“Well, it doesn’t look like they are arrogant.” Kakashi couldn’t help but speak. After all, one of them was his student.

Hearing his words, everyone stared at him with a deadly gaze, saying, ‘Do you think we are that easy to fool?’

“Ahem! Menma is extremely intelligent so he must have found out the information about what Guy’s father did.”

Genma couldn’t help but support Kakashi. Just like Kakashi, he was also in the same position but unlike Kakashi, he didn’t feel ashamed. After all, he still remembers when he was saved by Might Dai.

If it wasn’t for Guy’s father, he wasn’t sure if he could make it out alive that day. No, he was sure that he, Esobi, and Guy would’ve died that day.

“Alright! Let’s not talk about that. It seems like the first exam is finally ending.” Suddenly, Hiruzen spoke as he broke the silence in the office.

…………………

“Are you sure you want to proceed? This is my final warning.” Ibiki stared at the crowd with a serious expression but it didn’t faze anyone.

Everyone seemed to be excited about the next test.

Slowly, a smile formed on his mouth as he continued.

“Then, I declare everyone who stayed behind has officially passed the first exam.”

Huh?????

Suddenly, everyone froze for a moment and stared at him in confusion. Only then Ibiki continued to explain the reasons behind all the tests.

Crack!

The glass window broke and a figure jumped in.

“Everyone who passed the test, follow me for the second test!”

……………..

After a long silence, Anko realized the situation and her face turned red in embarrassment.

“You came too early.”

Ibiki broke the silence as he rolled his eyes.

“Ahem! Anyway, you left too many teams for the second exam. Did you go easy on them?” Anko tried to change the topic as soon as she found it even more embarrassing.

Ibiki rolled his eyes and said.

“I didn’t go easy on them. It’s just that this time we have some unexpected genins.”

“Is that so? It doesn’t matter. It will decrease by half in the second exam.” Anko mysteriously smiled. But her smile was more like a devil’s smile in their eyes.

“Alright, now follow me!”

Saying so, Anko left with the participants. When everyone left, Ibiki started collecting the exam papers from all students. He specifically focused on the exam papers of Naruto and Menma.

Naruto didn’t write a lot but this time when he saw those answers, he immediately concluded that those answers were wrong.

On the other hand, when he checked Menma’s answers, he found every single one of them was correct. He didn’t skip a single answer and more importantly, every answer was correct.

“Hehe! Zero versus hundred. It seems like this Chunin is going to be something to look forward to.” Ibiki chuckled as he collected all the papers and walked out of the exam hall.

……………

Death forest,

Everyone who passed the first exam stood in front of the Death Forest. Anko had already finished explaining the rules and basically, there weren’t any rules.

They had to sign a life and death contract which states that if they die inside the forest, the village won’t be responsible for their death.

Because Menma had to work alone, he was given a different scroll than his team but just like them, he had to get the opposite scroll.

He exactly got Earth Scroll and his Team Thirteen had Heaven Scroll. After discussing with each other for a moment, they finally moved toward the Death Forest while moving separately.

‘Hmmm! So, I need to get the Heaven Scroll. Should I try to fight Orochimaru?’

Actually, Menma was extremely excited to test his limits. After growing his strength in these two years, he has no idea just how strong he truly is.

Although he wasn’t sure he could truly defeat Orochimaru, he wanted to know just where exactly he stands.

‘Well, I do have Flying Thunder God. As long as I want to leave, there is no one who can stop me. Alright! It’s decided. But for now….’

When he thought about it, a strange smile appeared on his face. Whenever he thinks about it, he didn’t know how to describe his mood. After thinking for a moment, Menma clicks his tongue and muttered.

“Alright, Lord Fourth! I will be taking your path once again.”

Saying so, he instantly moves toward the forest and disappears into the woods. Because he already had something in his mind, he didn’t try to search for other teams.

“Hey, give me your hand! Quick.”

Somewhere far from Menma’s position,

A young man pulled a girl’s arm and started biting her. When he took a bite, the wound on his body started healing. It healed so fast that it was incredible at first.

“Come on, what are you standing there for? Let’s leave!” Another young man shouted from afar.

But just when they were talking, a loud sound emerged from the back.

Bang!

Three of them turned around.

“No! Shit, this is a Black Bear that even Chunin can barely handle. Let’s leave right now.”

The young man panicked and shouted at his partner. But, from his looks, he seemed to be talking to the young man only.

The young man who was also scared hurriedly pushed away the young girl toward the bear and ran away.

“No, no!”

The young girl’s eyes changed as she tried to stand up and run. She was almost on the verge of crying. Although she knew they were ruthless, she didn’t expect they would simply throw her toward them when she had been saving them all this way.

Roar!

The Black Bear let out a powerful roar and raised his claw. The young girl who was beneath that claw also saw her death coming. At this moment, she suddenly found peace.

‘If I die right now, I won’t be tortured ever again right?’

She asked this question and slowly closed her eyes. She didn’t know why but all that panic and fear inside her vanished.

Unlike in the original where she was far away from the bear, she no longer saw any hope of survival. With that, she finally decided to give up on herself.

After all, if she dies here, she would be relieved even more.

But when she thought of bear paw’ it didn’t land on her. She didn’t feel any pain but she felt a strange touch on her body.

Before this, she only felt someone strangling her or biting her. But this time, she only felt a smooth touch on her body as if she was being taken care of by someone.

“Although living in this world is harsh, as long as you don’t give up, you will find freedom one day. So, there is no need to hurry for death, right?”

Some soft words entered her ears and she involuntarily opened her eyes in shock. She found a man with black hair and a handsome face looking at her with a gentle smile on his face.

“Who are you?”

The girl shuttered a bit as she asked. She had completely forgotten the bear. She couldn’t believe that she was saved and the person who saved her was a handsome man.

“Before we introduce each other, let’s solve it first.”

Menma didn’t hurry to answer. But rather, he puts her down and throws the Kunai at the bear. Seeing him throwing a Kunai at the bear, she was confused.

Can Kunai kill that bear?

If it was possible, her teammates wouldn’t have left. But she got even more confused when the Kunai missed the bear. It was instead above the bear.

But Menma who was next to her suddenly disappeared and appeared above the bear.

Chakra flowed through his arms and was stagnant at this hand. He clenched his fist and smashed it on the top of his head.

Bang!

At the same time, he caught the kunai in his hand and disappeared once again. He appeared next to the young girl.

“Hello!”

Menma puts his hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

“What?”

The young girl jumped up in fright. She didn’t understand what just happened. In her eyes, Menma suddenly appeared above the bear and smashed its head, and then now he was standing next to her.

She didn’t know what was happening.

“Calm down! My name is Menma. What’s yours?” Although he already knew her name and also saved her because he knew her, he still had to pretend that he didn’t know her.

“Uh— My name is Karin. Thank you for saving me!” Karin finally calmed down a bit and replied. She bowed her head to show her respect. At the same time, her hands were fidgeting.

She was extremely afraid. After all, she lived her entire life in fear so just because Menma saved her doesn’t mean she could overcome her fear.

“There is no need to be afraid of me. I saved you because you seemed to be from the same clan as my best friend/rival.”