36-40

*Chapter 36: Snagging the Scroll of Heaven and Scroll of Earth Right Off the Bat*

“Awesome! We breezed through the first round!”

Naruto, as carefree as ever, didn’t sweat the details. Passing the exam was all that mattered to him.

“Hmph! You’re celebrating too soon!”

At that moment, a striking figure appeared before the group.

“I’m the proctor for the second round, Mitarashi Anko. The next exam’s waiting for you—let’s move!”

“Hey, looks like nobody’s paying attention to you!”

Hearing Ibiki’s teasing from behind, Anko felt a bit awkward.

She’d popped up so suddenly that she’d startled everyone into a stunned silence.

“This is your second exam site—the Forest of Death!”

Under Anko’s lead, Kazama and the other genin arrived at a dense forest behind Konoha Village.

“The rules are simple. Each team will get either a Scroll of Heaven or a Scroll of Earth. To pass the final test, your team needs both scrolls and must reach the tower at the end of the course. If you don’t, you’re out. No more talk—get moving!”

With Anko’s command, the teams poured into the Forest of Death.

“We need a solid plan. First, we make sure nobody snatches our Scroll of Heaven!”

Sasuke immediately took charge, barking orders at Kazama and the others like he was the boss.

“Kazama-kun, what should we do next?”

“Yeah, Kazama, you call the shots. I’m with you!”

But Sakura and Naruto completely ignored Sasuke, turning to Kazama for guidance.

“Damn it, they’re acting like I don’t even exist!”

Sasuke was so mad he could practically feel his blood boiling.

“Asking him’s pointless. No matter how strong he is, he can’t take on hundreds of competitors at once! Plus, this forest is huge. If someone hides, it’d take weeks to find them.”

“You’re wrong, Sasuke. I, Sanada Kazama, am best at taking on a thousand enemies at once. And this forest? It’s my playground!”

“Heh, I don’t buy it—”

Before Sasuke could finish, the next moment left him wide-eyed in shock.

“Beast Spirit Flame!”

With a wave of his hand, Kazama summoned thousands of wild beasts.

“Go grab every Scroll of Heaven and Scroll of Earth!”

At Kazama’s command, the beasts—formed from the Beast Spirit Flame—scattered in all directions.

Moments later, the Forest of Death echoed with wails, curses, and cries, rising and falling like a chaotic symphony.

A few minutes later, a massive pile of Scrolls of Heaven and Earth was stacked in front of Kazama and his team.

“Take your pick, grab whatever looks good!”

“Kazama, this is too perfect!”

“Kazama, you’re unreal!”

Naruto and Sakura were over the moon, grinning like they were in a dream.

While other teams were racking their brains to steal scrolls, Kazama’s team had a literal mountain of them.

If the other competitors saw this, they’d probably keel over from sheer rage.

Sasuke, meanwhile, felt his face burning.

This was the sting of getting slapped in the face at light speed.

“Does this mean our mission’s done?”

“Not yet. There’s still one enemy in this forest I need to deal with.”

“Another enemy?”

At Kazama’s words, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura exchanged puzzled looks.

The enemy Kazama was referring to was none other than Orochimaru, who had slipped into the Forest of Death.

*Chapter 37: Getting Ready to Stylishly Crush Orochimaru*

Kazama knew it wouldn’t be long before Orochimaru led his forces to attack Konoha. So, he decided to beat Orochimaru half to death first. That way, Orochimaru wouldn’t be able to defeat the Third Hokage, and Kazama could seize the chance to absorb his ninjutsu.

Sure, Kazama was already plenty strong, but of the twenty-two Strange Flames, he’d only acquired three. To get more, he needed to keep absorbing ninjutsu.

“Mokuton: Multi-Clone Technique!”

Three hundred Mokuton clones instantly appeared around Kazama.

“Kazama, didn’t you used to summon thousands of Mokuton clones at once? Why only a few hundred now?” Naruto asked.

Kazama gave a cryptic smile. “Because the jutsu I’m about to use doesn’t work well with too many clones.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I don’t want the Forest of Death to be flattened!”

“Katon: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!”

“Suiton: Heavenly Weeping!”

“Futon: Great Sickle Weasel!”

“Satetsu: Sand Waterfall Funeral!”

“Raiton: Kirin!”

The three hundred Mokuton clones unleashed a barrage of A- and S-rank ninjutsu. What kind of scene was this? Words couldn’t do it justice. Naruto’s shocked “Holy crap!” was the only way to sum it up.

“What’s going on? Is this an enemy invasion?!”

Outside the forest, the proctor Mitarashi Anko was knocked flat on her face by the sheer force of the chaos within. Other examiners rushed over, equally stunned.

“With this kind of insane power, won’t every candidate in the forest be obliterated?”

“Quick, inform Lord Third Hokage!”

“No need. Lord Hokage is already aware,” came a voice.

Several Anbu ninja arrived on the scene.

“Lord Hokage’s orders are to continue the exam. No need to panic.”

“But this situation—it’s clearly not something a genin could pull off!” Anko protested, baffled by the Third’s command.

“It is a genin. His name is Sanada Kazama.”

The Third Hokage knew Kazama’s strength well, so the madness in the Forest of Death didn’t faze him.

“Sanada Kazama?! The same Sanada Kazama who took out three Root ninja?!” Anko gasped, her voice rising in disbelief.

“Good grief! A monster like that should just be promoted to Jonin already. Why’s he even in the genin exams? It’s like a max-level character stomping a newbie village!”

Kazama’s goal with this display was singular: track down Orochimaru.

“Did I take a wrong turn? Is this really the Chunin Exam?!”

Orochimaru, who’d been hunting for Sasuke, was caught off guard and battered by Kazama’s relentless onslaught.

“Found you!”

One of Kazama’s Mokuton clones appeared right in front of Orochimaru.

“You little brat! Was all that chaos your doing?” Orochimaru hissed, his blood-red tongue flicking out, a clear sign he was ready to kill.

“That’s right. I unleashed that jutsu to find you, Orochimaru!”

“You know my name, kid? Fine, what do you want with me?” Orochimaru sneered, ripping off his human disguise.

“I want to beat you within an inch of your life so you can’t destroy Konoha.”

“Bold words, kid. You know a lot, but you’ve picked the wrong fight!”

“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!”

As Orochimaru launched his signature technique, Kazama didn’t dodge. Instead, he stepped forward.

Because Kazama was ready to stylishly crush Orochimaru.

*Chapter 38: Hitting Orochimaru with a Thousand Years of Death*

Ding! Successfully absorbed Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!

Ding! Absorb one more ninjutsu to unlock the fourth Strange Fire, Nether Poison Fire!

“My Hidden Shadow Snake Hands didn’t even faze this kid!”

Seeing his attack do zero damage to Kazama, even the seasoned Orochimaru couldn’t help but be quietly stunned.

But before Orochimaru could figure out what was going on, Kazama struck back.

“Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!”

He unleashed one of Orochimaru’s signature techniques, forcing the Sannin to dodge in a frantic leap.

“What are you, kid? How do you know my jutsu?!”

Orochimaru already knew Kazama was no ordinary genin—his earlier rampage through the forest made that clear.

But to think Kazama could use his trump card? That was beyond comprehension.

“I know a ton of jutsu. Let me show you another one—one you’ve been dying to get your hands on!”

With that, Kazama activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

“This is—!”

Orochimaru’s eyes lit up with a mix of shock and glee at the sight of Kazama’s eyes.

“My luck’s incredible! I came here for Sasuke, but your eyes are even stronger than his Sharingan! If you’re courting death, don’t blame me!”

“Summoning Jutsu: Manda!”

Knowing Kazama wielded the Mangekyo Sharingan, Orochimaru couldn’t afford to hold back. He summoned his strongest summon beast.

With Orochimaru’s hand signs, a massive blue serpent—rivaling a Tailed Beast in size—materialized before Kazama.

“Orochimaru! You can’t even handle a kid, and you dare summon me?!”

Manda was powerful but had a temper to match. Seeing his opponent was a mere eleven- or twelve-year-old genin, he immediately snapped at Orochimaru.

“Hmph! Look closer. This kid’s got the Mangekyo Sharingan. Those eyes aren’t easy to deal with!”

“Don’t call me Despicable for this, kid. Your strength’s already beyond what I expected!”

“Fine, I won’t call you Despicable.”

As Kazama spoke, hundreds of his Wood Release clones appeared on the scene.

“And don’t call meDespicable either. After all, you’re one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru!”

“Hmph! Clones can only use a tenth of the original’s power. You’re just begging to die!”

Seeing Kazama’s army of clones, Orochimaru sneered.

But his smirk froze the next second.

Every single one of Kazama’s clones activated their own Mangekyo Sharingan.

“Amaterasu!”

With a cold chuckle from Kazama, all his Wood Release clones unleashed Amaterasu’s black flames.

Forget Orochimaru—even Manda, with his colossal body, was paralyzed with shock.

The combined Amaterasu from hundreds of clones towered larger than Manda himself.

“These aren’t ordinary clones—they’re Wood Release clones. Oh, and this body I’m using right now? Also a clone!”

“Orochimaru, you bastard! What kind of monster did you pick a fight with?!”

Manda didn’t hesitate. With a poof of smoke, he vanished, bailing on the fight.

“Damn it!”

Realizing he’d been fighting a mere Wood Release clone this whole time, and now facing hundreds of them all casting Amaterasu, Orochimaru was floored.

How was he supposed to fight this? It was pure domination.

“Triple Rashomon!”

Orochimaru summoned his strongest defensive technique, hoping it’d buy him a chance to escape.

“Amaterasu Thousand Years of Death!”

Seeing Orochimaru turn his back to flee, Kazama smirked coldly. He shaped the Amaterasu into a giant finger and aimed it straight at Orochimaru’s… sensitive spot.

AAAAHHH!!!

The forest erupted with a bloodcurdling scream.

“You’ll pay for this! I swear I won’t let you off!”

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Orochimaru used his Orochi-Style Substitution Jutsu.

This technique let him dodge Amaterasu’s full power.

But from that day forward, Orochimaru and Mizuki shared one thing in common: neither would ever suffer from constipation again.

*Chapter 39: A Quick Way to Obtain the Strange Flame*

With Orochimaru’s escape, Kazama knew that Orochimaru wouldn’t be able to destroy Konoha as smoothly as planned.

Despite Orochimaru’s deep hatred for Konoha, which would surely drive him to attack again, the impact would be much weaker this time.

Even if Kazama might be tied up dealing with Danzo at the time, the Third Hokage and the many ninja of Konoha Village wouldn’t lose their lives.

At that moment, Kazama’s real body snapped his eyes open.

“How’d it go, Kazama? Did you take care of the enemy?” Naruto asked, immediately leaning in close.

“All done!”

“Whoa, you’re amazing, Kazama! You beat the enemy with just a clone! If your real body had gone, you’d have torn them to pieces, right?”

“Obviously!” Kazama grinned and nodded.

“Alright, we’re good to go, right? We’ve got the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth, and the enemy’s defeated. Let’s take these to the main examiner and report in!”

“No problem!”

Naruto, clutching a stack of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, strutted confidently toward the exam’s endpoint.

“Damn it!”

But as Kazama stood up, his vision suddenly blurred again.

And this time, it lasted longer than before.

“Crap! Did I overdo it just now? Are these Mangekyo Sharingan about to go blind?”

Panicking, Kazama quickly consulted the system within him.

“Since the host is not of the Uchiha clan, the risk of blindness from using the Mangekyo Sharingan is much higher than for an Uchiha.”

“Damn it! What am I supposed to do? I’m about to go after Danzo for revenge. If these eyes go blind, how am I supposed to take him down?”

“The host must obtain the fifth Strange Flame, the Earth Core Flame, as soon as possible! This flame can purify the heart and sharpen the eyes, delaying the blindness symptoms.”

“Earth Core Flame? But I haven’t even gotten the fourth flame, the Nether Poison Flame! How am I supposed to get the Earth Core Flame in such a short time?”

As Kazama racked his brain, a group of ninja suddenly approached him—all familiar faces.

Neji’s team, Shino’s team, Shikamaru’s team, and Gaara’s trio from Sunagakure.

“Crap! They’re definitely here to steal our Heaven and Earth Scrolls!”

Sasuke, spotting them, immediately pulled out a kunai and got into a fighting stance.

“Relax, Sasuke. We’ve got a ton of Heaven and Earth Scrolls. Even if we give them some, it’s no big deal.”

“Oh, right!”

Hearing Kazama’s words, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Naruto! You’re holding a whole pile of Heaven and Earth Scrolls! So, the wolves and tigers that stole ours earlier were your doing, huh?”

Kiba from Shino’s team barked at Naruto, clearly annoyed.

“It wasn’t me! It was our big bro Kazama! And don’t even think about stealing from us, or Kazama-nii won’t let you off easy!”

At Naruto’s words, most of the group froze. They’d all witnessed Kazama’s terrifying strength firsthand.

Fight him? No way they’d win. But if they didn’t, they’d be eliminated. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“I’ll share the Heaven and Earth Scrolls with you guys, but you’ve gotta do me one favor,” Kazama said.

Seeing so many ninja gathered, Kazama suddenly had an idea for how to obtain the Earth Core Flame.

He’d have them each hit him with a ninjutsu.

Besides the Nether Poison Flame he was about to acquire, if he could absorb five more ninjutsu, he’d successfully obtain the Earth Core Flame.

Then, his Mangekyo Sharingan wouldn’t go blind—at least not yet.

“Name it! Whatever you want!”

At this point, the group would agree to anything Kazama asked. After all, none of them wanted to get eliminated so soon!

*Chapter 40: Consecutively Obtaining Two Different Flames*

“Hit me with your best ninjutsu, one after another!”

“What?!”

Kazama’s request left everyone stunned.

“I don’t have time to explain. If you want the Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll, attack me now!”

“Alright, I’m up first!”

Kankuro, still bruised from Kazama’s earlier beatdown, was eager to jump in.

He had no clue why Kazama was suddenly asking to get pummeled.

But since the guy wasn’t fighting back, Kankuro figured he’d take the free shot.

“Gaara, Temari, you three sit this out!”

“What?!”

Kankuro grumbled under his breath at Kazama’s words.

“Damn it. I was hoping to get some payback!”

Kazama had already absorbed ninjutsu from Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro before, so doing it again would be pointless—just a waste of time.

“And Lee, you don’t need to attack either. But don’t worry, your team will still get a share of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls!”

“Got it! Here we go!”

“Shadow Bind Jutsu!”

“Human Bullet Tank!”

“Fang Over Fang!”

“Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!”

“Secret Technique: Parasitic Destruction Insect!”

“Hidden Weapon Barrage!”

Ding! Successfully absorbed six ninjutsu! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the fourth flame, Nether Poison Fire, and the fifth flame, Earth Core Fire!

“Finally done,” Kazama muttered, letting out a long sigh of relief as the system’s voice chimed in his head.

With the Earth Core Fire in his grasp, his Mangekyo Sharingan—on the verge of blindness—could hold out a bit longer.

“Holy crap! Is this guy even human?!”

Shikamaru, Neji, Shino, and the others who had just unleashed their techniques on Kazama stood there, jaws dropped.

Kazama was completely unscathed.

He hadn’t even budged from his spot.

Sure, they hadn’t gone all out and deliberately avoided vital points, worried they might accidentally kill him.

But now? It was clear their caution was unnecessary.

Kazama wasn’t fazed by their attacks at all!

“Is this guy some kind of monster?”

Even Gaara, usually cool as ice, felt a shiver of fear at Kazama’s strength.

He’d known his Sand Release was useless against Kazama, but he hadn’t realized the guy could absorb every attack.

Even if Gaara had landed his Sand Release back then, it wouldn’t have mattered one bit!

“This guy mentioned Orochimaru manipulating the Fourth Kazekage. I need to look into that. With strength like his, he’s probably not lying,” Gaara thought.

Ding! To absorb the Earth Core Fire and delay the Mangekyo Sharingan’s blindness, it will take one hour. Would the Host like to begin now?

“No time to waste. Let’s do it!”

Kazama made up his mind and turned to Naruto.

“Keep the Heaven and Earth Scrolls we need. Split the rest with the others. Then find me a secluded spot. I need to rest for an hour before we move.”

“Uh, sure thing!”

Naruto had no idea what was going on with Kazama, but he could tell the guy was in bad shape—exhausted to the core.

After everyone got their share of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, they headed off toward the tower, their destination.

“I hope Kazama-kun’s okay,” Sakura said, her voice laced with worry after bringing him to a hidden spot.

“Hmph! That’s what he gets for showing off,” Sasuke snapped, glancing back at Kazama. “Grabbing a ton of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, using all those crazy ninjutsu, and summoning hundreds of Wood Release clones. It’s like Team 7 is just him!”

Sasuke was worried about Kazama too, but his pride wouldn’t let him admit it.

Plus, he’d been itching to take on the other ninja in the Forest of Death himself, only for Kazama to steal the spotlight.

Naturally, Sasuke was ticked.

“Sasuke, you’re such a jerk! You think you could’ve pulled this off?!” Naruto shot back.

“Of course I could! If I’d stepped in, those chunin would’ve been begging for mercy!”

“Hah! Big talk for a kid!”

As Naruto and Sasuke bickered, three Sound ninja appeared, smirking coldly.