Tenzo was entering the Chunin Exams solo. Not by choice, exactly—he simply hadn't been able to find any teammates. It didn't matter much, though; he was practically a one-man squad anyway.
He'd breezed through the first stage and now found himself entering the forest for the second. Tenzo felt unusually relaxed. For one, becoming a Chunin wasn't some critical, life-or-death goal for him. Promoted or not, what difference did it really make in the grand scheme? And for another, given his actual skill level, there was simply no reason he wouldn't pass an exam like this.
But feeling relaxed didn't mean Tenzo planned on being harmless during the exam. Quite the contrary. He intended to operate under the principle of 'even if you don't mess with me, I might still mess with you.' He vaguely recalled hearing about a certain… incident involving harvested "ginseng fruit" during a past Chunin Exam.
While Tenzo was navigating his exam, Habara and Hatake Kakashi were also in the forest. Their task, however, was security—keeping the peace and preventing any major incidents during the testing.
"Peacetime really is different from war," Kakashi mused, shaking his head slightly. "It's only been two or three years, but the genin feel... different. Not necessarily in terms of raw strength, but their whole attitude..."
Despite his youth, Kakashi certainly had the right to sound like a jaded veteran pulling rank. He was a true veteran, after all... had been since the age of five.
"The kind of tension war brings is visceral, deadly. Forget the genin who've barely experienced conflict—some of them are practically fresh out of the Academy," Habara commented. "Truthfully, even people like us slack off a bit after a major war ends. There's a fundamental difference between an environment where death is always around the corner and one where it's relatively unlikely."
It was a fair point. The war was over, the next crisis still on the horizon. Even Habara felt a bit less tightly wound these days.
"Speaking of which, where did you leave Naruto?" Kakashi asked suddenly. He knew Habara was currently tasked with Naruto's protection, yet here he was, patrolling the Chunin Exam grounds.
"Back at headquarters," Habara replied. "I left a clone there, plus Daigo and multiple barrier seals. Shouldn't be any problems."
Leave it to Kakashi to be Naruto's self-appointed guardian, Habara thought dryly. Look how concerned he sounds.
Setting aside the inherent defenses of the small earthen building itself, its location was deep within Konoha's core district, right next door to the Hokage Tower. What danger could there possibly be? The fact that Naruto was another Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was top-secret information. Even if an enemy managed to launch an attack that penetrated this deep into the village, would they target a bed-wetting brat, or would they go after the Hokage?
Obviously, they'd go for the Hokage. The Hokage was the high-value target, the regional boss, marked bright red on any enemy's map.
"Lady Kushina didn't seem to have any qualms about leaving Naruto behind, but..." Kakashi trailed off.
"But?"
"But... I don't know. Something feels off."
"Of course something feels off," Habara said matter-of-factly. "The village is crawling with unfamiliar ninja from outside right now. Everyone feels off."
With so many volatile elements concentrated in Konoha, and the one person Kakashi likely trusted most (Naruto's mother) out of the village, it was natural for him to feel uneasy.
Kakashi's gaze seemed fixed on something distant. "I just hope nothing..."
Before he could finish, a series of violent explosions ripped through the air, echoing through the trees. This wasn't the sound of one or two exploding tags.
"Well, that sounds intense," Habara frowned. The scale of that noise was far beyond what typical genin could produce.
"Let's check it out," Kakashi said, already moving swiftly towards the source of the blasts.
Once the second stage of the joint Chunin Exams began, candidates were responsible for their own lives. If ninja from different villages clashed and someone died, theoretically, it was just proof of their lack of skill. In reality, however, since this was a joint exam intended to foster long-term cooperation, Konoha, as the host, had to keep the death toll reasonably low.
If teams from other villages kept getting wiped out entirely, who would bother showing up next time? Well, alright, given Konoha's intimidating presence, they'd probably still come, but how many would come, and whether they'd send actual genin candidates or just sacrificial lambs, was another question entirely.
By the time Habara and Kakashi arrived at the site of the explosions, smoke still hung heavy in the air, mingling with the scent of scorched earth. Several bodies lay scattered across the forest floor.
Kakashi cautiously examined the nearest corpses. "None of ours," he reported grimly.
None of the dead were Konoha ninja. With nearly two hundred Konoha genin participating, they definitely had a home-field advantage; the village certainly wouldn't let them casually slaughter each other. Furthermore, none of the Konoha participants were involved in the early testing phases of "the Plan"—those involved were mature shinobi, mostly chunin or higher.
"That's strange. Statistically, based on the ratio of candidates, we should have seen at least one Konoha ninja down," Habara mused, stepping towards one of the bodies.
Couldn't you try hoping for something good for a change? Kakashi thought silently.
The corpse near Habara lay on a slight incline. Just then, it shifted, sliding downhill perhaps a foot. The movement revealed a narrow fissure in the ground hidden beneath it. Instantly, thick plumes of purple mist began spewing forth.
"Poison gas?"
Habara reacted instinctively, pulling back. Initially, he dismissed it as a crude trap meant for ordinary genin candidates. But he quickly registered the speed at which the gas was erupting and spreading.
Within moments, the entire section of the forest was enveloped in the swirling purple haze.
This was no hastily laid genin trap. Which meant it likely wasn't aimed at the candidates... Could this be aimed at me? The suspicion flashed through Habara's mind.
"Fall back!" Habara yelled towards Kakashi, who was deeper within the rapidly expanding cloud.
If this trap was designed for jonin-level shinobi, the toxicity of this purple mist could be lethal. After shouting the warning, Habara immediately held his breath and began ascending rapidly, aiming for the clearer air above the treeline.
"Got it!" Kakashi's reply was clipped, indicating he'd reached the same conclusion.
The immediate priority was to get clear of the poison. Ninja didn't possess inherent poison resistance; Kakashi could easily succumb. Habara... well, Habara was certainly tougher than Kakashi in that regard.
Yet, even as they moved in concert, supporting each other's retreat, their internal monologues were running on parallel, accusatory tracks. Though worded slightly differently, the sentiment boiling beneath the surface in both their minds translated to the same essential phrase:
"Figures this would happen when I'm with you!"