"Of course," Akira grinned.
Every candidate present suddenly felt a chill run down their neck.
"Finishing the written test is only one part of this exam. The real challenge is protecting the scroll and getting out of here."
He kicked open the door and walked outside, holding the mission scroll high for everyone to see.
"This scroll is the objective of the test. Anyone want to try taking it from me?"
With a flick of his hand, a black blade appeared in his grip.
A feral grin spread across his face.
Sneaking around and quietly carrying the scroll out?
That was impossible for him.
He was here to farm experience.
All the candidates stared at the scroll in his hand.
Then one by one, they silently turned away.
Nawaki and Mushi-hime rushed out of their rooms and grabbed Akira.
"Calm down, big brother! It's not that serious!"
Akira ignored them and shouted at the other ninja watching nearby.
"Come on! Try to take it! Don't be cowards! Whoever grabs this scroll passes the exam!"
The surrounding ninja instantly scattered.
"Big brother, it's not necessary to make everyone fail the exam," Nawaki sighed in relief as the crowd dispersed.
Letting Akira fight these people was completely unfair.
"Cowards. Pathetic," Akira spat on the ground.
He had made it this obvious, yet no one dared step forward.
And they wanted to become chunin?
"They should go home and babysit instead."
Nawaki and Mushi-hime practically dragged Akira out of the building.
If he stayed any longer, an actual fight would break out.
And they both knew how that fight would end.
Completely one-sided.
"That guy's ridiculously arrogant," someone muttered angrily as Akira was dragged away.
"Then go try him yourself," his teammate scoffed.
The three genin Akira had knocked out earlier were fairly well-known among them.
Their leader had been close to becoming a chunin.
Yet Akira had dropped them in seconds.
The complaining genin shrank back slightly.
Yeah… he probably couldn't beat that guy.
Still, that Hyuga ninja was unbelievably arrogant.
Everyone hesitated, secretly hoping someone else would test him first.
But no one dared.
"With people like that, when will Konoha ever rise again? Our great Konoha is filled with cowards."
Akira continued grumbling.
He was extremely dissatisfied that no one had tried to take the scroll.
"Big brother, let's just finish the exam properly," Nawaki pleaded.
The three of them soon arrived at the destination.
Several people were guarding the location.
When they noticed the fan crest on their clothing, both Akira and Nawaki were surprised.
Not only Akira had noticed the manpower shortage in Konoha.
Even Nawaki muttered quietly,
"Are we seriously that short on people?"
The Uchiha and Hyuga clans had always maintained a certain distance from the village leadership.
Usually the village avoided assigning them to internal duties.
Yet now even Uchiha ninja were guarding the Chunin Exam.
"What were you just saying?" the two Uchiha guards said coldly.
Akira tossed the scroll over.
The two Uchiha snorted and inspected it.
"You're the first team. Go inside."
With that tone?
Akira wasn't having it.
He rolled up his sleeves.
"You two got a problem with me?"
The two Uchiha showed looks of disdain.
Just a genin—
Bang! Bang!
[Experience +1456]
[Experience +1897]
"Two Uchiha thinking they can provoke me?" Akira dusted off his hands.
Turns out they were both chunin.
Nawaki and Mushi-hime stared blankly at the unconscious Uchiha.
Were chunin really this easy to beat?
Also… hadn't Akira started that fight himself?
Those guys had already let them pass!
If they beat up the exam proctors, could they still pass the Chunin Exam?
"Come on. What are you standing around for?" Akira said.
Since the candidates hadn't given him experience, he had to make up for it somehow.
They passed through the gate the Uchiha had been guarding.
Inside was Konoha's arena.
The massive stadium felt empty.
There was almost no one there.
"Congratulations on completing the first stage."
Jiraiya walked forward, clapping with a bright smile.
"Oh? Nawaki? Didn't expect to see you."
"Big brother Jiraiya!" Nawaki ran over excitedly.
Akira rubbed his chin, observing the silver-haired man.
The future Legendary Sannin—Jiraiya.
Apparently even he had been dragged in as a judge.
"Big brother Jiraiya, what's the next test? Give me a hint," Nawaki whispered while nudging him.
"As if they'd tell you that," Mushi-hime muttered.
It was obvious Jiraiya was the examiner.
"The next stage is 1-on-1 combat," Jiraiya said.
"But victory alone won't determine the result. We'll evaluate your performance to decide whether you qualify as a chunin."
He actually answered.
"Jiraiya-sama," Akira asked, "don't you think this Chunin Exam is… a bit simple?"
It seemed like there were only two stages.
Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly.
"We can't help it. The Hokage is on the front lines right now, and most of the village's forces have been deployed to the battlefield."
"So we had to simplify everything."
Akira didn't even know where to begin criticizing.
He could only look forward to the missions after becoming a chunin.
Hopefully the enemies wouldn't be too scarce.
The first stage had taken place in the morning.
The second stage would begin at noon.
All the candidates who passed gathered inside the arena.
Including Akira's team, there were only nine teams—twenty-seven people.
Many of them were still injured when they entered the arena.
"Can they really fight like this?" Nawaki asked Jiraiya.
Before Jiraiya could answer, Orochimaru spoke instead.
"Under normal circumstances, candidates would be given time to recover."
"But this is wartime."
"Even if severely injured, a ninja must still have the ability to retaliate against the enemy."
This exam was designed to test the genin's adaptability, preparing them for real battlefield conditions.
Akira turned to look at both Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
"So you two are in charge of this Chunin Exam?"
Orochimaru suddenly had a bad feeling and chose to remain silent.
But Jiraiya answered casually.
"Yeah, we're running it. Orochimaru and I designed these tests together."
Too bad Tsunade was still on the Sand battlefield.
Akira's face suddenly lit up with a bright smile.
"Don't you think there are a bit too many candidates?"
"Maybe we should change the format of the exam, Jiraiya-sama."
Jiraiya immediately sensed something was wrong.
"…What are you planning?"
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