Inside the tower, all the teachers of the participating examinees had already arrived, waiting for their students to appear.
Although Fumori Masaki was the supervisor of this Chunin Exam, he was also the teacher of one of the examinee groups, and was now waiting in the tower in his capacity as a teacher.
Fumori Masaki was confident that his students would pass the second exam; setting aside the other two, Hatake Sakumo was a legendary ninja capable of earning the name "White Fang." It was impossible for him not to pass even the second exam, right?
While nothing was absolutely certain, Fumori Masaki felt this possibility was quite low.
Sure enough, just as the first day of the exam was about to end, Fumori Masaki received news that examinees had arrived, and they were his own students.
Fumori Masaki murmured to himself, then got up to greet them.
As he reached the corridor, he saw someone emerge from around the corner.
"Miss Sora," Fumori Masaki greeted the person who walked out.
"Fumori Masaki," Sora said, surprised to see him there, "Is something the matter?"
"Nothing, my students have arrived, and as their teacher, I naturally have to go see them," Fumori Masaki explained simply.
"That's quite a coincidence, my students have also arrived," Sora said with a smile.
"Is that so?" Fumori Masaki was surprised by such a coincidence and laughed, "It seems our students are all quite excellent."
"While their strength is indeed good, my senior brother's students are even stronger.
Their quick arrival here is probably just luck," Sora said as she walked.
"Hmm, it seems you did bring six people, three of whom are your senior brother's students, uh, named A, right?" Fumori Masaki recalled the Third Raikage's name at this time, saying with some hesitation.
"My senior brother's name should be easy to remember; after all, you've fought him, and it's not like when I… *cough cough*, you two were evenly matched, you shouldn't forget his name," Sora said, then suddenly covered her mouth and coughed lightly, her gaze shifting to the side as she continued speaking casually.
Seeing this, Fumori Masaki knew she was recalling her three defeats.
To be honest, Sora's strength was absolutely excellent, but suffering repeated setbacks at his hands, a proud woman like her would find it difficult to openly admit.
So, he merely smiled and let it pass, saying, "One of my students seems to have made a duel agreement with one of your students.
Since they arrived almost simultaneously, perhaps they ran into each other on the way."
"Ah, that boy Kicker.
You should know him, right?
You must have seen the list of all Chunin Exam examinees, haven't you?" Sora asked.
"Yes, a very traditional person from the Land of Lightning," Fumori Masaki said, "He and my student might not have the best compatibility.
It might have been better if it were someone else."
"What does that matter?
The agreement is between the two of them.
Since it's a matter for the students, let them resolve it themselves, isn't that right?" Sora said, looking ahead with a smile.
"Indeed," Fumori Masaki replied.
Not long after, the two arrived on the first floor.
After a brief wait, Hatake Sakumo and the others emerged, led by Inuzuka Shigeru.
Inuzuka Shigeru smiled at Fumori Masaki and said, "Captain Fumori Masaki, I have fulfilled my mission."
"You've worked hard.
Go and rest well," Fumori Masaki nodded slightly, watching Inuzuka Shigeru leave.
Then he looked at his three students, observing them, and said, "From your appearance, you haven't encountered any formidable opponents, have you?
Your luck is quite good.
For the second exam, conserving stamina is very necessary."
"No, Sensei Fumori Masaki, we did encounter three formidable opponents, but for some reason, we didn't fight them," Hatake Sakumo explained, involuntarily glancing at Sora beside him.
"Oh?" Fumori Masaki naturally noticed Hatake Sakumo's gaze, turned his head, and glanced at her, saying, "She is a Jonin from the Hidden Cloud Village, named Sora.
We met during the war due to certain circumstances.
The Hidden Cloud ninja you encountered are her students."
"So you are their teacher," Hatake Sakumo said, realizing.
"She's here to pick up her students.
You two groups arrived almost at the same time.
Did you happen to meet on the way?" Fumori Masaki asked.
Before Hatake Sakumo could answer, a voice interjected, "Of course we met!
This guy is so cunning; he used us to bluff and scare off those Hidden Sand ninja."
Sora immediately recognized the owner of the voice and, sure enough, saw her three students walking out of another room.
Kicker, who was walking in front, was the one who had just spoken.
Fumori Masaki looked at the brown-skinned boy with interest and said, "Are you the young man named Kicker who made a promise to Hattori Heizo for a match?"
"Ah, yes," Kicker raised his head fearlessly, looking at the rumored formidable ninja.
"Hmm, I truly hope there will be an exciting battle between the two of you.
However, I hope you remember, Kicker, that ninjas are cunning individuals who habitually use deception.
If you forget that, you might suffer a loss," Fumori Masaki said with a subtle implication.
Kicker looked at Fumori Masaki somewhat bewildered, not understanding why he was saying these things, while Hattori Heizo, upon hearing these words, slightly closed his eyes and mumbled, "Too much worrying, Sensei, it's just a waste of effort."
Sora vaguely guessed why Fumori Masaki had said that.
She swept her gaze over Fumori Masaki's three students, then paused on Hattori Heizo for a moment, and then said to Kicker, "Kicker, you must remember what he said; it will help you in the future."
Kicker could be unruly in front of outsiders, but in front of his teacher, he could only be obedient, agreeing meekly.
Lan and Ichi chuckled behind him, and Kicker couldn't help but turn around and glare at them.
"Sensei, why did you come with this Mr. Fumori Masaki?" Lan asked curiously after her snickering, her expression suggesting she was eager for an answer.
Sora said with a wry smile, "We just happened to run into each other; your two teams simply arrived here at the same time."
"Is that so?" Lan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"In any case, let's go to your rooms to rest first.
You arrived here within a day, and even if you didn't encounter any troublesome battles, you must have expended a lot of stamina," Fumori Masaki said calmly.
"That's right, Kazuya must be tired too," Hatake Sakumo said, looking at Hyuga Kazuya.
"Exactly.
We'll be going now, Miss Sora.
You've already been informed of your students' rooms, so I don't need to escort you, right?" Fumori Masaki said to Sora.
"Mm," Sora nodded.
After Fumori Masaki left with his students, she glanced at Lan and chided, "What are you thinking, saying such things."
"But, Sensei Sora and that person do have some rumors, you know," Lan pouted.
"What's there to say about unrealistic rumors," Sora sighed and said, "That person already has a wife and children.
Even if we don't mention that, we aren't from the same ninja village, so such a thing would never happen."
"Ah! Sensei Sora, that means you actually had thoughts, didn't you?" Lan exclaimed.
Sora let out a soft "Uh," turned around, and her voice became a little louder: "It's annoying! Hurry up and go rest in your rooms.
If you have this much energy, you should use it in the upcoming exams instead."
Ichi, realizing that their teacher was somewhat angry, quickly called out to Lan and Kicker.
After walking a few steps, Ichi awkwardly stopped and asked, "Sensei, our room…"
"It's the fourth room on the right on the third floor, with a sign on it," Sora said, her back to them.
"Yes, yes," After getting the room address, the three of them quickly ran off, afraid of staying and angering their teacher further.
"Little rascals, are girls this age really so concerned about such things?
The girls around me when I was little weren't like this," Sora murmured to herself after sensing their departure, then finally turned around.
With the arrival of an era of peace, the atmosphere in the ninja villages had indeed changed from the past.
Ninjas lived openly in the same village, causing some traditional values to gradually lose their relevance.
The leaders of each ninja village had actually noticed this, and Tobirama was the first to take action.
He established the Anbu, whose purpose was to maintain traditional ninja ethos.
Ninjas in the Anbu were all ninjas who conformed to traditional rules, because Tobirama knew that in this atmosphere, it was impossible for the village's ninjas to be like they were in the past, so it could only be preserved in the form of the Anbu.
It was under this trend that situations like Lan, who could consider such mundane matters, arose.
Sora, who was born and raised during the Warring States period, clearly found it difficult to understand, but she could only choose to accept it.
After all, such was the era, and it could not be changed by one person's efforts.
"If the future era is even more lenient than now, and Fumori Masaki and I lived in such an era, would there be a different outcome?" Sora walked slowly, thinking to herself.
At this moment, Fumori Masaki led Hatake Sakumo and his two teammates to their room.
The rooms arranged by the Hidden Leaf Village for the participating examinees were excellent, allowing them to live comfortably.
Of course, this was for early arrivals; those who arrived late before the exam ended would not have this privilege.
"To celebrate your passing of the second exam, I've asked Takuma to get you some delicious food.
The food here, while nutritious, is only ordinary in taste," Fumori Masaki said.
"What kind of food?" Hatake Sakumo asked curiously.
"Ramen from that shop you've eaten at," Fumori Masaki replied with a smile.
During a dinner once, Satomi mentioned that shop, and when she spoke of the owner's future idea to rename the ramen shop to Ichiraku, Fumori Masaki became curious.
He knew that Ichiraku Ramen was the protagonist Uzumaki Naruto's favorite traditional delicacy, and the owner Teuchi must have started making ramen around the fortieth year of Konoha.
Presumably, the owner of this ramen shop was Teuchi's father.
Therefore, Fumori Masaki specifically visited the owner, who was warm and hospitable, and the two quickly became close.
He even showed Fumori Masaki his young son, whose name, as Fumori Masaki had expected, was Teuchi.
Fumori Masaki felt it was necessary to support this ramen shop, which would become a symbol of Konoha in the future, so he gave the ramen shop some preferential treatment, making the owner's business better than before.
"Oh, that ramen shop," Hatake Sakumo smiled and said, "Yes, their ramen tastes good.
While it's not an unforgettable taste, it's quite appealing."
"More importantly, Sensei Fumori Masaki, why did you warn that kid?
You're my teacher, you know," Hattori Heizo interjected at this point, his tone somewhat resentful.
"What, you care about such things?
He's a straightforward person.
His strength might be good, but he probably isn't good at deception.
It would be too unfair to you.
Since it's an agreed-upon match, winning so easily would be too uninteresting, wouldn't it?" Fumori Masaki laughed.
"What's wrong with that?
That way, I can get rid of that guy faster," Hattori Heizo said helplessly.
"You can't have that mindset, Heizo.
The Chunin Exam also has educational value.
You might learn something from him," Fumori Masaki said.
"That kind of guy, impossible," Hattori Heizo recalled the guy's appearance, drooping his eyes as he spoke.
"Haha, that depends on the situation then," Fumori Masaki chuckled.
After a while, Yamanaka Takuma hurried over, carrying three bowls of ramen he had bought from the ramen shop.
He had rushed very quickly for fear of the food getting cold.
Fumori Masaki said "Thank you for your hard work," and then told the three to eat slowly, while he went to check for any other situations, allowing Yamanaka Takuma, who had been following him, to rest for a while.
Time flew by, and after five days, only five teams had reached the tower.
Regardless of whether other teams had collected all the scrolls, since the time was up, the second exam was immediately declared over, and the third exam began.
This might seem unfair to those who arrived late, but it couldn't be helped; after all, a battlefield wouldn't give people time to rest, and the second exam was meant to simulate such a situation.
Unexpectedly, another team from the Hidden Cloud Village failed to pass, and no one from the Hidden Mist Village or Hidden Stone Village passed either.
Besides Hatake Sakumo's team and Kicker's team, the remaining ones were Orochimaru's team, also from the Hidden Leaf Village, and Ryū's team from the Hidden Sand Village.
The last one was surprisingly from the Hidden Rain Village.
This situation surprised everyone, leading to much discussion.
The representatives from the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Mist Village could not accept this result, accusing it of being rigged.
Even the Hidden Leaf Village itself found it incredible.
Although the Forest of Death was designed with a very high elimination rate, it had eliminated examinees from two major ninja villages.
What exactly had gone wrong?
Fumori Masaki made a decisive decision, mobilizing all the informants he had placed in the Forest of Death, organizing and summarizing their intelligence, and sending it to the tower.
After reading these intelligence scrolls, Fumori Masaki and the other high-ranking officials exchanged glances and let out a sigh of emotion.
They, of course, knew there was no foul play, but they hadn't expected such a dramatic outcome, which they all found unbelievable.
To appease the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Mist Village, Fumori Masaki informed them of the investigation results.