"To be honest, the second exam is ridiculously difficult. Our team is already strong, yet we're still missing one scroll."
Kamikawa Yano complained gloomily. He looked up at the night sky and continued, "It's already been four days. We still need the last scroll. What do we do now?"
"It's just bad luck. We've collected five Heaven and Earth Scrolls combined, but we still haven't found a single Human Scroll. Naruto, what do you think we should do?" Yamai Miye asked with a tilt of her head. There wasn't much time left before the exam ended—if they failed because of pure bad luck, it would be beyond frustrating.
"Let's head straight for the finish line!"
Naruto Uzumaki smacked his fists together, full of spirit, and said to Yamai Miye and Kamikawa Yano, "We'll ambush at the goal. Anyone heading there must already have all their scrolls. The Land of Fire is huge; relying on Yano's scouting alone won't find us anyone."
Kamikawa Yano added, "And there are so many proctors around messing up our senses. It's even harder for me to work."
Yamai Miye sighed. "We can try, but acting this boldly might attract other teams to gang up on us."
"Don't worry. I'll protect you both!"
Naruto grinned widely, but the two shook their heads at the same time. "Impossible. You're the one we trust the least!"
Their gloomy mood lightened, and their fighting spirit returned. They decided to travel through the night and reach the area near the finish line as soon as possible.
Other teams were in similar situations. Gathering three scrolls in such a vast territory of the Land of Fire was difficult even for a normal Chunin team. Anyone who collected all three scrolls was essentially qualified to become a Chunin—even if they lost in the final individual matches.
Not only did possessing three scrolls show skill, but there was also a bit of luck involved.
Naruto's team, despite defeating four other teams, still hadn't found a single Human Scroll.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke had better luck. They happened to run into a team carrying the scroll they needed.
After swiftly taking them down, they retrieved the scroll from the enemy's tool pouch.
"Sasuke, it's the Heaven Scroll! We finally have all of them." Nakamura Yoko excitedly waved the scroll, then gestured for the venomous centipede on the enemy's face to return to her.
With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke spoke calmly, "Since we're done, let's go. Don't waste time on people like this."
He turned to leave.
This dismissive attitude infuriated the three Genin from Kumogakure. They were, after all, from a major hidden village. Even if they were weaker, they shouldn't be treated this way—especially not by some kid. They were sixteen to seventeen-year-old veteran Genin; being disrespected like this was humiliating.
"Damn brat!"
One of the Kumo ninja couldn't stand Sasuke's attitude. He grabbed two shuriken and hurled them at Sasuke's back with killing intent.
"Sasuke!!" Nakamura Yoko shouted in alarm.
Sasuke sensed the attack. Without panicking, he twisted his body slightly, snatched both shuriken midair with one hand, and slowly turned around—his eyes revealing three spinning tomoe.
"I let you walk away alive, but it seems you don't care."
Whoosh!
He threw the shuriken back. They pierced into the throats of two Kumo ninja. Sasuke then closed his eyes, turned away, and when he opened them again, his Sharingan had vanished. The last Kumo ninja was killed by Yoko's venomous centipede. As Sasuke had said—if they couldn't accept defeat, then they could die.
I probably looked at least half as cool as future-uncle just now, Sasuke thought proudly.
But he didn't realize the entire scene had been captured by a hidden camera—and on the other end, people were already discussing it.
"Supervisor, this footage is perfect for a live-action character promo for the ninja game. Should we release it?"
A staff member of the Uzumaki Trade Association asked. If the three dead ninja hadn't been from Kumogakure, he wouldn't have even bothered asking. He would've processed the video immediately.
But since it involved another major village, he had to check first.
The supervisor reviewed the footage and was instantly impressed by Sasuke's aura. Not releasing it would be a waste. After some hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, "Release it. I'll ask the higher-ups if they want Uchiha Sasuke as a promotional model."
Thanks to the ninja game's popularity, the Uzumaki Trade Association was making a killing with ninja-related merchandise like plush toys and masks.
Seeing Sasuke's face and attitude, the supervisor immediately knew he'd sell well. He hurried to report it, saying before he left:
"There's barely any usable footage from the second exam. If we keep worrying about this and that, we won't even have enough scenes to show."
The staff nodded. "The supervisor is right."
As for Kumogakure complaining—Uzumaki Trade Association didn't care at all.
As the second exam neared its end, the Chunin proctors from other villages headed toward the Kawasuna District of the Sand Federation. Only Konoha's ninja stayed behind to clean up the aftermath.
Nara Shikaku used the exam as cover to secretly guide the other villages' ninja along controlled travel routes. Many escort missions were temporarily halted to avoid route conflicts between Iwa and Kumo shinobi, which would risk exposing everything.
Every day, Konoha ninja escorted Iwa and Kumo ninja across the Land of Fire's borders, settling them in different areas before gradually moving them toward Kikyo Castle.
Kikyo Castle had been expanded several times and could easily hold a few thousand people. The three major villages also invested heavily, contributing numerous high-grade sealing scrolls to avoid bringing vulnerable supply caravans.
Konoha had deep resources—financially the strongest among the Four Great Nations. They could fully supply over a thousand people with enough sealing scrolls. Iwa and Kumo didn't have that luxury. Kumo barely managed thanks to their Six Ninja Tools, and Iwa even had to borrow sealing scrolls from Konoha.
"Hokage, we'll leave the military supplies to you."
Raikage A said to Tsunade. All ninja forces would gather at Kikyo Castle, and unified supply transport was ideal. They were allies now, and future logistics would rely heavily on Konoha.
"Rest assured. These supplies are vital. I'll have Root guard them personally."
Tsunade said solemnly. Both Ōnoki and A felt reassured upon seeing her expression.
In crucial moments, the Hokage's word mattered—and Tsunade, awakened with Wood Release, inspired a strong sense of security.
"The army will finish gathering at Kikyo Castle in three days. The second naval unit will need seven more days. But there's a problem: at that time, Hokage-sama and the other three leaders must attend the final exam in the Sand Federation. How do we handle that?"
As the chief strategist, Nara Shikaku raised a critical issue.
The Four Kage needed to lead the First Ninja Division in a frontal assault on Sand Federation, drawing the Federation's attention to give the naval unit a chance.
"We'll send body doubles. Kumo has a technique that alters appearances. With some coordination, we can fool them."
Mabui stepped forward. Kumo had already prepared for this.
"In that case, everything should go smoothly."
Shikaku nodded. But he didn't believe the Sand Federation had kidnapped the Jinchūriki. He suspected another hidden force knew about the alliance and had deliberately struck at the most crucial moment.
He reported this to Tsunade and sent ANBU to investigate, but no clues had surfaced. Shikaku felt this unresolved threat could become the war's greatest uncertainty.
Hyuga Kiyo and Kurenai Yuhi returned to Konoha. Only those two were summoned back; the Chunin Exam teams were left to others.
As the Hyuga clan head, Kiyo knew about the war—but something felt wrong. Only fifteen Hyuga ninja were assigned as frontline scouts.
In normal times, fifteen Hyuga scouts were barely acceptable.
But this was a war involving the Five Great Nations. Forget excluding her from the battlefield—why were the Hyuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans all barely represented? It felt like Tsunade was deliberately sidelining them.
Something is off. Kiyo thought. She knew some of Tsunade's secrets and—combined with Neji's information from the first exam—became certain that the war situation was far from simple.
"Kiyo, want to stop by my place?" Kurenai asked with a smile.
"Not today."
Kiyo rejected her. "I'm not in the mood. I'm heading home."
"Come on. If you do, I'll tell you a huge secret."
Kurenai used her usual tactic, grabbing Kiyo's arm and dragging her toward her home.
(End of chapter)