Although he had graduated from the Ninja Academy in just a single day three years ago, Jie hadn't taken the standard route. Instead of taking on regular missions across the ninja world, he had joined the Anbu.
For three years in the Anbu, Jie Uchiha had fought all over the continent, completing high-stakes missions and racking up rewards. He never had the time to participate in the village's Chunin Exams, nor was his Anbu identity suited for it.
Immediately after his time in the Anbu ended, the Kumogakure delegation arrived, followed swiftly by the war with the Hidden Cloud. This relentless string of events left Jie with absolutely no time to officially upgrade his ninja rank. So, even though he now possessed the power to kill a Kage, he was technically still a Genin.
And at a critical juncture like this, Hiruzen Sarutobi actually had the mood to host a Chunin Exam?
Jie was speechless. Was Hiruzen truly destined to clash with the Chunin Exams? In the original timeline, his life was ended by Orochimaru during an exam. Was he going to die during one this time, too?
"How about it, Jie?" Fugaku Uchiha asked with a smile. "Any interest in taking the Chunin Exams?"
"Is there even a need for me to take it?" Jie replied, rolling his eyes. "What's the assessment? How to assassinate a Kage?"
Fugaku chuckled.
"But since Hiruzen has the nerve to host it, I might as well go have some fun," Jie added thoughtfully.
This exam was likely the one from Itachi's original timeline—the one where he took the test solo. So, should he team up with Itachi now? A Kage-level powerhouse with the Mangekyo Sharingan teaming up with an even stronger anomaly who had slain a Kage, just to take the Chunin Exams—Jie almost felt sorry for the other Genin taking the test.
Ultimately, Jie decided against teaming up. Itachi was taking the exam to officially become a Chunin; Jie was just doing it to kill time. After all, no one would truly believe that the man who killed the Fourth Raikage was just an ordinary Genin.
After spending three days hanging out with Izumi and another three days supervising Sasuke's training, the Chunin Exams finally arrived.
On the day of the exams, Jie accompanied Itachi to the location of the first test. One look at the rules, and Jie was left entirely unamused. The Chunin Exams were ironclad, with rules that never changed year after year. The first phase was still an intelligence-gathering assessment disguised as a written theory test.
'Don't tell me Ibiki is going to pop out and try to scare everyone later,' Jie thought.
Fortunately, the chief examiner for this phase wasn't Ibiki Morino, but another Tokubetsu Jonin from the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force: Matsuaki Aoi.
Jie simply couldn't muster any energy for an exam like this. Before the examiner even finished explaining the rules, Jie slumped onto his desk and fell fast asleep.
Once Matsuaki Aoi finished his explanation, the first phase officially began. Seeing Jie fast asleep, he immediately frowned.
"Who is that kid's Jonin instructor?" Matsuaki demanded angrily, glaring at Jie in disappointment. "Did his teacher not explain that every single phase of the Chunin Exams is incredibly important? Falling asleep right at the start... I can't believe the Uchiha Clan produced such a lazy, worthless youth!"
Hearing Matsuaki's outburst, his colleague beside him jumped in fright and hurriedly whispered, "Are you crazy? Do you have a death wish? Don't you know who that is?!"
"That's the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha, the ruthless monster who killed the Fourth Raikage!"
"He's the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha?!" Matsuaki nearly jumped out of his skin, his eyes wide with disbelief. "The Young Clan Head who can kill the Fourth Raikage is still a Genin?!"
His demeanor instantly did a complete one-eighty. "So it's the Young Clan Head! No wonder...., even his sleeping posture has left me in awe! But really, he should have brought a blanket. What if he catches a cold?"
Matsuaki immediately started barking orders at his colleague. "With the Young Clan Head's abilities, why would he even need a Chunin Exam? Hurry up and get a blank test paper! I'll fill it out myself and write his name on it."
The colleague stared at the utterly shameless Matsuaki, a complex glint in his eyes. He had been careless. Helping the Young Clan Head fill out his exam—why hadn't he thought of such brilliant sycophancy?
Still, the Genin in this year's exam were truly unlucky to be born in the same era as a walking cheat code like Jie Uchiha. Shaking his head, the colleague pulled out a blank test paper and handed it to Matsuaki.
Jie eventually woke up, stretching lazily. A glance at the wall clock showed there were only ten minutes left in the first exam.
"Ten minutes, huh? Let's see what they came up with this year," he muttered.
Looking down, he blinked in surprise. His blank answer sheet was gone. In its place lay a neatly written paper, filled from top to bottom.
'What the…? Did those two examiners come over earlier just to swap my paper?' Jie wondered.
Even while asleep, his awareness of his surroundings never completely faded. He had sensed the two examiners approaching his desk earlier, but had assumed they were just checking for anyone bold enough to doze off.
He hadn't expected them to complete the test for him.
'How thoughtful. The Hidden Leaf truly is full of hidden talents,' Jie marveled.
Since the test was already complete, there was no need to look at it. He simply crossed his legs and waited for time to run out.
The first phase of the Chunin Exams ended smoothly. Jie Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha tied for first place with perfect scores.
The next day, the examiner for the second phase changed to a Jonin from the Gekko clan: Sora Gekko. The rules were exactly as Jie remembered. Each Genin squad was given a scroll. To pass, they had to collect both a Heaven and Earth scroll and reach the central tower.
Back during his Anbu assessment, Jie had slaughtered all the competing Anbu and hoarded every single scroll for himself. But times had changed, and he had no interest in repeating that tedious process.
The moment the exam began, Jie bypassed the forest entirely and headed straight for the central tower. Once there, he laid out on the roof, basking in the sun and enjoying the breeze as he drifted back to sleep.
He waited until his sensory range picked up a squad approaching the tower. Once they were close enough, Jie picked a lucky group of spectators at random, snatched their scroll effortlessly, and walked inside.
Two days later, once every candidate in the forest had either been eliminated or advanced, the second phase officially concluded.
Jie Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha were the only two participants to advance to the third phase of the Chunin Exams as solo entrants.
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