Chapter 247: The Exams Begin
Ryū barely suppressed an eyeroll at Minato's opening line. So the upper echelons of Konoha's leadership had a taste for ceremonial pageantry, did they?
Not a single person in the plaza said the words "too much trouble," of course. Nobody was going to say that out loud to the Fourth Hokage's face. The shinobi from outside the village, the ones from within it — any complaints existed purely as internal monologue, and that was where they would stay.
Minato continued. "The villages participating in this examination are: the Hidden Leaf of the Land of Fire, the Hidden Rock of the Land of Earth…" — he listed them all — "…and the total number of genin candidates has reached triple digits. This represents an encouraging start."
"I'll keep this brief — it's rather warm today, and I'd rather not affect your performance. Becoming a chūnin does not simply require winning matches. It requires a comprehensive final evaluation across all assessed criteria."
"I want to emphasize: all criteria must be met. That said, placing well in the rankings is not without its rewards — each of the major hidden villages has contributed one of their closely guarded techniques as a prize for the top finishers."
"…"
Brief, he'd said.
He then spoke for over ten minutes.
If this was Minato's definition of brief, Ryū had no interest in finding out what a full-length address looked like. Though looking at the man up there, the answer was probably: all afternoon.
Ryū himself was utterly unaffected by the blazing sun overhead. Not a drop of sweat, not a hint of discomfort, not so much as a flush of heat. His constitution simply didn't register it.
"As for the judges for this examination — while they are all from Konoha, I want to make something clear to our own shinobi: do not count on favoritism. Any violation of the rules, regardless of your village or your clan, will result in immediate disqualification."
"This examination follows the established three-round format, with a projected duration of one week. The first round is a written examination covering shinobi theory and knowledge. The supervising judge for the first round is Konoha's own Tsunade-senpai."
"The second round is a field survival and combat exercise. Specific rules will be explained on the day. Supervising judge for the second round will be Konoha's own Sarutobi Hiruzen-senpai. I would advise against attempting anything clever in front of Sarutobi-senpai."
"The third round is the tournament stage. Rules will again be explained at that time. The supervising judge for the third round is… a certain individual of considerable mystery — not a shinobi, and yet stronger than any shinobi present. This is not an empty claim."
"And on that note — everyone please take ten minutes to rest. After that, proceed in an orderly fashion to the written examination hall!"
"…"
Minato had finally wrapped up. He had, in the most compact terms he apparently possessed, covered the broad shape of the exams.
As he sat back down and reached for his water, the plaza erupted.
The announced lineup of judges had caused something of a stir.
Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen — there was hardly a person alive who didn't know those names. One was the Princess Tsunade, a legendary figure from the Third Great Shinobi War, one of the Three Sannin of the Leaf, a kunoichi of formidable power. The other was the former Hokage himself — the Third, current senior advisor and member of the intelligence council, known throughout the world as the "Professor of Shinobi."
But the third one — who was that? A mysterious individual?
Not even a name given?
Several shinobi and civilians in the crowd exchanged confused looks. A mysterious powerful figure in Konoha? Did the village have someone even beyond what they'd seen? The Fourth Hokage wasn't the type to throw around that kind of claim carelessly.
A wealthy merchant who had come to watch the exams shook his head in quiet admiration. "Konoha really does produce extraordinary people. If they're calling this person a mystery, it means whoever it is hasn't made their mark on any battlefield — yet their strength is apparently beyond question. Very likely one of the village's hidden assets."
A Rock chūnin standing nearby nodded in agreement. "I thought they'd shown everything they had in the Third War. I didn't expect they still had cards in reserve."
A Sand chūnin clicked his tongue. "If it were actually a hidden asset, do you think Konoha would be announcing it like this? I reckon this is someone Konoha simply couldn't contain — a powerful figure operating outside the village's control."
"Someone Konoha couldn't contain? Come on, seriously?"
"I'm not a Konoha person, but even I'll admit their strength — how could there be someone they can't keep in line?"
"Hey — public setting, keep it civil, don't embarrass your villages."
"…"
The ten minutes passed quickly. The exams officially began.
Ryū had no reason to linger — he was the third round's judge and nothing else. Today had been about showing up, filling a seat, and lending the occasion some gravitational weight.
At this pace, the first and second rounds would probably conclude today. The third round was another matter. The field survival stage would leave candidates injured, and they'd need recovery time before the tournament stage could be run fairly.
So his actual involvement was still several days away.
Having extracted one more meal from the Hokage Building dining hall, Ryū ambled home at a leisurely pace.
He was making his way along one of Konoha's streets when a voice came from behind him, stopping him short.
"Ryū-sensei! I spotted you in the plaza just now — I can't believe you were seated right next to Lord Hokage! The only other person sitting there was the Third, you know!"
Ryū felt a dull ache somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach. Of all the people to run into on the walk home.
Guy was fundamentally a decent person — earnest, even guileless. The problem was that his guilelessness had gone well past wholesome into genuinely exhausting. He had apparently entered the world without whatever internal component governed social calibration, and the gap had never filled in.
Ryū didn't bother turning around. One sweep of Observation Haki gave him the full picture. He already knew what was there.
What he hadn't expected was the company.
Alongside Guy were Kakashi, and — somewhat surprisingly — a Uchiha kid in a wheelchair, and another Uchiha kid pushing it.
He turned.
Kakashi. Guy. Shisui. And standing behind Shisui, pushing the wheelchair — a young Uchiha boy who couldn't have been more than five or six. Small enough that Ryū didn't immediately place him.
Before he could say anything, Shisui looked up from the wheelchair with an expression of genuine relief.
"Senpai! Thank you for the advice you gave me before — I'm out of danger. They're not going to have to amputate."
He scratched the back of his head with a slightly sheepish look. "Though apparently the damage was bad enough that Tsunade-sama says I can't leave this wheelchair for at least six months."
"Oh — right. Senpai, the one pushing my chair is a friend of mine. His name is Uchiha Itachi. He's Uchiha clan, same as me. Itachi — this is Ryū-senpai. He's Big Brother Guy's teacher. Really strong."
The boy behind the wheelchair — Uchiha Itachi — looked up at Ryū with a small, somewhat uncertain expression.
"Sen… senpai. Hello."
Ryū gave a brief nod and looked the boy over with mild interest.
So this was Uchiha Itachi.
Five, maybe six years old. About the same age as Sakura, by the look of it. Clear, uncomplicated eyes.
Nothing in that face resembled the driven extremity of the person in the original story.
Of course, not being extreme now didn't mean anything about later. The Uchiha had a particular brand of ideology that seemed to run in the bloodline, and Ryū had no particular interest in commenting on it.
He shifted his attention back to Shisui.
"Looks like Tsunade's already treated you. You're recovering well. Next time — don't go trying to copy someone else's techniques without understanding them first."
Shisui's expression curdled with embarrassment, because the entire reason his leg was in this state was precisely that — attempting to self-teach Tempest Kick from watching Guy practice it and nearly destroying his own foot in the process.
Guy seized the conversational opening. "Ryū-sensei! Are you heading home? But aren't you one of the examiners? Shouldn't you be staying?"
Ryū yawned. "I'm the third round examiner. Rounds one and two have nothing to do with me."
Kakashi, standing to the side, muttered under his breath — low enough that, in his estimation, only he would hear it. "Somehow this feels a little irresponsible. This is the Chūnin Exams…"
In his estimation. Which proved to be very wrong.
Ryū's hand came up and delivered a crisp knuckle-flick to Kakashi's head. A sharp thwap. Kakashi yelped.
Ryū's expression didn't change. "Irresponsible is a bit much, Kakashi-kun. I showed up, didn't I? I could have sat at home during the opening ceremony. I chose not to."
Kakashi: "…"
Showing up for the opening ceremony counted as fulfilling one's duties. That was apparently the bar.
This was the world the truly powerful inhabited, apparently.
Also — that voice had been barely audible. He'd been certain no one could hear it.
That level of hearing was frankly on par with a wolf's.
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