BOOM!
A world-shaking explosion echoed through Konoha.
After Naruto Uzumaki's jutsu struck, the forest near the training ground was instantly flattened by the hurricane-force winds of the Rasenshuriken. In the distance, a small mountain was blown to smithereens.
Sasuke Uchiha couldn't help but swallow hard. "..."
Kakashi Hatake stared, dumbfounded, at the devastation. He let out a soft sigh. "Thankfully... we chose a training ground that's a bit far from the village..."
"Too bad. This jutsu consumes too much chakra..." The red hair on Naruto's head faded away, and his eyes gradually returned to their normal azure blue. That single attack had used up more than half the sage chakra in his body.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time Naruto had successfully used the Massive Rasenshuriken. Since the move was complete, there was no reason to maintain Sage Mode.
Kakashi slowly let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. As the Jonin leader of Team 7, his day had been relatively peaceful so far. He only had a few internal injuries, so he probably wouldn't need a stay at Konoha Hospital.
However, from this day forward, he decided he would never again casually agree to combat practice with Naruto. The kid developed ninjutsu too quickly, and every new jutsu he created seemed a little life-threatening.
Sasuke Uchiha glanced at the destroyed forest and snorted. "Hmph. Looks like I have to keep working hard too, otherwise..."
"Mhm, mhm... do your best, Sasuke!" Naruto nodded seriously at his teammate, but his next words revealed his mischievous nature. "Although trying is useless, at least it can make you feel better..."
"Shut up!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, gripping the ninja sword at his side and looking ready to pounce.
Ever since Sasuke started learning Chidori from Kakashi, he had decided to develop a series of related jutsu as his own path to becoming stronger. The problem was, to surpass Naruto, ninjutsu alone wasn't enough. He also needed to practice his swordsmanship and taijutsu twice as hard. That was the power that would allow him to surpass Naruto again in the future.
"Hey, Kakashi!"
Just as Naruto and Sasuke were about to argue further, a man's figure appeared before Team 7. "Was there an enemy invasion?"
How could the commotion from their fight not attract attention? The Third Hokage had dispatched his personal guard, Genma Shiranui, along with a team of ANBU. Seeing that only Team 7 was present, Genma waved the ANBU away and came forward alone to ask what happened.
"Hmm?"
Kakashi looked at the man who had suddenly appeared. Genma, who always had a senbon in his mouth, was his contemporary and was once a guard for his teacher, Minato. Their relationship could be described as pretty good.
After hearing Genma's question, Kakashi glanced at Naruto, the cause of the disaster, and said with some helplessness, "Well, this was just our team's routine combat practice..."
"...Combat practice..."
Genma looked at the completely devastated forest, then at the somewhat embarrassed Kakashi, and bit down on the senbon in his mouth. "Young people really have some energy!"
His expression wasn't great. If Team 7's combat practice was always like this, the proctor for the third round of the Chunin Exams would be in serious danger. It was the proctor's job to step in and end the fight at any moment.
Unfortunately, due to Hayate Gekko being seriously injured as collateral damage in a previous fight, Genma Shiranui, a Special Jonin, had been personally appointed by the Third Hokage as the proctor for the third exam.
Even without watching the preliminaries, just seeing the destroyed arena had told Genma this was a very dangerous job. However, the sight of this ravaged forest and the flattened mountain made the Special Jonin's internal pressure grow even greater.
Genma rubbed his brow. "No wonder that guy Ibiki Morino told me to be careful when I was proctoring the third exam..."
"Don't worry," Kakashi patted his shoulder and said softly. "The preliminaries were dangerous, but that little guy Hayate survived, didn't he?"
Genma Shiranui was speechless. "..."
Are you even speaking human? No wonder no one invites you when we all have afternoon tea together! Besides that blockhead Might Guy, which one of our peers actually likes to hang out with you, you white-haired weirdo?
"Hey, you two brats, let me remind you," Genma coughed, turning his attention to Sasuke and Naruto. He offered some advice, because these two were undoubtedly dangerous. "The result of the third exam isn't judged by a simple win or loss. The judges will make their selections based on the process of the fight and approve the promotion of the ninjas they recognize..."
These days, the number of Special Jonin injured by Naruto Uzumaki was not small. For example, the private tutor Ebisu, who was also Genma's teammate. Moreover, Naruto had participated in three exams, and three proctors had been injured in succession, each one more severely than the last. Hayate Gekko had almost lost his life.
Sasuke Uchiha was no slouch either. In the preliminaries, he had displayed Shisui Uchiha's Body Flicker Technique, leading many Konoha ninjas to believe that the last Uchiha boy could live up to his family's name.
Coincidentally, Naruto's opponent was Neji Hyuga, and Sasuke's opponent was Rock Lee. And according to Might Guy, those two were praised to the high heavens. These two fights were the ones that gave the proctor the biggest headache.
Genma couldn't help but think back to when they took the Chunin Exams. He remembered how invincible Might Guy was, how wise Ebisu was, and yet their team was taken down by Kakashi alone. Now they were all older. The worst of them had become Special Jonin and could even proctor the exams, and now Kakashi's students were starting to cause trouble for them.
Genma's gaze towards Kakashi gradually turned unfriendly.
This gaze was instantly noticed by Kakashi. He shrugged at the proctor and said, "Let me just give you a couple of reminders..."
"If you have something to say, say it!" Genma raised his eyebrows, clearly displeased.
A trace of playfulness flashed in Kakashi's eyes before he put on a serious face. "Genma, this Chunin Exam isn't like the game of house we played back then. It's a real life-and-death struggle. It doesn't just concern the lives of the two opponents. Even the referee, and the audience and judges, have to be on guard..."
"..." Genma retorted unhappily, "Hey, Kakashi, when we took the Chunin Exams, it was also a life-and-death struggle. Weren't you our opponent?"
"Sorry, I didn't really notice," Kakashi said, pulling at his mask to hide his expression. "Anyway, be careful, Mr. Proctor!"
To be honest, Kakashi was very much looking forward to seeing Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha shine in the Chunin Exams.
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Bonus:
Kakashi Hatake: The exams have changed so much now.
Genma Shiranui: Yeah, we never had this kind of spectacle back in our day.
Kakashi Hatake: The village was too poor back then...
Genma Shiranui: And there was a war on. There was no need for such a display.
Kakashi Hatake: Most importantly, the people taking the Chunin Exams were too weak...
Genma Shiranui: ???
Kakashi Hatake: I remember running into one team, took them all down with just a few punches and kicks.
Genma Shiranui: ???
Kakashi Hatake: There were so many rookies back then...
Genma Shiranui: What on earth are you talking about?
Kakashi Hatake: What's wrong?
Genma Shiranui: You only took the Chunin Exam once, and Team Minato's opponent was our team