-branch, Ryomen Sukuna listened to his Shikigami howl and growl at the abyss of the night sky. A multitude of contemplative thoughts about the Chunin-Exams flooded his mind.

Kakashi Hatake had told him, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha that the time they were meant to travel to the Shinobi-Academy to take on the exams was 10: 30—AM. Sukuna yawned into his open palm.

Dispelling his enthusiastic wolves into the shadows, Sukuna hopped off of the tree-branch he was on, looked at his surroundings, and grinned in excitement.

(-)

Small amounts of sunlight originated from the grey clouds above Sukuna and his teammates' heads. Calloused hands inserted into his pockets, Sukuna followed them from behind to the Shinobi-Academy.

A few mundane memories of his time at the academy danced in his mind. Snorting at the memories of how he would skip his classes, Sukuna matched Naruto and Sasuke's speed to walk next to them.

At the moment, the time was 10: 20—AM and team seven had reached the Shinobi-Academy. Laid around the rich grass of the academy's courtyard, many Shinobi minded themselves.

"Now that I think about it." Naruto had seated himself down on a familiar swing connected to an old tree. "Where do we even go?"

Unimpressed by his friend's lack of knowledge, Sasuke scoffed. "The information sheet Kakashi gave us said to head to the third floor."

"I knew that!" Naruto shook his fist at Sasuke, rolling his blue eyes. "I was just making sure you two idiots didn't misread the damn sheet!"

Amused and unamazed, Sukuna snorted. "Sure, keep telling yourself that. I bet you threw that paper in your bin the second you got home."

"Like you didn't!" Naruto swung himself forward a little. "Who cares about that information sheet? All I wanna do is beat everyone here!"

Sasuke elbowed Naruto on the shoulder. "You've forgotten that I'm also taking the test. If we were to fight in this exam, I would beat you."

"Huh?!" Naruto's blue eyes glared at the Uchiha—who smirked. "Like you could beat me! Kakashi-Sensei's taught me a load of Ninjutsu!"

"I bet they're low rank." Sukuna chuckled, four eyes sweeping over the area to check out the possible competition. "No-one intimidating yet…"

Hand holding onto the rope of the swing in annoyance, Naruto grunted. "You two are just jealous of how incredible I am, hah!"

"No more time for arguments." Sukuna interrupted his blond-haired friend. "They're letting people into the academy for the Chunin-Exam."

(-)

A decent number of Shinobi ventured throughout the Shinobi-Academy for where they assumed was the third-floor and the room numbered 301—but, for some reason, it was being guarded.

Separating himself from his teammates for the time being, Sukuna cut into the crowd to see what was happening upfront. Much to his concealed bafflement, Rock-Lee had been knocked to the ground.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sukuna clicked his teeth, astonished. "Is that bushy-browed maniac really hiding his strength from them?"

Sukuna grunted in contemplation. "Sure, making your opponent underestimate works when you're in a fight. I wonder what Lee's strategy for the exam is."

When he had been younger, Sukuna had learned of his natural immunity to Genjutsu because of his lack of chakra system. To him, the sign of the room was listed as 201 instead of being listed as 301.

"I'm guessing this is one of the first obstacles to these exams." Sukuna sighed. "Everyone else thinks this is room 301 and not 201."

Chin cupped in one hand, Sukuna thought. "It must be Genjutsu, then. I'm resistant to that, though, so I can't be too sure."

Having backhanded Lee a fourth time, one of the guards sneered. "Pathetic! How will you become Chunin if you can't even block that?"

"Come on! This just isn't fair!" Ten-Ten shouted at the two guards. "We've put in the work! You can't just keep us out of that room!"

"Oh." The second guard walked forth, mouth curved into a devious smirk. "We're just making sure none of you weaklings can take it!"

Two of Sukuna's lower crimson eyes blinked. "That is some bad acting. I wonder if they're disguised Shinobi by any chance?"

Ignorant of the tense mood in the crowd, Naruto approached his friend. "Hey, Sukuna! Why the hell did you disappear on us?!"

"Shut up." Sasuke nudged Naruto on the side. "Can't you see that something's going on over here? He was just observing the scene."

"I really wasn't." Sukuna grouched. "Aside from Lee and his team, I'm not sure who else here will make these exams more exciting for me."

Dropping the volume of his voice to a murmur, Sasuke said. "Also, haven't you realized that the sign has a Genjutsu layered over it?"

"Of course I did!" Naruto coughed into his closed fist. "I was just testing you and Sukuna to see if the two of you had also noticed!"

"Sure, you idiot, sure." Sukuna responded. "I'm glad I'm immune to Genjutsu—that would have been annoying to be affected by."

Arms crossed, Sasuke pointed out. "If those two guards keep wasting our time, then we won't be able to submit our application for the test."

"That means we'd get disqualified!" Naruto was freaking out. "I'm not losing my chances of becoming Chunin because of those numbskulls!"

Hand extended out to stop them, Sukuna said. "Just wait a second. We still have time to spare, so let me see how this situation turns out."

Deciding to provoke Lee, the guard sneered. "You and your team aren't worthy to be Chunin! Same for the rest of you, you hear me?!"

Ignoring Sukuna, Naruto jabbed an index finger at them. "Shut up! You can't fool me! I can tell by a mile away that sign has an illusion on it!"

"So, the kid noticed it?" The guard raised an unfettered eye-brow. "You think you're tough now, you brat? That won't be enough to be Chunin!"

To intimidate Naruto and his teammates, the guard lashed his elbow out to smack him in the nose and break it. However, he was then struck in the face by a fast projectile of wind.

Stumbling back, the guard touched his bruised cheek. "This kid ain't so weak—good."

"It worked." Naruto murmured to himself, grinning. "I bet I looked sick taking on a guard for the Chunin-Exams like that!"

Since Naruto had dispersed the tension in the crowd, Sukuna went towards Lee, helped him stand to his feet, and slouched his shoulders. Amusement burned on his tongue. "So, you decided to take the test."

Thumb raised at the reincarnated child, Lee nodded. "It is good to see you here, my youthful friend! I hope you and I can duel it out there!"

Barging in on their discussion, Neji Hyuga said. "Ryomen Sukuna, I see that you and your teammates have decided to join this year…"

"Of course." Sukuna shrugged, then hummed. "I wouldn't mind fighting Neji during the Chunin-Exams. He is one of the strongest people here."

Sukuna was about to engage in more conversation before he was yanked away by his team to hand in their official applications for the Chunin-Exams. Lee waved at his friend while Neji furrowed his brows.

Ten-Ten had reached them, hands clasped behind her back. "So those are Sukuna's teammates? That blond boy looked pretty strong to me."

Critical beyond comprehension, Neji scoffed. "A single Jutsu does not dictate the strength of an individual. I'm more curious about the Uchiha."

"The Uchiha." Lee mumbled. "Sasuke Uchiha—a member of the Uchiha-Clan, a lineage that has given him unimaginable potential."

"I wouldn't underestimate Sukuna, either!" Lee told his teammates. "His youth burns even brighter than mine sometimes in training!"

"We've seen him and Gai-Sensei spar." Ten-Ten rubbed her chin. "He's kind of like Lee—they both have incredible physical prowess."

Shaking his head at them, Neji said. "He is no threat to us. I will acknowledge his strength—but I am doubtful he could beat Lee."

"Besides." Lee's eyes were focused on the back of Sasuke's head. "I want to see how strong one of the members of my friend's team is…"

(-)

Team seven walked up a flight of steps to get to the real third-floor. Naruto was satisfied by his earlier actions. Sasuke was curious about the two people Sukuna had talked to. Sukuna was somewhat bored.

"You dumbass." Sasuke tapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Why did you draw all attention to yourself by using that technique on that guard?"

Patting his chest in pride, Naruto answered him. "To make sure every bastard out there knew to not underestimate me—Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Let him do what he wants." Sukuna cut in. "People are bound to be curious about the team of who the last Uchiha was assigned to, right?"

"You've got a point there, I suppose." Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "I would like it so that no-one knows any of our abilities, though."

"You two have your applications for the exams signed?" Sasuke asked them. "We only have less than twenty five minutes to submit them."

Pulling his application form from his pouch, Naruto waved it around in the air. "Yep, I've got this sheet signed! Nothing is going to stop me!"

Sukuna kept his hands inserted into his pockets. "Don't worry, I've signed the damn form for these tests. This shit is such a hassle."

"Sukuna, will you and your team stop for a moment?!" A passionate voice called out from an upper-platform. "I want to speak to you all!"

Four eyes glanced over at the source of the loud voice. "Lee? What the hell do you want to talk about? I'm not gonna fight you here."

"I would like to fight you, my youthful companion." Lee remained on the upper-floor. "But I want to challenge the Uchiha to a fight…"

"There's still twenty five minutes left." Sukuna shoved Sasuke forward. "Knock yourselves out! Naruto, just step back and enjoy the fight!"

Absent-minded, Naruto had failed to hear Sukuna and grunted. "Did I forget to lock my door? I swear I better not have my Ramen stolen…"

Reorienting himself from the sudden push, Sasuke said. "I don't mind having a warm-up for this test. I will tell you this, I won't hold back."

"Rock-Lee." Sasuke activated his Two-Tomoe Sharingan. "I've heard from Sukuna that he's someone who specializes in only Taijutsu."

Descending upon them, Lee announced. "I would hope not! You are Sukuna's teammate—so I am sure you will be a worthy opponent!"

Hands clasped together and aimed towards Lee, Sasuke performed five hand-signs in rapid succession. Lee widened his eyes in interest, flipping above the straight line of intense heat Sasuke had shot at him.

Closing in on Sasuke once his stream of flames had dissolved, Lee buried a punch into his stomach and hurtled him back. Small rivers of blood were ejected from Sasuke's mouth. "Such incredible strength!"

Sasuke backhanded Lee in the left cheek, then raised his fore-arms fast enough to block off an axe-kick to the shoulder. Despite this, he could sense his entire body rattle, shake, and shudder from the blow.

"I'm impressed." Lee had retracted his trained leg. "I thought I would be able to take you down faster than that. Now, try and keep up."

"Fire-Style: Flame-Stream!" A line of fire ejected itself from Sasuke's closed palms. "Short-ranged combat against him is useless, huh…?"

Sprinting around the area of the academy they were in, Lee managed to ensure that the direct blast of fire missed him. Flames flickered behind him, transforming itself into a Fire-Clone of his opponent.

Having no interest in a mere duplicate, Lee karate-chopped through its head and scattered it into fumes. Sasuke had clenched his teeth, concentrating on Lee's next move. It came much too soon for him.

Appearing in front of Sasuke and bashing a foot into his abdomen, Lee pushed him into a wall and took on a stance of combat. Hand stretched forward, Lee thought. "I won't use the Front-Lotus on him."

"Incredible!" Sasuke smirked through the pain. "His physical strength is comparable to Sukuna's! He's too fast for my Sharingan to track."

Applying more chakra to his muscles, Sasuke anticipated Lee's movements before he jabbed an elbow into his nose. Lee brushed off the hit, spinning on his foot and roundhouse kicking Sasuke in the hip.

Backing away from him, Lee smiled. "That's enough from me. Sasuke Uchiha, you have proved to me that you can be Sukuna's teammate!"

"Sukuna!" Lee's teeth twinkled alongside his wide grin. "Make sure to submit your application! I will see you soon to test our true limits!"

Sukuna had watched the battle in its entirety. "I'll do that, yeah. If we do have to fight each other, then I expect a good one out of you."

"Can we stop wasting more time?!" Naruto interrupted them. "I really want to put in my application! I'm ready to beat some bastards up!"

(-)

They had submitted their official applications for the Chunin-Exams at last without any more interjections. Once they had approached the real room labelled 301, they were stopped by their masked teacher.

"I hope you know there's no turning back." Kakashi leaned his back onto a wall. "But I'm confident the three of you won't fail this exam."

Sukuna and Sasuke grunted in response while Naruto grinned. "Trust me, Kakashi-Sensei! The three of us won't be losing no matter what!"

Kakashi's finger was pointed at the entrance to the room. "Then, head in. I'm sure you all remember the advice I gave you in our training."

Not interested in fanfare, team seven opened up the door to room 301 and were met by a multitude of intense glares. Sukuna's lower two eyes opened, glinting crimson and gauging everyone else's reactions to it.

Most of these Shinobi remained unaffected by his anomalous features. Though, a few flinched back for a second. Naruto returned their glares, confidence bleeding into his sapphire eyes and posture.

Sasuke was more nonchalant compared to his teammates. Posture relaxed, he disregarded the obvious intensity in the room. However, he focused on the ones who he deemed a potential threat to his team.

Senses on full alert, Sasuke whirled away from Ino Yamanaka after she had lunged at him for some type of piggy-back ride. Clicking his tongue, Sasuke spoke. "I see the rest of you are also participating."

Unfazed by his usual impassivity, Ino nodded. "Asuma-Sensei thought we'd trained enough for the exams! So he decided to nominate us!"

Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara approached them. Shikamaru sighed. "You three are also here? What a damn pain in the ass…"

Joining the conversation, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga stepped forth. Kiba then smirked. "Good, Sasuke's also here!"

"Hah!" Naruto jeered at all of them, grinning. "Instead of focusing on Sasuke, you mutt-smelling numbskull, you should be scared of me!"

"Like we'd be scared of you, you imbecile!" Kiba snarled. Akamaru, who was on his head, barked. "You're all bark and no bite."

"I'm sure Naruto has gotten strong, Kiba." Hinata smiled, somewhat shy. "That goes for Sasuke and Sukuna. Everyone's been training."

"Sukuna?" Ino had tilted her head, cupped her chin, and tapped her mouth. "Who's Sukuna? That name isn't ringing any bells for me."

Shikamaru snorted at his teammate. "He was the one who skipped out on lessons all the time. No wonder you forgot about his name, Ino."

"He stopped doing that in his second or third year!" Naruto defended his friend. "Don't act so high and mighty, he'd annihilate all of you!"

Having clenched his fist, Kiba sneered. "I could beat him now! I've trained to get strong enough to beat Sasuke's ass up if I really tried!"

"How annoying." Sukuna ignored their discussion. "I'd rather see the results of their training, not meaningless and baseless boasts…"

Once the argument had reached its climax, Kabuto Yakushi stepped towards them. "Would you all do us a favour and shut your mouths?"

"Look at Mr. Bespectacled over here!" Naruto leaned forward. "Thinking he can just barge in on us! Screw off, you random moron!"

Adjusting his glasses in amusement, Kabuto responded. "My. My, My. Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today, haven't they…?"

"I'm your senior, so I wanted to give you some advice." Kabuto said. "Stop yelling so much, you rookies. You're drawing a lot of attention."

"Who cares?!" Naruto shouted at everyone in the room. "All of these dumbasses are gonna get beaten up by my teammates and me!"

Eye-brow raised in fascination, Kabuto smiled. "Such confidence. I'll do you a little favour and let you ask me about any candidate here."

"I'm good." Naruto picked at his ear in avid disinterest. "I don't want to hear anything about them. They'll get pulverized by me regardless!"

"Don't underestimate me just because this is my seventh year." Kabuto hummed. "My Shinobi-Skill-Cards have some good intel."

Interested, Sasuke pushed Kiba and Shikamaru aside. "Can you tell me more about the Genin who is named Naruto Uzumaki, then?"

"Huh?!" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, baffled. "You know a bunch of crap about me! Do you think I'm hiding some secret power or something?!"

"I just want to see if these cards are accurate." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "For all we know, the information on these cards could be unreliable."

Kiba crossed his arms, then scoffed. "Don't expect much. He got better later on in the academy, sure, but Naruto's still a huge loser."

Kabuto picked out a card, raising it for them to see. "Naruto Uzumaki. Thirty-five D-Rank missions. 1 B-Rank mission. An A-Rank mission?!"

Sukuna's four crimson eyes were squinted. "How the hell did he get this type of information? The Land-Of-Snow mission was kept private."

Overcoming his shock, Kabuto said. "He has decent Taijutsu and Ninjutsu—but his skills in Genjutsu are inadequate it looks like…"

"His teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and Ryomen Sukuna." Kabuto glanced at the reincarnated child. "One who I lack information on…"

"It's accurate." Sasuke told his teammates. "I guess your Shinobi-Skill-Cards do hold some valuable information in them…"

"Hold on!" Kiba grunted, jabbing a finger in Sasuke's face. "You three went on an A-Rank mission?! How the hell did that even happen?!"

"Stop talking to me." Sasuke batted Kiba's hand downwards. "I have better things to do than answer your idiotic questions on my missions."

Sukuna noticed everyone's concentration being fixed upon them after Kabuto's shocked announcement. Team seven was a new team—so having an A-Ranked mission assigned to them had sounded baffling.

"I have information on most places." Kabuto intervened. "Not much on the Sound-Village—they're a less developed village, so intel is small."

Somewhat intrigued in what type of information Kabuto had, Sukuna prepared to ask him a few questions until Kabuto was attacked. The ones who had attacked him were Shinobi from the Sound-Village.

Dosu Kinuta, Zaku Abumi, and Kin Tsuchi lunged forward in a blur. Kabuto had seen them move and smirked at the Kunai thrown in his direction by Zaku, sliding away from them and regaining his footing.

Head tilted at an unhinged angle, Dosu appeared in front of Kabuto in a plume of smoke and flicked his hand at him. Kabuto had managed to redirect it elsewhere. However, Kabuto's glasses were shattered.

"How?" Sasuke had activated his Sharingan. "I know Kabuto was able to redirect that blow from those Shinobi. Why did they break, then?"

Despite the confidence on his face, Kabuto vomited out his lunch and collapsed to his knees. Sukuna watched in annoyance at having his moment to ask the bespectacled Genin some questions interrupted.

Seeing how the three Sound-Shinobi had taken on confident positions, Sukuna rubbed the back of his head in irritation. A weakened Dismantle was launched into all three of them, propelling them back.

Shikamaru snorted at Kabuto after he had thrown up. "See, this is why I can't be bothered to rile anyone up. It just brings you boring trouble."

"Also." Shikamaru noticed the three of them being thrown back. "What type of technique is that? I don't know who that could have been…"

Everything was interrupted by the sudden appearance of smoke in the room. Ibiki Morino and other proctors of the Chunin-Exams had arrived at last. The scarred man shouted. "Enough fighting out of you!"

"I'll waste no time." Ibiki grunted. "My name is Ibiki Morino and I'm hosting the first section of the Chunin-Exam—a paper-test, of course!"

"Huh?!" Naruto's voice penetrated everyone's ears. "You've gotta be kidding me! I thought I wouldn't have to see one of those anymore!"

(-)

All of the potential candidates for the Chunin-Exams had been seated down and had been handed a test. Knuckles propped beneath his cheek, Sukuna struggled to not fall asleep out of a lack of any interest.

A few more minutes passed and, while Ibiki was explaining the rules of this section to the test, Sukuna passed out in the blink of an eye. Minutes passed until Ibiki prepared to ask them the tenth question.

"You all passed!"

Wrenching his four eyes open in an instant, Sukuna checked the time, groaned, and realized he had fallen asleep for fifty five minutes. He rubbed his eyes. "Shit, did they even notice that I fell asleep so early?"

Zoning out after he had confirmed he had passed, Sukuna blinked at the blur who had flipped through a window, broken it, set up a banner, and landed on a desk. "What type of entrance is that supposed to be?"

"The Chunin-Exams have been a piece of cake for all of you!" Anko Mitarashi shouted. "But the next section will make all of you cry!"

Hands pressed onto her hips, she grinned. "My name's Anko Mitarashi—the second host of the Chunin-Exams, it's a pleasure!"

Counting the number of applicants in the room, she whistled. "Damn, Ibiki. Have you gone soft? You passed more brats than I expected."

"Not without reason, of course." Ibiki smirked. "There are many Shinobi who hold a great amount of potential in this year's batch."

"And some who fall asleep minutes into the exam." Ibiki glanced at Sukuna—who was bored. "But I think this year will be interesting."

Widening her eyes in excitement, Anko declared. "They won't stand a chance in the second test! I'll have them all whittled down, trust me!"

(-)

Sukuna and everyone else had been guided to training-ground ninety-nine and where the Forest-Of-Death was located. According to Anko, this would be the place where the second section happened.

"There's a reason why this place is called the Forest-Of-Death." Anko smirked. "Of course, you'll all find out soon enough why we call it that."

"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Naruto moved his hand like a mouth in Sasuke and Sukuna's faces. "Stop talking so much, we ain't scared of your crap!"

A Kunai was thrown towards Naruto—who cast a hand-sign and had a bubble of invisible air in front of his face pop. Tearing into the Kunai, a concentrated burst of wind shattered it into steel. "I love this Jutsu!"

Anko appeared behind Naruto, using a Kunai in her hand to slice his cheek and then she licked his blood. "You have some skill, I admit."

Naruto twisted his lips into an annoyed smile. "You kind of remind me of an annoying moron that I met on one of my other missions, lady."

Anko prepared to respond to him—but a tongue holding the handle of her broken Kunai dangled close to her face. "Your Kunai, proctor…"

"Thanks." Anko's hand twitched. "But don't you dare radiate all that blood-lust at me. Of course, if you want to fight, it's your funeral…"

The Shinobi from the Grass-Village who wore a kasa-styled hat said. "I do apologize, all of this pressure and tension has excited me…"

"Gross." Anko turned to the other candidates. "You'll all have to sign a consent form—so, if you die or get killed, it won't be our fault at all!"

"There is a building in the centre of this forest." Anko said. "To get to this tower, you have to get both an Earth-Scroll and a Heaven-Scroll."

"Each team will only get one, depending on complete chance." Anko grinned. "So you'll have to steal one from another team to pass this!"

"You have one-hundred and twenty hours to do this!" Anko explained to them. "That's five days. Also, no peeking at the scrolls is allowed!"

Once they had handed in their consent forms and were given their scroll, each team positioned themselves in front of their assigned gate. Silence permeated in the air while Sukuna clenched his fists.

It was time for the true competition.

A/N: Thanks for reading.