Adrik removed his charred wooden mask and pulled back his hood as he stood next to Anko. They were waiting for all of the chunin hopefuls at the gate to Training Ground Forty-Four, also known as the Forest of Death.
"-But did you really need to break the window?"
Anko laughed a bit.
"Of course! First impressions are all about presentation."
Adrik gave a small nod.
"But I feel like we aren't supposed to catch attention in our line of work."
Anko nodded.
"Most of the time, yeah. But there's times where you might need to go in loud and proud."
Adrik nodded again.
"Fair enough."
He looked back down the road and put his mask back on and his hood up.
"Here they come."
Anko squinted as she could see the forms of the genin off in the distance, all approaching rather fast.
"Huh. I thought you kept your senses kinda close quarters, but they're all the way down there."
Adrik tilted his head slightly as he shrugged.
"Not that many people around. Means there's less to sense-"
Anko looked over when Adrik cut himself off.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Adrik shook his head.
"I think I sense him. I need to go tell the Hokage. My ashes should be on him by the time he gets over here."
Anko nodded, her expression growing more serious as their target was supposedly approaching.
X
"Welcome, everyone, to the Forest of Death! This is the location of the second part of the Chunin Exams! A survival test! In here you will need to keep your head on a swivel as nowhere is truly safe!"
The genin all looked to the forest, most of them cringing as they could hear the sounds of unknown creatures tearing each other apart just out of their field of view. A few of the chunin assistants walked around handing papers out to the genin participants.
"These are forms that basically say if you die in there, it's not the Leaf Village's fault. I am legally obligated to hand these out to you to prevent, or at least dampen, any backlash we may receive from any other villages."
This certainly didn't make the genin feel any better, which was exactly what Anko had planned for. One brave genin, that being Naruto, stepped up while looking into the forest.
"Doesn't seem that bad. If you think we can be scared by some stupid forest-"
Naruto was cut off by a kunai grazing his cheek, drawing a bit of blood. He froze as Anko appeared behind him in a flash. He couldn't help but notice how she squished herself against him. He had to fight to keep from blushing as the jonin licked the drops of blood from his cheek.
"Yep, tastes just like an unprepared genin who ignores the warning labels. It's brats like you who die first in there, you know."
Naruto would've responded if he wasn't cut off by an older genin approaching him and the jonin currently pressing herself into him. She had the kunai that Anko had thrown wrapped in her elongated tongue.
"I believe you dropped this..."
Anko let go of Naruto and took the kunai with an unassuming smile.
"Resourcefulness is also a factor in this test, and I thank you for the demonstration."
Anko walked back over to stand where she stood before pulling her little stunt. The strange genin bowed.
"You are very welcome."
Anko turned to face the crowd as she wondered if Adrik had relayed what he sensed to the Hokage yet. She was almost sure of which genin there it was, but she wouldn't act until she received her orders.
"Now, let's get into the rules of this test. First off, killing is allowed. Second, you are on a five-day timer. At the end of that time, you will fail this part of the exams. You have two goals of equal importance during that time. To explain the first goal, I need you to group back up in your teams. One person from each team will come over and enter this booth behind me. Once we are done with that, I'll explain the rest."
Anko stepped away to reveal a small booth that everyone could swear wasn't there before. The genin went up one by one after regrouping.
X
Anko looked at all of the teams and nodded.
"Now that everyone has a scroll, it's time to explain the rules. Each team has one scroll, that being either a Scroll of Heaven or a Scroll of Earth. Your mission is to obtain the scroll that you don't have from another team and bring both of them to the tower at the center of this forest behind me. Remember, you have five days. If you don't complete the mission by then, you're eliminated. Oh, and feel free to rest up if you get to the tower early."
Anko began walking off with her hands in her trenchcoat pockets.
"Now, each team will start at one of the many gates of the forest. No two teams at one gate. When you're all there, we'll start."
Anko didn't even give the genin time to nod as she used a Body Flicker to appear in a nearby surveillance room with cameras set up at each gate to the Forest of Death. She was surprised when she saw Adrik in the room along with the Hokage.
"Oh, Lord Hokage. I thought you were back at the tower in the forest."
The Hokage turned to face Anko and shook his head.
"No, I will be heading there soon. Adrik here has informed me that Orochimaru has made his first move."
Anko tilted her head slightly in surprise.
"You already know the technique he uses to change his face without using a genjutsu. Three genin from Hidden Grass. No faces. Buried haphazardly."
Anko clenched her fists as she heard about the technique and the discovery of the bodies the man named Orochimaru had maimed. The Hokage nodded as he could see what she was thinking clear as day.
"It is almost like wanted us to find them, correct? Indeed, it was likely a part of his plan. Or, at the very least, it wouldn't make a difference if or when we found them."
The Hokage sighed as he took a drag of his pipe. He breathed out some smoke as he turned back towards Adrik.
"Your ashes are on him, I presume?"
Adrik nodded.
"Then he won't be able to shake us off anymore. Adrik, I want you to follow him into the forest. Tail him from a distance. I want to know what he is after. I have my suspicions, but I want to be sure."
Adrik nodded. Before he could leave the room, the Hokage spoke again.
"Your weights. Have you figured out the seals yet?"
Adrik shook his head as he turned back. The Hokage nodded before walking over and releasing the weights around Adrik's ankles. The teen nodded gratefully before sprinting out the door at a speed that surprised most of the other ninja in the room, Anko included.
"Woah. I thought he was still a fresh chunin. What was that?"
The Hokage nodded.
"Indeed, he has only been a chunin for two weeks. Though it isn't for very long, he trains with Might Guy. His skill set and physical capabilities are above average for a chunin. If they weren't, I wouldn't even consider sending him anywhere near this forest knowing who is inside it."
Anko looked at the old man with confusion.
"But even then, wouldn't you want a jonin to take over for this mission?"
He shook his head.
"I believe that Adrik is perfectly capable of completing this mission. He is an unknown factor to all of our enemies. A wild card unlike anything I have ever seen. Orochimaru made the mistake of coming into our territory. We will make him regret it."
Anko couldn't help but nod along with the Hokage. More than most, she hated Orochimaru. She was on board for taking another step towards bringing him down.
X
Adrik hopped through the trees as quietly as he could, his target only a few dozen meters in front of him. One can never be too careful. Especially when they're tracking a ninja that is strong enough to take on a Kage. While Adrik may not have chakra to track, he knew well enough that he still has presence. And someone of Orochimaru's caliber could easily detect that just as well as he could detect chakra.
One thing Adrik found strange was that he, meaning Orochimaru, was heading straight towards Team Seven. He narrowed his eyes as he thought over the implications. Based on what he was told about the rogue shinobi, Sakura was probably not his target. Perhaps Naruto could be the target, but that depended entirely on Orochimaru's interest in the Tailed Beasts. The only plausible option that seemed entirely likely was that Sasuke was the man's target. And it didn't take Adrik more than a moment to understand why.
The Sharingan is a dojutsu that allows the user to read and copy the movements of whoever they look at. With the ability to also see chakra to a degree, a Sharingan wielder could copy any jutsu they see, as long as the person who used that jutsu used all of the hand seals.
Such a powerful dojutsu would be of interest to anyone. And, with Sasuke now being the only known holder of the bloodline the dojutsu is from, at least in the Leaf Village, he was the perfect target for anyone wanting to acquire the Sharingan for themselves.
That answered nearly all of Adrik's questions. Only one was left, now. How does Orochimaru want to play this game?
X
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stopped as they sensed something approaching. Earlier, they had taken a scroll from an enemy team rather easily, though it was just a spare Earth Scroll instead of the Heaven Scroll they needed. They moved to hopping through the trees instead of travelling on the ground. Even so, they knew not to let their guard down as the competition would only get tougher as they went on.
Instead of an enemy team, however, they were met by incredibly strong winds that easily knocked them off their feet. Sasuke landed on one of the many trees around them. Sakura landed on another tree and reached out to grab Naruto but was too late as the wind blew him away.
"Shit!"
Sasuke saw this and activated his Sharingan in preparation for the fight that was sure to come. The wind died down and he and Sakura dropped to the large tree branches.
"Sakura, let's try to regroup with Naruto. I don't wanna get stuck in a fight without-"
Sasuke's eyes widened as their opponent appeared faster than even his Sharingan could see. It was the Grass Genin that had returned the kunai to the proctor earlier. And they brought an immense pressure with them that sent both Sasuke and Sakura to their knees. The Killing Intent was so bad that they actually began seeing their own deaths. Sakura even thought it was a genjutsu with how vivid it was, but was even more horrified to learn on her own that it wasn't.
X
Naruto impacted hard with one of the many massive trees. He recovered as best as he could and stuck himself to the bark as he tried to survey his surroundings. He looked down towards the forest floor when he heard something. His eyes widened as a massive snake jumped straight up at him, nearly snatching him up in its jaws.
Naruto pulled out a kunai and threw it at the snake. He wasn't exactly surprised when it bounced off of its scales harmlessly. His eyes widened again as he jumped away, avoiding another strike.
'Shit. Alright, options, options, options...'
Naruto landed on another tree and formed hand seals.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullets!"
Naruto smirked as the three wind bullets hit their target. He immediately lost his smirk as they barely dented the snake's scales.
"Oh... shit."
That was all he managed to get out as the snake lunged forward and clamped its jaws around him. If it could smile, it would have at being given such an easy meal. It slithered back down to the forest floor and coiled in on itself with its mission complete. It didn't have time to relax however as it felt a pain in its throat. It tried swallowing, but that made the pain even worse. It's eyes would have widened if they were able to when it saw its own body began expanding.
"Oh... shit."
The giant snake couldn't help but repeat the words right before it erupted in a shower of chunks of flesh and blood. After it all settled down, the dozens of Shadow Clones that popped out of the snake began dispelling. Moments later, Naruto laid down on his back staring up at the sky blankly. Luckily, his clones had shielded him from being showered in snake blood.
"... I should go help my teammates..."
Naruto stood up without another word and jumped back into the trees, heading towards where he believed his teammates still were as fast as he could.
X
Naruto's eyes widened as he landed on a tree branch and saw the strange Grass Genin from earlier open her mouth wide to try and bite Sasuke on the neck. Luckily, Sakura punched the genin in the face just in time to keep Sasuke from being bitten. Sasuke thanked her as they readied themselves for another attack.
"Took you long enough, Naruto."
Sasuke called out to his teammate over his shoulder as he rejoined them.
"Sorry, I got caught up with... Never mind, doesn't matter. What's going on?"
Sakura responded as Naruto drew his katana.
"Crazy genin lady with weird snake powers. And as you probably saw, she just tried to give Sasuke a hickey."
Naruto nodded with a short chuckle at the description she used. Sasuke decided not to comment as it was clear they had bigger problems at the moment.
"I'm impressed. It didn't take long for you to deal with my summon. But I wonder, just what do you plan on doing now?"
Naruto and Sasuke nodded to each other as they sheathed their weapons. The enemy genin raised an eyebrow as she watched the two go through hand seals.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The genin watched as a gigantic wall of pure fire sped towards her. It impacted, making the other three genin shield their eyes. They reopened them moments later to see the entire section of the tree near the giant fireball had been burned to a crisp. Sakura's, Sasuke's, and Naruto's eyes widened when they heard the sound of applause coming from another branch.
"That was quite an impressive combination of ninjutsu. Your teammates are strong, Sasuke. Not as strong as you, though, if I had to guess."
Naruto narrowed his eyes and Sakura held him back by the arm as he tried to leap at the enemy genin, their face hidden by their large straw hat.
"What do you want with Sasuke, you freak?!"
The genin looked up at them, showing them the rather disturbing image of their face melting as they smirked. What confused them was the pale face underneath the first. The genin slowly pulled at the remaining flesh to reveal the face of a pale man with yellow, snake-like eyes and purple markings going over his eyelids and down the sides of his nose. His half burnt straw hat fell down to the forest floor.
"That, my little genin friends, is something you will learn soon enough."
X
Adrik watched as Team Seven defended against another attack from Orochimaru. He already had what he thought was enough evidence to report back to the Hokage, but he felt wrong leaving three of his friends in a situation like this. While his mission was just to watch Orochimaru and figure out his motives, he felt as if he would need to get involved in this fight soon.
For now, though, he would try to gather more information. For better or worse, Orochimaru was taking it easy against Team Seven.
X
Naruto blocked another kunai throw with his katana. He grit his teeth as it put a dent in the metal just like the last three. At this rate, his katana would end up broken before he could even swing it at the enemy. Sasuke's tanto was much the same.
"Guys, we need to take this to the ground."
Naruto and Sasuke nodded as they and Sakura ran back to the trunk of the tree and ran down it as fast as they could.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Halfway to the ground, Naruto launched another jutsu to stop the volley of kunai thrown their way.
The moment the three reached the ground, they had to move away to avoid a fist from their enemy. It cracked the trunk of the giant tree with ease, leaving a spider web of cracks all across it along with a small crater where his fist hit.
The three genin's eyes widened at the destruction caused by a simple punch from the enemy genin. The enemy genin slowly turned around to face them with a wide smirk. He reeled his fist back as he prepared another attack. Thinking fast, Sakura made hand seals as quickly as she could.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A large wall of mud rose up after Sakura slammed her hands on the ground, hardening into stone seconds later. Her and her teammate's eyes widened as a fist popped out on their side of the wall. It disappeared a moment later before yet another fist came through the wall next to the hole made by the first. This kept going until the wall began crumbling due to how unstable it was.
The three genin backed away as the enemy genin approached, their smirk still very much in place.
"I must say, you three are more skilled than I originally thought. But, for your own sakes, I hope you have more to show me."
Naruto brought his hands up in a single seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four clones of Naruto appeared before they spread out in a pentagon formation along with the original. They each threw a kunai from both hands before making another seal.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
They blasted their freshly thrown kunai with wind, pushing them much faster than they otherwise could go. The enemy genin flinched as they all sunk into his body almost up to the handles. Moments later, he melted into a puddle of mud with the kunai previously stuck in his body clattering to the forest floor.
The Narutos, Sasuke, and Sakura all looked around trying to find where the enemy genin had gone. They looked back in surprise when the Naruto clones slowly began popping one by one from kunai that came seemingly from nowhere. Once all of the clones were gone, they heard a maniacal laugh of which they couldn't find the origin.
"Dammit! Show yourself, coward!"
Naruto looked around and his eyes widened when he heard a voice whisper in his ear.
"Very well. Here I am."
Naruto turned around only to be kicked straight in his chest, sending him flying back. Sasuke and Sakura turned around and their eyes widened when they saw Naruto impact with a tree, very clearly hearing the sound of something breaking beforehand.
"Oh. Well, it seems your little teammate will be out for a while."
The enemy genin turned back towards the other two members of Team Seven.
"Well, then. Shall we continue?"
X
Adrik watched as Orochimaru attacked the now duo of Sasuke and Sakura. Hopefully, the man would be distracted long enough. He jumped down to the forest floor and landed next to a half conscious Naruto. He put a hand on the teen's shoulder and shook him lightly.
"Hey, Naruto... Come on, you need to get up... Naruto... Naruto?"
Adrik tilted his head slightly when he heard the blonde teen mumble something.
"I'll... I'll kill... him..."
Adrik stepped back as an angry orange-ish red aura enveloped Naruto. He looked up to reveal his eyes had turned red with slit pupils and his whisker marks had become rougher. Without another word, Naruto lunged forward in the direction of Orochimaru. Adrik stopped him, however, not noticing as the chakra surrounding his friend shyed away from him.
"Wait, Naruto!"
Naruto looked back at him angrily.
"You can hear me, right?"
After a second, Adrik received a small nod.
"Okay. Listen. I need you to get Sasuke and Sakura some place safe far away from here. I don't know how much time I can buy you guys, but I'll stall Orochimaru for as long as I can."
Naruto stared at him silently for a few seconds.
"... Orochimaru?"
"He's a Kage level ninja. Now, get your teammates and get the hell out of here as fast and as far away as you can. Understand?"
Naruto nodded after a few seconds. Adrik nodded back and they rushed towards the two remaining members of Team Seven. Adrik took note of the aura disappearing from around Naruto, though he could still feel what he now knew was the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox flowing through him.
X
Sasuke spewed another volley of lightning bullets, only for the enemy genin to avoid the attack with ease. Sakura stood behind him panting hard trying to regain her breath as she had taken a kick to the stomach.
"Fire and Lightning. Quite a combo. Your kenjutsu is good and your taijutsu is what I'd expect of an Uchiha. And those Sharingan. Already at the third tomoe in each eye at such a young age. You are a prodigy in the making, Sasuke."
The man glanced at Sakura, making her flinch in fear.
"And your teammates aren't half bad either."
He looked back at Sasuke.
"I am sure you have much more to show me, but I can wait. You have done more than enough to earn my gift, Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke's eyes widened as the enemy genin's neck extended and his mouth opened to reveal his sharp fangs once again. Before he could try to move out of the way, however, the enemy genin was once again stopped by a hit to the face. Sasuke and Sakura were surprised when a red eyed Naruto and Adrik still in his 'disguise' landed in front of them.
"No time to explain, you two go with Naruto! Get out of here, now!"
After a moment, Sasuke and Sakura nodded and ran off with Naruto flanking them just in case. The enemy genin, Orochimaru, watched them leaving and frowned as he looked back at Adrik.
"You are a new one. You hide your chakra far too well to be a genin, or a chunin for that matter. A jonin? Maybe Anbu?"
Adrik shrugged as he threw away his cowl and unsheathed his daggers.
"Maybe."
Orochimaru shook his head.
"Well, I must be off. I still have a gift to give to the little Uchiha."
Orochimaru turned to leap away and looked down when he was unable to move his legs. He was confused as he saw black ropes tying him to the ground by his ankles.
"You're not going anywhere near them again while I'm around."
Orochimaru looked back at Adrik and was surprised when a large cloud of black, embery smoke slowly began to cover the area. His eyes narrowed as his senses were quite noticeably weakened. He ducked when he barely caught on to the fact that a kunai came spinning towards his head.
Orochimaru caught the next kunai before it could hit him and inspected it.
"Hm... Quite a strange technique. Not dissimilar to the technique used by many in the Hidden Mist. These kunai as well. You throw them in a strange way. And the material..."
Orochimaru ducked again as another kunai sailed over his head.
"And these bindings keeping me in one place. I can't say I've ever seen the techniques you're using."
Orochimaru turned as best as he could and caught Adrik's right wrist before he could be stabbed by the dagger in the teen's hand. He was surprised when a kick landed in his side. Though, it was more so surprise at how it was weaker than he expected it to be.
"So, you aren't Anbu. You can just hide your chakra well."
In an instant, Orochimaru broke the restraints around his ankles and matched Adrik's kick to the side, sending him flying back into the smoke. He was surprised when a dagger came flying towards him. He grabbed it and his eyes widened slightly as he felt his chakra begin to drain rapidly. He threw the dagger away only for it to swing back towards him by an ashen string at the bottom.
Orochimaru wiped at his cheek and looked down at his hand. He slowly went from frowning to smirking widely.
"Hm. Perhaps my task can wait. This is far too interesting and opportunity to let slip away."
Adrik continued to attack Orochimaru from the smoke seeing as his physical attacks were easily read by the rogue shinobi. After a minute or two, Orochimaru went back to frowning.
"If this is your only trick, little chunin, I suggest you leave before you get any more involved in my business."
Adrik narrowed his eyes behind his mask. He stomped on the ground, sending a wave of increasingly large spikes into the smoke.
"Scorch Spires!"
Orochimaru turned and jumped away just in time to avoid being impaled by pitch black spikes made of solid ash. Before he landed, another volley of spinning kunai was thrown at him. He pulled out a kunai of his own and deflected them all effortlessly.
"Cinder Shot!"
Orochimaru stumbled shortly after landing when a ball of ash impacted with his side and let off a small explosion. He smirked as it started getting interesting again.
"This power of yours is amusing. Show me more of it."
Adrik put his hands out to either side as he charged more spheres of dense ash. He flung more of the spheres at Orochimaru as he circled him, most missing as the pale man avoided them easily even with the smoke impairing his senses.
Adrik jumped up and threw both of his daggers straight down at Orochimaru. He let out two more Cinder Shots as they traveled, making them fly much faster than he first threw them. Orochimaru brought up a kunai to deflect the spinning daggers but ended up getting a cut on his hand as he deflected them.
The daggers lodged themselves in the ground and Adrik pulled on them while still in the air. Instead of them zipping back up to his hands, they stayed in place and he was pulled down towards them rapidly. Orochimaru looked up in slight surprise and brought up a hand to try and block the kick aimed at his head. Adrik shifted at the last moment to land behind the man and kicked him in the back with an ash coated leg before jumping back into the smoke, recalling his daggers to his hands. The man seemed mostly unfazed, however.
"An ash coating of your limbs to enhance your strikes. Clever. But if that is all, I really must be going."
Orochimaru waited for an attack to come and was surprised yet again when the smoke cleared nearly instantly. He looked down to see Adrik crouched with his left hand bracing his right wrist.
"Heat Crash!"
The man's eyes widened as the teen thrusted his right hand upwards into his chest, letting off a small but powerful explosion.
Adrik landed a short distance away as the smoke from the explosion cleared. It revealed a puddle of mud where Orochimaru once stood. His senses caught up just in time for him to turn around and be bitten by Orochimaru's sharp fangs dripping with a strange poison.
Adrik's eyes widened as he opened his mouth in a silent scream. The pain was like a destructive acid trying to burn a hole in his flesh and bones. He fell to the ground limply with the only thing he could do being to look up at the man who had cursed this pain upon him. He barely even noticed as his mask fell to the ground.
"Seek me out once you can use my little gift. I will grant you more power than you could ever dream of."
Orochimaru smiled wickedly at the teen before vanishing in a burst of speed. That was the last thing Adrik saw before he froze up from the pain coursing through his body.