Before and after arriving at the scroll shop, Sand #1 immediately deactivated his Seven Days Calling state and returned to normal. He slumped down on the ground, chest heaving as he gasped for breath.
Then, Sand #3 and the other two handed the ninja tool pouches they had just looted over to Sand #2.
Sand #3 carefully wiped the blood off his war fan.
"Yeye, count them. These should be enough."
Sand #2 nodded. He carefully pulled out twenty silver bills, each worth 100,000 ryō, from the tool bag and handed them to Uchiha Hikaru.
"Senior Saya, this is two million. Please give us one pair of Heaven and Earth scrolls first."
After Uchiha Saya passed over a set of scrolls, she raised her hand and playfully pinched Sand #2's adorably flushed cheeks.
"What a cute little girl~"
"I'll give you a 20% discount on the second pair~"
Sand #1, who had been resting to recover his strength, almost passed out from shock when he heard that.
Sand #2 suddenly panicked.
"Ah! Saya-senpai! There's no need for a discount!"
It's over… the price just went up by 200,000 ryō…
He quickly checked the remaining two tool bags. It still looked like they were short…
Saya smiled reassuringly. "Relax. This time, it's a real discount, not reverse inflation."
Sand #2 finally let out a huge sigh of relief and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Senior!"
He gathered the money from the remaining bags, counted out a total of 1.6 million ryō, and handed it to Saya. They even had 200,000 left—enough to cover food, lodging, and supplies in Konoha before the third round!
Sand #3 finally breathed a sigh of relief. Together with Sand #1 and Sand #2, he took a pair of scrolls, exchanged them for a Human Scroll with Bai Yun in the morning, entered the tower, and passed the exam.
Upon entering the tower, Sand #1 noticed other teams who had passed. Each found their own spot and began to meditate and rest.
The remaining day passed quickly. After a fierce battle among the remaining hundred or so candidates, only eighteen teams advanced:
Konoha's Team 7, Team 8, Team 10, Team Leaflight
Sunagakure's Gaara team, #1 team, Puppet team
Kirigakure's Utakata team, Kekkei team
Iwagakure's Kurotsuchi team
Kumogakure's C team, Thunder Sword team
Amegakure's Hydrangea team
Takigakure's Fū team
Kusagakure's team
Hoshigakure's Peacock team
Snow Country's Snow Dance team
A total of 18 teams—54 Genin—had passed the second round.
Uchiha Hikaru and the village leaders arrived at the Forest of Death tower within half an hour.
When Ōnoki found out that only his granddaughter Kurotsuchi's team had made it, his face turned green.
Damn it! My proud Iwagakure has the same advancement count as those tiny countries—just one team?!
Just then, Hikaru walked to the group of Genin who had passed and looked toward Saya, nodding in satisfaction.
Good... The problem wouldn't be too many passing, but too few. If too few made it, how could we earn money from the VIPs and rich nobles watching the finals? This is big business.
If too many pass? Easy—just add a 1v1 battle round.
The moment Naruto saw Hikaru appear, he jumped up and waved excitedly.
"Big Bro Hikaru! I passed! I'm finally gonna be a Chūnin! Hahaha!"
Then he stood with hands on his hips, laughing proudly.
Sasuke promptly smacked Naruto on the back of the head.
"Crack~!"
"Idiot. Don't embarrass yourself. These are the big shots of the ninja world. Don't interrupt Lord Hikaru!"
Naruto looked past Hikaru and saw someone familiar—Killer Bee!
He was about to bust out a rap, but the murderous gleam in Sasuke's eyes made him clamp his mouth shut and just wave sheepishly.
Killer Bee grinned and gave Naruto a big thumbs-up.
At the same time, Bee noticed the subtle gestures exchanged by the other Jinchūriki present—they were silently showing off their strength.
"Boss, including me, there are six Jinchūriki here."
A frowned deeply.
Tch. If only I'd broken Yugito's legs and dragged her here myself. That girl's too cocky to fully sync with Matatabi—she's always falling just short of perfection…
But now it was too late for regrets.
The Genin who passed were in awe as they finally laid eyes on the legends of the ninja world—especially Uchiha Hikaru, known as the strongest man in Konoha.
Even though he didn't release a shred of killing intent, his presence alone made it impossible to ignore the ocean of chakra within him.
He looked like a handsome and gentle older brother next door… but the arrogance lurking in his eyes was not something everyone could perceive.
"Welcome to those of you who stood out from thousands of Genin," Hikaru announced. "In an ordinary Chūnin Exam, you'd already be promoted."
"But this is the Ninja World Entrance Exam—so the stakes are much higher."
"You fifty-four will now compete in one-on-one matches. Winners will earn a place in the third round."
"From here on, it's every ninja for themselves. You might even fight against your own teammates."
"Of course, victory alone won't guarantee promotion. If you win purely through brute force and chakra, you might still fail."
"But if you display extraordinary talent, even in defeat, the examiners may recommend you for promotion."
"Injured or exhausted teams may now open the Scroll of Human and use the healing potions inside."
"As for what's inside the Heaven and Earth scrolls—those are your rewards for passing."
With that, Hikaru returned to the podium.
Tsunade looked over at him curiously.
"What did you pack into the Heaven and Earth scrolls? I don't remember seeing anything in them."
Hikaru pointed at Naruto with a smile.
"That guy's definitely going to open his first. Just watch."
Sure enough, Naruto plopped down and excitedly opened the three scrolls: Heaven, Earth, and Man.
"Hehe~ I've been dying to check these out. Didn't expect actual rewards! Let's see what goodies are inside~"
Sasuke and Sakura remained outwardly calm, but their eyes betrayed their curiosity.
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Send Power Stones
Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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