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In the afternoon, the summer sun in Konoha blazed like fire.
Aoki Yoru and his two teammates found a place to eat at random before heading to the bulletin board.
Unsurprisingly, all three passed with ease.
Aoki Yoru scanned the list; the classmates from clans had all passed, while from outside Konoha Village, only three from the Hidden Cloud Village made it through.
"Aren't they afraid those small nations will rebel?" Aoki Yoru muttered softly.
He hadn't expected the Village to cut out all candidates from small nations in one fell swoop.
A commotion gradually stirred in the crowd; the candidates from small nations looked grim and complained incessantly. The scene seemed on the verge of a riot before being suppressed by their accompanying leaders.
Just then, the three received a message from Kakashi and headed toward the gate bridge.
"Since too few people passed the first stage, the Village has decided to skip the Forest of Death and go straight to the third stage."
"It's because of those Cloud Ninja, isn't it?" Aoki Yoru voiced his judgment directly.
Kakashi gave him a surprised look, amazed by his sharp intuition.
"Yeah. If we continued with the second stage, those rookies would be in danger. There'd be no time for rescue in the Forest of Death."
"Be careful if you encounter the Cloud Ninja in the third stage. According to the memories extracted from the Ninja you killed last time, he grew up with the Fourth Raikage. The Cloud Ninja are here for revenge."
The Cloud Ninja's quarters.
Clang...
Omoi raised his hand and smashed his teacup against the wall, fiercely crushing the lollipop in his mouth.
"Those Konoha cowards actually canceled the second stage. I was planning to kill them all in the Forest of Death."
"Calm down. Don't forget our purpose for coming here."
As the team leader, Darui stepped forward and pressed a hand on his shoulder, turning to look at the elder sitting in a chair.
"Advisor Tutai, have you found the killer of Lord Senior?"
Tutai picked up his teacup and took a sip. "According to news from our Spies, Mount Katsuragi was wiped out by Team 6, led by Kakashi Hatake."
"The Copy Ninja?" Darui slammed his fist onto the table.
"His disciples are in this exam, right? Perfect. We'll start by collecting some interest from them."
The Forest of Death tower.
The venue for the second stage of the Chunin Exams.
By now, the candidates had gathered in the arena, and some Ninjas from the Village who weren't on missions had also come to watch.
Aoki Yoru looked at the audience on the high platform. There were no civilians. It seemed the Third Hokage was also uncertain about this exam and wanted to minimize its impact.
"Yo, Kakashi! Your disciples have finally made it this far. Youth is meant to burn on the battlefield!"
Guy's hot-blooded voice drifted from afar. He could be seen approaching from a distance with Asuma and Kurenai.
"I didn't expect you to take on rookies, Kakashi. I thought you'd send them all back to the Academy," Kurenai said, surprised that Kakashi was leading newcomers.
On the high platform, Tutai walked toward the Third Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, the Raikage asked me to send his regards."
Tutai went up to greet him; basic etiquette was still necessary.
The Third nodded. "I hope for a friendly exchange between our two Villages. After all, peace is hard-won."
Tutai nodded without saying anything.
Swish...
A figure appeared before the candidates.
"My name is Shikaku Nara, and I am the chief proctor for this exam."
He paused and scanned the students.
"There are fifteen candidates in total. The rules are simple: one-on-one duels. The winner advances, the loser is eliminated. The final four will pass the exam."
After speaking, the screen on the stage began to scroll. Everyone watched with bated breath.
Before long, it came to a sudden halt and stopped completely—
Hyuga Teru vs. Darui.
Aoki Yoru wouldn't believe it wasn't rigged even if he were beaten to death.
The three retreated to Kakashi's side, greeted Guy and the others, and watched quietly with arms crossed.
The referee announced loudly:
"Battle—begin!"
"Let me see what you Cloud Ninja are made of."
Veins bulged around Hyuga Teru's eyes as he assumed the starting stance of the Hyuga Gentle Fist. With the characteristic pride of a noble clan, he gave Darui a contemptuous look.
Suddenly, Darui's figure vanished.
Lightning Release Chakra enveloped his body. He was so fast he was nothing but an afterimage as he lunged straight for Hyuga Teru's face.
Hyuga Teru barely perceived the figure using his Byakugan and hurriedly blocked the fist with his forearm.
"So heavy!!"
It felt as if a small mountain had crashed into him.
Crack.
Hyuga Teru was sent flying, slamming hard into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The stands were dead silent. Darui's speed was too great; many thought to themselves that they wouldn't have been able to block it either.
In the main seat, the Third Hokage looked grim. "Has my bad premonition really come true?"
He didn't think the others would be a match for Darui. Darui's strength was at least at the level of a Special Jonin, and his two teammates likely weren't weak either.
Fortunately, he had decided that the top four would be directly promoted to Chunin; at least that would save some face.
He had originally wanted to make the Cloud Ninja fight each other early on, but unfortunately, the Daimyo's representative had vetoed it.
"What kind of spell did the Raikage cast on the Daimyo?" The Third couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought, so he could only have Danzo investigate.
At this moment, he even felt a bit envious of the Fourth Raikage. At least he had successors. In Konoha's younger generation, no one besides Kakashi had stood out yet, and Kakashi wasn't strong enough to take over.
"If only Minato were still here!" the Third Hokage sighed, not for the first time. He was old and could only barely keep the riddled ship that was Konoha afloat.
On the field, Hyuga Teru stood up shakily, his arm twisted and hanging at an odd angle as he gasped for air.
"I won't give up so easily."
His gaze became determined. He assumed a Gentle Fist stance with one hand and lunged toward Darui.
Clang...
Hyuga Teru's face filled with disbelief. Just as his finger was about to touch Darui's skin, it felt as if it had struck a layer of armor, unable to advance an inch.
"Oh? The famous Gentle Fist is actually this weak. It can't even break through my Chakra Armor."
A heavy punch to the gut sent him flying. After spinning several times in the air, he crashed to the ground and lost consciousness.
"The winner is Darui."
The chief proctor, Shikaku Nara, appeared beside Hyuga Teru and announced the result.
"Hey, Darui, why didn't you kill that Hyuga Ninja?" the hot-tempered Omoi said irritably after Darui returned to the stands.
"This is Konoha's home turf; it's not good to do it so openly. Besides, that chief proctor from the Nara clan is no pushover."
Omoi snorted coldly.
He was clearly not very satisfied with that explanation.
Then, a new duel appeared on the screen—
Izumo Kamizuki vs. Omoi.
Aoki Yoru leaned against the railing and watched quietly, already certain that Izumo Kamizuki was no match.
Although they were a few years younger than in the original story, judging by Darui's strength, the two trained by Killer Bee wouldn't be weak. Otherwise, the Raikage wouldn't have sent them to challenge the Village.
Sure enough, in the following match, Izumo Kamizuki struggled to keep up with his opponent's speed and swordsmanship, clearly outmatched.
The opponent's every move was lethal, intended to kill. If Shikaku Nara hadn't pinned him down with a shadow at the last moment, Izumo Kamizuki would have already gone to see the Six Paths Sage.
The next match between Kotetsu Hagane and Karui followed the exact same pattern; he couldn't handle her flashy swordsmanship at all.
In the stands, the Konoha Jonin all looked solemn and remained silent. The atmosphere was oppressively suffocating.
Hyuga Teru, Izumo Kamizuki, and Kotetsu Hagane were Konoha's new generation of Chunin, specifically arranged to deal with the Cloud Ninja, yet they had suffered successive crushing defeats.
Kakashi, however, looked as calm as usual, glancing at Aoki Yoru who was leaning against the railing.