All teams entered through various entrances.
This also avoided starting fights before reaching the deeper parts of the forest.
Feng An, Yukime, and Fubuki entered the Forest of Death from entrance number seven.
After entering, Feng An led them deeper, found a secluded spot, and lay down to rest.
Yukime and Fubuki looked at each other, wondering what he was doing.
"Feng An, aren't we going to go after a scroll?"
Feng An lay in the shade with his eyes closed and said calmly, "Rest first. Don't worry."
Everyone is full of energy on the first day; trying to snatch scrolls now is very inefficient.
Although Yukime and Fubuki wanted to go after a scroll, the "big brother" of the team said to rest. What could they do?
It wasn't like the two of them could go off on their own to try their luck.
"Let's rest."
Once Yukime figured it out, she lay down not far from Feng An to rest.
Fubuki was baffled, watching her sister lie down just like Feng An.
"So they're both just going to laze around, huh?"
"Fine, then I will too!"
Fubuki sat down not far from the two of them, looking annoyed.
If they weren't going, she wouldn't either. They could just laze around together.
…
On the other side, after Hinata and the others entered the Forest of Death, Inuzuka Kiba kept shouting about finding other teams to fight.
"Let's go find a team and take them on!"
Looking at the energetic Inuzuka Kiba, Shino and Hinata both remained silent: "...".
Since neither of them talked much in the team, Inuzuka Kiba naturally took on the role of leader.
Of course, there was no official leader; he just appointed himself.
He'd wanted to be leader for a long time, but Feng An was there, and he couldn't beat Feng An, so he'd had to give up.
"Since you agree, let's head that way!"
Inuzuka Kiba led them a short distance forward and soon spotted a boy with short red hair holding an umbrella in a patch of black rain.
"That's weird. Why is it only raining there?"
Sniff.
Inuzuka Kiba suddenly caught an extremely unpleasant, pungent smell of blood.
His expression changed instantly.
He crouched down and hid behind some bushes.
Just then, Hinata and Shino caught up from behind.
"Kiba? What's wrong?" Hinata asked, seeing Inuzuka Kiba hiding behind the bushes.
"Shhh."
Inuzuka Kiba quickly quieted them.
"Byakugan!"
The moment Hinata crouched down and activated her Byakugan, she saw that the red-haired boy under the umbrella was surrounded by dismembered limbs and corpses. The rain falling from the sky was actually the blood of those people!
Then, looking up, she saw the character for "love" carved on his forehead!
It was Gaara, the Sand Village ninja Feng An had mentioned.
She also noticed his eyes were fixed on the bushes where they were hiding.
What do we do?
Hinata trembled all over, quickly covering her mouth for fear of making a sound.
Inuzuka Kiba sensed something was wrong and whispered, "Hinata, what did you see?"
Hinata said with a chill, "It's... it's the Sand Village ninja Gaara with the 'love' character that Feng An mentioned."
"He... he killed all three members of a team! And now he's staring right at our bushes!"
Inuzuka Kiba's eyelids twitched.
That meant the incredibly strong smell of blood he'd detected was from him!
The three of them were as pale as paper, hiding behind the bushes without moving.
Although Inuzuka Kiba had imagined people dying, this was his first time truly facing death, and such a gruesome one at that.
Feng An had said to run, but their bodies seemed frozen...
As Hinata watched Gaara's movements with her Byakugan, two other ninjas appeared beside him.
One, a girl with yellow hair tied in four ponytails like Naruto's, said to Gaara, "Let's go, Gaara."
Gaara stared at the clump of grass for a second longer, then turned and followed the two ninjas away.
Hinata kept her Byakugan active until they were a kilometer away.
Inuzuka Kiba whispered, "Is he gone?"
Hinata nodded.
Only then did the three of them relax, their faces gradually regaining some color.
Inuzuka Kiba's fighting spirit had been doused by Gaara's black rain.
He asked awkwardly, "How about we find a place to rest first?"
"Okay."
Hearing Inuzuka Kiba's suggestion, Hinata and Shino agreed.
The scene they had just witnessed cast a heavy shadow over them.
…
On the other side, the three members of Team Brave, who were resting, were also awakened by occasional screams from nearby.
Feng An sat up angrily and shouted, "Can't you let me sleep?!"
Fubuki looked at him with disdain.
You're the only one taking a nap in the Forest of Death.
Yukime, beside her, was awakened by Feng An's shout and rubbed her eyes. "Hmm? What happened?"
Fubuki looked at her sister, holding her forehead and shaking her head.
There's someone even more outrageous.
The person who had screamed had already fainted on the ground.
One of them had been searching for a scroll when he heard a low growl from the side, which startled him.
He glanced over and saw a man giving him an unfriendly look.
His expression changed, and he grabbed the scroll from the man and ran, shouting to his two teammates, "Brothers, run! There are three tough guys here!"
They just wanted to grab a Heaven Scroll and then head to the tower to complete the mission and pass.
Seeing the three were so "understanding," Feng An didn't bother with them for disturbing his nap.
"Sleep."
He closed his eyes and lay down again.
Fubuki angrily walked up to Feng An and kicked him. "You let such a good opportunity slip?!"
"They just fought another team. If we put in a little effort, couldn't we get two scrolls?"
Feng An frowned and rubbed the spot she'd kicked. "There will be plenty of chances later."
There was a faster way to pass: just go to the tower and wait for someone to deliver the scrolls.
To others, it might seem arrogant, but Feng An had a clear understanding of his own strength.
In this Forest of Death, no one could threaten him except for a rampaging One-Tail, Shukaku.
Feng An was waiting, waiting for an opportunity to showcase himself and let Hiashi Hyūga see his potential.
That was his real purpose for taking the Chunin Exams.
Right now, he just needed to conserve his energy. After the other teams had fought themselves to exhaustion, he would block the tower in peak condition and achieve half his goal for this exam.
"Fubuki, it's fine. Thanks to him, we passed the first exam without any risk. I believe he has a plan for this one too," Yukime said, twisting her body into a more comfortable position.
Fubuki rolled her eyes at her. "I think you're just bewitched by him."
…
The three members of the team that had just run away stared blankly at the two Earth Scrolls in their hands.
One of the burly men said dejectedly, "So we worked for nothing?"
Another man's eyes gleamed with cunning. "Why didn't that team chase us?"
"There's only one possibility: even in our weakened state, they still aren't confident they can take our scrolls."
"They might not have left yet. Let's go back immediately!"
Following his analysis, the three immediately stashed the two Earth Scrolls and rushed back!
*****
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