The noise of the collapse of the Tower shook the Forest of Death.
A group of hidden Genin examinees finally couldn't contain themselves any longer.
Looking at the distant disappearing tower, they started to worry about their scores and hurried towards the center of the forest.
Akihara Kagura sat on the steps in front of the ruins, watching the birds in the forest startled by the crowd, slowly revealing a smile on his face.
"The fish will always bite the hook."
Akihara Kagura made a huge Wooden Dragon disappear beside him, whispering almost in a low voice: "It's starting, Wooden Dragon."
Obviously.
The first to arrive would definitely be those who travel light.
As someone participating in the Chunin exams alone, Uchiha Itachi didn't need to worry about the speed of his teammates. He immediately hid himself upon reaching the vicinity of the central area.
This genius young man from the Uchiha clan hid among a pile of fallen leaves, secretly observing Akihara Kagura and the Wooden Dragon behind him in the ruins.
"It's actually him…"
The surprise wasn't exclusive to Uchiha Itachi.
Another team that hurried over also quickly saw the figure of Akihara Kagura.
Originally, they also wanted to continue hiding, but as team after team converged in this area, some inevitable encounters and conflicts arose...
"Why are you hiding here!"
"Damn it, trying to ambush us?"
"Let's take out these few despicable people first!"
"Don't throw the shuriken recklessly!"
The scene quickly descended into chaos!
The area wasn't very large to begin with, and soon, a series of small-scale battles erupted, with the chaos of the fights also affecting other hidden individuals!
This is an opportunity!
Due to the collapse of the Tower, all teams were forced to converge in this area ahead of schedule, and some powerful teams were seizing the chance to snatch the Heaven and Earth scrolls.
Even Uchiha Itachi's hiding spot, which was very concealed, was finally noticed by the battling ninjas, forcing him to join the fray...
"The situation doesn't allow us to just start fighting like this…"
"Uchiha Itachi, hand over your scroll, and you will be spared!"
This squad was no match for Uchiha Itachi at all. They were quickly defeated by Uchiha Itachi, and their scroll fell into his hands.
"Very lucky, and very smooth..."
Uchiha Itachi had collected both Heaven and Earth scrolls and swiftly withdrew to the side. He didn't want to get involved in pointless disputes, and his gaze returned to Akihara Kagura.
"But..."
"Neither lucky, nor smooth."
Apart from the young Uchiha Itachi, many others also realized the threat of Akihara Kagura, running around calling for everyone present to gather together.
"Everyone stop!"
"Get lost! We'll deal with you first!"
"Don't fight anymore! Deal with that kid first!"
"Don't forget about the Wooden Dragon behind that kid. We can't handle it with just one squad. Don't let him win!"
Unfortunately.
Once the battle started, even if the participants still had their sanity, it wasn't easy to stop anymore.
Just as a long-haired ninja was desperately urging everyone to stop the infighting, a young voice appeared in the midst: "Hey, it's not easy to stop a battle, people could die... How about I help you?"
"Who?"
The long-haired ninja turned around with some joy.
However, his expression soon froze, as he saw the last person he wanted to see. Akihara Kagura slowly walked down from the rubble steps.
"Wood Release..."
"Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
The ground in the entire area trembled once again!
Vines and tree roots shot out rapidly from under Akihara Kagura's feet, and in the blink of an eye, a forest of tall trees had grown!
"What is this?!"
"Run!"
"Quick, help me cut it down!"
The branches and roots of these giant trees continued to stretch rapidly, binding every Genin examinee they touched to the trees!
"Swords are too inefficient..."
Uchiha Itachi swung his Sword, cutting off a tree branch as thick as an arm. He quickly sheathed his blade, retreated rapidly, and swiftly formed hand seals with both hands!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A giant fireball hit the vines attacking him, immediately spreading flames that burned back the vines and even ignited a giant tree!
However...
This efficiency was still too slow!
The power of the Great Fireball Technique was not enough to burn down all the giant trees, nor to stop the spread of the Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees technique!
"No good!"
"I've already collected the scrolls."
"Let's keep our distance and watch!"
Uchiha Itachi looked at his two scrolls and decided to retreat first. His figure quickly vanished from there.
The other examinees didn't have his strength, nor his luck.
Akihara Kagura's Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees was far beyond their ninjutsu capabilities. Other teams of ninjas were exhausted under the relentless attacks of the vines and tree roots...
A group of Genin was hanging from the same tree...
They dangled from the tree like hanging fruits.
Akihara Kagura stood on the head of a Wooden Dragon, rising to their level, and asked, "You're lucky, even though killing is allowed in the second round of the Chunin Exam, Lord Danzo doesn't allow me to kill, so I won't kill you..."
"What do you want to do?"
A ninja asked the question everyone wanted to ask.
Akihara Kagura toyed with a scroll in his hand and said, "First, hand over what I need, and second..."
"What are you doing!"
A somewhat familiar female voice came through!
When Mitarashi Anko arrived with a group of Chunin examiners, she saw such a bizarre scene and couldn't help but stop in her tracks.
Akihara Kagura saw a group of arriving examiners.
A group of Genin who were suspended looked at the examiners, their eyes inevitably showing hope, expecting these examiners to intervene in the exam and rescue them!
However...
The person who arrived always claimed to be the most ruthless kunoichi in Konoha.
Ignoring the longing Genin, Mitarashi Anko pointed to the ruined tower and asked loudly, "Destroying the endpoint of the second round of the exam, do you want to make it impossible for everyone to pass?"
"The village shouldn't let that happen."
Akihara Kagura looked down at the group of Chunin examiners and explained, "I just wanted to draw them out. I'm not very good at survival in the wild, so I had to use this method to force them out, to steal some food from these guys."
"What a pity..."
"I caught a fish, and it seems like the owner of the pond has come to me."
"What kind of weird metaphor is that..."
Mitarashi Anko, with a dumpling in her mouth, frowned and said, "Aren't you worried about being eliminated?"
"Not worried."
"Someone told me the password for the second round in advance."
Akihara Kagura spread his palms indifferently and continued, "Strictly speaking, the requirement to pass the second round of the Chunin Exam is just to collect the Heaven and Earth scrolls and get here, I guess there are others here who know this too."
...
Mitarashi Anko bit her dumpling angrily.
...
Akihara Kagura licked his lips.
"Hey, kid, are you hungry?"
Continuing to chew on her dumpling and seemingly having thought of something, Mitarashi Anko suddenly grinned and said, "If you have collected the Heaven and Earth scrolls and want to pass at this time, you can accept food from people outside the arena."
When Mitarashi Anko reached this point, she even took out a food bag and continued leisurely, "If you stay here and eat what these people make, what if they poison it? There have been quite a few precedents for this during the Chunin exams..."
Mitarashi Anko's thought process was very clear. As long as she could get this kid out of the exam area, she could avoid any trouble that might arise in the future.
To be honest,
This kid always causes trouble.
Akihara Kagura laughed, raised his hand, and the scrolls of Heaven and Earth flew in his hand, flinging towards Mitarashi Anko.
"Tsk, you made the right choice!"
Mitarashi Anko caught the two scrolls and chuckled, "Normally, I should teach you how to open the Heaven and Earth scrolls, but I think it's a waste of time for you. Congratulations on being the first candidate to clear the exam..."
"I choose to clear the exam too!"
Uchiha Itachi suddenly appeared here, at some point.
When Uchiha Itachi saw the Chunin examiners, he immediately realized that as long as he saw an examiner, he might be able to clear the exam directly from them!
Because the tower, which was the endpoint for clearing the exam, had been destroyed!
"Congratulations on being the second!"
Mitarashi Anko quickly glanced at Uchiha Itachi and added, "The little kid from the Uchiha clan, it's still not too late to go to the village's sweet shop and buy some tri-colored dumplings!"
Since both of them were regular customers at the Konoha sweet shop, Mitarashi Anko knew that Uchiha Itachi liked tri-colored dumplings.
"Ah, thank you, senpai!"
Uchiha Itachi nodded awkwardly and quickly dashed towards the exit!
Akihara Kagura paid no attention to all this. His eyes were on the food bag in Mitarashi Anko's hand, seemingly waiting for Mitarashi Anko to give him the bag.
Mitarashi Anko took a skewer of dumplings out of the bag, continued to bite into one, and showed a fierce expression, "Kid, you've caused us examiners so much trouble, do you think I would share my favorite sweets with you?"
"Tsk, I've been fooled again..."
Akihara Kagura couldn't help but laugh, still looking at the fierce Mitarashi Anko, "Anko-senpai, I'm almost worried I'll forget about you."