BSWS CH-36 The Chunin Exams IV - Survival in Forest

The next day all of them gathered at the 44th Battle Training Zone which was decided as the location for the second phase of the Chunin Exams. It was also known as the Forest of Death for pretty obvious reasons. It was a full-blown survival test on steroids in there. Everything in the Forest of Death had a possibility to kill you.

Sakura had made sure to pack enough supplies in her scrolls to survive a full battle, let alone the Second phase of the exam. Gato's wealth was really useful in times like these. Weapons, pills, rations, medicine, Fuinjutsu materials, trap making materials, you name it and she had it. She had kept all scrolls neatly arranged on hidden bands on her inner vest, armbands, and leg bands.

As everyone assembled in front of the Test Location, Sakura attached chakra signatures to various people she had kept in mind. There was of course the Sand Trio because they had to avoid meeting them right now. Then there was the Rookie 9 and Team Guy, who she planned to help out where possible.

She also marked Kabuto's team as she wanted to avoid them spying on Sasuke. Finally, there were the Two Teams from Kusagakure she had a special eye on. One of them contained the Second Uzumaki Clan member she had met ever, Karin Uzumaki.

She wanted to save Karin and make her defect to Konoha, where she had one of her last clan members to be with. She knew that Naruto would protect Karin with everything he had once he gets to know she is family.

For her plan to go well, she had to save Karin in the time of her peak distress so that she would listen to her without question. It felt bad to take advantage of Karin's good nature like that, but it was the only way Karin would listen to her without a fuss.

She could not let Sasuke do it this time, as she was not sure Sasuke would properly take care of Karin and her feelings. Also, getting Karin to Konoha could help out with a lot of troubles in the future, especially if she is trained to her best possible state and is able to unleash her full Uzumaki Bloodline.

Finally, the other Kusagakure team, which posed as much risk to her as the Sand Trio. That was because the members of the team were already dead and were replaced by the Snake Sannin and his minions.

She was sure of the replacement as she had specifically left a chakra signature on the original team and it was no longer present. Also, while the Snake Sannin himself was disguised impeccably, his minion's disguise was seen through by Sakura's chakra sense.

Sakura clenched her hands in determination as she glanced at the Snake Sannin from the corner of her eye. As long as she had even a trace of power in her body, she would fight the Sannin and not let him take away Sasuke's free will from him.

"Alright, everyone!! Listen Up!!" Anko said after they had gathered everyone "This is the Forest of Death and is rightly named so. There is danger on every step and even the most harmless-looking flower can possibly be the cause of your death. I have no doubt that I will be seeing some corpses at the very least by the end of this test."

"Now, before we begin the examination process, I have something to give you all," Anko said as she took out a stack of forms.

"These are basic consent forms. They will absolve the Leaf from any responsibility towards deaths caused in the duration of the test. I want you to read them carefully and sign it, that is of course if you still have the intention to give the test at the risk of your lives."

"Now, As you read the forms, I will explain what you will be doing on the test. First of all, this test is basically a survival test. So you have to do everything you can to survive in there."

"Next, I will give you basic information on the location of Geography of the 44th Battle Training Grounds," Anko said as she unfurled a map of the training grounds. Sakura immediately asked UTS to scan and make a copy of it.

"44th Battle Training Grounds has 44 locked Entrance gates. Each of the teams will be entering from a different gate. There are rivers, forests, and all sorts of deadly plants, insects, birds, and animals inside. In the center of the 44th Battle Training Grounds is a Locked Tower. This tower is exactly ten kilometers from each gate."

"Now, as for the contents of the test… You will undergo an 'Anything Goes Scroll Battle'." Anko said as she took out two different colored scrolls.

"These are the two types of scrolls which will be used in this test, named Heaven and Earth scrolls respectively. Each team will be given a scroll of a single type to protect. To pass the test, you have to find and battle a team that is the owner of a different type of scroll than you."

"You have to defeat them, take their scroll to complete a Heaven and Earth set, and survive long enough to reach the Tower, where you will open both the scrolls together."

"As you can see from the description of the test, its results will cut down the number of teams by at least by half. It could even be more than half if things go really well, or really wrong, depending on your perspective and philosophical bent of mind."

"Now mind you, if you open one or both scrolls at any other point in time or try to cheat by faking the scroll or copying its contents, the result will not be something you like. You have been warned." Anko said grimly with an evil smile "Oh and I almost forgot to tell you all … This test has a time limit of 5 Days. So do your best to survive."

'Ah, I just got an idea.' Sakura thought with a smile 'UTS, scan both scrolls for their shape size and appearance to the most minute details.'

UTS was incredibly helpful in times like these. While it had no heaven-defying and logic ignoring functions like shop system or granting her bloodlines, artifacts and skills from scratch, It could scan and record things better than Byakugan and Sharingan.

It could also store a near-infinite amount of information, which she abused greatly by having used her spare time to scan all kinds of books and scrolls about various knowledge.

But most importantly, it allowed her to improve her skills as a Shinobi with a terrifying pace by transmitting Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Fuinjutsu, and all other techniques related to a Shinobi directly to her mind.

This allowed her to use the said knowledge as if it had come from her mind in the first place. This was the perfect system to accompany a Shinobi and its efficiency would make Iron Man's JARVIS envious.

Anko enlightened them with a bunch of other rules about survival, disqualification, and goals behind the test. After that, every team was called in turn to the open shed placed at the gathering point.

Here they all had to submit their consent forms in exchange for the scroll their team had to protect and getting an entrance gate assigned to their team.

Sakura once again placed a specific form of chakra signature on each Heaven and Earth scroll subtly to track them and their owners. Everyone then moved to the respective entrance gates assigned to their teams along with a sentinel to watch their entry time.

When it was the time of entrance to precisely the correct second Anko begun her announcement, "Alright then, It is time you maggots!! The Second Phase of the Chunin Exams has begun!!!"

Following her announcement, all the participating teams rushed in like streaks of light, each with their own plans for making it through.

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Author Speaks:

Hi Guys.

So, a lot of you had been wondering about what Sakura's system is capable of. my initial idea was to keep it vague, similar to how Sharingan's history was in the course of Naruto anime.

First, it was just eyesight enhancing and jutsu memorizing type ye power. but slowly they introduced more and more additions to the Sharingan until it was at the point we know today.

That was similar to how I wanted to develop the system, keep introducing new but subtle powers as Sakura grows stronger.

But I decided to give a brief overview of how Sakura's system, the UTS or Ultimate Training System, works so that there will be less confusion in the midst of my chapters.

Hope you guys like it, and as always, thank you for the support and helpful comments. Keep supporting me and give me better and more helpful comments so that I can give you all the best possible content.