Boruto and the rest of his class had been brought out of the village. In front of them were their teachers, behind the teachers was a large forest. Rock Lee Sensei, Anko Sensei, Principal Ebisu and some of the Chunin teachers were all in a row explaining the last exam of their class. 

“You have all passed the written exam over the past week. We are all very proud of you all.” 

Principal Ebisu congratulated them. The Chunin teachers, Rock Lee Sensei and Anko Sensei all clapped for them. 

“After today I hope to call all of you Gennin. The test will be led by Anko Sensei and Rock Lee Sensei. Anko Sensei will explain your objective in the exam.” Principal Ebisu stepped back as Anko Sensei stepped forward. 

“Before we begin I would like to introduce Miss Karin Uzumaki who will help with the exams.”

When Anko Sensei called out the name Karin, Boruto suddenly sensed Chakra behind them. When he looked he saw the twins' mother walking in the space between them. She was wearing a deep red robe with a twisting purple obi around her waist. Red hair went down to her waist seeming to merge with her robe. Her eyes the concentric circles of the Rinnegan. 

Boruto noted how heavy her Chakra felt, like she was being held down by the weight of the world. Boruto had once seen the many seals all over her body. Her arms and her legs had seals all over. Some of the seals were black in standard sealing script and some were gold, in the shape of chains. 

Mizumi had told him to sometimes check on her and he had. Last time he was over she still had trouble with her sight, well she might still have trouble and Boruto wouldn't know. She was the one who taught him how to hone his newly awakened, at the time, sage senses. 

As she walked to the front, Boruto could sense the Nature Energy move along with her. The Chakra, to Boruto’s senses, formed a giant tree behind her. Sometimes Boruto would sense a beast of some sort, but that was when Mizumi’s mother lost control. Boruto had seen her when she had been a little sick, the seals around her arms had been undone. The Nature Energy had seemed to give out a terrible roar. To Boruto's senses the image had been so vivid that he had almost seen a beast thrashing about, its singular eye socket blinded and bleeding. 

She got to the front of the clearing and greeted the teachers. She then turned around and acknowledged the class with a knod. 

“Miss Karin will be helping us with keeping you safe, and providing some challenges. The objective of your exercise is to deliver a scroll to the middle of the forest. This exercise was once used in the Chunin exams of the past, but unlike that exercise your scrolls will be given to you outright. You only need to deliver your one scroll, you may team up at your leisure. You will be able to look at a map of where our Chunin teachers will be located in the forest. You may use lethal force, but remember that any action in the forest will go towards your final score.”

When Anko Sensei finished talking, the Chunin teachers brought out a table with scrolls on it. A board with a covering was also put at the front. Mizumi’s mother brought out paper tags with Rinnegan symbols at their centre. She also brought out a giant scroll out of her sleeve and unrolled it on the ground. 

Boruto wondered how it had fit in her sleeve, but then thought it was not all that important. The unrolled scroll had what Boruto recognised as summoning text.

“You will come forward in alphabetical order to pick up a scroll and have the tag sealed into your arm. The tag is for your protection, so do not, and I repeat, do not try to compromise the seal. Any perceived interference will be met with immediate disqualification. If you try to interfere with another student’s seal, you will be disqualified.” Anko Sensei looked around the room more serious than Boruto had ever seen her. 

“After you collect your scroll and tag, you will be given a minute to look at the map then you will go into the forest.” Anko Sensei said after a pause and pointed at the covered board. 

When it was Boruto’s turn he went forward and took a scroll. He held out his arm to Mizumi’s mother, who sank the tag into his arm. Boruto smile at her to say hello, she smiled back, her hand almost moved to his head but she caught herself back. Boruto intently looked at her eyes, he thought that maybe if he looked hard enough he could tell if her sight was troubling her. Of course he couldn't. He went back to stand with the other students. 

After everyone was done with collecting scrolls and tags, Rock Lee Sensei stood next to the board with a timer in her hand. 

“Alright, after I remove the covering, you will have Sixty seconds!” Rock Lee Sensei said, immediately removing the covering afterwards. 

After Rock Lee Sensei removed the covering Boruto did his best to remember the map. The forest was almost circular, the positions of the Chunin teachers were as random as anything Boruto had ever seen. He quickly made multiple routes to the centre in his mind and disregarded those he did not feel were viable. He used Yin Transformation to solidify the images in his mind with all their landmarks and the position of the Chunin teachers. 

“ALRIGHT, time to show the power of your YOUTH.” Rock Lee Sensei said kicking off the exams. 

Boruto and the rest of the class rushed into the forest. When they got into the forest and couldn't see the teachers, the teachers also moved into the forest to their positions. 

“Miss Karin, how are you going to keep tabs on them?” Anko said, looking at Rock Lee rush into the forest. 

“My senses are enough, the tags will allow me to pretty much see them. Although, it would be unfair if the teachers were using that information.”

“Yeah, that's what I wanted to know. We don't want to use one way information collection. The students have to at least have the ability to avoid detection.” Anko said. 

Karin molded her Chakra for a bit and activated her Rinnegan. She folded one of her sleeves and slammed her hand into the ground. Numerous creatures ranging from birds, lizards, dogs and cats came out of her summoning, all of them having the Rinnegan. 

“This should be enough.” Karin said with a tired tone. She seemed to have trouble getting up. 

“Yeah, thank you. Will you be okay?” Anko said turning to the forest. 

“Yeah, I'll be fine. We Uzumaki are sturdy if nothing else.” Karin said standing upright. 

Anko Sensei jumped into the forest when she heard that. Karin was left alone in the clearing. When she thought about the toll it would have on her, she didn't want to be connected to the Seal inside her, but the work today required the Rinnegan. At least she could look at the new generation. She smiled when she thought about that boy who became friends with her children despite their circumstances. 

When Boruto got into the forest he used a shadow clone Jutsu to scatter his scent and tracks. When the Shadow clones popped he got a lay of his surroundings. When he was deep in the forest he used a Yin Transformation Jutsu to merge his aura with the woods, this made his scent become that of the forest. He then used his understanding of Senjutsu to read the Nature Energy of the forest. When his senses became one with the forest, when he felt the breath of the forest, he then disengaged and tried to remember the map. 

Although the teachers had not explicitly said it, the form they had taken home had said the outing could last for five days. Boruto had to decide on a shelter. He was not confident in rushing to the middle of the forest without rest, when the Chunin teachers were positioned in the forest. He had prepared food, water and tools within sealing scrolls so he had that taken care of.

Boruto took off his shoes and took out another special pair. These shoes had a soft outer layer, with the inner layer of protective padding in the shape of an animal print. He ran his hand over his jacket, the jacket transformed to resemble the colours of the forest. He put his hand in the inner pocket and produced a bandana which he used to hide his blond hair. In any other situation he would not be so meticulous, but when he thought about the various Jutsu that the Chunin teachers could have, he made sure to cover all his bases. After he had changed his look he moved through the forest trying his best to be quiet. 

He moved avoiding twigs, branches and leaves. He went for soft soil and rocks while avoiding sand. He went under trees where he could and coated himself in Yin Transformation Chakra, mimicking his surroundings, when it was particularly open to the sky. 

All the while as Boruto moved through the forest he thought about Sarada. He sometimes wanted to head in her direction so they could do the exercise together. In fact he sometimes found himself talking to Himawari or his mother in his head. Whenever he made a mistake in moving through the forest he could hear his Mom or Dad telling him to relax and remember his training. 

It was just when he was trying to summon some water to drink. He felt the aura of the forest become disrupted. The harmony of his pocket of the forest was suddenly shifted. He immediately clung to the tree behind him, then he used transformation Jutsu to make himself akin to the bark of the tree. He then shielded his Chakra with the Nature Energy of the forest. 

He stayed that way until what he identified as the disturbance had come into his line of sight. When he looked towards the disturbance he saw a giant brown dog with a Chakra rod in its head. When he looked closer he saw that it had a Rinnegan. For a moment he felt fear, then when he felt it's Chakra he felt relief. The heaviness. He could tell that was Mizumi’s mother. 

He stayed in that position, not moving at all. When he stretched out his senses to the beast he noticed that somehow it felt like it was smiling. When he looked again he saw that it was not in fact smiling, Mizumi's mother was probably the one smiling, wherever she was. Boruto almost stepped out of his transformation Jutsu, but then he remembered the tags. While still shielding his Chakra in Nature Energy he used Yin Transformation to paint an image of himself smiling back, he then sent the image into the tag. The dog looked at him one last time, then it walked away. He had confirmed that Mizumi's mother had some kind of awareness through those tags. 

When he felt the harmony of the forest restored, he canceled his transformation Jutsu. He then sat down to recover his Chakra. Although he had not used much of his Chakra, the exercise in the forest demanded him to recover his Chakra every chance he got. 

As he was again moving through the forest he felt the Nature energy hiss. It was a quiet kind of scream. It could almost form an image of an Eight headed Snake screaming into the sky. 

‘Mitsuki!’ Boruto quietly thought.

Boruto coated his palms and feet with loose Chakra. He made sure to weave it to be as quiet as possible. It formed around his hands like the soft paws of a cat, on his legs it enhanced the shoes he was already wearing. On all fours he bounded from tree to tree. If he was not trying to be quiet he would have used the ninja run. 

As he rushed through the forest he asked himself if he should really involve himself in what seemed like a large battle. He really didn't have to go there, all he had to do was finish his mission. All he had to do was go to the centre of the forest and deliver his success. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had always wanted to see it, Mitsuki going at full power. Although he didn't think Mitsuki would be using his full perfect Snake Sage Mode, with the scale of the movement of Nature energy, he was definitely using it to some extent. 

Even as he was some fifty metres away, he was already shielding his Chakra with Nature energy. When he remembered he was dealing with a perfect Sage in Mitsuki, he then used a combination of Yin and Yang transformation to submudge his Chakra into his inner realm. It could be seen as a sealing Jutsu, but in this case it was temporary, and controlled by his intent. It was the most complex application of Chakra he had come up with, though Kurama Sensei had helped him perfect it. After doing so the Chakra on his hands almost disappeared, all that was left was a thin membrane. His thoughts felt more sluggish, while his body felt heavier. He disregarded his condition and moved more carefully towards the battle.  

When he got to the clearing Mitsuki’s golden eyes were slitted, his pale skin was even paler, on his round face, under his eyes, were purple teardrop like Sage marks. On his forehead the purple Sage marks formed scales that themselves formed a widow’s peak. On the other side was a Chunin teacher, his jacket ripped diagonally across his chest. His brow was sweating, while his glasses were drooping a little. 

Boruto used a transformation Jutsu with the rest of his still unsubmerged Chakra. His presence totally disappeared from the senses of the players in this conflict. Mitsuki looked in his direction with a look of doubt, but Boruto knew in this state the chances of him sensing his were slim. Although his Sage intuition may inform him he is being watched. Boruto cleared his mind of all his emotions so that that intuition would have nowhere to latch on and watched the conflict. He was relieved when Mitsuki turned around to his opponent. 

“If you put more effort into hiding I might have let you pass, but with how you were disregarding us Chunin I have to stop you.” Sensei Kazami said, smiling wryly. 

“With how weak you are, shouldn't it be you hiding from me?” Mitsuki answered with a smile that Boruto instantly hated. 

“Heh… is that so. Well no matter how weak I am, this should be akin to enemy territory to you. You are not stronger than Rock Lee Sensei or Anko Sensei.” Sensei Kazami said, repositioning his shades. 

“Are you sure about them being stronger than me? I would think someone as weak as you wouldn't be able to tell.” Mitsuki said. 

Boruto noticed the nature energy becoming more agitated as Mitsuki seemed ready to attack. 

“I might be weak, but you are as inexperienced to me as I am weak to you.” Sensei Kazami seemed to notice Mitsuki’s intent to attack. 

As soon as he said that, the tree behind him bent its branches to ensnare him. Just when he jumped to another tree it also bent its leaves to ensnare him too. He jumped to the ground to avoid the trees, but the ground grew spikes to impale him. 

“You see, I don't really have to move in order to corner you. You really should've acted like you didn't see me.”

Boruto was honestly starting to hate Mitsuki. With Mitsuki using perfect Sage mode, he really should just knock out the teacher and move on, but he seemed intent on embarrassing the teacher. He was infusing Senjutsu into the forest to attack the teacher when he could just use his physical prowess to knock him out. 

 “You really are so very useless. I can just see you getting your team killed because of your want for play. How would you know, if you meet a Shinobi like me on a mission, that I don't have backup, which might be more powerful than you.”

 Sensei Kazami said, still smiling. He jumped around the forest not staying in the same place long enough to be impaled by the ground or be ensnared by the trees. Boruto saw that Sensei Kazami had hit a nerve. Mitsuki’s smile almost faltered while his attacks intensified. 

“I could use a flare to inform our Jonin of your position, alternatively I could just plant paper bombs all over the forest and create a crater to fight you in and make a commotion. I could just walk away and tell the examiner you are a danger to yourself and your future team, to stall you from becoming Gennin.” 

Sensei Kazami said, sounding more and more smug. Boruto himself would never have advised him to do that. With every scenario Sensei Kazami said, Mitsuki’s smile fell more and more, with the last one making Mitsuki’s face completely expressionless. 

“Even if I don't do all that, I am scoring your test right now, and I must say you are so very disappointing.” 

Boruto became very afraid for Sensei Kazami. Although he agreed a little with what Sensei Kazami said, the reaction from Mitsuki’s Senjutsu Chakra made Boruto want to retreat. Boruto could feel as if a great Snake, hundreds of metres long, had brought its attention to this part of the forest. Mitsuki attacked Sensei himself. 

Sensei Kazami was stronger than Boruto expected. He was able to exchange blows with Mitsuki while defending himself from the animated forest. Snakes came out of Mitsuki’s sleeves only to be pierced by Shuriken. 

“Earth Release: Earth Spear.”

Sensei Kazami’s arms turned darker making him able to break the spikes coming out of the ground. Boruto felt like something was strange with the fight. Although Sensei Kazami was stronger than Boruto thought, he was not strong enough to go against Boruto’s estimates of what a perfect Sage should be. To Boruto, Mitsuki should be able to punch through Sensei Kazami’s Jutsu, he should have knocked him out at this point. 

Boruto retrieved some Chakra from its submerged state. He immediately used Yin Transformation with that little Chakra before it could be sensed. He sent the image of the battle to the tag on his arm. He felt like with how Mitsuki was fighting, he was just hiding his fangs to deal Sensei Kazami a lethal blow. He had seen that Mizumi's mother was connected to the tags, so maybe she would be notified of what is going on here with his message. 

Just as Boruto had done that Mitsuki and Sensei Kazami had an intense exchange that ended with Sensei Kazami’s hand grasped in Mitsuki’s hand. When Sensei Kazami brought his left hand with a kunai to cut Mitsuki’s hand, a pale snake had already crawled out of Mitsuki's sleeve to wrap around him. 

“As I said, you are so very weak. All of you, at least the kids my age have an excuse, what is yours?” Mitsuki said not smiling this time. 

“Oh yeah. Well my excuse is that I am a clone.” Kazumi Sensei’s shadow clone popped. 

When Boruto looked towards were he could sense Kazumi Sensei’s Chakra again, he saw him with a hand on an unfurled scroll, with rods surrounding him. 

“You truly believe I have not seen a Sage in action before?” Kazami Sensei said, seeming to activate the scroll. 

Boruto felt the Senjutsu Chakra leetch out of the ground. It went towards Kazami Sensei and into his scroll until the forest was not animated anymore. The scroll almost took the Nature Energy Boruto was using to mask himself, but since it seemed that it only drew in Senjutsu Chakra, it seemed Boruto was safe. 

“Like I said, to me you are so very inexperienced.” 

Kazami Sensei said, stepping out of the circle of rods. Boruto felt Mitsuki try to infuse more Senjutsu into the ground, but all of it was drawn into the rods, and then into the scroll. Mitsuki gave up and drew his Senjutsu Chakra back into his body. 

“So what, you are still so very weak, if I wanted to I could destroy your setup from here.” Mitsuki said, mimicking Kazami Sensei’s tone. 

“Heh… and notify the whole forest where you are. Go ahead, I want to see what you can do to Rock Lee Sensei or Anko Sensei.” 

Kazami Sensei sounded even more smug. He repositioned his shades again, the tear that was on his Chunin vest had gone. Boruto had not known that from when he got here Kazami Sensei had been using a shadow clone. 

“Maybe I will.”

Mitsuki attacked with a new intensity. Boruto saw that Kazami Sensei was a little bit stronger than before, but Boruto could only see him losing. 

Mitsuki sometimes attacked Kazumi Sensei’s set up, but Kazumi Sensei defended it as best as he could. When Mitsuki sent snakes to destroy the setup, Kazumi Sensei sent shadow clones to defend it. 

“Earth Release: Mud wall.”

Kazumi Sensei's clone said after piercing the snake's with kunai. After making the wall to surround the setup the clone disappeared. 

“Show me how you will destroy my setup.”

Kazumi Sensei seemed to be having fun. Mitsuki was getting angrier and angrier. His face was totally expressionless at this time. 

“You know what you've convinced me, I'll just leave you be then.” Mitsuki said with a sunny smile. 

“Oh… how did you become convinced? I thought you wanted to incapacitate me to show you didn't overestimate your abilities. If you are giving up, at least have the grace to admit that you are a whiny little brat who is too caught up in his power.” Kazami Sensei took out a kunai and spun it in his hand. 

“Do you want me to show you how weak you really are?” Mitsuki's smile was short-lived.

“No, I want you to show me you are a level headed student capable of being in a Jonin squad.” Kazami Sensei said, positioning his shades with his right hand, his left still playing with the kunai. 

Mitsuki attacked again, picking up the pace even more. This time snakes would shoot out of his arms every time he got close enough to grapple with Kazumi Sensei. Kazumi Sensei defended as best as he could but this time he was out matched. It looked like Mitsuki was going to incapacitate him very quickly. 

When Naruto thought that he would be defeated, Kazami Sensei jumped back into the circle. Mitsuki stopped just before he entered the circle. 

“If you think I am trying to lure you into this you would be half right.” Kazami Sensei put his hand over the scroll and brought out a staff. 

“I don't believe your little setup has offensive abilities.” Mitsuki said, jumping into the circle.

Kazami Sensei intercepted him mid air, the staff meeting Mitsuki’s fist. Kazami Sensei fought like a different person, the staff spun in his hands with a fluidity that Boruto had not seen so far. When Kazami Sensei intercepted a kick from Mitsuki one more time, Mitsuki put distance between them.

“Your staff, it's attacking my Senjutsu?”

When Boruto felt the Senjutsu around Mitsuki sure enough it was not as overwhelming as before. Although Mitsuki’s Chakra was still as powerful as before, his connection with nature energy seemed weaker somehow. The staff seemed to be absorbing the Nature energy around Mitsuki, maybe even within his Chakra. 

“It's not very useful in a fight with Shinobi of my own caliber who could use shadow clones and Ninjutsu to keep me at bay, but for little brats who are dependent on their gifts it's enough.” 

“No, the actual work is done by the setup behind you. You left the weapon in the scroll to connect it to the setup, and to let the scroll decipher my Senjutsu.” 

Mitsuki looked at his hand, there was a small bruise on the top of his fist. The bruise healed as Boruto was looking, the Nature Energy that had been disrupted flowed back into Mitsuki, bringing his Senjutsu into balance. 

“The longer the setup is active the better it can disrupt my Senjutsu. You have proven yourself to be quite the problem, not enough for me to worry, but a problem nonetheless.” 

Mitsuki summoned a red snake with a purple belly behind him. The snake then opened its mouth and Mitsuki pulled out a sword out of its open mouth. Its pommel was black, wrapped in white with a golden handguard. It had a blue gem embedded at where the pommel met the blade. Mitsuki then attacked Kazami Sensei again, this time with the sword. The rod not being able to touch Mitsuki had little to no influence on his Senjutsu. The snake disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

Just when the exchange was heating up, Boruto saw the red snake's head pop out of the ground next to Kazami Sensei's setup. A pale hand then extended out of the snake, with Mitsuki crawling out a little later. It was in Kazami Sensei’s blind spot, but a little bit later when Mitsuki was almost completely out Kazami Sensei saw. He used shadow clone Jutsu to produce two shadow clones that occupied Mitsuki and rushed to the circle. 

When Mitsuki saw how quickly he rushed to his clone he smiled. Just when Sensei engaged with his clone, two snakes he had produced earlier in the fight came out of the ground and entangled the legs of Sensei's shadow clones. Mitsuki then cut them apart with his sword and rushed to the circle. Kazami Sensei tried to disengage from Mitsuki’s clone but the snake summon helped the clone keep the teacher there. 

Just when Mitsuki got into the circle a clone popped out of the ground and cut his robes. It took a scroll and threw it over to Kazami Sensei, Mitsuki cut it apart with a sword just as it threw the scroll. 

“Seal Release!”

When the scroll landed in Kazami Sensei’s hand his finger formed a hand seal with his right hand as his staff blocked both Mitsuki’s clone and summon. 

When Mitsuki realised what had happened and tried to rush to Sensei the scroll it the middle of the setup released the Senjutsu Chakra all a once causing strong pressure that stopped him where he was. Kazami Sensei let the pressure blow him away disengaging his from both the clone and the summoning. He landed on a branch on which he stood and threw the scroll up and down. 

“See, I told you you were inexperienced.” Kazami Sensei said as he repositioned his shades that had almost fallen because of him being blown away. 

The scroll was the one they were supposed to deliver to the middle of the forest. Boruto wondered how Mitsuki was going to get it back. He had been outplayed this time. Mitsuki dismissed both the clone and the red snake. 

“Heh… heh heh heh. You have truly made me see the depths of your experience. Congratulations.” Mitsuki smiled sinisterly. 

“Let me show you the depths of your weaknesses.”

Boruto felt the Nature Energy around Mitsuki coil as if it was a snake readying to strike. Killing intent bled into the air like something released from an ancient cave. Just when Kazami Sensei tried to retreat, an illusory snake tail appeared behind Mitsuki. He spun it and the whole forest was demolished. The tree Boruto had been hiding on was cut too, but fortunately he was not in the direction of Kazami Sensei, so Mitsuki didn't use all his power in destroying the larger pieces of wood. 

When the dust settled Boruto saw that Mitsuki held Kazami Sensei by the neck with another holding the hand that held the scroll. Kazami Sensei let go of the scroll which Mitsuki took. Mitsuki let go of his hand and took the scroll, still holding Kazami Sensei by the neck. 

“You see, you really are weak. Even when I gave you the opportunity to retreat you still aggravated me again and again despite being so weak.”

 

When Boruto looked at Mitsuki his eyes were that of a snake, lacking the whites of a human, and instead being all golden with slits in the middle. The scales forming the widow’s peak had covered his whole head. His words came out as a hiss. 

“You are so weak, so small, I could just swallow you up.”

His mouth opened wider, like that of a snake. His voice sounded more sinister. His tongue extended out of his mouth coming close to Kazami Sensei’s face. Kazami Sensei tried to speak but Mitsuki squeezed his neck harder. 

Just as Boruto wondered if he should intervene he felt the forest stir. The leaves and broken twigs were stirred up as if in a hurricane. 

“If you won you really should just take the victory. Maliciously harming your opponent is not something youths like you should do.”

Rock Lee Sensei appeared next to Mitsuki, wearing his green overalls with a hand on Mitsuki’s neck. Boruto thought that maybe Rock Lee Sensei had put a Sealing tag on Mitsuki as he seemed to be cut off from Nature Energy. 

The snake-like features retreated from Mitsuki and he let go of Kazami Sensei and got up and dusted himself off. His Sage mode also retreated until he looked like he normally did. 

“I am sorry Kazami Sensei. Sorry Rock Lee Sensei, I lost myself there.” 

Mitsuki bowed to the two of them. He seemed to be dejected.

“You really should head off, we'll see what to do with you later, like Anko Sensei said, your actions have been noted for your final score.”

Mitsuki almost wanted to protest, but when he looked around the forest, he just turned around and headed off. 

Rock Lee Sensei sent him off until it was only him and Kazami Sensei over there. Boruto still hid in the fallen tree. 

“That was so embarrassing.” Kazami Sensei said just laying there. 

“I told you the kids were powerful, you really should apply for the Jonin exam before the kids become Chunin and catch up with you.” 

Rock Lee Sensei said before helping him up. After helping him up they both headed away from the clearing, before going, Rock Lee Sensei looked towards Boruto’s hiding place.