Chapter 236: Forest of Death

Leaning against one of the rocks next to the training ground, Shikamaru sighed and looked around boredly. Sakura and Ino had gone somewhere while Sasuke was thinking about something nearby.

"Well, why not ..." - having approached the student, the guy sat down next to him.

“Sensei,” the Uchiha smiled, “How do you like the exam?”

- Nothing like that, informative ... We even have a hot examiner. Everything just the way I like it.

- She? Sasuke glanced at Anko, who also suddenly looked at him and quickly averted her frown.

- Looks dangerous.

- Just a girl. There is someone more dangerous here, so be on your guard. Look after Sakura and Naruto. I'll show up at the right time, so we'll see each other again.

Standing up, Shikamaru dusted himself off, gave Anko a sly look, and nodded to his student.

- I'm going to go check it out.

- Yeah...

Anko gave him a thoughtful look.

“What an insolent… The third one said not to interfere with him, but he is already starting to make me nervous! Why was he allowed to take this exam? I don't even need to look around to know he's not weak. But, those looks of his... Is he trying to provoke me?” - the girl squinted.

“Well, let's see ... Come, if the gut is not thin!”

Shikamaru seemed to hear her thoughts and sharply turned around and grinned evilly. Anko shuddered and frowned even more.

"This guy..."

A few minutes later, the moment finally came to announce the start of the exam. Anko sent teams of genin to one of the forty-four zones. During this time, Shikamaru managed to exchange a few words with Hinata and Sakura, and then watch their confrontation with Ino. So he went to his forty-fourth zone in high spirits.

Stopping in front of the steel mesh, Shikamaru exchanged glances with the watching Chūnin and looked up at the sky as he thought:

“How is my May ... I'm already starting to miss your luxurious body. I can and can keep my hormones in check, but it's too boring without a woman... It's all Anko, in her vulgar outfit! It is worth quickly deal with the Kage and solve personal problems. Yeah, and there’s also a discussion with the Tailed Beasts ... Fortunately, Isobu cooperates - it seems from his kind, he is the only one who worries about his relatives. We should solve the issue with the Yin part of Kurama"

Finally, Anko announced the start of the exam, all the entrances were open, and Shikamaru slowly walked into the forest. Unlike those who wanted to face enemies and get the scrolls quickly, Shikamaru wanted to just take a little walk. Written tests tired him, and relaxing in such a beautiful resort in the Forest of Death is just what he needs. With a satisfied smile filled with anticipation, something even similar to Orochimaru's grin, Shikamaru penetrated deeper into the forest.

*

The Chūnin Exams were in full swing. Someone, hiding, was waiting for the enemy and hoping for their own traps, while someone decided not to participate in all this and tried to stay away from danger. Well, someone arranged a real hunt... The Forest of Death turned into a real hunting ground. Screams and screams often came from different directions. A palpable stench of fear mingled with bloodlust filled the air.

Shikamaru calmly walked through the forest and often cast short glances around, noticing different teams of genin hundreds of meters away. If there were sand dunes here, everything could be different, but - this is a forest! For him, this is not just a hunting ground - this is a real garden in which he is the true ruler. He figured out everyone to the last and clearly knew who was hiding where, easily avoiding unnecessary people - calmly moving towards the seventh team. He knew about Orochimaru's actions, so he prepared to thwart him. But, the time was completely inappropriate, so Shikamaru was in no hurry. Now Sasuke was facing some weakling from the Hidden Rain and effortlessly dealt with him. The Uchiha was a fast learner and in just a week his skills had grown enough to deal with these kids. They weren't a problem at all, there was nothing to worry about.

But all this did not last long - a few minutes later there were tangible changes ...

"Wow," Shikamaru nodded slightly, frowning slightly.

"Not bad... Orochimaru already found them." With a light sigh, the boy leaned against the tree and simply merged into it. His speed of moving through the forest increased a thousand times. In just a matter of seconds, he reached the area of Team Seven and began to closely observe the situation.

Orochimaru assumed Naruto's perfect form and tried to trick Sasuke, in turn, the Uzumaki was confronted by a huge Sannin snake. A worthy adversary... Shikamaru let out a light chuckle and continued to watch Orochimaru's actions. After the password problem, he still had to reveal his disguise. Therefore, the two young genin met a rather dangerous enemy.

While Naruto was suffering from snake problems, Shikamaru calmly separated himself from the tree and sat on one of the branches, watching Orochimaru's actions from above. He stood ten meters from Sasuke and Sakura.

“You want to get the earth scroll, don’t you? After all, you have a scroll of heaven ... - stopping for a moment, Orochimaru licked his lips and pulled his scroll to his mouth. At the same moment, his jaws widened slightly, and a long, slimy tongue, like a snake, slippery entangled the scroll. Orochimaru demonstrated his impressive ability by easily swallowing a thick object as a matter of course. A characteristic swallowing sound reverberated around the area, making the already tense genin nervous.

Licking his lips, the man grinned and said ominously:

“So, when this is all over, one of us will have both scrolls… The rest will be dead. At the same moment, a strong genjutsu erupted towards Sasuke and Sakura, lightly suppressing their consciousness and showing a horrific picture of their deaths. Blood and horror filled the weak minds, causing the two to convulse in horror. Orochimaru was good - he definitely knew how to intimidate the kids.

Shikamaru let out a chuckle as he looked at his student. He had no doubts about Sasuke, but it was a little unpleasant for Sakura. It would have been nice to intervene, but he still allowed her to have this horrifying experience from facing someone of Orochimaru's level.

Sakura trembled and looked at her opponent in horror. This time, her abilities were enough to not fall into shock, but obvious fear was read on her face, she immediately fell to her knees and bit her lip until it bled. Sasuke was able to resist and take a couple of steps back. He clearly sensed Orochimaru's immense bloodlust and wanted to run away. The serpent, in turn, watched the pair with a smirk. They were completely shackled with fear! No matter how much their talent and ability had risen, it was the first time they had encountered such a clear death intent. That's why Shikamaru didn't interfere, it certainly wouldn't hurt for the two of them to experience that feeling.

"Not so bad... Ha, I didn't expect anything else from him" - sticking out his long tongue, Orochimaru licked his lips loudly, looking at Sasuke, who had already drawn a kun, with his trembling hand.

Orochimaru took out a couple of his and began to slowly walk towards him:

“Hu-hu-hu… Don't worry, I'll do it quickly. It won't hurt much...