Before the celebrations could last much longer, a muffled crack cut through the air — the unmistakable sound of Shunshin no Jutsu.
A swirl of leaves burst into the center of the room, and from it emerged a man with a relaxed demeanor and a senbon in the corner of his mouth.
Another familiar face! Wasn't this guy the examiner during the final round of the Chuunin Exams in the anime? And if I'm not mistaken, he used to be part of the Fourth Hokage's personal squad or something like that. I think his name was Genma.
He stepped forward, raising one eyebrow like he'd just gotten home after a long day.
"Nice selection, Kurenai!" he said, half-smiling with the air of someone mildly bored. "Anyone cry, scream, or faint this time?"
Kurenai crossed her arms with the same calm as before. "A few nearly got there, but apparently your reputation is more traumatic than my test."
Genma let out a dry nasal chuckle. "Good to know I still leave a mark. But don't worry, now it's my turn to have some fun with them."
He slowly turned to face the genin still in the room, chewing lightly on the senbon like the weapon helped him think… or maybe he just didn't feel like talking much.
"I'm Shiranui Genma, examiner for the second stage. The next phase starts in one hour. I want all of you at the entrance to Training Ground 44. If you get lost on the way…" He scratched his chin, pretending to consider it, before flashing a grin. "Well, just don't get lost."
He gave us a slow blink and vanished with another shunshin, like the whole thing had just been a coffee break.
The genin started leaving the room like the walls themselves were pushing them out. Jimei came up beside me as we walked toward the exit, where Natsu was already waiting.
"Hey, Kenshin… you ever heard of this Training Ground 44 place? Know where it is?"
Oh, I definitely knew Training Ground 44.
Not from this life, of course, but that place was key in introducing one of my favorite characters from the anime.
The first time I saw Orochimaru, my reaction was basically: What the hell is THAT?!
And I loved it.
Okay, sure, the guy gave off some seriously questionable vibes with Sasuke. Let's be honest, enough to set off five different ninja child protection alarms. But as a villain? Flawless.
His confrontation with Team 7 in that forest kicked off the whole spiral that led to the team splitting up and began the eternal ninja tag game between Naruto and Sasuke that dragged on for over 400 chapters.
Sasuke walked out of that place a changed man, sporting that cursed mark on his neck like a tattoo you regret from your ex. Naruto… well, Naruto was always kinda weird, but he came out alive which is more than most people can say
Sakura… oh, Sakura cut her own hair right in the middle of the chaos, out of nowhere. She had this "I'm done crying over boys" moment and went full ninja Priscilla Senna. Speaking of which...
"Pintei… O meu cabelo me valorizei, entrei na academia malhei, malhei…" I hummed the lyrics softly in my native language.
"What? What are you singing? Is that even a real word?" Jimei stared at me like I'd completely lost it.
Crap, Jimei was still here! I jumped so hard I nearly fell backward.
"It's nothing! My head's still a bit scrambled from all those genjutsu, I guess." I gave him a crooked laugh, trying to sound casual, but it came out more confused than convincing.
I prayed to every god I could think of that he'd let it go. And for some inexplicable reason, Jimei just shrugged and dropped it. A miracle? Clearly. Sign of the apocalypse? Possibly.
"So, do you know this place?"
Well… it would've been a waste not to mess with him a little. I gave him a sly smirk, the kind of smile that screams nonsense incoming.
"I've heard some rumors…"
"What?! What kind of rumors?!" His eyes widened instantly.
"That it has another name." I tried hard not to laugh at his face.
He leaned in, even more curious. "Another name?!"
"Yeah…" I paused for dramatic effect. "They call it the Forest of Death."
Jimei immediately slowed his pace. His eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. "Uh… and why such a… friendly name?"
"Well, it's a forest. And, well…" I let the silence stretch just long enough to make him anxious. "People die in there."
Jimei stopped walking. Dead serious. "PEOPLE. DIE."
"Not every day," I added cheerfully. "Just on Thursdays."
Jimei blinked twice, clearly trying to process that. Then suddenly, his eyes widened again.
"But…" His face morphed from confusion into pure panic. "TODAY IS THURSDAY!"
"Yep. Lucky us, huh?"
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A NINJA ANYMORE!" he shouted dramatically, hands on his head.
Some nearby genin glanced at him with confused and vaguely concerned expressions as if wondering how someone like that had managed to pass the test.
We finally reached the exit of the room, where Natsu was already waiting, looking like a mix of impatient and mildly relieved that we'd finally shown up.
"You guys took your time!" she said, glancing at Jimei like she already knew the reason.
"Jimei was having a minor nervous breakdown." I said with a shrug.
"It's not minor if it involves death!" he snapped, still visibly shaken.
We started heading toward Training Ground 44. The sun was still in the sky, and the sound of Natsu and Jimei's footsteps beside me gave me a weird sense of calm.
Well, at least I could hold onto some hope. Orochimaru's Sharingan hunting season was still a few years away. And I didn't have any Uchiha on my team.
Come to think of it… having an Uchiha on your team kinda seemed like a bad omen. Didn't Itachi's team end up dead or something? And don't even get me started on Kakashi's. Thank goodness there were no Uchihas in mine.
While we walked in silence, something from the last test kept nagging at me, and I figured I'd better just ask.
"Hey…" I said after a while. "Why did you both put your chakra into the sphere? Did you realize that was the correct answer too?"
Natsu fell quiet for a moment, as if searching for the right words in the silence. Then she turned slightly toward me, her expression soft, gentler than usual and gave me a beautiful smile.
"Maybe I thought it was the right answer… but even if it wasn't…" She paused, just for a second. "When I thought about you two… Especially you… I felt like it was worth the risk. Protecting you… just felt more important."
I didn't say anything. I'm not sure for how long. My face started to feel warm, and it wasn't from the sun. Natsu's words… the way she is looking at me. It is different, and I don't know how to react.
We had grown closer over the past few weeks, but how was I supposed to react to that? Girls are confusing.
Before I could even attempt an answer, Jimei let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Ugh, you two…" he muttered, rolling his eyes like he'd just witnessed a dramatic soap opera scene. "Can someone remind me why I'm the only sane person in this group?"
Natsu's face turned surprisingly red, and she quickly looked away from me. Well, this clearly wasn't the time to overthink anything — and apparently, Jimei agreed, because he jumped right back into the conversation.
He crossed his arms, exhaling loudly. "Since we're getting all sentimental now… I put chakra into the orb because, well… I'm the strongest one on the team. Someone had to make sure you two got out alive."
He tried to keep a confident pose, but the way he puffed up his chest only made him look like he'd just swallowed a frog.
I raised an eyebrow slowly. "Strongest?"
"Exactly! I've got muscles in places you don't even have organs!"
Natsu arched her eyebrow and covered her mouth with one hand, clearly trying not to laugh. "That's… not anatomically accurate."
"Exactly! Because it's a level of strength beyond human anatomy! I've transcended, Natsu-chan!"
Right then, Jimei tripped over a rock and stumbled forward, nearly faceplanting into the dirt.
I stood there silently for a second, just taking in the absurdity of the scene.
"Transcendence brought down by a pebble." I muttered, trying not to laugh.
"I was distracted! Deep in thought!" he shot back, straightening up and dramatically pointing at the sky like the universe itself had sabotaged him.
And so, we kept walking. Laughing, teasing, and for a little while almost forgetting that the place we are heading to… is called the Forest of Death.