2:40 PM.
Izayoi and Hinata first went to their usual meeting spot to gather with Aburame Shino, then arrived outside the 44th Training Ground of the Leaf Village.
The 44th Training Ground of the Leaf Village, also known as the Death Forest, is one of the few training grounds in the Leaf Village that remains closed under normal circumstances. It is also one of the village's forbidden areas.
The proctors had already set up tents and canopies outside, with a sign marking the assembly point.
Although there were still twenty minutes until the exam began, Team 8 was not the earliest group to arrive.
In the open area, a large number of examinees were already standing.
Grouped in threes, there were at least a dozen teams.
Over the next ten minutes, more and more examinees arrived, and the open area became increasingly crowded.
"Yo, Izayoi, you guys came early."
"Long time no see, Izayoi-kun, Hinata."
"Long time no see, Minako."
Since Team 8 was standing on the outskirts, the newly arrived Team 7 and Team 10 spotted them immediately.
Additionally, another team approached, which was Team 6, where Kiba Inuzuka was a member.
"Have you heard? Out of the ten teams in our class, it seems only our twelve have been acknowledged by our Jonin Instructors. The others were all eliminated," Minako said.
Hinata looked slightly surprised. "Did the other classmates go back to school to retake the course?"
"Two teams went back to retake the course, while the others were specially recruited by other departments. A few classmates seemed to have suffered some kind of setback and chose to drop out," Minako sighed. "Becoming an official ninja doesn't seem to be all that great. Last month, we went on a C-rank mission and almost got taken out by the enemy's poison smoke. Luckily, Akamaru saved me."
"Keep it up, you'll definitely get stronger," Hinata could only offer encouragement.
After all, Team 8 was a Sensory Team, and her Byakugan had already improved to the point where she could see things within a radius of over twenty kilometers. She might never experience the same struggles as others.
"I heard the Death Forest is a forbidden area of the Leaf Village. This exam is likely to be a survival test in the wild, and there might even be confrontations between examinees," Uchiha Sasuke, as usual, provoked. "If that's the case, you'd better be careful. Don't get eliminated by me."
Izayoi frowned slightly, pressed a finger against his nose, and leaned back slightly. "Have you been drinking?"
"No, I'm only twelve," Uchiha Sasuke shook his head. Seeing Izayoi's look of disdain, he almost couldn't help but sniff his own clothes to see if he really smelled of alcohol.
But Izayoi's next words instantly made him flush with anger: "Oh, I thought you were still hungover and talking in your sleep."
"Pfft…"
"Hahaha…"
Kiba Inuzuka and Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hmph, just you wait."
Uchiha Sasuke crossed his arms, once again adopting his tsundere demeanor.
Including Uchiha Sasuke himself, no one had noticed that the current Uchiha Sasuke had undergone significant changes compared to his demeanor during the last five years at the ninja academy.
It was as if… he had reverted to his first-year self.
As the young prodigies chatted and laughed, a large number of examinees turned their gazes toward them.
When they saw the forehead protectors and appearances of these twelve, examinees from smaller ninja villages couldn't help but show wariness in their eyes.
After all, out of these twelve, eight of them were not to be trifled with.
Among them, there was the top student who surpassed the future heirs of the major ninja clans.
There were also the heirs of the three great sensory ninja clans: the Hyuga, the Aburame, and the Inuzuka.
Additionally, there was the last survivor of the Uchiha Clan, as well as the new generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation.
They were either civilian geniuses or possessors of Kekkei Genkai and Secret Techniques.
Once they grew up, the Leaf Village might very well be under their control.
Judging by their demeanor, they seemed to have a very good relationship.
When they encountered them in the second exam, they would have to flee.
A small portion of the candidates secretly thought this. However, there were also many candidates who had their eyes on Izayoi and the others, thinking that killing the heirs of these ninja clans on the Leaf Village's home ground would be a good idea.
Among them was a gaze filled with greed, fixed on the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke, almost unable to resist sticking out a long tongue.
There was also a red-haired girl who was sizing up Hinata and the other girls.
Looking at Hinata, who was dressed elegantly and exuded a noble aura, as well as Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, who clearly looked pampered, Karin's eyes were filled with envy.
Is this what female Genin from a major ninja village are like? At this moment, Karin seemed to sense something and couldn't help but follow the feeling with her gaze.
She saw a young man in a white robe standing next to the girl in a kimono, smiling at her.
Looking at that handsome face and gentle smile, Karin, who was seeing such a good-looking boy for the first time, immediately blushed to the color of her hair, her eyes darting away as she turned her head, but she couldn't help but sneak glances at the boy again.
"Izayoi-kun, are you looking at that girl from the Grass Village?" Hinata, having caught this scene, couldn't help but ask.
"Yes."
Izayoi nodded, admitting it readily, and said softly, "She has the same ability as me."
Hearing this, Hinata's expression changed slightly, and she stared into Izayoi's eyes without speaking.
"Not that," Izayoi said with a smile. "It's the one you and Hanabi often use."
Hinata suddenly understood and then began to scrutinize Karin, who was sneaking glances at Izayoi.
When the girl met Hinata's gaze, she immediately looked away like a startled rabbit, not daring to peek anymore. Hinata secretly wondered.
Could she be a member of Izayoi-kun's clan? The Grass Village is right next to the Land of Fire. Could Izayoi-kun's ancestors have come from that land?
"All candidates, line up to sign the Death Agreement. The second exam is about to begin."
Soon, it was 3 PM.
Since the young ninjas were standing on the periphery of the line, there was no scene where Uzumaki Naruto provoked Anko Mitarashi, leading to her teaching him a lesson, nor the reunion between master and disciple.
All the candidates lined up in several rows, signed the Death Agreement, and then were led into the tent next to the shed to receive one of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. They were then taken by the proctors to their designated entrances.
On the way, the proctors explained the rules of the second exam to them.
Just as Uchiha Sasuke had said, the second exam was a survival test in the wild, lasting a total of 120 hours, or five days.
Within those five days, they had to gather both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and reach the central tower of the Death Forest.
If they exceeded the time limit or failed to gather both scrolls, they would be unable to enter the central tower and would be eliminated directly.
If you were curious and opened the scroll, you would be immediately disqualified.
After explaining the rules, the proctor stood by the iron gate of the team's designated entrance, waiting for the broadcast to begin.
"Byakugan—activate!"
Hinata formed the Boar Seal with her hands, and the veins around her temples bulged.
A few seconds later, she spoke up, "Our entrance is number 8. The teams at entrances 7 and 9 both have the Scroll of Earth."
"It's fine. There are 24 teams in this exam, and a total of 12 Scrolls of Heaven. Even if we don't take the initiative, prey will come to us on its own."
Izayoi glanced at the scroll in his hand, which had the character for "Earth" written on it.
Hinata's expression turned serious. "The team at entrance 7 has someone with an incredibly powerful Chakra."
"Oh? Who is it?"
Izayoi, who hadn't activated his Tenseigan, asked with interest.
"I don't know, but... he's wearing a Sand Ninja's Forehead Protector and carries a gourd on his back," Hinata described the person's features.
"This person... Sasuke mentioned him yesterday," Aburame Shino said calmly. "If Sasuke remembers him, he's probably not an ordinary guy."
"Yeah, he's a strong one," Izayoi nodded with a smile.
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