The gate slammed shut behind them with a heavy clang, like a prison door locking from the outside.
Jun and his team took off through the clearing, feet pounding against dirt before they sprang into the trees. Kentaro led the way, bounding from branch to branch like he thought this was his personal shōnen anime debut.
Jun followed behind, eyes narrowed, more focused on them than the forest.
He wasn't admiring the foliage.
He was plotting.
Clearly, he had designs for their fate.
"Remember, we have the Heaven Scroll," Kentaro called out, voice sharp as he leapt ahead. "That means we need the Earth Scroll. Our target is other teams—engage, steal, and survive. Got it?"
Jun didn't answer.
Of course he knew how the Forest of Death worked. It was one of the most iconic exams in the series.
Get the opposite scroll, reach the tower, and don't die. It's simple, really.
But that wasn't what had Jun's blood humming in his veins.
But what had Jun's blood humming, what really sent a thrill crawling down his spine, was something far more exciting: Everyone in this forest had signed a death waiver.
That meant he could kill.
Legally.
And more importantly?
Every dead Genin was worth +2 Chakra Point.
Jun's fingers twitched with anticipation.
This wasn't just a test.
It was an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Kentaro landed on a thick branch and turned to the others, holding up the Heaven Scroll with the sort of smug pride that made Jun want to jab a kunai into his skull.
"I'll hold onto this," Kentaro declared. "Makes the most sense since I'm the strongest."
The girl—Aya, a name made up by Jun because he didn't catch her name—nodded without hesitation. "Obviously. The last thing we need is Jun fumbling around with it."
Jun blinked, expression blank.
"Of course," he said, voice flat with the perfect touch of obedient meekness. "Wouldn't dream of slowing you guys down."
Internally, he was already assigning kill order.
Kentaro dies first. Aya can go second. Or maybe use her to draw out stronger enemies... yeah. Gotta pace the meal..
They moved deeper into the forest. Time passed in tense silence, broken only by the rustle of leaves and the occasional leap through the canopy.
Then came voices.
Jun's ears twitched as he caught the faint murmur of a team nearby. There seems to be one female and two males – rather generic for a team.
Kentaro dropped into a crouch on a thick tree branch and held up a fist, signaling them to stop. His expression, for once, was serious.
From the shadows, their forms came into view.
Rain ninja. Their headbands glinted faintly in the filtered light, marked with the unmistakable vertical slash of Amegakure.
The Rain ninja were gathered in a small clearing up ahead, partially concealed by the thick roots of a fallen tree. Each of the three rain ninjas that popped out has rebreathers covering their mouths.
One of them sat with his back against a rock, sharpening a kunai lazily, posture relaxed. The girl leaned against a branch, arms crossed, looking vaguely bored. The last one was crouched near the center of the clearing, seemingly fiddling with something in the dirt—maybe drawing. Doodling, for all Jun could tell.
They didn't seem tense.
If anything, they looked... casual.
After a few moments of observation, Kentaro's usual cocky smirk was back.
"Looks like we got the jump," he whispered. "Three of them. Spread thin. We can wipe them before they blink."
Aya crouched beside him. "If we can take them by surprise, we can end this in one pass."
Her gaze landed on Jun, the loose end in the team. "You loop left to that tree over there. Don't engage until we do. You're just there to cut off their escape."
They didn't ask for his opinion.
And that was fine.
Jun slipped away without a word, melting into the trees. The forest grew darker the deeper he went, the trees pressing in, moisture clinging to his skin and clothes like cold sweat. Eventually, he found his perch—a high branch covered in moss, with just enough clearance to peek through without giving himself away.
He crouched low, knee wraps soaking through with the damp of the forest floor. The air here was different. It's thicker and still. Like the woods themselves were holding their breath.
However, he didn't exactly go to the location that Kentaro and Aya had instructed him to go into. He had gone somewhere else, albeit still in the area.
Once in position, Jun's eyes narrowed further, and he activated his Sharingan—not dramatically, not with a burst of chakra, but silently.
The world sharpened. Every movement, every shimmer of light, every outline of chakra—he saw it all as he observed the Rain Ninja trio.
The Rain ninja trio lounged in the clearing ahead, still casual, and still irritatingly careless. But something was off.
The chakra inside them didn't flow. It didn't rise or fall with breath, didn't flutter with nerves or twitch with instinct. There was no pulse, no subtle shift beneath the skin—just an even, static haze, still and flat. Like puddles instead of streams.
Jun tilted his head, watching the girl lean against her tree like a bored cat.
Although he wasn't completely sure—this being his first time seeing such a technique in the flesh—his instincts tells him that those Rain Ninjas were nothing but clones.
Their chakra was there… but it didn't feel alive. There was no pulse. No irregularity in the flow. Just a constant, even current—like puddles instead of streams.
To be more specific, he'd assume them to be water clones due to the fact that they are from the rain village where the skill is more commonly used. And to that fact, his two teammates must've been fooled due to the fact that the water clones are able to interact with things physically.
In his hiding place, Jun's lips curved up.
He could've warned his teammates. Whispered a warning, sent a signal, or maybe even a stone with "idiots, don't" carved into it. But he didn't do such things.
Because he wanted them to fall for the bait.
Aya's arrogance and Kentaro's recklessness would serve him well today.
After a brief moment of silence and getting into place, Jun's teammates didn't hesitate.
Kentaro struck first, vaulting out of the trees with a loud yell, chakra flaring as he formed seals mid-air. He landed on a low branch overlooking the clearing and inhaled sharply.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
The chakra burst from his mouth as a roiling sphere of flame, spiraling toward the unsuspecting Rain ninja below. The fireball roared through the clearing, igniting dead leaves and moss in its path.
In his hiding place, Jun's eyes narrowed as he watched the technique burn through the air.
Fireball Jutsu.
It was mostly associated with the Uchiha clan, who had perfected its use over generations. But despite the reputation, the technique itself wasn't exclusive to them. The Great Fireball was—larger, more destructive, requiring finer chakra control.
This version was more common among trained Konoha genin. Flashy and intimidating. A favorite among those with something to prove.
Aya moved in just as the flames neared the Rain ninja. She lobbed a pair of kunai from the opposite side, both glinting with paper bombs wrapped around their hilts. One struck the ground. The other embedded into a root just beside the central figure.
BOOM—BOOM!
Twin detonations rocked the clearing, engulfing the lounging Rain ninja in fire, smoke, and splinters of shattered bark.
Although the fireball technique wasn't strong by itself, combining with the instant detonation of the paper bombs created massive damage.
Kentaro dropped into a crouch at the edge of the smoke, kunai in hand, and his eyes scanning.
Aya joined him from the flank, breath steady but tense.
They watched the burning, hissing remains. And to their delight, there doesn't seem to be any struggles in the explosion.
Contrary to them, however, Jun watched closely with his Sharingan as the water clones popped like water balloons, collapsing into shapeless pools that sizzled in the lingering smoke and flames.
He also found it particularly intriguing that the water clones did not utter anything at all – possibly because they couldn't due to the lack of audio abilities.
Kentaro grinned, flipping the kunai in his hand with casual flair. "Too easy. I thought Rain ninja were supposed to be sneaky."
"We're definitely going to pass this time around, Kentaro," Aya chimed in, voice bright as she relaxed her stance, hands clasped behind her back like a schoolgirl on recess.
Jun said nothing. His Sharingan was already shifting to the tree line beyond the two canon fodder.
With his Sharingan activated, he could see movements.
Three silhouettes broke from the fog like shadows peeled off the forest itself. All seemingly coordinated.
The first dropped from above like a sledgehammer, his heel slamming into Kentaro's ribs with a sickening crunch. The boy's breath exploded from his lungs as he was launched off his feet, crashing through brush and disappearing into a tangle of undergrowth.
The second came at Aya in a blur, blades flashing in both hands. She ducked the first, blocked the second—barely—but still took a slash to the ribs that tore through her jacket and stained it dark. However, the enemy's follow-up came low, fast, and brutal. A slash across her side ripped through her shirt and drew a jagged spray of blood.
The third rain ninja—
Was already weaving hand seals.