Even though the three of them were expecting some kind of ambush—maybe an alliance of their enemies (IWA, KIRI) attacking them together or something—nothing like this happened. Mainly because all others were busy either attacking other teams or defending against attacks.
There were only 12 scrolls, meaning only 4 out of 10 teams could go to the next round, or some members from each team. That's why the competition for the scrolls was fierce.
While every team was fighting for scrolls, the Kumo ninja scattered in the valley were now concentrated in the same area. With the clash intensifying, this was when they would be needed the most.
That's why they were able to see Kaida giving a scroll to the Takigakure team as well as creating battle mayhem for some reason.
"Konoha not only gathered one scroll for each of their members, but they even had extra scrolls?" one of the chunin responsible for protection said in bewilderment.
"Looks like everyone's expectation of Konoha's comeback was true. Go and report this to the Raikage's office. We may really need to consider this seriously," the Jonin in charge of handling the safety task of the second stage said, his voice serious.
Upon receiving the order, two ninja suddenly vanished from their position, leaving behind a little lightning chakra. Kumo ninja mainly used lightning-based movement jutsu for rather obvious reasons.
---
*Raikage's Office:*
A was sitting in his office, doing some paperwork, which didn't suit his muscular frame at all. But being the Kage of a village came with responsibilities. Even though he didn't do nearly as much work as other Kage, some tasks could not be left for others to complete.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," A said.
"Sir, we have a report from the ninja monitoring the Chunin exam," his secretary Mabui, a tanned girl with silver hair, said.
"What happened?" A asked, a little frustrated. Even though the participants had already signed the contract that they could die in the exam, it wasn't like Kumogakure wouldn't face problems if too many participants died. That's why they had arranged ninja to monitor the exam.
"Sir, as you know, the goal of the second part of the exam was to gather scrolls and survive three days in the Land of Lightning," Mabui said, at which A nodded his head.
"Konoha's team was able to gather not just three but five scrolls," Mabui continued.
"Out of 12, right?" A asked.
"Yes, sir."
"And how many did Darui gather?"
"Two, sir, but the exam isn't over, and they may still get one more before it ends."
"Any specific reason Konoha performed this well?" Uncharacteristically, A asked calmly.
"Yes, sir. Due to being first in the first round, they received the reward of starting the test one hour before the others. Also, they may have encountered two other teams and taken their scrolls as well."
"May have?"
"The fight ended so quickly that when our ninja arrived, there was nothing left to see," Mabui explained.
"Were they injured during the test?"
"No, sir. According to the report, they were perfectly fine. Even their clothes and hair were clean, like they'd taken a bath or something."
"Do you understand what this means, Mabui?" A asked.
"Yes, sir. There's a very high chance that Konoha will win this Chunin exam," Mabui responded.
Boom!
The stone table in front of Raikage shattered in two parts.
"Yes, they'll win in my village, in front of our team, and we'll become a laughingstock in front of everyone," Raikage said, anger visible in his eyes as he finally lost his calm expression.
"Sir, we've already done everything we could, even sending Darui. Unless we 'change' the rules a little, I can't see any other way for us to win," Mabui said. Being the Raikage's secretary for so long, she was used to his anger fits.
"Are you suggesting I cheat for my village to win this exam?" A asked, his anger rising further.
"Sir, the Daimyo specifically requested we win this time, saying something about 'face' or whatever," Mabui reminded A about the message they received at the start of the exam.
"Those bastards just want to bet on the win and loss of the ninjas. It's us who have to worry about our reputation. Losing to Konoha, who's been below average for the last few years, and that too in our own village, will be a huge setback for us. Sigh… Tell Raiden that we'll have a two-week break between the second and third stages of the exam."
"But sir, the dates of the Chunin exam have already been fixed. All the guests are here, and even all three Daimyo are waiting for the third exam. We can't just change the dates like that."
"Even if the stadium is destroyed? Ask B to meet me at the stadium. We're going to have a taijutsu spar there. And when Darui comes, tell him to meet me."
"Sir, are you going to train him during those two weeks?" Mabui asked, for the first time showing a little emotion on her face.
"Teach him? He was my father's student and already knows everything he should know. But I'm going to have some spars with him to polish his skills a little," A said, then returned to his remaining tasks, knowing he was about to get very busy soon.
Mabui, understanding her task, quickly got to work—sending a messenger to call B while emptying the stadium, and also sending a message to Darui about the Raikage's orders.
---
Every team had now entered the building with the number of scrolls they could get their hands on.
"As I said before, each scroll is your ticket to the third stage of the exam. So, those who have the scrolls, come forward. If a team only has one or two scrolls, they can decide who will move forward with it," the proctor of the second stage said.
Konoha's team, without any discussion, went forward and submitted one scroll each, while some other teams quietly retreated, not having even a single scroll.
The remaining teams started discussing. Those with one scroll were sorted—their leader would go to the next exam. But those with two had to choose a second person. After some discussion, this was the lineup that came forward:
- Konoha: Itachi, Kaida, Kabuto
- Amegakure: Suiren, Ren
- Kumogakure: Darui, Ayami
- Sunagakure: Shima, Kuro
- Iwagakure: Deidara
- Kirigakure: Naoki
- Takigakure: Shirogane
All the teams that had to choose between two remaining members picked the one with better attack power. From Amegakure, Ren was chosen due to his proficiency in lightning release, even though he didn't know any A-rank jutsu. The same went for Sunagakure, where Juro was chosen because Tama was more focused on defense than offense.
"Good. The rest of you can leave now," the instructor said. He was about to announce the details of the next stage when he received a letter from his subordinate. After reading it, he changed his words.
"As for you all, you'll be notified about the exam details later. For now, you can rest at your lodgings. Make sure to recover as soon as you can," he continued.
"You guys can leave now," he said, and everyone dispersed.
After exiting the doors, Deidara confronted Kaida and his group.
"You'd better pray your first match isn't against me, or you'll be dead in the first round," Deidara snarled.
"Sorry, but who are you? I accidentally forgot," Kaida asked, feigning confusion.
"You…!" Deidara growled as his teammates grabbed him to stop him from doing anything rash.
"Captain, not now, please," one of his teammates said as they held Deidara back. Too angry to continue, Deidara simply left, vowing to return the humiliation tenfold in the next round.
'No matter what, I'm going to kill that bastard,' he thought to himself.
"Is there any particular enmity between you two?" Itachi asked, noticing how Kaida took every opportunity to make Deidara as angry as possible.
"Nope, but I don't really like Iwagakure a lot. They almost eradicated our team. If not for Ryota sensing them from afar, we would've been ambushed 10 to 1," Kaida said.
"So you're taking it out on him?" Itachi asked.
"Sort of. But his eagerness for that is a major reason," Kaida replied with a mischievous smile on his face.
Both Itachi and Kabuto just shook their heads at Kaida's antics.