Chapter 4: The Playground's Predator
Three weeks.
That's all the time left before the Chūnin Exam finals, and Naruto Uzumaki was still living like a savage in the Forest of Death.
He wasn't just training anymore—he was surviving. Barely.
His shirt was shredded down the middle, hanging on by threads, his pants torn and crusted with blood and dirt. He looked like some half-wild stray pulled out of a garbage heap. His skin was scraped raw in places, bruised in others. His hair was messier than ever, tangled with leaves and dirt.
The only thing still intact was the glint in his eyes—cold, sharp, glowing faint green when his instincts kicked in.
The First Fang was strong, yes—but Naruto knew strength wasn't enough. Not if he couldn't control it completely. So he was refining it—pushing the time he could stay in the gate, training his muscles to handle the strain, adjusting his chakra flow so it didn't just burst out wildly.
But there were… other problems.
Like food.
He was cooking the beasts he killed—spiders, birds, snakes, whatever came too close—with whatever wood he could scrape together. Salt was his only seasoning. The meat was dry, chewy, and tasted like regret.
And he hated to admit it…
…but he missed ramen.
"Stupid salt meat again," Naruto grumbled, sitting cross-legged next to a half-roasted bird on a stick, stomach growling. "If I survive this, I'm buying out Ichiraku."
Just then, the ground trembled. The low, heavy growl of something massive echoed through the trees.
Naruto stood in an instant—eyes narrowing, bloodlust already coiling in his gut.
An eight-foot-tall bear charged through the brush, covered in scars and rage. Its eyes locked onto Naruto, and it roared.
Naruto didn't flinch. He slid one foot back, hands low to the ground. His chakra began to stir.
First Fang… activate—
Before he could move, something snapped through the air.
Thunk.
A single kunai pierced the bear's temple. The beast staggered, eyes rolling back—then collapsed like a mountain of meat at Naruto's feet.
Naruto blinked.
"What the—?"
Then a voice rang out behind him, cocky, lazy, but with a sharp edge that cut like a knife:
"What are you doing in my playground, brat?"
Naruto spun around, eyes wide. A woman stepped out of the trees—fishnet undershirt, tan coat hanging loose, and a smirk on her lips that could scare off half the village.
Anko Mitarashi.
The proctor of the second exam. The crazy one.
She stopped beside the dead bear, kicking it casually with a boot before turning her attention to Naruto.
"You look like hell," she said, eyebrow raised. "Lost a bet with a badger?"
Naruto scowled, arms crossing. "I've been training."
"Looks more like self-hazing," Anko replied, walking around him slowly, inspecting him like a snake studying a mouse. "Why the hell are you still in here? The second round's been over for weeks."
Naruto didn't answer right away. His body was tense, still half in battle mode. He didn't know what Anko wanted, or if she'd seen the Gate. Her presence alone sent off alarm bells in his head—her chakra felt dark, unstable, wrong. It reminded him of Orochimaru. No… not as bad. But close.
"I'm getting stronger," Naruto said simply. "I'm not gonna lose in the finals."
Anko stopped in front of him, eyes narrowing. "Stronger, huh? Is that what you call running around like a feral animal eating salt meat and growling at trees?"
Naruto glared. "It's working."
Her smile widened. "I don't doubt it. I saw your chakra from the edge of the forest a few days ago. It felt like someone let a rabid wolf off the leash."
Naruto froze.
She'd felt it.
"You've got something interesting going on in there," she said, tapping his chest. "That chakra of yours—it's not just wild. It's trained. Controlled chaos. Almost... primal."
He flinched at the touch, but didn't back off. "You gonna stop me?"
Anko laughed—low, dangerous, and amused. "Hell no. I like it."
She turned and walked toward a fallen log, casually sitting down and pulling something from her pouch—bread. Real bread.
Naruto stared.
She noticed. Tossed him a chunk. "Eat. You look like you've been gnawing on your own shoes."
Naruto hesitated. Then caught it, devoured it in two bites.
"You've got killer instinct, brat," she said, watching him with narrowed eyes. "But don't let it eat you alive. I've seen shinobi go down that path. They either burn out… or turn into something even monsters are scared of."
Naruto looked up, chewing slowly. "Maybe that's what I need to be. A monster. It's the only thing this village pays attention to."
Her smile faded slightly. "Tch. Maybe. Just don't become his kind of monster."
The venom in her tone was clear—Orochimaru.
Naruto's jaw tightened. "I won't. I'll become something else. Something stronger."
Anko looked at him for a long moment. Then nodded, approvingly.
"Alright, kid. I'll bite. You're serious. You're crazy. You've got no fashion sense, and you smell like bear piss—but you've got potential."
She stood, stretching. "I'll be watching you in the finals. Don't disappoint me."
With that, she vanished into the trees, her presence gone like smoke in the wind.
Naruto sat there, chewing on the last bite of bread, eyes sharp.
She was right.
He wasn't just training anymore.
He was becoming something.