Three hours had passed since the exam began.
Only five teams remained.
Two of them had already obtained both Heaven and Earth scrolls, and one had just arrived at the tower to complete the exam.
As fate would have it, Kaito bumped directly into Sarutobi Shinnosuke coming down from the upper floor, preparing to leave after his team's elimination.
"Sorry," Kaito said, lifting a forehead protector in his hand. "I eliminated your student."
"Hmph."
Shinnosuke snatched the protector from Kaito's hand and followed the silent ANBU escort out the tower gates.
The moment the doors shut—
Kaito's calm expression twisted with pain.
"Are you alright?" Ryūun hurried to support him. "It's my fault. If I'd used genjutsu on Nara Ha earlier, you wouldn't have wasted so much chakra—"
"It's fine," Kaito muttered, leaning weakly against the wall. "Travel drained a lot of chakra too… I was just trying to get you all through quickly so we wouldn't risk missing the third round."
"…Us?" Unma froze.
"Kaito, don't tell me—you're—"
Kaito shook his head, face pale.
If anyone with a Byakugan or Rinnegan had been there, they would've seen it clearly:
His chakra was completely gone.
"I'm out of chakra. And the earlier mistake was mine. If I continue like this, it would disgrace the title of chunin."
The other two froze.
Suddenly neither of them felt like taking the promotion anymore—
especially since Ryūun had barely acted in the previous round.
Unma looked down.
"What a pain… We finally made it to round three, and we're giving up?"
Kaito placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Third round, I'll be watching from the stands."
He smiled faintly.
"So go. Do your best. Your stamina and chakra are still full. You can absolutely handle the fights ahead."
Ryūun's eyes lit up instantly.
"I WILL become a chunin! And if I do… will you join my team after?!"
"..."
Kaito silently removed his hand from her shoulder.
"In that case… maybe you should withdraw."
"Eh?!"
Unma burst into laughter.
At least he wouldn't be the only one fighting tomorrow—
and in wartime, the chunin exam moved fast; there was no month-long break to prepare like in peacetime.
Simulation Forest — Eastern Sector
Wind whipped through the forest, spreading flames into bright red waves of light across the faces of three elite genin—two boys and one girl.
"The fastest way," said a girl with jet-black hair tied high, from the Shimura clan, "is just to wipe out ALL the remaining teams. That way we win by default."
"Yūko, stop."
A Sarutobi boy frowned. "We've already eliminated two. If we go any further, the clans will complain."
"This is your fault," muttered the third, a boy from the Mito clan.
"Water Style: Great Waterball!"
He extinguished the last flames clinging to a trembling Konoha genin hiding in a patch of grass.
"I—I'm saved… How did you even find me? And so quickly?!"
Mito Sā sighed.
"This was literally the only place to hide here."
Two other Konoha genin crawled out from behind a fallen trunk, still injured.
"Truly the heirs of great clans…
Their ninjutsu, their taijutsu—no weaknesses at all."
"Yeah… looks like only that Uchiha girl… and maybe the Ino–Shika–Chō could stand a chance."
Simulation Forest — Southwest Sector
This was a forest as well—
but the matchup was entirely different.
One veteran jōnin vs.
three young genin.
"Unfortunate," said the man calmly.
"You angered Iwagakure. So your lives must stay here."
"Even you, little Uchiha prodigy."
"After all… I am a jōnin."
Wind hissed between the trees.
The three members of Team 11 stiffened in terror.
Iwa-jōnin meant the same as a Konoha jōnin in real strength.
But since when did chunin exams involve fighting a jōnin?!
Uchiha Mikoto swallowed, knuckles turning white around her kunai.
"I… I don't remember this being part of the exam…"
The dark-haired, brown-eyed man—Hirata Shinichi—folded his arms casually.
"The rules never said you were allowed to attack ninja from other nations."
"You broke the rules."
"B-but we didn't even DO anything!" Yamanaka Nonoyu trembled.
"Merely attacking is enough."
Hirata's voice dropped.
"And here's another hidden rule—
Your forehead protector is your life."
"If you lose it, you fail."
"WHAT?!" ×3
The three genin recoiled.
Hirata Shinichi's killing intent surged—
the kind forged only on real battlefields.
"In that case… can you surpass your teacher?"
"Kaito took two seconds to shake off my killing intent."
His eyes narrowed.
"How long will you last?"
It hit them like gravity increasing tenfold.
Might Duy had never felt such suffocating pressure.
Neither had Mikoto nor Nonoyu.
"Becoming a true Konoha chunin," Hirata said calmly, "means carrying the name of the village without ever showing fear—to allies, to enemies, on missions, or on the battlefield."
Two seconds.
Three.
Four.
Hirata counted silently.
None of the three had collapsed yet.
He was mildly impressed.
"Only with such resolve," he continued, "can Konoha's enemies fear us.
Only then does the village's prestige stand."
At the fourth second, Mikoto's fingers twitched.
Her nerves slowly loosened their paralysis.
She gripped her kunai tightly.
"Uchiha… never run."
Her eyes snapped open—
Two-tomoe Sharingan spun to life.
"Oh?"
Hirata raised a brow.
"Two tomoe. Some talent indeed."
Then he noticed the others—
Duy and Nonoyu—also recovering.
"Four seconds… and seven seconds. Acceptable."
"But you're still below your teacher."
"Tch! Then see the strength of Team Eleven!" Mikoto leapt.
A kunai shot toward Hirata.
He saw something unusual in its trajectory—
but ignored it.
Low-level tricks wouldn't work on him.
Mikoto vaulted into the treetops, raining down four shuriken from multiple angles.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hirata stepped aside, chakra enhancing his muscles.
With a burst of Shunshin, he vanished—
reappearing right behind Mikoto midair, slashing with a kunai.
"Got you."
The kunai struck her—
—or rather, struck a substitution log.
POOF.
"As expected…"
"Now—"
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Duy's flying kick came from behind.
Hirata dodged with ease.
Without opening the Third Gate of Hachimon, Duy's speed was nothing to a jōnin.
"And now what?" Hirata said, unimpressed.
"Is that all—?"
But he had stepped into a blind spot.
From below, crouched low, Mikoto unleashed one of Kaito's original D-rank hybrid techniques—
"Fire Style: Propulsion Shuriken!"
The shuriken ignited with explosive thrust, streaking straight for Hirata's ribs.
"Oh?" Hirata actually smiled.
"Interesting teamwork."
The projectile struck him cleanly.
Duy landed behind him, panicked.
"Mikoto… you didn't kill him, right?"
Mikoto & Nonoyu: "..."
Duy's grasp of ninjutsu combat really is terrible…
"He's below," Nonoyu said immediately.
The "hit" Hirata crumbled—
a Earth Clone.
A wave of earth erupted toward them from underground.
"Careful!" Mikoto yelled, forming seals.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower!"
Fireballs spiraled through the air, colliding with the rising earth wave.
Hirata blurred between the flames, his acceleration almost nullifying each fireball, slipping through gaps by mere centimeters.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Small craters scarred the ground as fireballs struck.
And Hirata Shinichi—
kept advancing.
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