Konoha: Naruto's abnormal life choices

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Under the relentless assault of his Big Ball Rasengan, Naruto Uzumaki had crushed six teams in just one hour, collecting nine sets of Heaven and Earth scrolls.

Counting the one he got from Orochimaru, that brought the total to ten.

Out of the twenty-six teams that had entered the Forest of Death, that meant there were still sixteen scrolls left to be collected.

"The hardest part isn't snatching the scrolls," Naruto muttered as he leapt through the trees, "it's finding people. Way too time-consuming and exhausting. If only everyone just gathered in one spot—it'd be over in five minutes."

With a tired sigh, he destroyed the scrolls he no longer needed and kept moving, bounding through the treetops. Each jump gave him a better view of the terrain, helping him scan for enemies.

And besides, making a big show of his presence often lured others to him. Sometimes, he didn't even need to hunt them—they came to him.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"

"Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave!"

Two Grass ninjas sprang from the river below and launched a combined jutsu. A sharp stream of water, electrified by lightning chakra, came screaming toward Naruto.

He grinned, thrilled.

Coating himself in the chakra of the Nine-Tails, Naruto's body transformed with burning energy. He extended his clawed hand, grabbed a nearby tree trunk, and spun midair to avoid the attack. Then, with a single fluid motion, he countered—unleashing a massive Rasengan one-handed.

The explosion of chakra obliterated the trees in its path and struck the Grass ninjas directly.

"Whoosh—!"

A cyclone of violent chakra tore through the area, and the enemy was annihilated. Only halves of their bodies remained—limbs twisted, torsos missing.

Naruto descended and checked the corpses briefly. Nothing useful.

Then his eyes flicked toward a nearby tree—where a red-haired girl wearing glasses was trembling behind cover.

"No—no! Don't kill me!"

Uzumaki Karin stared in horror at what had just happened. Her heart pounded as her legs gave out. She couldn't take her eyes off the boy who had so effortlessly torn her teammates apart.

The forest was still. Too still.

The babble of the river and chirping of birds only made the silence more dreadful.

Just moments ago, she had pleaded with her teammates not to engage anyone—they already had a complete scroll set, and all they had to do was avoid conflict.

They hadn't listened.

And now… they were dead.

Lost in a daze, Karin saw Naruto raise a hand and point directly at her.

"Hand over your Heaven and Earth scrolls."

She scrambled to comply, pulling two scrolls from her pouch—along with an extra Earth scroll. Her entire body trembled.

"Here! Take them! Please, just let me go!" she begged, walking stiffly toward him, every step filled with dread.

Naruto took the scrolls, ripped them into pieces, and let them flutter away into the wind.

"I don't kill without reason," he said in a deep, steady voice. "You can go."

The cicadas droned in the trees. Shafts of sunlight broke through the forest canopy, casting speckled light across Naruto's face.

To Karin, in that moment, he looked like something out of a dream—deadly, powerful, but merciful.

Like the voice of nature itself.

"Thank you!" she cried, bowing deeply. Then she turned and ran, desperate to put distance between herself and this terrifying shinobi.

"Wait."

She froze in place.

Barely five steps away, Naruto's voice made her halt, spine rigid with fear. She turned around slowly.

"W-What… what is it?"

Naruto tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

"Red hair. Glasses," he murmured, staring straight at her.

His bright blue eyes seemed to peer straight into her soul. Karin trembled under the intensity of his gaze. Just moments ago, he'd turned two people into mist.

"Are you from the Uzumaki clan?" he asked.

There was a long pause before she answered. "Y-Yes."

Naruto stroked his chin. "Oh. Me too. What a coincidence."

"Y-Yeah… what a coincidence."

She nodded rapidly like a bird pecking rice. The last thing she wanted to talk about was clan heritage. She just wanted to survive.

"I'm warning you," Naruto said seriously. "Leave the Forest of Death. If you stay out here alone, you'll be dead before you realize it."

With that, he leapt back into the trees and vanished from sight.

"Hahhh…" Karin collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

She hadn't needed Naruto to tell her to leave. She was already planning on it. This Chunin Exam—hosted by one of the Great Nations—was way above what minor villages like hers could handle.

Naruto kept moving through the trees.

After another half hour of hunting, he had destroyed six more scrolls, including one set taken from Kabuto Yakushi.

Oddly, there hadn't been a fight. The moment Naruto landed in front of Kabuto's team, the spectacled ninja simply tossed over the scrolls and fled with his teammates.

He was clearly faking cowardice, but Naruto didn't care.

The only thing that mattered right now was the Rasenshuriken.

He just needed the last six scrolls—excluding his own Team 7's. Once he had them, he would have eliminated every other team in the Forest of Death.

Yet even after combing through most of the forest, Naruto hadn't found a single new team.

Gaara, Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee… all the opponents who had previously challenged him—vanished.

"These guys are really good at hiding," he muttered.

Then, as if on cue, three familiar faces appeared thirty meters ahead.

Yamanaka Ino stood in the middle of the forest trail, waving both arms to get his attention. Shikamaru and Choji lounged lazily nearby, leaning against a tree.

All three were scuffed and dirty. Clearly, they'd been through a tough fight.

But they were smiling.

Naruto landed in front of them and brushed some dirt off his jacket.

"How many scrolls did you get?" he asked.

"Hehe! Got lucky. Found a pair all at once," Ino said proudly, pulling out two scrolls from her ninja pouch and holding them up.

There was a faint blush on her dust-smeared cheeks, and her blue eyes sparkled as she smiled.

Shikamaru and Choji exchanged glances and smirked.

"Man, I'm suddenly sleepy," Shikamaru yawned. "I'll just take a nap. You two go ahead and chat." He slumped down against a tree and closed his eyes.

"Same here," Choji echoed, lying down with a snack already in hand.

"You two are impossible." Ino's cheeks burned. She knew exactly what they were doing—teasing her and Naruto.

She scowled and turned to Naruto. "Don't mind them. They're always like this."

"I've noticed," Naruto replied with a slight grin. His mind, however, was focused elsewhere.

Ino lowered her gaze and began playing with a strand of her long blonde hair.

"So… where's Sakura? And the others?" she asked.

"We're not together right now."

"You got separated?"

"Something like that."

"Did your team already collect both scrolls?"

"Well, we might not gather all of them after all. Honestly… probably no one's going to pass this test."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Ino, do you really want to know why?"

She nodded curiously. "Uh-huh."

Naruto stared at her.

"Then give me your team's Heaven and Earth scrolls."

The atmosphere dropped like a stone.

Ino blinked. She stared at Naruto, trying to decide if she'd misheard him. But the expressions on Shikamaru and Choji's faces—suddenly wide awake—told her she hadn't.

She heard him perfectly.

Naruto Uzumaki had just told her to hand over their scrolls.

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