"The first round was pretty easy."
Jiraiya stood up, looking completely relaxed.
Easy?
If not for the ban on private fights, that one sentence alone would've gotten Jiraiya torn apart.
"Jiraiya, don't embarrass yourself. Go outside and gather with the others."
Tsunade glared at him.
"Alright, I'm coming!"
Jiraiya strutted out proudly.
Akaba glanced around. Most people had already left. Only then did he slowly get up and follow the crowd outside.
Outside, Sakumo and Shishio were already waiting by the entrance.
As soon as they saw him come out, each grabbed one of his arms and forcibly pulled him away from the end of the group.
"What are you two doing?"
Still dazed, Akaba had no idea what they wanted from him.
"You only answered five questions?"
"Yeah, why write more when there's no extra credit in the second round?"
Akaba replied casually.
The Chunin Exams had multiple phases, but earlier scores didn't carry over to the next stage.
As long as everything was correct, writing even one extra answer was pointless.
"Never mind. Let's just wait for the results."
Hearing such a straightforward answer, Sakumo didn't know what else to say.
At this point, further talk was useless anyway.
The three gathered together and hurried to rejoin the rest. Unlike the anxious worry seen in other groups, the three Konoha teams looked very relaxed.
Orochimaru had never made a mistake on tests while in school. Theoretically speaking, if he claimed to be number one, no one else in his year would dare claim second place.
Plus, all the answers had been discussed collectively within the Illusion.
After waiting a few minutes, a striking female figure walked out from the first examination hall.
She looked over everyone present before pulling out a list and posting it on the door. "The results for the first exam are out now. A total of eighty-one have passed."
"And I am Chiyo, the proctor for the second exam. Those whose names appear on this list should follow me to the second examination venue."
The female ninja said calmly.
Akaba felt surprised—she was Chiyo?
"I've heard about her before; she's a famous female Jonin!"
Tsunade whispered excitedly.
The Land of Wind was harsh, but the sandstorms hadn't left deep marks on her face. She still appeared youthful and beautiful.
Yet whenever Akaba thought of Chiyo, he always pictured an old woman pretending to be frail or lifeless.
Perhaps she'd overheard, Chiyo turned his way.
Noticing the speaker was a girl, she gave Tsunade a slight smile before turning and walking forward.
"That's amazing! In the future, I want to become a ninja like her! No—I will surpass her and become the first ever female Hokage!"
Tsunade clenched her fist, making a solemn vow.
Seeing this scene unfold, Akaba didn't know how to comment.
Looking at them now, who could imagine these two would eventually become deadly rivals?
Fate…
"I just went to check, and all of us have advanced."
Shishio came running back joyfully, bringing them good news.
"With it being so simple, isn't it normal we all passed?"
Jiraiya scoffed disdainfully.
The others just smiled knowingly. Of course no one cared—they'd all cheated in the Illusion anyway.
Feeling awkward after his announcement, Shishio shot Akaba a sharp glare.
To be honest, if this guy had only finished five questions, would he really be this anxious about passing the selection?
"Ahem," Akaba forcedly broke the awkward silence. "How about we head to the Second Examination Hall first? The earlier we get there, the sooner we can rest."
"Let's go."
Orochimaru walked ahead in silence, leading the group without another word.
Everyone followed Chiyo out of the village.
After traveling a long distance, they arrived at a valley. Looking through it, they saw an endless desert canyon mouth surrounded by iron railings and guarded by ninja—it was clearly a key transportation route.
"This doesn't seem quite right," Sakumo frowned.
"This was a battlefield back then; many Iwagakure ninja perished from Poison here during the desert battle," Orochimaru explained quietly.
"You know all about that too?"
Akaba asked in surprise.
"Hmm, this happened toward the end of the First Great Ninja War," Orochimaru originally intended to explain further, but paused momentarily when Chiyo looked over.
Then Chiyo approached.
Orochimaru slightly bowed, preparing to apologize.
"So, you're Orochimaru?" Chiyo said with a smile. "My younger brother was right—you really are very knowledgeable."
"You flatter me," Orochimaru replied calmly.
At this moment, Chiyo cast a glance at Sakumo beside him, her expression immediately darkening.
Just seeing that face reminded her of Kakashi.
That man had killed many Sunagakure ninjas.
She turned toward the desert and said, "This desert has buried not only Iwagakure shinobi, but also warriors from Konoha and our very own Sunagakure."
"That's exactly why the Ninja World needs peace," Jiraiya murmured emotionally.
"Hmph, don't be so naïve, kid. Peace isn't that easy to achieve."
Chiyo scoffed and walked several steps forward to the canyon entrance before turning around and scanning all eighty-one examinees.
Jiraiya really wanted to argue back but wisely kept quiet considering her strength.
"As Orochimaru mentioned earlier," Chiyo continued indifferently, "this place used to be a battlefield filled with residual Poison, unexploded Explosive Tags, and lingering traps. Once you enter, life or death is on your own head. Those who want to quit still have time."
No one answered.
It had only been two years since the war ended, and everyone here—all the genin—had indirectly experienced warfare.
Therefore, simple words wouldn't scare them off.
Chiyo smiled coldly, pulling out a stack of papers: "Since no one's quitting, sign these then."
A nearby chunin took them and started handing the sheets out one by one.
Akaba signed his name effortlessly before returning the paper.
Once everyone had signed, Chiyo resumed, "We've already secured the Examination Area with iron nets, and set up a total of forty entrances. Your task is simple: enter, find coordinate scrolls similar to this one, and reach the correct target position we require."
Having spoken, she pulled out a scroll and unfurled it.
Written on the scroll were various codes; solving them should reveal a coordinate location.
"One last warning," she added sweetly. "Anyone who wants out, do it now."
Akaba exchanged glances with the others. After a shared moment of understanding, everyone naturally looked away.
"If you're all foolish enough to fear no death, then have the proctors assign each team a number and send them to their respective gates. They may enter thirty minutes later."
Chiyo's tone was icy.
"Yes!"
With forty gates available, it was more than enough to scatter every team to different locations.
Akaba's group was assigned Gate 35.
"This exam is still about intelligence gathering. I've got a feeling some of those scrolls might be fakes."
"She never said we couldn't just take them by force."
On the way, Shishio and Sakumo whispered quietly.
Akaba sat on the ground, glanced at them, and said, "As soon as we're inside, you two stick together and start searching."
"What about you?"
Sakumo slightly frowned.
"I'll go after others' scrolls. Observe a few groups."
Akaba answered without looking up.
Coordinate Scrolls can be real or fake, but Sunagakure wouldn't be reckless enough to produce equal numbers of both.
Cross-checking duplicates across multiple Coordinate Scrolls would reveal the most likely genuine coordinates.
Of course,
Besides that reason, there were other personal reasons he preferred not to explain yet.
"If you insist on going alone, I won't stop you—but please be careful."
Shishio showed no doubt—only concern. "If we fail, we can always try again later. But if something happens to you, it's all over."
"You still don't trust what I can do?"
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