"Alright, you must collect a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll. To pass the exam, you need to reach the central tower with both scrolls."
After Minato Namikaze finished speaking, he had the crowd enter a small curtained room to receive their scrolls.
This ensured that no one outside of their own squad knew which scroll they received.
"Now, let the exam begin!"
After everyone had received their scrolls, Minato Namikaze, as the chief examiner, officially announced the start. To prevent bloodshed immediately upon entry, each squad had a slightly different entrance and entry time.
Kiyoshi and his team entered through a path on the far left.
"We need to find the Earth Scroll." Kurenai held a scroll marked with the character "Heaven" in her hand.
"It's fine, we'll stroll around for a bit." Kiyoshi shook his head.
There was plenty of time.
The exam had a time limit of five days.
This meant Kiyoshi had five days to move freely inside.
Because of the towering ancient trees that heavily obstructed the view, the only location with surveillance in the Forest of Death was the central tower.
Otherwise, when Orochimaru wreaked havoc inside, no ninja would have been able to track him down, and Anko Mitarashi only ran into him by chance.
"Let's head towards the central area first." Kiyoshi stepped forward.
Kurenai nodded and secured the scroll.
Asuma drew his chakra blades just in case, and the three of them set off together.
***
The Forest of Death had experienced a spring rain the night before, leaving dew drops clinging to the leaves of the colossal ancient trees.
This was hardly an obstacle for the candidates participating in the Chunin Exams today.
"Both the Sharingan and the Byakugan are urgently needed in our village." Maki stepped onto the damp ground, glancing at Pakura and their other teammate.
During the previous exam, he had seen one Uchiha activate the Sharingan in his left eye, and he saw several members of the Hyūga clan using the Byakugan.
The Byakugan was not as easy to conceal as the Sharingan; it was very conspicuous.
"Of course." Pakura's lips parted.
She was one of the "people of ambition" in the Hidden Sand Village.
The Land of Wind was barren, lacking natural resources, and its development in military, economy, and population could be said to be at the lower end of the Five Great Nations.
To change this situation, they had to carve out a path for the Hidden Sand Village to become strong and wealthy.
"The Third Great Ninja War is highly likely to be instigated by the strong nations. The alliance treaty itself threatens our survival." Maki's eyes betrayed his unwillingness to accept the status quo.
When the Five Great Villages were first established, the First Kazekage proposed to forgo Tailed Beasts and only ask for land.
Unfortunately, they ultimately received only a small amount of fertile land.
Meanwhile, all the other villages occupied vast oases.
They, however, were confined to the Land of Wind, which was mostly arid desert with little rainfall!
"I understand." Pakura nodded.
The geographical resources of the Land of Wind were a hard reality; they couldn't attract foreign ninjas to reside there.
And the development of their native ninjas was also severely constrained by the lack of resources.
The only way was to obtain Bloodlines!
This was a chaotic area. If a ninja with a Bloodline died here, no one could pin the blame on them.
As long as they sealed the corpse inside a sealing scroll, summoned a summon, handed the sealing scroll to the summon, and then dispelled the summoning, no one would ever suspect them.
Such a method had been considered in the past.
But due to the political situation and the alliance treaties, it had been continuously postponed.
Now, with constant friction between the major nations, one incident could set off a chain reaction. The Hidden Leaf Village couldn't possibly simultaneously challenge the other four Great Nations!
All they had to do was vehemently deny any involvement.
"There is an ominous and cold chakra signature." Tarō Hōki, who had been silent among the three, pointed in a direction.
"Who is it?" Pakura asked.
Tarō Hōki shook his head. He had never fought anyone with this kind of chakra, so he naturally didn't know their identity.
But that unique chakra signature already strongly suggested the answer!
A ninja who commanded natural Yin Release!
"It's probably a ninja from the Yamanaka, Nara, or Uchiha clans." Tarō Hōki said.
Ninjas with excellent sensory abilities could perceive the temperature of chakra.
Ninjas skilled in Yang Release felt warm, like the sun.
Yin Release, however, gave off a sense of coldness.
But he also sensed an ominous feeling from that person.
As if this chakra was imbued with a demonic quality.
"There's a high probability it's an Uchiha clan ninja." Tarō Hōki thought for a moment and added.
"Let's go see." Maki decided immediately.
If they could complete their mission here, they could forfeit the exam and quickly return to the Hidden Sand Village.
The three of them continuously moved towards the location Tarō Hōki had indicated.
***
"It's the same Earth Scroll." Kiyoshi lifted one ninja by the collar and flung him away.
"Are you two alright?" Kiyoshi turned.
Kurenai's forehead was covered in fine sweat, and a few strands of her curly black hair stuck to her brow, making her look slightly disheveled.
"We're fine." Kurenai took a breath.
"That was a real battle." Asuma wiped the blood from his chakra blades.
They hadn't walked far when they encountered a squad from a minor ninja village who attacked them without warning.
The three of them fought back and ultimately won the skirmish.
"What should we do with the remaining people?" Asuma asked.
"Someone's coming." Kiyoshi didn't answer Asuma Sarutobi's question, shifting to another topic.
Following the sound of movement in the distant bushes, Pakura, Maki, and Tarō Hōki emerged.
Kurenai and Asuma Sarutobi's eyes narrowed, and they quickly prepared for combat.
"We're quite lucky. It's an Uchiha." Tarō Hōki chuckled.
One half of his scalp had hair, while the other was bald, giving him a very bizarre appearance.
"Hey, Uchiha, in the face of the Hōki clan's name, you should surrender now."
"Hōki clan..." Kiyoshi ignored the man.
The Hōki clan was merely a ninja clan living in the Land of Wind. Due to their many years of loyalty, the clan's "princess" was specially permitted to have a marriage meeting with the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara.
"Leave Pakura of the Hidden Sand to me. She's very strong."
"Understood." Kurenai nodded, realizing she should follow Kiyoshi's command at this moment.
She had heard of Pakura's name. It was said she achieved fame at a young age and had carried out highly difficult missions, earning her the title of the "Little Hero of the Hidden Sand"!
Even from a distance, Kurenai could feel Pakura's composed aura and a very strong chakra signature.
"An ace against an ace, huh?" Pakura smiled.
He was indeed an Uchiha. She admired this arrogance.
However, she admired Kiyoshi's Sharingan even more.
She had personally seen the Sharingan pattern appear in Kiyoshi's left eye during the exam, though she didn't know why it was only in one eye.
That wasn't a major issue, one Sharingan was still a Sharingan.
***
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