In an open clearing outside of Otogakure, the day before the start of the exam, all the teams were gathered. There were a total of 153 genin taking the exam this year, but Jugo knew that many of them could be chunin or even jonin in disguise.
There was a cacophony of sounds as the teams constantly argued.
There were 8 teams of sound, 10 of sand, 9 of leaf, 3 of cloud, 4 of stone, 6 of mist, 5 of rain, 3 of grass, 2 of hot springs and one of waterfall.
Among the jonin who came, many familiar faces appeared: Temari and Chiyo from the Sand Village, Shikamaru and Asuma from the Leaf Village, Yugito and Dodai from the Cloud Village, Kitsuchi from the Stone Village, and ironically, the Mizukage herself came for this exam, along with Ao and Utakata.
Jugo was surprised that the woman had come alone, but he didn't worry too much about it, Guren was responsible for managing these people, while Jugo would be responsible for what he liked to call the "pre-exam."
Standing before the group of examinees, Jugo smiled slightly with the Sound Quartet behind him, Tayuya, Jirobo, Kidomaru and Ukon and Sakon.
In Jugo's eyes, those being examined seemed very nervous.
Among them were also many acquaintances.
Konoha did indeed send Team Asuma, Team Kurenai and Team Gai, even though Team Asuma had Sakura instead of Shikamaru.
From the stone, Onoki actually sent his granddaughter Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, with them was another ninja who looked robust, Jugo had no doubt that he possessed Jonin-level strength.
On Kumo's side, one of the teams consisted of Killer B's students, Karui, Omoi and Samui, but Killer B himself did not appear.
From Kiri, Chojuro was clearly visible as one of the examinees, on his back, Hiramekarei completely attracted Suigetsu's attention, but Suigetsu was also the focus of Kiri's teams, clearly recognizing Kubikiribocho on his back.
It became clear that both sides seemed to have the same ideas: to take the swords from the other side!
Ranmaru had a shy smile on his face as he scratched his hair, unsure what to do, but Karin was already furious. -Hey! What are you doing picking a fight with the Mist ninjas! You idiot!
The punch hit Suigetsu's head directly, but due to years of living together, Suigetsu's head turned to water before Karin even finished speaking, he was so used to it that he would use his ability at the slightest sign of danger, the danger in this case being Karin.
Karin had grown quite a bit, in fact they all had and she quickly calmed down again, adjusting her Yukata while glancing sideways at Jugo, it didn't take a genius to guess what she was thinking.
Of course, Karin is only 15 this year, Jugo wouldn't touch her for at least another three years, so he ignored the girl's obvious look.
Shaking his head, he continued his gaze, in the Suna team, he saw Shinra with his team. He remembered that his fight with Lee was really fun to watch and he was also interested in his taijutsu.
In addition to the 5 major villages, Jugo also saw another familiar character, the 7-tailed Jinchuuriki, Fuu, from Takigakure.
Jugo vaguely remembers Fuu being ambushed by Hidan and Kakuzu right after the Chunin Exams. Jugo was still wondering if he should get involved, there was a good chance Nagato would take advantage of this opportunity to deal with Fuu. He wondered if Kakuzu would go after her again and if he would have a new partner.
Shaking his head, Jugo cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everyone present. -Yo, my name is Hagoromo Jugo, you all know me as the leader of this village.
The group began to whisper, but Jugo ignored them and continued raising his arms. -Welcome to the first Chunin Exam hosted by Otogakure. The Chunin Exam will begin tomorrow, but until then, let me show you your accommodations.
The next moment, Jugo's palms came together as he intertwined his fingers. The first to notice something was wrong was Akamaru, who cried slightly, calling out to Kiba and looking at the ground in distress.
But when Kiba tried to ask what it was, he felt the fierce tremor.
The ninjas were shocked by the growing earthquake as Jugo channeled more and more chakra into this Jutsu.
Behind him, an immense mass of wood began to emerge, everything trembled as the genin tried to steady themselves on the ground.
Rising slowly, a gigantic wooden tower began to reveal its form, the ninja's eyes widening as they watched the sun slowly give way to a huge shadow.
In the end, when everything stopped, only a gigantic tower over a hundred meters high remained, it was circular and looked a bit like the Tower of Pisa, but made entirely of wood.
The tower's diameter alone was over sixty meters, it was an imposing and colossal structure and also something Jugo had designed to show off his muscles.
Not only the genin, but the jonin behind them were also shocked, ironically, the calmest were those from Kiri, who had already seen the Titan that Jugo transformed into before.
Jugo smiled, ignoring their thoughts, before clapping his hands again and creating a ladder to the top of the tower. -Come on, I'll take you to your accommodations.
Jugo put his hands in his pockets as he slowly climbed up, the sound quartet followed behind him, also shocked, but more excited.
The first to advance were the jonin, who were now much more cautious, then the genin came marching heavily, no one daring to make much noise. At that moment, any disdain had vanished, instead, fear surfaced.
Jugo then led them to the top of the tower, the view from there was incredible, even though you could see the sea in the distance. Jugo even considered keeping this place and moving there, but that would have to wait for later.
For now, he waited for everyone to arrive while he set aside a clone to guide the Genin to their accommodations, the food would be served in their rooms.
The Jonin, on the other hand, followed Jugo as he was about to explain the pre-exam to them, since if he said nothing, it might lead them to think he was attacking them.
In the conference room, several Jugo clones began bringing in equipment, quickly setting up monitors everywhere. Jugo didn't mind this, he sat at the head of a long, oval table.
-You can sit down.- Jugo said, causing several jonin to sit down quickly. To Jugo's left sat Terumi Mei, after all, she is the Mizukage. To Jugo's right was Guren, while the Sound Four stood behind him as guards.
But they were sent by Guren, Jugo didn't care about that.
-Jugo-dono, may I ask how the exams will be this year?- The first to speak was Dodai from Kumo, sitting next to Yugito.
-Well... if I talk about it now, it'll be boring, let's take it slowly, starting with the pre-exam.- Jugo smiled, raising his hands and resting his chin on them.