In the training ground three,

An hour later, ​​

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura regroup with each other.

"Are you guys ready?" Sasuke turns towards Naruto and Sakura.

"I am always ready. Dattebyo!"

Naruto raises his fist.

"I am also ready." Sakura nods her head.

"Let's go."

Naruto dashes towards the training ground forty-four. Sasuke and Sakura follows him.

Whoosh… whoosh…

"Naruto, Sakura! I overheard the rules of the chunnin exam earlier. We have to collect a heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll and reach the central tower to pass the chunnin exam. Every group is provided with only one scroll. They have to fight another group and steal their scroll to complete the set. Since we are only testing our capabilities, we would just steal a Heaven scroll and Earth Scroll and approach the central tower." Sasuke explains the rules of the exam.

"That's easy. With our abilities, we can easily snag scroll from other teams. Dattebyo!" Naruto pumps his fists.

"No… on the contrary, it is extremely difficult." Sasuke shakes his head.

"Huh! Why?" Naruto turns to Sasuke.

"Those genins aren't our opponents. Our real opponents are the chunnin and jounins monitoring the area. We have to steal those scrolls under their watchful eyes and make it to tower. So, it is much harder than our expectation." Sasuke states the real test.

Gulp…

"Guys… we can still turn back. It is a bad idea." Sakura tries to convince them.

"No… this makes it more fun and challenging. Now I am fired up for this exam." Naruto cracks his knuckles.

"All these years, I haven't trained for nothing."

Whoosh…

Naruto increases his speed.

"I am also looking forward to this exam. I want to push myself to limit and reach the next level. I want to be as strong as Izuna and Itachi Nii-san." Sasuke clutches his fists as he follows Naruto.

"You guys." Sakura shakes her head in frustration and follows after them.

'I wonder how far would they be able to make it.' Shisui stares at the group from a distance.

'Nii-san just instructed me to keep an eye on them and allow them to do whatever they want without as long as they don't go too far with their shenanigans. I am also interested to see them progress.'

Shisui follows after the group.

Whoosh… whoosh…

The group arrives at gate number twenty-third of the Training Ground Forty-Four.

"This gate is farthest from the gate number one where the jounin is stationed at. It is on the opposite end. We have to quickly enter the Forest before anybody notices us." Sasuke reminds them.

"Sharingan"

He activates his Sharingan and inspect the nearby area.

"I can't see any chakra signatures nearby. Hurry up and enter in the forest."

He deactivates his Sharingan to preserve his chakra.

Swoosh… swoosh…

The group jumps on top of the gate and enters the training ground.

"This place is also called as the Forest of Death. This place serves as a testing ground for the survival and fighting skills of genins who are aiming to become a chunnin. It is a very dangerous place filled with hordes of giant and poisonous flora and fauna. The forest has a radius of ten kilometres and it could be quite deadly, especially during the night."

Sasuke explains the details to the group.

"Wow! Sasuke, you are so knowledgeable." Sakura praises Sasuke.

"It is nothing special. It is common knowledge known to every clan member. I was just surprised by the location of the Forest of Death."

Sasuke shakes his head. The group continues to enter deeper into the forest.

"Man… this place is so dark and creepy." Naruto flicks away a leech from his shoulder.

Swish…

The leech lands on top of Sakura's head and startles her.

Kyaah…

Sakura screams in fear.

Sshhh…

Sasuke immediately places a hand on Sakura's mouth to shut her up.

Rustle… rustle…

A nearby bush rustles as the group quickly hid themselves.

'Sasuke-kun is so close to me.' Inner Sakura pumps her fist in joy.

Naruto takes out his kunai as he prepares for the combat.

Rustle… Rustle…

A nearby bush rustles as a bear jumps out of the bush.

"It's a bear. Leave it to me."

Naruto jumps in front of the group. He makes some hand signs.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"

Naruto takes a deep breath as he infuses a large amount of chakra and stomach and releases it as a gust of strong wind.

Swoosh…

The wind current takes the shape of a hurricane as it slams into the bear.

Boom…

The wind current blows away the bear and uproots nearby trees.

Bang…

The bear slams into a tree and passes out.

"That was easy." Naruto gives a thumb up to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Naruto! You idiot." Sasuke yells at Naruto as he dashes away from his hideout.

"Quick… get out of this area as fast as possible. We have to leave quickly to avoid any chunnin."

"Ah! My bad." Naruto scratches his head as he follows Sasuke and Sakura.

Whoosh… whoosh…

An instant later, a group of chunnin arrives at the area. They inspect the surroundings and notice the unconscious bear and the nearby destruction.

"Looks like the genins this time are really something. Such a powerful wind technique."

One of the chunnin inspects the traces of the wind jutsu.

"Must be those Sand Ninjas. I heard they are quite skilled in Wind Release Techniques."

"Must be them." Another chunnin nods his head in agreement.

"How many participants do you think would pass this stage?" He questions his partner.

"I don't know, but maybe around ten teams." The other chunnin takes a guess.

"Let's make a bet. If I won you will treat me to a dinner in Yakiniku Q and if you win, I will treat you to a dinner." The first chunnin suggests.

"I will take you on that offer. It has been a while since I last ate some free food." The chunnin laughs as makes the bet.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Naruto and the group flickers through the forest.

Hmm…

Naruto hears faint noises from up head. He signals to Sasuke and Sakura with hand signals.

The group slows down and hides in a bush and monitors their surroundings.

Two groups are engaged in combat with each other.

'Sharingan'

Sasuke activates his Sharingan to inspect his surroundings.

"There are no chunnins and jounins nearby." He informs Naruto.

Boom…

A mini explosion occurs in front of them as a small mass of dust and debris rises in the air.

Hmm…

They notice a team from Kiri and Suna engaged with each other.

"Hand over your Scroll quietly and we promise it won't be painful."

One of the Suna ninja slowly walks towards the Kiri shinobi with a giant fan in his hand.

"Don't get so cocky… you Suna scum. We haven't lost yet."

One of the Kiri genin dusts himself as he stands up.

"Eat this." He makes some hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Bullet"

He fires a water bullet at the Suna genin.

Tch…

"Petty tricks."

The Suna Ninja scoffs and swings his giant fan.

"Wind Release: Sand Whirlwind"

He releases a sharp gust of wind using his fan. The gust creates a cloud of dust and forms a whirlwind as it slams into the water bullet.

Boom…

The sand whirlwind tears through the water bullet and slams into the Kiri ninja.

Bang…

The Kiri genin slams into a nearby tree.

Guffaw…

He pukes out a mouthful of blood and passes out.

"Humph… these Kiri rats think that they could win against us." He walks up to the unconscious Kiri ninja and kicks him.

"Hoshio search for the scroll. We need an Earth scroll and we would be set." The Suna ninja with the fan orders his teammate.

"Yes, leader." Another Suna ninja with a puppet searches the body of Kiri ninja.

He takes out a white scroll from their clothes.

"It is a Heaven Scroll same as ours."

Tch…

"All that effort for nothing." The Suna ninja harrumphs.

"Leader… should I?" Hoshio makes a cutthroat gesture.

"Leave it be. Who knows how many of those Konoha chunnins are watching us? I don't want to get disqualified for nothing."

He kicks the unconscious body of Kiri shinobi and walks away.

"Store that scroll with other Heaven scrolls. We don't want others to get their hands on them."

He closes his fan and places it on his shoulder and walks away.

"What a terrible day? We met two teams, both with Heaven Scroll." Hoshio pockets the scroll and follows his leader.

In the nearby bush,

"Hey! There are supposed to be three guys in a team, right? Where is the third one?" Sakura questions them.

"He is there." Sasuke points towards the shadow of Hoshio.

"Where? I can't see him." Sakura tilts her head in confusion.

"Sakura-Chan, it's so obvious. The third guy is a sensor ninja. He is using a secret technique to hide his presence." Naruto remarks.

"I… I can't see him." Sakura hangs her head in depression.

"You can always train and get stronger." Naruto comforts her.

"Izuna Nii-san's hellish training will work its magic." He gives thumbs up to Sakura.

"Uh… why do I feel like that's a bad idea?" Sakura doubtfully stares at Naruto.