"Hinata," Naruto called out Hinata's name in a deep voice, which made Hinata tremble with a start. Then Naruto said, "Can you help me apply the medicine on me?"
Just a moment ago, Naruto seemed to have the whole world on his mind, but now he had lifted up his shirt and showed the wound under his rib.
Hinata became even more shy and didn't dare to look directly. She first dodged her eyes and then stole a glance, only to find that white gas was rising from Naruto's wound under his rib, like white steam.
Under Hinata's shocked gaze, Naruto's wound was healing at a visible rate, which made her stare blankly.
"Hmm?" Naruto was puzzled and looked at his rib. Immediately, he showed an annoyed expression and cursed in his heart: Damned Nine - Tailed Fox! Its chakra is leaking out once again, and just at such a critical moment. Can't it wait until Hinata finishes applying the medicine on me? Nine - Tailed Fox! You must be jealous of me...
"Haha." Naruto laughed awkwardly, put down the lifted shirt, and said apologetically, "The wound suddenly healed. It seems I don't need the medicine."
At this moment, Naruto was crying on the inside and shedding tears in secret.
"As expected of Naruto - kun. You're truly unique." Hinata said with a smile.
Suddenly, Naruto became very serious. He leaned in front of Hinata and said, "When participating in the second round of the exam later, if you encounter a Sand Ninja, don't get close to him."
"Sand Ninja?"
"It's a guy with a gourd on his back, red hair, and the character 'Love' engraved on his forehead. His name is Gaara." Naruto said, "When you see him, you must run away. The farther, the better."
"Is he very strong?" Hinata nodded and said, "But since Naruto - kun has said so, I won't get close to him."
"He's extremely strong. What's even more terrifying is that he has no humanity." Naruto said worriedly, "Once you encounter him, just leave Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka behind..."
Hearing that she should leave her comrades behind, Hinata stood still, stunned. Because Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka were both her teammates in Team 8, and they had even gone on a mission together.
Naruto directly embraced Hinata and said, "Sorry, I said something stupid. If anything happens to Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, I'll slay Gaara to avenge them. But if anything happens to you, I'll destroy the whole world."
Hinata was embraced by Naruto. She didn't dare to move and felt light - headed. It seemed that all this came too suddenly and too soon, leaving her at a loss as to what to do.
"Eh?" Naruto touched Hinata's forehead and said worriedly, "So hot! Are you running a fever? I'll take you to a Medical Ninja!"
"No! I'm fine." Hinata turned around and ran away, leaving Naruto with a strange look on his face.
The second - round test of the Chunin Exams commenced officially. A total of fourteen teams entered the Death Forest through different entrances. Their goal was to seize the Scrolls and ultimately reach the Tower.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were moving rapidly through the forest. Suddenly, Naruto made a gesture, which made Sakura momentarily nervous. So the three of them halted and awaited Naruto's next instruction.
Sakura was on high alert all around. Not noticing anything unusual, she asked, "Naruto, is there an enemy nearby?"
"Shouldn't be." Naruto tilted his head and said, "We just came in and haven't even walked a few steps. How could we possibly run into enemies?"
"Then why did you stop!" Sakura roared.
Sakura's voice was so loud that it made Naruto's diaphragm ache. Naruto had to clarify and say, "If we move forward at a normal speed, we'll definitely encounter enemies."
"The Death Forest is a perfect circular map. The Tower is located at the center. Fourteen squads enter from different points on the outermost periphery. When everyone rushes towards the center, they will definitely meet each other, you know."
"Then we can just slow down, easy peasy. As long as we walk slowly, we'll naturally avoid them." Naruto stated his strategy.
"You idiot." Sakura retorted, "If we don't encounter any enemies, how can we snatch the scrolls? We only have the Heaven Scroll and still lack the Earth Scroll."
"Don't worry. Look at Sasuke. He totally agrees with my strategy." Naruto pointed at Sasuke.
"Right, right. Naruto's right." Sasuke quickly nodded and said, "Let's do as Naruto says."
Sakura sighed. Since even Sasuke had agreed with Naruto, there was nothing she could do. After all, she always listened to Sasuke.
So, in the following time, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura moved forward at a snail's pace, as if they were sightseeing. When they encountered fierce beasts, they sneaked past; when they came across poisonous insects, they went around.
Although the Death Forest was full of dangers everywhere, as long as they were careful, they could still avoid most of the perils. It was a journey full of scares but no real harm.
After a day, Naruto's squad was the slowest and was far left behind by the others. Naturally, they didn't meet any opponents and didn't encounter any battles.
However, when passing by a grassland, they accidentally found some severed limbs. It should be that some unfortunate Genin candidates had become the prey of wild beasts.
On the second day, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were resting by the river. Naruto went into the river to catch fish. Sasuke was sitting by the river, and Sakura came back after picking some fruits.
"Sasuke, these are the fruits I picked. I've already washed them." Sakura offered the wild fruits in her hand to Sasuke, but Sasuke turned a deaf ear to her.
"Sasuke?" Sakura felt something was off and continued to call, "Sasuke, these fruits are safe. I heard from the teacher at the Ninja Academy that this kind of wild fruit can be eaten in the wild."
Sasuke still turned a deaf ear to her and just sat there in a daze.
"Sakura, you're back." Naruto walked over with a big fish in his hand. He grabbed the fruits from Sakura's hand and took a bite, saying, "These fruits are good. They're quite juicy and sweet."
"Naruto, what's wrong with Sasuke?" Sakura pulled Naruto aside and said mysteriously, "I always feel that Sasuke has been different from usual these two days."
"This is just Sasuke. What's different?"
"Really different." Sakura said anxiously, "Even if Sasuke didn't talk to me before, he wouldn't ignore me like this."
"Uh..." Naruto thought for a while and wondered to himself: Did Sasuke and Sakura ever talk to each other before they got married... He really couldn't remember...
Naruto put on a sour face and said, "It's normal. You're just overthinking it, dude."
"Hey he he he..." A cold and eerie laugh echoed from afar. Naruto and Sakura were immediately startled. Especially Naruto, whose hand holding the big fish was trembling at this moment.
"Is it finally here?" Naruto thought to himself, "I can't avoid this hurdle after all."
"It's already the second day, and you're still dawdling around here. You really made me search hard." A kunoichi from Kusagakure Village walked out of the woods.
It's Orochimaru! I've been moving at the slowest pace and managed to dodge everyone, but just couldn't dodge Orochimaru! One of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, he has finally tracked me down.
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