Chapter 48: Entering the Forest of Silence!

Seimei arrived at his designated entry point by 11:35 PM. The time of entry was 12 PM, so he still had plenty of time.

When the gatekeeper Shinobi saw Seimei arrive along with the patrolling Shinobi, he immediately stepped forward with a notebook.

"Hello."

"My name is Kazuma Aoi, the gatekeeper of this entry point."

"If you're a student of the second-year S-class, please tell me your name and the name of your class."

Seimei looked at the gatekeeper Shinobi carefully.

Kazuma Aoi looked like he was in his mid-twenties. And he had the chakra reserves of an average civilian Special Jonin.

He must specialize in Fuinjutsu if he is working as a gatekeeper here.

Seimei remarked inwardly before responding, "Yes, I'm from the second-year Class 1-S team."

"My name is Senju Seimei."

Aoi raised an eyebrow after hearing his surname and straightened his back.

Seimei saw this, but he didn't mind. The Senju clan was one of the founding clans of Konoha as well as one of the strongest clans in the Land of Fire during the Warring States Era.

Many Shinobi still feared and revered this clan, especially non-clan ninjas. After all, it had only been just over a decade since Konoha's foundation.

The memories of the Warring States Era still lingered in many older Shinobi's minds.

Aoi's demeanor became a little more respectful as he handed a deep blue sealed scroll to Seimei and explained its purpose carefully.

"This is a special sealed scroll."

"You must carry it with you to the tower within three days to pass this round."

"The scroll must not be lost or damaged."

"Otherwise, even if you successfully enter the tower within the forest, you will still be disqualified."

"I assume your proctor told you the other rules regarding this sealed scroll and the first round?"

Seimei nodded and replied, "Yes, Jonin Inuzuka Hiro explained everything carefully."

"By the way, you should have the map to the central tower within the Forest of Silence, right?"

"Yes, I do," replied Kazuma Aoi.

Then, he pulled out another, larger scroll and gave it to Seimei.

"This is the map to the central tower within this forest."

"You have until 11:55 PM to memorize everything."

"After that, I need to take this map back."

"No problem," Seimei responded, and he immediately went to a secluded spot to read the map.

When he was a fair distance away, he activated his Sharingan and began scanning the map.

Three, pitch-black tomoe in his crimson irises rotated slowly as they recorded even the finest details of the map in his mind.

After a few seconds, he deactivated his Sharingan and passively reviewed the map.

What? You asked why he didn't use his Sharingan openly in front of others.

Of course, because he can't.

It's fine if his family members know about his Sharingan.

However, if others learn about it, it will only cause him and the Senju clan trouble.

The Uchiha clan is really protective of their Kekkei Genkai.

What if they learned about his Sharingan and forced him to join their clan?

What if they thought that his father, Senju Tobirama, had kidnapped an Uchiha woman and forced her to give birth to Seimei?

There was no way others would believe that his father picked up an abandoned child one day by coincidence, and that child happened to have the Uchiha bloodline in his veins.

The whole situation reeked of trouble.

So, it was better to hide his Sharingan from the outsiders now.

It would be wise not to cause trouble and ignite another cold war between the Senju and Uchiha clans.

After all, it hadn't been long since Konoha was founded. Many old-generation ninjas still regarded their clans above Konoha.

His father needed the new generation of Shinobi to grow up to foster firmer unity among the Shinobi clans.

Seimei shook his head, ended his inner monologue, and walked out of the secluded location.

"Here," said Seimei as he returned the map to the gatekeeper, Kazuma Aoi.

Aoi took the map and asked, "You sure? You still have five minutes to check the map."

Seimei shook his head and replied, "No need. I have already memorized the map. Thanks for your concern, though."

Aoi shrugged his shoulders and said, "Alright. Suit yourself."

"You will enter the Forest of Silence in 10 minutes."

Seimei nodded in approval and waited for the clock to hit 12.

--------------------------

It was 11:59 PM.

All participants were already waiting in front of their respective entry points.

Seimei was also doing the same.

He saw Kazuma Aoi removing the barrier tag from the gate without affecting the surrounding Fuinjutsu barriers.

Then, Aoi opened the gate while keeping his eyes fixed on his pocket watch.

When the dials finally hit 12, he said, "It's time. You can go in."

Hearing this, Seimei wasted no time, walked through the gate, and entered the Forest of Silence.

After a few moments, he heard a "click" sound and turned back, only to see Kazuma Aoi closing the gate and putting the barrier tag back.

"Wow! This forest is really eerily silent."

"No wonder the name of this training ground is the Forest of Silence."

"Well…it's better than the Forest of Death, I guess."

"Who knows what kind of sinister Chakra Beasts Konoha is raising in the Forest of Death to train Elite Shinobi?"

"AA-rank ones?"

"Anyways, let's not think about that now."

Seimei kept talking to himself while walking through the forest.

"The tall trees and the thick canopies are blocking at least 80% of the sunlight."

"It has successfully increased the spooky vibe of this forest."

"According to the intel, this forest should have less than 50 B-rank, hundreds of C-rank, and thousands of D and E-rank Chakra Beasts."

"Alright, let's travel a couple of kilometers toward the central tower. Then, I will actively search for my teammates and the opponents."

With that, Seimei quickened his pace.

He also activated his Tenseigan to scan everything within a 10-kilometer radius.

Although his Tenseigan might look like a glorified Byakugan at Lv.2 since he hadn't unlocked any ocular techniques yet, it was still far superior to regular pure Byakugans.

Unlike Byakugan, which could only scout up to 1-2 kilometers, his Tenseigan could see up to 10 kilometers, had a superior dynamic vision, and enhanced his overall chakra control capabilities.

After traveling idly for an hour and avoiding multiple C and D-rank Chakra Beasts, he finally found one of his teammates.

He smiled and muttered, "Found you, Haneda."

Yes, he found his teammate, Ishimori Haneda, who was approximately 6 kilometers away from his current location.

However, the shortest route to his teammate was filled with a few D and C-rank Chakra Beasts.

He also identified one of the opponents around 7 kilometers away. If they continue to travel on their current path, Haneda and this opponent would meet each other within 5-6 minutes.

"Based on my observation and the opponent's chakra level, Haneda shouldn't have any trouble subduing this guy."

"But you never know!"

"I should find him as soon as possible."

"Haneda, oh Haneda! Where will you find a friend like me in this world?"

As he finished talking to himself, Seimei activated the Body Flicker Technique and dashed toward Haneda's location using the shortest route.

Although various trees and obstacles made it hard to travel in a straight line, he still covered nearly 2 kilometers in less than 30 seconds before discovering three D-rank Chakra Beasts.

Since he had no time to play with them, he decided to finish them off quickly.

As he was approaching the Chakra Beasts, he quickly formed two hand seals and gathered a decent amount of Wind Release chakra in his mouth.

Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet

He released 10 Vacuum Bullets with destructive vacuum cores.

Before the D-rank Chakra Beasts could even react, these bullets pierced through their heads, lungs, and limbs, killing them swiftly.

The ground was quickly littered with their dead bodies and blood.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bullets even had enough power in their cores to travel a few more meters before hitting the trunks of a few trees, leaving gaping holes in them.

However, Seimei didn't care and swiftly passed through the area.

In the next one minute, he covered just over 3.5 kilometers, leaving behind 12 more dead bodies of D and C-rank Chakra Beasts.

After flickering through the forest for a few more seconds, he could finally see the silhouette of Ishimori Haneda.

"Hey, Haneda," Seimei called out.

Hearing this familiar voice, Haneda cautiously looked in the direction Seimei was coming from.

However, he didn't let his guard down.

He asked, "Tell me the password."

When Seimei heard this, he scratched his head awkwardly and asked, "Really? Are we really doing this?"

Haneda asked again, "How else would I know if you're truly Seimei or someone else impersonating my teammate? Now, tell me the password. Out with it."

Seimei laughed awkwardly and said, "Yo mama's so fat that even Byakugan couldn't find her chakra points…🙂"

There was a moment of silence between them before Haneda replied, "Cough…Correct."

"So, you really are Seimei."

Seimei commented while laughing nervously, "Fortunately, our team doesn't have a Hyuga Shinobi."

"Anyway, I just detected an enemy about 200 meters away."

Haneda raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, "Oh!"

"Let me deal with him then."

Seimei nodded, "As you wish."

With that, he quickly hid nearby.

He also wanted to see Haneda's current combat prowess.

Haneda also became serious, ready to face his first adversary in the Forest of Silence.

The battle was about to begin.

-----------------------------------

A/N: Do you like what you are reading? Support me on P@treon and read up to 25 Advanced chapters!

patreon.com/Seigan