A week before the Chunin Exams, Konohagakure sent out the official exam schedule to all teams that had arrived on time to participate.
The first exam was scheduled for December 15th, Year 42 of the Hidden Leaf Calendar, at 8:30 AM.
All candidates were required to arrive at the exam venue at least thirty minutes early to verify their identities. Those who failed to do so would bear the consequences themselves.
As the sun rose, the village buzzed with activity—today was bound to be lively.
Waking up early, a simple breakfast of soldier pills was enough.
Chewing on the bland, ninja-standard emergency rations, Yagura muttered to his two teammates,
"We should've woken up earlier. I could've taken you both to some good food spots. I've explored most of the village by now—I know all the best places to eat."
"Ba~ka, save the good food for when we pass the exams and celebrate!" Ringo Ameyuri rubbed her eyes and playfully aimed a punch at Yagura's head. "And whose fault do you think that was? You hit too hard! Lucky for you, Konoha's medical ninja work late-night shifts."
After finishing their training the previous night, they had gone to the medical unit to get treated for injuries, ensuring they were in top shape for the exam.
As a result, they didn't get much sleep.
Rubbing her face to wake up, Ringo Ameyuri grabbed Yagura by the collar and threatened,
"If you don't go five times harder—no, ten times harder—on the Konoha nin, I'll strangle you myself!"
"Hahaha, guess I better do my best then."
Yagura quickly dodged away and turned to see what Mukumo was up to.
"One exam permit, three days' worth of soldier pills, a full ninja toolset, and ten explosive tags. Good!" Mukumo double-checked their packs, ensuring everything was in place. When Yagura walked over, he handed him his bag.
"Alright, Yagura, this is yours. Check it over."
"Oh, right. Thanks."
Yagura took it, feeling a little dazed. He only now remembered vaguely agreeing the night before to let Mukumo organize his things.
"Uh… yeah, thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Mukumo had also packed Ringo Ameyuri's supplies and handed them over.
"Much appreciated~"
"Move it!"
Jinin Akebino banged on the door, shouting at them to hurry up. "If anyone keeps wasting time with small talk, I'll kill them myself!"
Since Yagura was the one talking the most, he shrank under the pressure and quickly shouldered his gear, slipping on his sandals. The other two picked up the pace as well.
Once ready, the team set off, following Jinin toward the first exam venue—The Forest of Death.
...
"Again? This place?"
Hearing a passing examinee grumble, Yagura paused, intrigued.
"Yeah, every time we've come to Konoha for the Chunin Exams, it's always here. Doesn't Konoha have any other exam sites?"
"Hahaha, that's why Konoha is lame."
"Sunagakure isn't like that. Depending on the exam, we use different areas of the desert."
It's still just desert though…
Yagura shrugged, disappointed.
When they reached the entrance of the Forest of Death, Jinin left them briefly to submit paperwork to the Konoha exam officials.
When he returned, Yagura barely had time to react before something was tossed his way.
"Hold onto that."
"Huh? What—"
Fumbling, Yagura barely managed to catch it. Looking at the item in his hands, he saw a round numbered token. One side had a white background with black text: "No. 9." The other side had a black background with white text: "No. 55."
"You'll find out what it's for once Konoha announces the exam rules."
Jinin's tone was dismissive, as if to say, Not my problem. He spoke quickly, clearly uninterested in explaining.
Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed toward the exit.
His job here was done. Now it was his free time.
With a casual wave, he performed a Shunshin and disappeared from sight.
Seriously? Could you be any less interested in leading us? (Wait… is he off to find that woman from last night?)
Though their complaints differed, both Yagura and Mukumo sighed in unison, exasperated by their so-called instructor.
He's even less reliable than Kakashi was at first sight…
"What's with you two?" Ringo Ameyuri glanced at them curiously. "Sighing for no reason. Don't tell me… you're scared?" Her teasing smirk widened mischievously.
Yagura turned toward her with a questioning look.
You seriously don't think our instructor is the least bit irresponsible?
Reading his expression, Ringo Ameyuri crossed her arms and scoffed.
"You guys really are inexperienced. Jinin-senpai is actually quite responsible."
Responsible?
Yagura's doubt deepened.
"Back when I was in the ANBU, my first mission with my jonin instructor was to retrieve intelligence and return to the village. When Konoha's ninja caught up to us, you know what my so-called instructor did? He took the intel and ran, leaving me behind to stall the enemy."
"This isn't just him. Many of Kirigakure's jonin captains don't really look after their squads."
"At the very least, Jinin-senpai handled our paperwork before ditching us. That's already pretty decent."
She nodded as if stating an undeniable truth and let out a laugh.
Yagura: "…So we should be grateful?"
Turns out, it's all about comparison.
But seriously, why compare downward? Why not compare with Konoha's instructors instead?
The bruises from Jinin's previous training still ached faintly.
Yagura scratched his head in frustration, shaking off thoughts of Jinin. Instead, he surveyed the other genin from various villages. Their instructors had also handed over number tokens before departing, leaving the examinees to their own devices.
Gripping his token, Yagura discreetly encased it in coral.
It didn't take a genius to guess that the two numbers on the token were crucial to the upcoming exam.
Mukumo gathered his teammates and shared what he had learned.
"There are 225 candidates in this exam, forming 75 teams."
"Konoha has 81 participants, Iwagakure has 51, Sunagakure has 27. There are also 21 from Takigakure, 18 from Kusagakure, 15 from Amegakure, and 9 from Yugakure."
"So far, I've spotted six teams' numbers, and none exceed 75."
Most examinees had figured things out quickly and hidden their tokens, just like Yagura had done.
"That's all I've got for now." Mukumo scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, I couldn't gather more."
Yagura nudged him with an elbow. "Your Cloud Release abilities are this good for scouting?"
Given that he had details on all participants and their assigned numbers, this information wasn't something gathered beforehand—it was something he had analyzed in real-time…
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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