"Only 10 teams? Looks like the first stage was tougher than previous exams. Well, good for you guys; your competition is reduced. Now I will tell the rules of the next stage. Listen carefully; I am not going to repeat myself." Seeing everyone paying attention, the elite Jonin started speaking once again.
"The second exam will be simple. There are a total of 12 scrolls hidden in the valley. We will give each team the location of 2 different scrolls…" A mischievous smile came on his face before he continued, "Each scroll is a ticket to go toward the next stage; only one person per scroll." He stopped, letting the details sink in for everyone.
'We will need three scrolls each, then,' Kaida said through the mental link.
'That means collision with one team is almost certain,' Itachi said.
'But I don't think that's all; otherwise, it will be easy,' Kabuto added.
After some time, the Jonin continued, "Getting a scroll is just one objective. The second one is to survive for 3 days in there. In those three days, you can search for scrolls. If you don't find one, search for teams that have one. All in all, no matter what you do, ultimately, the only thing that matters at the end of those three days will be if you have the scroll or not.
You guys are not allowed to bring anything other than a kunai and an empty storage seal with you; it will be your responsibility to find food during those 3 days. After three days, you guys will have to submit your scroll to me in 5 hours; otherwise, you will be disqualified. Even if you have all 12 scrolls with you, and at last, if during the stage you want to give up, burn this seal and stay in your place for 10 minutes; someone will come to your rescue.
But keep in mind you will be disqualified from the exam as soon as you do that," the Jonin said, and then some other ninja started distributing many seals to each participant.
'Interesting; this seal continuously stores and transmits chakra in the surrounding. I am pretty sure with this they will be able to track us even if we don't burn this tag,' Kaida informed through the mental link.
"That doesn't seem like a problem to me," Kabuto said.
'It was more like an extra knowledge type of thing than a warning,' Kaida said.
'He is just trying to show off his fuinjutsu skills,' Itachi said with a straight face.
"Absolutely not," Kaida replied in the mental link.
'Yes, you are,' Kabuto chimed in too.
"You two are ganging up on me; that's unfair."
"Life is unfair, my friend."
While they were having this type of conversation, their faces remained completely stoic.
"Does anyone have any doubts?" the instructor asked, but after only getting silence in return, he continued, "Good, now on to the next part. It will be unfair if everyone got the same treatment, even though some of you performed much better than others in the first round," the instructor said, holding the results of the first exam in his hand.
"So I have three rewards here. The team that came first can choose first, then the second team, and the third team will get whatever is left." The instructor said and then listed the rewards:
*Getting a chance to start the exam one hour before others.*
*Getting food supply for 3 days.*
*Location of all 3 scrolls.*
"All three of them are looking great; what should we choose?" Kabuto said through the mental link.
"Food is out of the option; we all can go three days without food. Also, we can find food in the mountains. As for the location of the three scrolls, it's not like the location we will get won't be given to others. Maybe by the time we reach the third scroll, someone else may have already taken it," Kaida said.
"Then that leaves us with just one option. Also, we will know who has the other two rewards and extra time, so there is nothing wrong with choosing the first one," Itachi said and then went ahead.
"Sir, we would like to choose the first reward."
"Okay, second team, your turn."
Darui nodded his head, and without any discussion with his teammates, said, "We would like the second reward."
'With food out of the problem, we can focus on finding the scrolls,' he thought.
"Good, then the third team will get the location of three scrolls rather than two. Everyone else, you have to wait here for another hour, while team 3 can proceed for the exam."
Getting the signal, Itachi and the team nodded and started going toward the ninja who had the scroll with the locations of the scrolls. After getting that, they started going deeper into the valley.
"See you." Before they could go out of the range of the contestants, Kaida turned and made direct eye contact with Deidara, who was already burning a hole in their backs with his gaze.
"I will fucking kill you!" Deidara shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You're enjoying this too much," Itachi said, shaking his head.
"Man, I just hope I get paired up against him in the last stage," Kaida said with a refreshing smile on his face.
…
Kaida and the team made their way through the twists and turns of the valley when suddenly a lightning bolt fell from the sky right in front of them. The tree that was impacted by the lightning was burned to a crisp.
"This terrain is much more dangerous than the Forest of Death," Kaida said.
"Yes, we can't take the risk of moving without any protection. Kaida, use your clones," Itachi said.
Even though he didn't specify the full process, Kaida understood it. He quickly made hand signs.
Poof, poof, poof!
Three shadow clones appeared next to him one by one. Two of them used Transformation Jutsu and transformed into long metallic rods, while one of the clones picked them up and started running ahead of the group, planting the bigger rod a little distance away from the group every time.
Even though the current ninja world was not scientifically advanced, the simple concept of a lightning rod was still common.
After running for some more time, another lightning stroke down, but the rod absorbed all the impact, and since it transmitted all of the lightning into the ground, the damage was not so substantial that the clone would get dispersed.
With their security confirmed, the three of them started running at full speed toward the first location, the goal for one hour clear in their minds:
'Find those two scrolls first, then ambush another team for the location of the other scroll or food, depending on which one they find first. For that, they have to find those two scrolls in one hour and then go back to the starting location. Otherwise, once other teams get dispersed in the Lightning Valley, it will become increasingly difficult to find them in this vast land.' These type of thought going in their mind.
Understanding this, all three of them were going toward the first location at their full speed. After running according to the direction for 20 minutes while also moving just rapidly, they reached the first location and were dumbfounded by what they were seeing.