Makarui explained that Stage Two would take place in the Valley of the Crags, her voice carrying the weight of her authority.
"The Valley of the Crags," she announced, "is a natural fortress. Its terrain will test your endurance, your adaptability, and your ability to survive. You will be judged not by how many enemies you defeat, but by how well you navigate the environment."
The surviving teams were transported toward the enormous gorge, the Valley of the Crags. The environment was dramatically different from the academy's controlled halls; enormous vertical cliffs rose on either side, their faces scarred by centuries of wind and weather. Narrow ledges wound through the rock, their surfaces treacherous and unstable. Deep ravines cut through the earth, their depths lost in shadow. Dense mountain fog obscured visibility, and violent crosswinds threatened to knock the unwary from their perches. Unstable rock formations shifted with each gust, and unpredictable Lightning Release storms struck exposed sections of the gorge without warning.
The objective was simple; each team received a starting scroll, and they must obtain the required opposing scroll and reach the central tower before the allotted time expired. Renjiro immediately recognised the real purpose; this wasn't simply a scroll hunt. The terrain itself was an enemy.
Renjiro took his position at the central proctor relay station, where multiple monitoring seals could observe the battlefield. He established communication channels between the proctor teams, ensuring that each one could coordinate their efforts. The four primary proctors divided their responsibilities with practised efficiency.
Kakashi oversaw physical tracking, deploying his ninken throughout the valley to locate injured or incapacitated candidates. He maintained a mental map of casualties and team locations, his Sharingan active as he processed the flood of information. Asuma took responsibility for emergency extraction, coordinating medical teams and establishing evacuation routes. He determined when combat injuries had crossed into potentially fatal territory, making split-second decisions that could mean the difference between life and death. Kurenai established sensory genjutsu webs along the boundaries, her network detecting unauthorised movement, foreign chakra signatures, boundary violations, and unusual chakra fluctuations. She became the primary early-warning system, her perception extending across the entire valley. Guy took the most physically absurd assignment; he moved through the canyon itself, using the cliff walls as launching points, literally leaping across the gorge when candidates fell. His job was rescuing candidates before they hit the bottom.
Renjiro looked at the four of them and quietly concluded that the proctor system was functioning exactly as intended.
The starting signal sounded, and sixteen teams immediately scattered. Kumo teams demonstrated much better coordination than Konoha's survivors, their movements fluid and practised. The Konoha teams were forced to rely heavily on survival instincts rather than raw combat ability, their training insufficient for the demands of the terrain.
Renjiro watched dozens of chakra signatures disappear into the fog, his attention divided among the monitoring seals. The valley quickly became chaotic, with teams navigating the treacherous terrain while simultaneously avoiding their rivals. A team crossed a narrow cliff path while lightning struck nearby, the electrical discharge illuminating the fog with a brief, blinding flash. Another team used wires to cross a ravine, their movements careful and deliberate. A Kumo squad deliberately created a rockslide to force another team into a different route, the sound of falling rock echoing through the gorge. One Konoha team nearly fell before Guy caught them, his massive form appearing from the fog like a guardian spirit. Kakashi's ninken began reporting injuries, their howls carrying through the proctor communication system.
The environmental hazards became increasingly severe as the exam progressed. A sudden wind blast knocked several genin off balance, and one Konoha team lost a member over a cliff. Guy launched himself across the gorge and caught the falling genin, his speed defying the laws of physics. The rescued genin was terrified, his face pale, his hands shaking. Guy gave them an overly enthusiastic speech about the "power of youthful survival," his energy a counterpoint to the tension.
Renjiro watched through the relay system and simply muttered something along the lines of: At least he's effective.
Another team was trapped between two cliffs during a lightning storm, the electrical discharges striking dangerously close to their position. Kurenai guided them through a safer route using the proctor communication system, her voice calm and steady.
The survival exam gradually became less about the environment and more about team-versus-team combat. Kumo teams began exploiting their familiarity with the terrain; they knew which cliffs were unstable, where lightning tended to strike, and which paths created natural ambush points. Renjiro immediately saw the advantage, and he didn't interfere because this was legitimate home-terrain knowledge. However, he ordered Konoha proctors to watch for deliberate lethal actions, his voice carrying the weight of his authority.
The first major Konoha elimination occurred when a team encountered a dangerous section of the gorge. Their route collapsed beneath them, and one member became trapped beneath falling rock. Kakashi's ninken located them, and Asuma ordered emergency extraction. Despite the rescue attempt, the team was officially eliminated. Renjiro recorded the loss, his expression unreadable.
"Konoha Team #7 — Eliminated," he wrote. "Environmental collapse. No combat involvement."
Another Konoha team encountered a Kumo team, and combat began. The Kumo team used the terrain intelligently, driving the Konoha team backward toward a dangerous cliff. Renjiro noticed immediately that the Konoha team was clearly losing; one Konoha genin was nearly forced over the edge.
Renjiro turned toward Makarui, his voice carrying the weight of his question.
"Is Kumo's team being monitored?"
Makarui calmly argued that combat within the examination rules was permissible; she described the manoeuvre as "standard martial aggression." Renjiro's expression barely changed, but his chakra subtly rose. The pressure spread through the command room, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Several teacups on the table developed tiny cracks, their surfaces spiderwebbing with stress.
Makarui noticed. Renjiro calmly responded, his voice carrying the weight of his warning.
"Of course. And if your proctors fail to see a lethal foul…"
He looked at her.
"…our proctors may develop the same blindness."
Silence. Makarui understood the threat. Neither commander escalated the argument, but the tension between them was palpable. The Konoha team was eventually forced to withdraw before the situation became fatal, their retreat a tactical necessity rather than a victory.
The examination reached its halfway point, and Renjiro received the updated statistics. Konoha had originally entered with six teams; one had been eliminated by terrain, and two had been defeated in combat. Only three Konoha teams remained. Kumo, by contrast, had most of their teams still operational; their familiarity with the environment continued to provide a major advantage.
Renjiro studied the numbers, understanding that Konoha was rapidly approaching disaster. He didn't blame the surviving genin; his frustration was directed toward the decision that had created this roster.
His attention shifted toward one particular Kumo team. He recognised the same chakra signature from Stage One; Darui was moving through the valley with almost no wasted motion. His lazy posture remained intact, but his chakra remained unusually calm, and his teammates compensated for his apparent laziness. Renjiro noticed that Darui wasn't merely surviving; he was reading the battlefield, his perception extending across the terrain.
He's talented, Renjiro thought.
Kurenai suddenly reported something unusual. Her sensory genjutsu network had activated along the northern ridge; the location should contain only examination participants. Instead, she detected several chakra signatures that were moving too precisely, maintaining military formation, avoiding the normal patrol routes, and deliberately staying outside the examination teams' movement patterns. She reported four individuals whose chakra signatures didn't match registered Kumo participants.
Renjiro immediately became serious. He asked Kurenai to continue tracking them without revealing that they had been detected. The four unknowns were moving toward an isolated Konoha team, their movement inconsistent with ordinary genin combat. They were hunting. Renjiro quietly stood, his expression unreadable.
Makarui asked what he was doing. Renjiro gave a deliberately vague answer:
"Checking a boundary issue."
He left the command centre, Makarui assuming he was handling an examination irregularity.
Renjiro moved into the Valley of the Crags alone. He activated his chakra field and identified the four intruders, confirming that their chakra control was too refined for ordinary genin, their movements were military, and their formation was designed for assassination. He accelerated.
The four disguised shinobi approached the isolated Konoha team; the Konoha genin had no idea they were being hunted. One rogue raised a weapon. Before they could attack, Renjiro appeared behind them. He didn't shout; he didn't announce himself. His EMS activated, and the four infiltrators were caught simultaneously. His ocular genjutsu overwhelmed their nervous systems; their bodies froze, weapons dropped, and their minds became trapped before they could react.
The Konoha genin stared in confusion. Renjiro ordered them to retreat toward the nearest proctor station, and they obeyed.
Kakashi arrived shortly afterwards; his ninken had tracked Renjiro's movement. He immediately recognised that these weren't exam participants. Kakashi helped secure the unconscious infiltrators, stripping away the fake Kumo uniforms to reveal sealing tags, concealed weapons, forged identification, and unfamiliar chakra-control equipment. Their chakra profiles were identified as belonging to Sunagakure rogue shinobi.
Kakashi examined the seals and traced their entry method, realising that the infiltrators had bypassed Kumo's outer security. His expression became serious as he made the chilling observation:
"A Suna rogue squad slipping past Kumo's outer barrier network without triggering a single alarm?"
He considered the possibilities: Kumo's security was catastrophically incompetent, or someone had deliberately allowed the infiltrators through. Kakashi reached the more disturbing conclusion; someone may have intended for the rogues to massacre Konoha genin, with the terrain providing the perfect explanation for their deaths.
Renjiro agreed with Kakashi's assessment. His first instinct was to confront Makarui, but he stopped himself. If he accused Kumo without proof, the exams could be cancelled, Konoha-Kumo relations could collapse, whoever orchestrated the infiltration could destroy evidence, and the surviving genin could become political hostages to the situation. He needed evidence. More importantly, he needed the perpetrators alive.
He created a specialised sealing formation, sealing all four unconscious rogues into a stasis scroll. Their bodies and chakra signatures were preserved, and their equipment was secured separately. Kakashi understood immediately. Renjiro told him not to report this to Makarui yet, not to tell the other proctors unless necessary, and that the evidence would stay hidden until Minato arrived for the finals.
Kakashi asked whether Renjiro trusted the Kumo command enough to wait. Renjiro answered:
"No."
Then:
"That's why I'm waiting."
Renjiro returned to the relay station. Makarui asked what had happened. Renjiro gave her almost nothing, simply saying that the northern boundary was secure. Makarui accepted the answer, and Kakashi said nothing. The two Konoha shinobi silently understood that something much larger may be happening.
The surviving teams made their final attempts. Kumo teams continued exploiting the terrain, and Konoha's remaining teams were exhausted. Another Konoha team narrowly failed, and the final Konoha team fought through a Kumo squad to obtain the required scroll. Darui's team also reached the tower.
The results were displayed at the command centre. Original Stage Two field: sixteen teams, six Konoha. Final survivors: four teams total, twelve genin. Kumo had three teams and nine genin, Darui's team among them. Konoha had one team and three genin. Nineteen of Konoha's original twenty teams had now been eliminated.
Makarui looked over the final results, her expression carrying the weight of her victory. She glanced toward Renjiro, but he remained completely expressionless, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing him react. Internally, he knew that this wasn't the fault of the remaining Konoha genin.
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