The Chunin Exams.
Sunlight streamed down from the sky, shining on Hyuga Akira as he lounged lazily on a tree branch, watching the crowd below.
"Why are there so few people?" Nawaki muttered, staring at the gathering.
The number was far lower than he had expected—barely even a hundred.
"Most genin are still on the front lines," Akira replied lazily.
With the war raging so fiercely, Konoha wouldn't pull most of its genin back just to participate in the Chunin Exams.
The ones here were either temporarily recalled to the village or hadn't yet been sent out.
They were simply lucky enough to catch this round of exams.
The Chunin Exams were held twice a year.
As long as a genin survived the battlefield and returned alive, participating in the exam later wasn't a problem.
Konoha definitely had far more genin than this.
Besides the academy graduates, there were countless genin who had failed to be promoted year after year.
Although the Chunin Exams were held annually, only a handful of people passed each time.
Out of hundreds of candidates, usually only a few successfully became chunin.
Still, the number of participants this time was comparable to the year Naruto took the exam.
That had been one of Konoha's weakest periods.
After the Third Great Ninja War and the Nine-Tails attack, the village had suffered massive casualties.
The departure of the Sannin and heavy losses among ninja had further weakened the village.
During Naruto's generation, Konoha had barely recovered enough to scrape together nearly a hundred genin candidates.
But now was Konoha's peak era.
Most of the ninja simply weren't in the village.
They were currently gathered inside the Forest of Konoha.
Ahead of them stood an abandoned building with its main gate locked.
Everyone was waiting for the examiner.
Soon, a familiar figure appeared.
"It's Orochimaru-sensei!" Nawaki shouted excitedly.
"Yeah," Akira yawned. "Looks like they dragged him here to fill in."
Apparently the village really was short on manpower if they had Orochimaru serving as the examiner.
And among the participants, none of them sparked even the slightest interest in Akira.
The only person who might have posed a threat—Might Duy—wasn't here.
He was probably already sent to the front lines.
As for the rest, their strength varied wildly.
Akira didn't even spot anyone notable from the original storyline.
"Everyone," Orochimaru announced with a gentle smile.
"I am the chief examiner for this Chunin Exam—Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru-sama!!"
Several female ninja screamed excitedly, their eyes practically turning into hearts.
At this time, Orochimaru hadn't yet been broken by Nawaki's death.
He still carried a refined, elegant aura rather than the sinister darkness he later developed.
"He's really popular," Akira muttered.
"Akira-sama, you're the only one in my eyes!" Mushi-hime hurried to declare her loyalty.
"Thanks," Akira replied absentmindedly.
Mushi-hime was undeniably cute.
But Akira had absolutely no interest in little girls.
Especially one who cooked bug cuisine.
Yet Mushi-hime blushed bright red.
"He complimented me."
"She's broken," Nawaki sighed, watching her freeze up.
"Everyone," Orochimaru continued, his voice silencing the crowd.
"This exam is simple."
"You will enter the building behind me. Each room contains a test paper."
"You must complete the test."
"However, only one person may enter each room."
"And not every room contains a test."
"If you enter a room without a test, you will immediately be disqualified."
"If even one member of your team is disqualified, the entire team fails."
"Additionally, your scores must all be passing."
"The difference between the three scores cannot exceed ten points."
"If that rule is broken, the entire team is disqualified."
"That's all."
"Does anyone wish to withdraw?"
The crowd erupted into discussion.
"Detection. Cooperation. Trust." Akira jumped down from the tree branch.
He had already understood the core of the test.
He glanced around at the other participants.
"And competition."
"Big brother, how does competition fit into this?" Nawaki asked.
"Just listen," Akira said, gesturing toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's voice continued.
"Also, there will be no proctors monitoring you."
"You are free to proceed however you wish."
Nawaki scratched his head, still confused.
Akira slapped his own forehead.
Mushi-hime explained calmly.
"That means we can use other people to test the rooms."
"Orochimaru-sensei never said a room with a test paper can only be entered once."
"In other words, manipulating others is allowed."
And the lack of proctors also meant—
They could attack other candidates.
The village simply didn't have enough personnel to supervise.
"Begin."
As Orochimaru finished speaking, the door behind him creaked open.
The ninja surged inside.
"Follow me," Akira said.
He activated his Byakugan, scanning the interior of the building.
Soon he selected three adjacent rooms on the second floor.
"Nawaki, left."
"Mushi-hime, right."
"Mushi-hime handles communication."
The first stage was easy for them.
Akira could observe every room with the Byakugan.
Mushi-hime's insects could act as communication tools.
"Hey, we saw those rooms first."
Three burly adult ninja stepped forward.
They had been watching Akira from the beginning.
Konoha ninja were well aware of the Byakugan's reconnaissance ability.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three heads slammed violently into the wall beside them.
[Experience +456]
[Experience +784]
[Experience +556]
"So weak." Akira clicked his tongue.
If they weren't worth at least ten thousand experience, why bother picking a fight?
Everyone nearby was stunned.
"I didn't even see him move."
"That speed…"
"That guy's dangerous."
Nawaki stared wide-eyed.
He could only barely see Akira's afterimage.
"It's starting."
The test questions focused mostly on battlefield knowledge, with very little from the ninja academy curriculum.
Everything was clearly designed for war.
Fortunately, none of the questions were difficult for them.
All three had real battlefield experience.
They understood these topics better than most.
"60."
"60."
"60."
All three received identical scores.
Once they finished the exam, their scores appeared automatically.
Pop.
A scroll appeared in Akira's hand.
"Our instructions appeared," Nawaki's voice came from the insect perched on Akira's shoulder.
"We have to deliver the mission scroll to a designated location."
"I have the map," Mushi-hime added.
"It shows the destination."
Akira looked at the scroll in his hand, sealed with the character 封.
So the scroll he held was the actual mission item.
"Now we face the final obstacle," Akira said with a grin.
"There's another one?" Nawaki and Mushi-hime asked at the same time.
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