In the spacious first-floor lobby, the genin teams from every village lined up in long rows, submitting to Root's strict body searches.
The second stage was a live combat trial with real danger involved, one that could very well get people killed. Anyone who wanted to participate had to sign a liability waiver first.
The examinees who had made it through the written test all had plenty of resolve. At the very least, every last one of them signed the life-and-death waiver without hesitation. That was probably because none of them yet understood just how brutal the next stage would be.
"You're taking this too?"
"Of course."
Omoi covered the inner pocket of his jacket, but Anko refused to budge. In the end, he had no choice but to take out the large handful of lollipops stuffed inside and hand them over with obvious reluctance.
Anko, carefree as ever, was not the least bit worried they might be poisoned. She casually unwrapped one and popped it into her mouth. With one cheek puffed out, she warned the genin still waiting for inspection behind him.
"You'd better cooperate.
Food, water, medicine, bandages, soldier pills. Even a single piece of candy has to be handed over. If we find you hiding anything, you'll be eliminated on the spot according to the rules."
As the inspection grew more and more thorough, a number of examinees farther back in line exchanged glances and silently took hidden bandages out of their sealed scrolls. Some of the Sand shinobi even started pulling out bottle after bottle of drinking water.
For shinobi who had grown up in endless desert, it was hard not to stockpile a little water whenever they found themselves somewhere as abundant as Konoha. They had never imagined the inspection would be this strict, to the point that they could not even take water into the exam zone.
They should have left it all in the dormitory.
Temari and Kankuro silently regretted it, but all they could do was watch as the ANBU confiscated the clean water bottle by bottle.
Gaara, meanwhile, was calmly thinking through the rules of this stage.
Ever since entering Konoha, the monster raging inside him had stayed unusually quiet. On top of that, there was no constant threat of sudden assassination here, so his emotional state was far more stable than usual.
He could not help glancing toward the silver-haired girl in Konoha's group. Perhaps, once they conquered Konoha, he could bring her back to Sunagakure.
At the same time, Shikamaru, watching as supplies piled up in confiscated heaps, handed over the medicine his clan had prepared and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
The rules of an exam always revealed part of the exam itself. During the written test, getting caught cheating only cost two points, which had clearly encouraged people to cheat. This time, food and medical supplies were being restricted with equal severity. That obviously meant the exam was limiting the amount of supplies each team could possess.
So was the key to this stage supplies?
A fight over resources?
With nothing but the rules to go on, clever as he was, Shikamaru could already vaguely infer the exam's core. But without more information, he could not see the full picture.
"This is part of my jutsu setup medicine, not soldier pills!"
A sudden argument broke out behind him. Shikamaru turned and saw Choji locked in a dispute with one of the ANBU.
Choji was clutching a small square wooden box that contained three pills of different colors. The ANBU had mistaken them for soldier pills and tried to confiscate them, which had led directly to the argument.
"That really isn't soldier pill medicine."
Afraid Choji might lose his temper and clash with the proctors, Shikamaru quietly stepped in to explain.
Unfortunately, Root only obeyed orders. They did not listen to explanations.
"Hand it over."
Foxfire extended a hand with cold finality. Two more Root members immediately moved in behind her, surrounding Choji's team.
Rules were rules. Even if the examinees belonged to a secret-technique clan, disobeying the will of the leader meant punishment. If these had not been Konoha shinobi, Root would not have bothered talking at all. They would have acted first.
"This…"
Ino felt a chill crawl through her body as she looked at the three Root operatives hemming Choji in. Those pills were the trump card of Team Ino-Shika-Cho. If they lost them here, their effective combat strength would probably drop by eighty percent. But the shinobi in front of them clearly had no interest in hearing them out.
What now?
Shikamaru's mind raced, but even a genius could do little against raw authority. It seemed they would have to surrender the pills.
"That's enough."
Behind them, Konome narrowed her eyes and looked at the three Root shinobi closing in on Choji, her gaze settling mainly on Foxfire.
Choji and Ino both felt moved that Konome had spoken up for them, but the emotion quickly turned to worry. These ANBU clearly did not care about reason. If Konome got into conflict with them because of their problem, then after finally passing the written exam…
"Don't, Konome, we…"
"All right. These really aren't soldier pills."
Foxfire's voice abruptly turned much gentler. Her body stiffened, and after immediately changing her tone, she stepped aside and opened the way for Shikamaru's team.
The Root members who had begun to gather around them also quickly withdrew their killing intent and returned to their positions. Their sudden patience and understanding was such a sharp contrast to their earlier menace that it made the whole exchange surreal.
Ino and Choji, who had just been about to beg Konome not to make things worse, simply stared in confusion.
"Hurry up. Don't hold up the examinees behind you."
Seeing the two of them still frozen in place, Foxfire frowned and hurried them along. She had no intention of letting them delay the leader's own exam.
Shikamaru hurriedly dragged Ino and Choji away, but as he walked, his eyes kept moving between Konome and Foxfire.
Then he noticed something else.
When Root inspected Konome herself, they did not even ask to check her sealed scroll. The "search" amounted to waving their hands vaguely in her direction without daring to so much as brush the edge of her sleeve.
That was not a body search.
That was practically a ritual.
Even Naruto and Sasuke were given the same kind of preferential treatment. After the barest symbolic inspection, they were immediately waved through.
"Thanks."
Once Konome had passed inspection and came over, Shikamaru and the others thanked her quietly. They all knew the sudden shift in Root's attitude had to have something to do with her.
Konome only waved it off, as though it were nothing.
Sasuke, who knew the truth, could not stop himself from smirking. There was no way these Root shinobi would dare ignore Konome's wishes.
Only Naruto looked back and forth between Sasuke and Konome in bewilderment. His brain might not have been the sharpest, but his instincts were excellent. And those instincts were telling him very clearly that the two of them were definitely hiding something.
The Kirigakure examinees watching from the side curled their lips. Earlier, when they had thrown out accusations of rigging and favoritism, they had only been trying to provoke Naruto into starting a fight.
But now it looked like there really was a black curtain behind the scenes.
"What are you staring at? Open all your sealed scrolls."
The foreign shinobi glaring resentfully got barked at twice. When they saw the vicious Root shinobi looking their way, and even Yatō, the fearsome chief proctor, turning to observe them, they hurriedly pulled the scrolls from their sleeves and opened them without a word.
The memory of Ao's death was still fresh, and that eerie aura of fear had become the source of nightmares ever since. Their terror of the woman leading this dark cadre had already reached its limit.
For a while, the inspection proceeded with extraordinary efficiency. Under Yatō's presence, the examinees all behaved themselves.
Once they passed inspection, they were sent out of the academy building and onto the school grounds.
The morning sunlight was not harsh yet. It warmed the skin pleasantly, a far cry from the suffocating tension of the ANBU-filled lobby.
"When did that get there?"
"So big…"
The examinees stepping outside let out startled cries one after another.
At some point, a gigantic pavilion had appeared in the middle of the training ground.
Its base was entirely built from dark brown planks, thick and solid. The crossed timber gave off such a powerful sense of weight and stability that it alone was intimidating.
From the wooden flooring below, thick vines extended upward, twisted together into chains of living green. They intertwined above to form a domed structure. It was called a pavilion, but it looked more like an enormous birdcage.
"There definitely wasn't anything like this when we got here this morning."
"Idiot. Obviously they built it while we were taking the test."
Naruto and Sasuke's exchange drew a smile from Konome. Whether it was Indra and Ashura's inherited clash or simply their personalities, the two of them always seemed to bicker, even without someone like Sakura there to set them off.
Still, the relationship between them was far better than it had been originally.
The destruction of the Uzumaki and Uchiha families had left them both painfully alone, and over the years that had turned them into something closer to family. After five years together, they no longer leaped straight to trying to kill each other. These days, they were more like two brothers who argued all the time.
"As long as you grab a seat now, you'll still have somewhere to sit later."
Konome was the first to step through the entrance of the giant "birdcage," smiling as she did so. Once inside, she sat down as if she owned the place.
As the others looked around in amazement, the vines nearest her immediately twisted and wove themselves into a seat, clearly eager to please.
Whether it was because Konome was so beautiful, or because the moving vine-cage itself had such a dreamlike quality, the whole scene felt like something out of a fairy tale.
The Konoha genin quickly followed and found places to sit. The others, not wanting to be left standing, hurried in as well. When they discovered that the vines would not respond to them at all, they had no choice but to lean against the inside of the structure and wait.
Soon, more examinees emerged from the lobby behind them. When they saw the massive cage, they cried out in surprise and, copying the others, walked inside at once, touching everything and gawking like country bumpkins.
Yatō and Anko then stepped out as well. Seeing that all the examinees had instinctively gathered inside the pavilion, Anko quickly slipped into it too, leaving Yatō alone outside as though she were waiting for something.
"Can you tell us the rules now, proctor?"
Karui asked the question on everyone's mind. The other examinees all looked over too.
"Of course. But…"
Anko thought back to how she herself had arrived here from the Forest of Death and immediately clutched one of the thick vines in front of her with both hands.
"Before I explain the rules, everyone should channel chakra to your feet and find something solid to hold onto if you can."
The examinees exchanged puzzled looks, but before anyone could ask why:
Whoosh.
A terrifying rush of wind suddenly roared overhead. Sensor-types like Neji and Shino shot their heads up in alarm, and the others followed a moment later.
Through the lattice of twisted vines above them, a huge shadow was descending at terrifying speed.
The Cloud shinobi, led by Karui, changed expression instantly.
"Grab the vines. It's an elephant bird!"
A piercing bird cry rang out overhead at just the right moment. Then an enormous bird swooped into view, its vast shape blotting out the light.
Its two golden claws seized the top of the vine cage, and the next instant the entire structure shook like it had been hit by an earthquake.
Crack. Crack.
Every vine at the top of the cage snapped taut with sharp, groaning sounds.
The cage erupted into screams and shouts. The examinees inside grabbed whatever vines they could. Their hair and clothes whipped wildly in the sudden gale.
Those who could not find handholds had to channel chakra into their hands and feet and cling to the floor like animals. Only Konome and the Konoha genin seated around her remained relatively stable.
Woohoo.
Konome wrapped the vines around her waist and leaned forward with obvious delight as she looked down below.
"We're flying!"
Once their first burst of panic faded, even Naruto and Sasuke began enjoying the sensation of flight. They twisted around to stare out at the scenery.
The neatly planned streets of the town, the endless sea of green forest, and the four enormous Hokage faces carved into the mountain. It was all scenery they had seen for years and long since taken for granted, yet from this new vantage point it felt entirely fresh.
When they reached roughly a thousand meters above the ground, the elephant bird stopped climbing, and the cage steadied once more.
The foreign shinobi finally managed to stand properly again, though their legs were still shaky. Looking down at Konoha now made small beneath them, their eyes could not help filling with envy.
Cloud Village stood on mountaintops shrouded in thunderclouds. Sand was endless desert. The other villages had their own harsh environments too. Few of them had ever seen anything so calm and prosperous.
Clap, clap, clap.
"All right, look at me."
Anko clapped loudly to draw everyone's attention.
"I'll keep the rules simple.
The elephant bird will carry us to Death Paradise. Once we get there, you'll take part in a magnificent survival trial.
Inside the zone, we've placed food, water, weapons, and other supplies. We'll also drop highly valuable rare supply packs from the sky at set intervals.
And all you have to do is one thing."
She drew out the pause dramatically, clearly enjoying herself, before shouting at the top of her lungs:
"Use everything you have to seize supplies and kill or eliminate members of other teams.
The maximum number of people who can pass this stage is twenty. That means the exam will only end when the number of surviving shinobi drops to twenty or fewer."
At the edge of the cage, with the wind whipping through her purple hair, Anko pointed down toward the land surrounded by colossal walls.
"That's all the rules.
And now we've arrived at Death Paradise.
You may jump."