It has been a few weeks since my break and I'd say I'm currently in my best form yet.
My body feels amazing and it feels like I can do anything fluently. Now it's time for the Chunin exams in Konoha so my "team" and I make our way to the first part of the exams.
A small building near the academy will be used for the first test. This will obviously be where they test our ability to get information without being caught, or in a certain someone's case a lack of information.
"Keep on going," I say in a neutral voice.
Looking over to the side I could see a decent amount of the Genins battling it out?
There seemed to be some conflict near the bottom of the building and I have no intention of joining it. My other two teammates who at this point act like robots, nod at my words and proceed to follow me.
Kabuto and Tsubaki were near-perfect soldiers as the root training ingrained in them was for a while.
Entering the main room for the first part of the exams there were a multitude of three-man squads. Of course, all of them were tall as hell.
Compared to me at least...Looking at their headbands, most of the shinobi in the room were from Konoha but a few teams are coming from Suna and a few lesser villages. Nothing about the other major villages, probably because of the rising tensions.
*Bang*
A loud noise could be heard as a door slammed against a wall.
Everyone's attention is drawn to the noise, a person with a tall but buff figure with black hair and dark skin enters the room.
"I'm not here to babysit you lot of idiots, get in the room for the first part of the exam." The man says with a rough but loud voice.
Not wanting to create any issues, I make my way into the room while my other teammates after further instructions went to an upper floor.…
Entering the room it was just like the classroom over at the academy.
But instead of the desks connecting to the walls, they cut off towards the end making it like a university lecture room. The intructor had four other people next to him.
They all wore chunin vests and were probably a part of the torture department.
"Everybody take your assigned seats and start!" The instructor shouts not really wanting to waste any time. Hearing zero explanation on the amount of time needed, my brain immediately thought of cheating.
Just like in my high school days.
When the teacher would be on the other side of the class, I'd just pull out my phone.
Good times.
Getting to my seat with a number in hand, I spot a sheet of paper and a pencil next to it. Taking a seat I flip the paper over and stare at the questions. They were quite simple asking about topics such as advanced theory about chakra control.
Properties of both Yin and Yang with examples, the correct decision when protecting a cargo, etc...
Simple for me but at least Chunin theory questions for all these Genin.
Taking my time, it took just 10 minutes to answer all the questions in detail. After this, I started to look up from my paper for the first time since taking the test. Kabuto and Tsubaki were at the opposite ends away from me, making communication difficult.
But I trusted they had their own ways of passing.
Letting my eyes wonder there was a movement on the ceiling.
Scrunching my eyebrows I look slightly up to see a semi-transparent person there. He was crawling on the ceiling looking down on answers. Next to him were mirrors I'd assume from different groups while some holes were placed on top with some eyes being visible.
'What the fuck is going on.'
I suppose it was sort of effective on normal Civilians and other Genin.
But come on man...
Letting the time pass my eyes couldn't take any more of it. Thankfully after minutes of me daydreaming the instructor started to talk.
"You, you and you!" He kept on shouting pointing out a multitude of the Genins. The number was over half of the cohort as he pronounced them as failures.
The Genins tried to complain but they were immediately intimidating using bloodlust.
This quickly shut them up as most of them left.
An except few didn't move though which caught my interest. A stubborn few but the instructors never laid a hand on them. On top of some groups still qualify even without a member.
"That last show was a test, as Chunin's you need the mental resilience to lead squad members. We never said you failed the exam and disqualified, an instructor outside will tell them those words." He says catching me by surprise.
It was sort of like the anime with a twist in the end.
How clever.
Thankfully Tsubaki and Kabuto were still in their seats. But knowing that I could go to the next test solo made me feel better.
"To everyone that has passed today's test, you will need to meet up at the same time you did today at the Forest Of Death." The man said with a stern tone. Shortly after this everyone went their separate ways to rest for tomorrow.
"Damn that was actually interesting," I tell Kabuto who nodded his head.
"The mirrors I had came in handy Shimura-sama," Kabuto answers with an innocent smirk. Hearing this my eyes squint in realisation.
'THAT WAS HIM.' I thought speechless.
Next to me was Tsubaki who saw me silently spoke up.
"Shimura-sama do you want me to eliminate some people in the second round for you?" I hear her saying to my side. The girl casually flashed her poisoned senbon which creeped me out a little bit because of her fake smile.
At least she seems to take her role pretty seriously.
But such things were not needed, lessening the targets wouldn't benefit us. If anything there needs to be more passing Genin's so my skills could be shown in the final exam.
Thus giving me more leverage to others in the village.
"It's alright, just rest up," I say in a cocky voice.
Now back at my very humble house, I started to look around for my subordinates. Usually, I would find them at this time of day lazily sleeping on the couches or eating together.
Walking towards the back of the house where I sense the three of them I start to hear their conversation.
"Where did you get this book." Bird says with a neutral look as she slams a book next to Guren.
*Smack!*
"It was from the aunties at the stalls..." She murmurs looking downcast.
The book hitting the table makes a noise that forces Guren to look at the book in anticipation. Seeing this my mind wonders what the contents could possibly be, but scratch that idea as that was none of my business.
I have an exam to ace tomorrow.
Heading to my bedroom, with my gear still on.
My body plops down on my bed.
As my mind drifts off.
…
"I think I've gotten everything," I murmur to myself as I start to make my way out of the compound. Mukai was probably somewhere hidden as my skills still paled in comparison to any Jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin in fact.
They would manhandle me.
Counting the seals on my glove that aren't empty I smile knowing that I haven't forgotten anything.
No matter how weak the opponent is, the last thing you want to do is underestimate them. This is a world where someone like the God of Shinobi could die by a stab to the head with a kunai.
There simply isn't a way around this besides having a stronger defense up which isn't possible all the time.
It's the reason why I made my main style include speed and a Ninjato.
A blink here then a slash there and that's all I need to kill a person, don't need to overcomplicate it with jutsus and traps.
Making my way to the second examination starting point, I start looking around the Konoha training grounds.
'They're quite rugged but it makes sense because it's public to any shinobi.' I say criticising the place in my head.
Walking a bit further I made it to the starting area where everyone was.
Looking around I saw a few stalls off to the side that I assumed were where the scrolls were at, with a huge fence covering the entrance of the forest from the training ground.
After a little bit of roaming, I found Kabuto and Tsubaki next to a boulder leaning on it.
"Did the instructor already hand out the forms?" I ask Kabuto.
"Yes, Shimura-sama." He said in a cold voice. Putting his hand into his pockets, he pulls out a piece of paper with a pen and hands it to me.
Taking the paper I look over the conditions.
'Konoha will not be liable for you if you die in 5 days and inside the forest of death for the Chunin exams.' I read the text to myself.
Signing the form, I tell my teammates to follow me to the stall to get our own scroll.
We ended up getting an earth scroll so we needed the heaven scroll to be able to quickly pass.
After getting our scroll we listened to the instructor on what the rules are and soon after this everyone started to split up into different entrances to the forest wanting to get a good start.
"I'm guessing you know who has a heaven scroll we could easily target." I guessed. Kabuto hearing me communicates through Anbu hand seals and notifies me it's the team on the tree closest to the stalls.
'From what Kabuto says, they are average genin with the tallest one potentially a Chunin in taijutsu.'
They do not have bad chakra reserves but their overall skill is still unknown, it would be better to play it safe and quickly kill them.
They are from the Land of Roses, an interesting place for shinobi to be raised. Didn't expect that from a place quite far out. The land of roses is an area where Konoha has a trading route while it's in Kumo territory.
'I'll let all three of us take one of them each.' I think to myself as I reply to Kabuto on what the plan is.
…
"They are about 5 minutes away from here," I call out. My teammates nodding at my words start to pull out their shurikens and kunai.
Running on top of huge tree branches we quickly made our way to the opponents who I kept an "eye" on this whole time.
"We need to make our way towards the river." I hear a voice say bellow my team and I. Quietly moving around I start to position myself to kill the man who just talked.
"There should be one towards our left." Another one says to his teammates unaware of our presence.
Signalling for my teammates who were looking at me to attack, all three of us in sync attack with abilities far surpassing their reaction times.
Taking a kunai from my pocket a single hand sign from my other hand made chakra flow through my body. Feeling light, I throw the kunai using Swift release making it instantly blow the guy's head off.
*Splat*
While my target died, Kabuto quickly and efficiently stabbed his opponent with his [Chakra Scalpel].
*Shunk!*
Tsubaki killed her opponent after throwing a kunai as a distraction and used a Tanto to slice his head off. Looking at her weapon in interest it was the standard root weapon.
*Scwhing*
It was a double-sided short sword, with a flat end.
"That's all of them, let's start using our full speed towards the centre," I tell the both of them while I pick up the heaven scroll.
Ignoring the blood on our clothes, we started to head over to the finishing line.
There's no time to waste.
I want to eat a big meal...