After a few days of rest, the ninjas from Iwa and Suna Villages who had traveled a long way to Konoha were finally ready for the Chunin Exams.
The massive Konoha exam hall was almost packed to capacity.
Most of the Konoha genin stuck together, casting cautious and sometimes hostile glances at the ninjas from the other villages.
The relationship between Iwa and Suna Villages was lukewarm at best, so their respective genin kept to themselves, grouped in opposite corners of the hall.
"Tch, are Konoha's genin really this mediocre?" One of the Suna Village ninjas shot a glance at the Konoha genin, immediately sneering.
"They're sending old men and uncles who've been genin for decades to take the Chunin Exams? What a joke!"
His companions laughed heartily, their words dripping with sarcasmin. "Yeah, Handa, don't underestimate them. Those old men and uncles might be Konoha's secret weapons! Hahaha!"
"Exactly! Check it out, hahahaha." Another Suna ninja pointed at a Konoha genin. "That uncle is wearing green tights, and his hairstyle is ridiculous!"
The Suna genin had clearly been holding back their disdain for some time, and now they saw no reason to hide it. Their loud mockery drew sharp glares from the Konoha ninjas.
"Seriously, why did Hokage-sama let these guys take the Chunin Exams?"
A Konoha genin muttered under his breath, feeling a mix of embarrassment and frustration. "Might Guy and Kosuke Maruboshi, these two eternal genin, are here to embarrass us! Now those Suna guys are laughing at us!"
If you talk about "eternal genin," you have to mention these two legendary figures in Konoha.
Might Guy, who always wears green tights, is a genin with no ninjutsu or genjutsu skills, but he excels in taijutsu and is a passionate, somewhat clueless guy.
The other is Kosuke Maruboshi, who is in his fifties and still a genin!
Soon, the examiners responsible for the first exam entered the hall.
"Quiet, you little brats!"
The scar-faced examiner surveyed the noisy candidates with a wry grin and an almost menacing tone: "If I hear even a whisper, I'll disqualify you from the exam!"
Faced with the examiner's threat, the room fell silent, with the genin not daring to make a sound. The entire hall became deathly quiet.
"The examiners seemed satisfied with the group of candidates. There were no apparent slackers or pranksters among the Genin this time.
'The first test is a written exam,' announced the scar-faced examiner. 'You have 60 minutes to complete it. No talking or whispering, and no cheating. If you're caught cheating twice, you and your entire team will be disqualified. Understand?'
He didn't wait for a response. Instead, he distributed the exam papers, passing them out to each candidate individually. The rules were simple enough.
If you didn't understand them, no amount of repetition would help. And if you did, there was no point in explaining again.
With the instructions given, the exam began.
The Chunin examiners patrolled the room with sharp eyes, scanning the candidates for signs of cheating. Occasionally, they would stop to write names on a board, noting those who had been disqualified.
'Number 28, eliminated!'
'Number 12, eliminated!'
'Number 47, eliminated!'
'Number 52, eliminated!'
One by one, candidates were asked to leave, and the crowded classroom grew emptier by the minute. Of the original eighty candidates, nearly two-thirds had been disqualified, leaving fewer than thirty.
Konoha had the most candidates remaining, while Iwagakure, which had brought over twenty Genin, was down to just nine.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure, which had carefully selected its Genin, saw most of its candidates pass the test.
This round of eliminations had made it clear which teams had prepared properly and which had not.
"Bah, the level of Konoha is nothing but this!"
Sand ninja Shimizu crossed her arms and shot a scornful glance at the fewer than half of the Konoha genin who were left, letting out a mocking laugh.
"Shimizu, don't say that. You know, they've been working hard, but they're just not strong enough," his companion Daigo said, though the meaning behind his words clearly suggested that Konoha's genin were seriously lacking. His grin was laced with undisguised contempt.
After the first written test, not only did the Suna ninjas look down on Konoha, but so did the Iwa ninjas.
Weak. Way too weak!
It seemed like Konoha was in serious trouble, especially with a younger generation this feeble.
"In my opinion, the genin from the Kusagakure are probably better than these Konoha guys," Daigo added, rubbing his chin with a smug expression.
Kusagakure? Who even are they? How could they be compared to Konoha?
Daigo's comment instantly earned him furious glares from the Konoha genin.
"Oh, scary, isn't it?" Shimizu sneered, unbothered by their reactions. She looked over to the examiner, who stood nearby: "Hey, examiner, should we be worried about our safety?"
The Konoha chunin supervising the exam replied with a blank expression, "Fighting is prohibited in the exam hall. Relax."
"Good," Shimizu shrugged, feigning concern. Then, she turned to her companion and shouted, "Daigo, we better be careful. If these Konoha genin get riled up and snap, we're at a serious disadvantage with so few people."
"Yeah, we have so few numbers, we gotta watch out," Daigo chimed in, his smile betraying that he wasn't the least bit scared.
"Okay, enough chit-chat," said the scar-faced examiner, standing up to intervene before things got out of hand. "First off, congrats on passing the first stage of the Chunin Exam."
"Hey, examiner, when do we start the next part?" Shimizu cut him off, folding her arms with an arrogant smirk. "There's no need to congratulate us for such an easy test."
"Yeah, this wasn't difficult at all," Daigo chimed in. "Examiner, don't waste our time. If I knew it would be this simple, I would've just stayed back in the village."
The announcement was met with approval from the Iwagakure ninja. Even though half of their team was wiped out, those who survived were the best of the best.
"Excellent. It seems everyone is still in high spirits," the scar-faced examiner said with a smirk.
Rather than being angry at the near decimation of the group, he seemed oddly amused, speaking in a tone that hinted at something hidden.
"Enjoy this moment while it lasts, kids. Because soon you'll wish you had been knocked out in the first round."
His words sent a shiver down the spines of the candidates. There was something ominous in his eyes, almost like pity. But why pity? What did he know that they didn't?
The unsettling feeling grew among the participants.
"Tsk, trying to be all mysterious, huh?" Shimizu muttered under her breath, gritting her teeth. She forced herself to keep calm. "I want to see what kind of tricks Konoha has up its sleeve!"
The second Chunin Exam was held in the Forest of Death, and the instructions were deceptively simple. Reach the tower at the center of the forest and retrieve a scroll. It sounded easy enough, but everyone knew there had to be a catch.
Shimizu and her two companions proceeded with caution, expecting traps, ambushes, or worse. But their journey through the forest was eerily uneventful.
No traps, no hidden enemies—just a clear path to the tower. It was unsettling, like the calm before the storm.
"What is Konoha planning?" Shimizu wondered aloud as they reached the tower. It felt too easy, and that only made them more anxious.
When they finally opened the door to the tower, the sight that greeted them was a shock. It wasn't at all what they expected.
Inside the dimly lit tower, the ground was littered with dismembered body parts, hacked and slashed as if by a crazed butcher. The thick stench of blood filled the air, and the acrid odor made you want to retch.
"Ugh—" Daigo couldn't hold it any longer and vomited, gagging as the bile rose.
"What... what happened here?!" Shimizu's face turned pale, her skin breaking out in goosebumps.
Just then, a man staggered toward them, covered in blood, with half his head chopped off, exposing his white hair and brain tissue.
His broken right hand reached out, and his expression was twisted in terror as he croaked, "Run!"
"Please... go report to Lord Hokage... Konoha is under attack!"
"All candidates and examiners are being lured here by him..."
As the man stumbled closer, the fear in Daigo and Shimizu's hearts reached a fever pitch. They recognized him—it was Uchiha Sogetsu, the one who had killed Sentaro the day before!
"It's him!" Shimizu gasped.
"Quickly—" Uchiha Sogetsu tried to say something more, but a sudden flash of steel cut him short.
Snap!
A sickening crack like a watermelon splitting echoed through the air. Shimizu, Daigo, and their companions watched in horror as Uchiha Sogetsu's head exploded from the force of the blow.
Crimson and gray matter splattered across the floor as his headless body collapsed. Standing behind him was a towering man, nearly two meters tall, built like a tank, wearing a blood-red mask.
His apron was splattered with viscera, and he wielded a rusted hammer in one hand and a serrated meat cleaver in the other.
"It's your turn!" he growled menacingly.
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