Naruto: Chakra System

Everyone was dumbfounded by Anko's dramatic entry and appearance. Nobody moved; they just stared at the woman who had shattered the classroom window and was already making demands.

Ibiki sighed, shaking his head. "Anko, can't you read the mood?"

Anko turned back to Ibiki, then scanned the remaining Genin. "Hmm, you did quite a good job," she said with a nod. "Only 36 remained, huh! Twelve teams. With my round, half of them will be eliminated again."

Ibiki snorted. He then looked at the Genin. "Alright, your first stage is over. Now, go to the second stage with her." With that, he put an examiner on the job for collecting exam papers and walked out, followed by the other examiners.

———

The twelve teams followed Anko, who had already flickered away to Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death. A few stragglers took a bit longer to arrive, mostly from other villages who were not familiar with Konoha's layout. When Anko saw everyone had gathered, she began explaining the specifics of the second stage.

Sakura looked at the entrance and commented, "It looks like a pretty creepy place."

Anko chuckled. "Hehe, you're about to find out why they call this the 'Forest of Death'!"

Team Seven was taken aback. Sasuke asked, "Wait! This is the Forest of Death?"

Naruto also asked, "Isn't this where Kakashi-sensei trained for his Lightning Release Jutsu?!"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, this is the place!" They were all surprised, as none of them had personally gone to the Forest of Death; they had only heard of it from Kakashi, who had trained there for his Kirin for a few weeks.

Anko snorted. "Yeah, this is where he destroyed a certain area while training."

Naruto looked at her, scoffing and mimicking Anko's voice. "'You're about to find out why they call this the 'Forest of Death.' Humph! Like this can really scare me."

"Oh, really?" Anko smirked. "You're pretty cocky, huh?"

Swish!

A kunai sliced through the air, thrown by Anko at Naruto. Naruto instantly sensed it, tilted his head slightly to the right, and let the kunai pass by.

"Hey, why the hell are you attacking me?" Naruto shouted, turning back to Anko.

Anko smirked. "Hehe, it seems you aren't cocky without skills."

A Genin with a circular metal piece with horizontal lines through the middle of his round hat crept up to Anko, returning the kunai to her with his tongue. "You dropped your kunai," he said, adjusting his hat.

"Thanks," Anko said, her eyes narrowing. "Don't just stand behind me, radiating bloodlust, unless... you've had enough with your life."

"I'll try to keep it under control," the Genin said before walking backward to his two similarly creepy teammates.

"We've got a nutcase proctoring this stage," Sasuke commented to Sakura in a low voice, which Anko obviously heard.

She turned to Naruto, gently slapped his left cheek, and said with a grin, "Seems we've got a hot-blooded team on my hands this time! Heh... Sounds like fun."

Naruto rubbed his cheek and muttered, "We're hot-blooded and you're bloodthirsty!"

Anko then clapped, getting the attention of all twelve teams. She handed out papers, or waivers, that had them consenting to the fact that Konoha would not be held accountable if they died a pathetic and miserable death in the Forest of Death. She then distributed six Earth Scrolls to six teams and six Heaven Scrolls to the other six.

She explained the basic structure of the Forest of Death, ending with, "...and in the center is the tower, which is 10 kilometers from the gates." Then smirked and added, "One final piece of advice— try to stay alive, that is... if you can. Now, enjoy your next five days."

———

On the evening of Day 1 of the Chūnin Exam, at the village gates, several eliminated Genin teams from other villages had already gone. All six teams from Kusagakure were about to leave when Kakashi appeared, walking slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. Izumo and Kotetsu, who had returned to their gate-keeping duty after the first stage, came out of their small office.

"Kaka... I mean, Elder Kakashi, how are you here?" Kotetsu asked with a smirk.

"By walking," Kakashi replied plainly, rolling his eyes at Kotetsu. "Even Guy hasn't joked with me by calling me 'Elder'."

"But you're an Elder now, and the successor of the Sandaime Hokage," Izumo said. "But what business do you have here when the Chūnin Exam requires the presence of Elder Kakashi?"

"I have no business with you," Kakashi waved his hand, "but with our esteemed guests who are leaving now."

Kakashi's gaze turned to the Kusagakure teams, a total of 24 people, including six of Special Jōnin and Jōnin. He matched his gaze with the red-haired girl, Karin, who was also looking at him, her eyes slightly widened. With a blur of speed, his figure vanished and reappeared behind Karin.

"Ouch!" Karin groaned, rubbing the back of her head as she turned to look at Kakashi, her eyes welling with small tears.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The same slim Jōnin from Kusagakure who Kakashi had talked to earlier yelled at him.

"Nothing," Kakashi stated simply. "But it seems only your village has all their teams eliminated—" As Kakashi was about to mock him, he paused. A sudden thought occurred to him, and his visible eye widened.

"You—" the Kusagakure Jōnin yelled but was held back by another Jōnin from his village.

"Don't get angry, senpai. He is Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja, and we are still in Konoha, don't create any problem here due to your hot temper!"

"Let's move!" the slim Jōnin clicked his tongue and yelled to all the Kusagakure teams, pushing Karin forward while giving a small glare to Kakashi.

'Didn't Orochimaru supposed to disguise himself as a Kusagakure ninja?' thought Kakashi. 'But all of Kusagakure's teams are already eliminated! And Orochimaru isn't someone who would leave so easily, especially when Sunagakure's teams and Kabuto are all inside the Forest of Death by now. Is this some kind of butterfly effect?'

Kakashi took one glance at the departing teams from the Land of Grass. 'If not Kusagakure's teams, then Orochimaru must have killed and disguised himself as someone from another village Genin. But which one could it be? Takigakure teams arrived as early as Sunagakure's, so they can't be it. That leaves Kusagakure, Amegakure, and Otogakure.'

The Sound Village is Orochimaru's, and only one team, Team Dosu, has passed the first stage, so that can also be eliminated.

Kakashi then nodded and concluded, 'This means he must have disguised himself with one of the two remaining Rain teams. Hmmm...'

"Uhm, Elder Kakashi, what are you so deep in thought about?" Izumo came close to Kakashi and asked.

Kakashi gave him a simple blank stare. "Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong. Go back to your work."

He then shrugged internally. 'Well, it doesn't matter whom Orochimaru disguised himself as. It wouldn't be much of a concern.' Thinking that, Kakashi gave one last glance at the Land of Grass teams before flickering away with the Body Flicker Technique.