Kaito Chapter 75
The white-haired kid responded with a smug smirk, "Names Mangetsu Hozuki," as he pointed at himself.
The brown-haired boy next to him chimed in, "And I'm Utakata."
Kaito nodded in acknowledgement as the blue-haired kid added, "Chojuro."
Recognizing all of their names, Kaito smiled and said, "Well we'll see you three in the exams."
Walking alongside Hotaru, Kaito couldn't help but think, "This is going to make things very interesting." He had recognized Mangetsu as Suigetsu's brother and knew that Utakata was the jinchuriki of the Six-Tails. The upcoming exams were sure to be challenging.
…..
As the first rays of sunlight peeked over the treetops, a warm golden glow spread over the village hidden in the leaf's. The air was charged with excitement as the villagers began to stir and prepare for the day ahead. In the Uzumaki residence, Kaito stood in front of his mirror, tying his forehead protector in place. adjusting his forehead protector, kaito let out a satisfied hum.
Retrieving his tanto he Left his room, Kaito made his way to the kitchen where he could hear his mother humming a soft tune as she cooked. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted through the air, making his stomach growl in hunger. Greeting his mother with a smile, Kaito asked, "Good morning mom, what's for breakfast?"
Kushina greeted him back with a warm smile and replied, "Good morning Kai-kun! I just finished making okonomiyaki." She plated a savory pancake and placed it in front of Kaito "Here you go Kai-kun" before sitting down next to him to eat.
"Thank you, Mom!" Kaito exclaimed as he eagerly dug into his breakfast. The two enjoyed their breakfast together, savoring each bite and exchanging stories about their plans for the day.
After finishing their meal, Kaito eagerly volunteered to wash the dishes, taking care to scrub every plate and utensil until they sparkled. Once he was done, he strapped his tanto onto his back and made his way to the front door.
His mother, Kushina, followed behind him, fussing over him with worry. "Do you have everything you need?" she asked. "Have you double-checked everything?"
Kaito reassured her with a nod and a smile. "Hai, I've got everything," he replied confidently as he slipped on his sandals.
As he stood up, Kaito turned to give his mother a hug, which she reciprocated with a kiss on his forehead. "Good luck Kai-kun," she said with a smile. "Do your best, you know."
"I will, Mom." Kaito beamed at her, feeling proud and determined. "See you soon mom," With one last wave, he turned and headed off towards the academy. With practiced ease, Kaito leaped from tree to tree as he made his way through towards the academy.
As he approached the academy, Kaito's eyes caught sight of his teammates standing under the big tree in front of the entrance. They were already here, waiting for him. He landed gracefully in front of them and greeted them with a warm smile. "Yo, good morning guys. Hope I haven't kept you two waiting."
Hotaru returned his smile and replied, "Good morning Kaito-kun. No, we haven't been waiting for too long. I just arrived a few minutes ago."
Itachi nodded in agreement and added, "Hai, I arrived just a few minutes before Hotaru."
Kaito smiled gratefully at his teammates and suggested, "Well then, let's head inside." He led the way towards the academy building but stopped suddenly and turned to face them with a sheepish expression. "Do you guys happen to know which room it is?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he realized he hadn't checked beforehand. His teammates chuckled and pointed him in the right direction before following closely behind him.
The group made their way towards classroom 301, the designated room for the first stage of the chunin exams. As they approached, they saw their sensei Shikaku was already waiting for them, leaning casually against the wall. His sharp gaze swept over each of his genin before speaking. "Good, all of you are here," he said with a nod. "Well then, good luck and do your best." With those words, he walked past them and disappeared down the hallway.
Nodding to each other, the group entered the room to find it filled with Genin from all the different villages. The tension in the air was palpable as most of them eyed each other with killing intend.
Kaito quickly scanned the room, searching for any familiar faces from the series he had watched. He spotted the three genin from Kirigakure that he and Hotaru had met just a week ago, standing at the front of the room. Kaito's eyes met briefly with Mangetsu Hozuki, who stood stoically against the wall. His teammates Chojuro and Utakata were seated nearby, with Chojuro looking nervous and Utakata appearing confident.
Not seeing anyone else he recognized, Kaito turned back to his team and warned them, "We should watch out for that team from Kiri," nodding towards Mangetsu's team. Itachi and Hotaru followed his gaze and saw them as well.
Hotaru turned to Kaito and asked, "The team we met last week?"
He nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I have a feeling that all three of them are strong." Itachi and Hotaru exchanged a look before nodding in agreement, trusting Kaito's judgement.
Just then, a sudden burst of smoke erupted in front of the classroom, obscuring their vision momentarily. As the smoke cleared, a tall blond man emerged, wearing a black jacket over the standard Konoha jonin attire. In a commanding voice, he declared, "Alright settle down," effectively silencing the entire room.
"now my name is inoichi Yamanaka and I will be the proctor for the first part of the chunin exams and the first test will be a written exam" The man introduced himself, then he gestures to his side and says "now hand over your paperwork and you will get a number for your seating"
Each student queued up and received their numbers, effectively separating them from their teammates. Kaito found himself seated at the front of the room, with Itachi and Hotaru at opposite ends of the back row.
Once everyone was settled into their seats, Inoichi began explaining the rules. "You will be given 10 questions, each worth 10 points. You need to score at least 70 points to pass. But here's the catch: if any member of your team receives a score of 0, your entire team fails." Some students voiced their objections, but Inoichi stood firm.
"Those are the rules," he declared as he wrote them out on the chalkboard for all to see. "Rule 1: 10 points will be deducted for each incorrect answer. Rule 2: If you are caught cheating three times, you and your team will be disqualified." The gravity of the situation set in as the students realized just how high the stakes were in this exam.
As Inoichi finishes his explanation, Kaito thought in disbelief. "Isn't this the same gathering information test that Naruto's batch did for the Chunin exams in the original timeline?" He couldn't believe that they hadn't changed the exam format. "Well, at least there isn't that stupid 10th question bullshit to test resolve or something," he thought to himself.
Inoichi looked at the clock then back at them and said, "And your time starts now."
Flipping over the paper, Kaito scanned through the complex math questions. Surprisingly, he found them easy to answer due to his knowledge of seals. Complex math was necessary for seals to function, and Kaito was considered a prodigy in the art of sealing.
It took Kaito less than 25 minutes to fully complete all the questions. He knew that both Itachi and Hotaru would have an easier time with this test. In fact, he was pretty sure that both of them could answer all the questions on the paper effortlessly. And if by some chance they struggled, they could always rely on their dojutsu abilities to cheat.
As the tests continued, some of the participants were caught attempting to cheat and were promptly disqualified, along with their entire team. Kaito, having finished answering the questions, closed his eyes and used the Kagura's mind's eye to see how his team and the other participants were faring. "Hmm, let's see how the others are doing," he thought to himself.
First, Kaito focused on Itachi and Hotaru. He noticed that Itachi had already completed his test and was now observing the others. "Thought so, he didn't need to cheat and seems to have finished around the same time as me," Kaito mused.
Next, he turned his attention to Hotaru. "Hmm, looks like Hotaru-chan is on the last question. And she isn't using her Byakugan to cheat... damn." Kaito was impressed.
Shifting his focus to Team from Kiri, Kaito's was particularly curiosity about Mangetsu Hozuki. In the anime, it was said that he was the most talented swordsman Kiri had ever produced and was capable of wielding all Seven Swords of the Mist. He was even hyped up to be at Kage level when he died. "If I remember correctly, he died around 15 or 16 years old," Kaito recalled.
Despite his reputation, there wasn't much known about Mangetsu other than what Suigetsu and Kabuto had hyped him during the fourth shinobi war. Using the kagura's minds eye, Kaito located Mangetsu and saw that he was finishing up the test and Mangetsu was using water to reflect and magnify the answers from a planted chunin. With this technique, he was also helping his team complete the test without getting caught for cheating. "Clever tactics" kaito thought.
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