Chapter 19: An Uneven Exam (Part Two)
Early June. During the lunch break in Year Three, Class A at the Ninja Academy, the usual noise had shifted entirely to one topic.
"He turns eight in September, which means Osamu could make chunin at seven!"
"About the same as Kakashi!"
"Apparently it's a joint exam. Biggest thing the village has put together in years."
"The daimyo will probably come too, right? They visit every year anyway. They won't want to miss a showdown between the best ninja from all five great nations."
"Will Kumogakure send people this time? There's been friction with them lately."
"..."
Everyone was sharing whatever they'd heard, boys and girls alike, and when the conversation turned to ninja from other nations, most faces took on a dismissive edge. Years of Academy education had settled into a comfortable consensus: Konoha's ninja were the strongest, and the Land of Fire stood above the other great nations.
Sarutobi Asuma wasn't part of any of it. He sat alone, staring out the window.
The students who had graduated in recent years had all naturally gravitated toward Osamu and Kakashi. The Hokage's son, who hadn't inherited any remarkable talent, didn't earn that kind of attention.
"What does any of this have to do with them?" Uchiha Obito muttered from the back of the classroom. "It's not like any of these people are the ones taking the exam." Asuma at the front didn't acknowledge him either, which left Obito to stew by himself.
"There's apparently someone from the Uchiha clan entering too. Obito, have you heard anything?"
Ebisu had just finished sharing what he knew with the students near the front and came over to the back rows, hoping to get some information on Uchiha Inabi.
"Uh, I don't really know him. He's supposed to be good, though. He's got the Sharingan."
Obito had only heard that the older Uchiha had awakened his eyes. He said what he knew, and a flicker of envy crossed his face.
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses and didn't complain about the thin information. He turned back toward the main discussion. He was confident the Sharingan wouldn't be enough to beat his teammate regardless.
Since the door had been shut in her face at Kakashi's house, Rin had thrown herself into her medical ninjutsu studies with twice the intensity, putting everything she had into keeping up.
"It's fine, Obito," she said now, her voice bright. "Kakashi is a chunin. He's probably been out leading squads on missions. We can't expect him to always be around."
Obito felt the familiar sting in his chest. He could see exactly what Rin was doing, talking herself into an explanation, refusing to believe Kakashi had actually changed. Every time he thought about that smug, talent-obsessed jerk, there were plenty of things he wanted to say.
But he looked at Rin's expectant face and swallowed all of it.
"I'll work hard, Rin."
* * *
Toward evening, Shizune arrived at the training ground and tucked herself behind a large tree, peering carefully around the trunk to watch Osamu train.
"I noticed you a while ago. Just come over next time, Shizune."
Osamu climbed out of the large dirt crater he'd made, brushing himself off with a smile and waving her over. Shizune's face went slightly pink. She always found herself forgetting that detail somehow.
"Tsunade-sensei is a bit worried about you," she said, walking over quickly and reaching for a different explanation. "Accumulating chakra for that strength enhancement and then releasing it all at once can damage the chakra pathways."
She glanced around at the scattered boulders and the deep craters in the ground, and something like awe crossed her face.
Osamu didn't point out that she'd changed her story. He noticed she'd already changed into casual blue clothes for the evening and kept his tone easy.
"Don't worry about it. It's getting late. Where are we going tonight?"
"The charcoal chicken place. Honestly, sensei and her drinking..."
Shizune's smile came back as she launched into her usual grumbling about Tsunade. For her, this kind of evening was exactly right.
* * *
Late that night, Osamu sat cross-legged on a cushion at home. When he opened his eyes, he rolled one arm through the air out of habit.
Still nothing. He still couldn't sense natural energy directly.
But this session had clarified a few things.
He can't take the sage path directly, but accumulating sage chakra is slowly changing his body. Strength is increasing. The medicinal herbs are just carriers for Essence. The additional effects stimulate cellular activation.
He moved to his desk and wrote his usual summary in the notebook.
Completing the Yin Seal was achievable. What he wasn't sure about was whether, even after the seal was done, he'd ever be able to sense natural energy on his own.
He set that aside and turned to the scrolls.
Water Style: Severing Wave.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Divide.
Earth Style: Fissure Palm.
These jutsu were valuable resources. Orochimaru and Jiraiya had clearly listened to Tsunade and targeted their gifts specifically toward offensive techniques. Osamu had worked through all of them seriously. They were chakra-heavy, but what interested him more than the jutsu themselves were the experience notes tucked inside the scrolls.
The Second Hokage's water style. Orochimaru clearly holds it in very high regard.
* * *
Mid-June. As ninja from the five great nations and the smaller hidden villages began arriving one after another, the village buzzed with a kind of energy it rarely had.
Maki from Sunagakure looked at the streets of Konoha and kept her expression carefully neutral. The jonin leading their group noticed the mood shifting among the younger members and spoke quietly.
"Don't let it show on your faces. Konoha's guard detail is watching us."
"..."
Eleven-year-old Maki was considered a prodigy back home. She had graduated early, drawn the attention of her village's leadership, and thought about things differently from most genin her age.
"Why does the Land of Fire get to sit on the richest land?"
"Why do Konoha ninja live this well and still compete with us for mission contracts?"
The others had just settled into their room after checking in when they heard her murmur this. Their jonin leader looked at the three genin's frustrated, resentful expressions and was quiet for a moment before responding.
"Because we lost the war."
That answer made all three of them angrier. And underneath the anger, it planted something else: a fierce need to give Konoha's ninja a lesson during the exam.
* * *
The first stage of the joint Chunin Exams was a written test. After a few days of rest, the candidates filed into the examination hall and bent their heads over the papers.
The moment the test began, Osamu picked up the chakra shifts moving through the room. The written exam was clearly designed to allow cheating. Getting caught was the only thing that mattered.
Less than twenty minutes in, while Maki was still passing answers to her teammates, she noticed that the Konoha ninja at the front of the room had already set his pen down and was resting his chin on his hand, waiting for the test to end.
Given up?
Maki dismissed the thought almost immediately. A ninja this young entering the joint Chunin Exams was not ordinary.
All around the room, candidates were using whatever techniques they had to cheat. Some of them weren't careful enough. One by one, a handful were caught and escorted out.
"The exam is over!"
The Konoha jonin at the front made the announcement in a loud, carrying voice. Someone started to raise a question and the proctor cut them off before they could finish.
"The written portion ends here. Everyone remaining will proceed immediately to the venue for the second stage. Written test results will be announced after the second stage concludes."
A Kusagakure genin raised a hand, was recognized, and asked quickly:
"If we pass the second stage but there's a problem with our written test score, can we still participate in the third stage?"
"No."
"How is that..."
The Konoha jonin made no effort to soften it. His voice came out flat and final.
"Quiet. These are Konoha's examination standards. You are not in a position to question them."