The mist in the Forest of Death was extremely thick.
The moment Might Guy stepped into the forest, the path behind him vanished completely.
It was not a metaphor.
It had truly disappeared.
Guy subconsciously turned around and looked back.
The clear path he had just walked through was now entirely swallowed by the endless white mist, and even its outline could no longer be seen clearly.
Even his sense of direction had become somewhat distorted.
"Whoa... this mist is really something."
Guy muttered softly, yet there was no panic on his face at all.
Identifying directions in the wilderness was one of the most basic survival lessons taught during the first year of the Ninja Academy.
He still remembered Umino Iruka once saying seriously during class:
"On the battlefield, getting lost will kill you faster than meeting an enemy. At least if you meet an enemy, you still have a chance to fight back. But if you lose your direction, you might die before even seeing the enemy."
At the time, Obito had secretly muttered beneath his breath, "Who would even get lost?"
Unfortunately for him, Umino Iruka heard everything clearly and immediately forced him to stand outside for the entire lesson as punishment.
Guy remembered that scene very clearly.
At the same time, he also remembered another sentence that Umino Iruka had repeated over and over again earlier today.
"Head east."
That instruction definitely was not spoken casually.
Every single time someone entered the forest, Umino Iruka repeated those same words once more.
Head east.
Twenty-three students.
Twenty-three repetitions.
Why?
Because from their current location, the Central Tower was positioned directly to the east.
Guy slowly crouched down before looking carefully toward the roots of the trees nearby.
The bark was rough, and a thin layer of moss spread unevenly across the surface.
He reached out and touched it lightly.
The moss was not especially thick, yet it was obvious that one side of the tree carried noticeably denser growth than the other.
The shady side.
North.
Guy slowly stood back up before looking toward the opposite direction.
That would naturally be south.
Then he raised one hand slightly and judged the position of the sunlight filtering faintly through the mist overhead.
Although the fog was thick, traces of sunlight still managed to penetrate through the canopy enough for him to roughly determine the time.
Morning.
The sun rose from the east.
Following the direction of the light would naturally lead eastward.
Guy immediately grinned.
"So Academy classes really are useful after all."
He continued walking forward afterward while carefully observing all traces around him along the way.
Scratches across tree trunks.
Bushes bent unnaturally from recent movement.
Occasionally, he even discovered marks left behind by previous people who had entered the forest before him.
Some were Konoha survival symbols.
Others appeared to be warnings carved into the bark by Ninjas from unknown eras.
"Deep pit ahead."
"Bears nearby."
"Trap ahead. Already disabled."
Guy stared at the final warning for two seconds before the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"If the trap's already disabled, why are you still carving warnings here? Are you trying to scare people for fun?"
After walking for roughly two hours, the surrounding mist gradually began thinning out.
Sunlight filtered down through the gaps between leaves overhead, and visibility inside the forest improved considerably.
Guy suddenly stopped walking.
Then he quietly pricked up his ears.
There was a sound nearby.
Very faint.
Splash...
Splash...
"The sound of flowing water."
Guy's eyes lit up instantly.
A water source.
The very first rule of wilderness survival was simple: finding water meant finding a way to survive.
At the same time, water sources were also the places where people were most likely to gather.
Guy immediately followed the sound before pushing through a dense patch of bushes.
The view suddenly opened before him.
A small river stretched horizontally across the forest.
The river itself was not especially wide, perhaps only three or four meters across.
The water was extremely clear, revealing smooth pebbles at the riverbed while tiny fish occasionally swam past leisurely.
Guy crouched beside the riverbank and was just about to test the water temperature when another sound suddenly echoed from upstream.
Splash.
Guy's movements paused slightly before he looked upward.
About a dozen meters away beside a large rock, a figure was currently crouching by the river.
Purple hair tied into a bun.
Dark training clothes.
Sleeves rolled casually to the elbows.
Both hands submerged in the river water while scooping water toward her face.
Nearby sat an empty greaseproof paper bag on top of a rock.
Anko Mitarashi.
Guy blinked slightly.
The first person he encountered inside the Forest of Death was actually her?
Anko also seemed to sense something nearby at that moment and immediately turned her head sharply.
Their eyes met instantly.
Anko froze for half a second.
Then suddenly:
"Wahhh!!!"
Her foot slipped awkwardly, causing her entire body to fall backward instantly.
"Watch out!"
Guy reacted immediately.
His body rushed forward in several quick steps before grabbing her wrist firmly.
Anko staggered briefly after being pulled upright before finally regaining her balance.
Then she immediately glared at Guy while panting slightly.
"You... how can you walk around without making any sound?!"
Guy released her wrist before scratching his head.
"I made sound. You just didn't hear it."
Anko curled her lips unhappily.
Then she glanced briefly toward the wrist he had grabbed earlier before looking back up at him again.
"What are you doing here?"
Guy pointed casually toward the river.
"Looking for water. You too?"
Anko nodded immediately.
"Yeah... I've been walking all morning already. I'm dying of thirst."
As she spoke, she bent down and picked up the empty greaseproof paper bag nearby before crumpling it into a ball and stuffing it into her Ninja pouch.
Guy glanced toward the bag.
Grease stains and sugar powder still remained clearly visible on it.
"Dango?"
Anko's face instantly reddened.
"T-That was the last one! I'm not giving it to you!"
Guy silently stared at her while the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
Three whole days' worth of rations.
Finished within one morning.
No wonder this girl held such deep resentment toward the Forest of Death in the original story.
So the real reason was simply because she got hungry.
Anko became increasingly uncomfortable under Guy's stare and immediately turned her head away.
"What are you staring at?! So what if I like eating Dango?!"
Guy still said nothing.
He simply continued looking at her quietly.
After several seconds, he suddenly laughed.
Anko froze.
"What are you laughing at?"
Guy ignored the question completely.
Instead, he turned around and walked toward the riverbank before crouching down and untying the small cloth bag attached to his waist.
After opening it, several items appeared inside.
Three rice balls.
A small pouch of jerky.
And several compressed dry rations.
Guy directly took out two rice balls before handing them toward Anko.
Anko immediately stared blankly.
"This..."
"Just take them and eat."
Guy spoke casually while continuing to refill his water container.
"Your three days of food disappeared in one morning already. What exactly are you planning to do for the remaining six and a half days?"
Anko opened her mouth instinctively.
She wanted to say something.
Yet in the end, no words came out.
Her gaze slowly shifted between the rice balls in her hands and Guy standing before her.
Suddenly, her nose felt strangely sore.
"Why... why are you being so nice to me?"
Guy looked at her strangely.
"Aren't we classmates?"
Anko blinked blankly.
"J-Just because of that?"
"What else were you expecting?"
Guy rolled his eyes directly.
Anko remained silent for several seconds afterward.
Then suddenly, she snatched the rice balls and took a huge bite immediately.
Guy stared at her chewing fiercely before speaking helplessly:
"Hey, those are supposed to last for later too. If you finish them all now, you really won't have anything left afterward."
"But I'm hungry..."
Anko answered pitifully while continuing to chew.
Looking at her appearance, Guy suddenly could not help imagining what Anko would look like after growing older.
A tiny chubby glutton.
At that moment, he suddenly understood certain things a little better.
"Forget it. Eat if you want."
"The dry rations I brought weren't enough anyway. I'll probably need to hunt for food later."
"I'll just catch a bit more while I'm at it."
Guy quickly washed his face in the river afterward before refilling his water supply completely.
Then he identified the direction once more before glancing back toward Anko.
"I'm leaving now. Coming with me?"
"I'll come!"
Anko agreed instantly without even hesitating.
Within the Academy class, Guy had practically already become a legendary figure.
He kicked over a Ninja Bear.
He kicked a Chunin to death.
Following someone like him naturally provided overwhelming security.
Unless Anko had completely lost her mind, there was no way she would refuse to travel together with him.
Meanwhile, Guy himself did not really mind either.
Having another companion during the journey was not necessarily a bad thing.
Besides, with him around, Anko's future resentment toward the Forest of Death might end up decreasing quite a bit.
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