Somewhere in the Forest of Death.
Two teams of ninja had just clashed in a direct confrontation. From the forehead protectors they wore, it was clear one side was Konoha shinobi, and the other was from the Hidden Cloud.
"You're not even close to being our match. Just hand over your scrolls and save yourselves the trouble."
After a brief exchange, the Cloud ninjas—who clearly had the upper hand—spoke with smug arrogance. However, none of the three Konoha shinobi showed any sign of surrender.
"It's still too early to say who's going to win."
"Refusing to admit defeat, huh? Then don't blame us for showing no mercy."
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, the Cloud ninja launched another aggressive attack. Though they weren't as powerful as Killer Bee, these Cloud Genin were still strong by average standards.
They relentlessly pressured the three Konoha Genin, completely dominating the fight.
Despite giving it everything they had, the Konoha team ultimately lost. Their scroll was snatched away by the Cloud trio.
"Tch, it's just a Heaven Scroll too. What a waste of time."
Still, even though it was a duplicate, the Cloud ninjas had no intention of returning it.
After all, the more scrolls they took, the fewer teams would be able to pass the second round of the Chunin Exams. Fewer teams meant less competition in the final rounds.
Once the Cloud ninjas left, Aoshi appeared in front of the injured Konoha trio. "You're hurt. Let me help treat your injuries."
That's right—Aoshi had been hiding nearby from the very beginning, silently watching everything unfold. From start to finish, his goal was to perform treatments and earn system rewards.
So, he never intervened to help his own comrades.
Besides, those who lacked the strength to pass the second round on their own would likely be eliminated in the preliminary stage of the third round anyway.
The entire reason for holding a joint Chunin Exam was for Konoha to showcase its strength to the world.
That meant the third round would certainly invite nobles and wealthy lords from various nations to watch.
Since their time was limited, a preliminary elimination was added to weed out the weaker candidates. It shortened the length of the main tournament and improved the viewing experience.
If they were going to be eliminated eventually anyway, there was no point wasting energy saving them now. Of course, if Aoshi ever encountered someone who was about to be killed, he would intervene.
He was a ninja who inherited the Will of Fire, after all. Definitely not just someone trying to protect his system rewards from being wasted.
"Eh? It's Medical-nin Aoshi!"
The sudden appearance of Aoshi startled the three Konoha Genin, and they tensed defensively.
But one of them quickly recognized him. Just two days before the Chunin Exams began, he had been treated by Aoshi after an injury at the Konoha Hospital.
Aoshi, however, didn't recognize him—he treated so many people every day, there was no way he could remember everyone clearly.
Unless they were a well-known character from the original series.
That Genin realized Aoshi didn't remember him, but he didn't mind. Instead, he reassured his teammates: "Don't worry. Aoshi is an incredible medical ninja."
Aoshi then proceeded to treat all three of them. As expected, he was rewarded with three white orbs, gaining a total of 50 Chakra points.
To Aoshi, who now had over 80,000—almost 90,000 Chakra—this was a small increase.
But when he considered that under normal circumstances, he would've been stuck inside the central tower for five days with no chakra gains at all, he found it acceptable.
"Thank you, Aoshi-sama."
"It's my duty. Be careful from now on."
After parting ways with the trio, Aoshi continued his search for the next targets. Soon enough, he ran into familiar faces.
They were three Sand ninjas—subordinates of Pakura. If he remembered correctly, their names were Jin, Gokai, and Misaki.
The Forest of Death was massive, with a radius of ten kilometers. Fewer than 90 Genin were scattered throughout this vast area, so encounters weren't common.
Even so, running into acquaintances so quickly was quite the coincidence.
"It's only been a few days, and you three are already looking a little rough." Aoshi's voice startled the three, and they instinctively assumed a defensive stance.
They had just been attacked by two other ninja teams at once and were all wounded. But once they recognized that it was Aoshi, they all immediately relaxed.
Knowing Aoshi's strength, they were certain none of them was a match for him—there was no need to be on guard.
"Are you here to steal our scroll?" Gokai asked.
Aoshi shook his head and made his intentions clear. "You know I'm a medical ninja. As one, I can't just stand by while people are hurt and not offer treatment."
He then began healing them.
[Treatment of Gokai complete. Reward: 1 Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! You have gained 40 Chakra.]
[Treatment of Jin complete. Reward: 1 Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! You have gained 40 Chakra.]
[Treatment of Misaki complete. Reward: 1 Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! You have received 1 Explosive Tag.]
To Aoshi's surprise, all three of them were rewarded with blue orbs—indicating Chunin-level strength. But it didn't take long for him to realize this was perfectly reasonable.
After all, they were Pakura's subordinates. As a Bloodline Limit Jonin from Sunagakure, Pakura wouldn't be assigned just any random Genin team.
"Alright, I won't keep you any longer." And with that, Aoshi vanished again.
Unknowingly, the first day was already drawing to a close. Of all the people Aoshi treated that day, only Pakura's three subordinates gave him blue orbs.
The rest only earned him white orbs—most of them just didn't have the strength.
Some hadn't even encountered any enemies yet. For many, it was the fierce beasts of the Forest of Death itself that proved overwhelming.
Several were injured simply due to carelessness. These were true Genin in every sense—still lacking both experience and power.
But Aoshi didn't look down on them. As long as he ran into someone, he did his best to help and treat their wounds.
By the end of the day, his Chakra had increased by just over 200.
It wasn't as much as what he'd earn from a day at Konoha Hospital, but it was still decent, and Aoshi was fairly satisfied.
By now, word of his actions had spread widely.
Almost every Genin participating in the second round of the Chunin Exams had heard about him.
"Hey, did you hear? There's a medical ninja from Konoha going around healing people in the Forest of Death."
"Huh? Isn't that cheating?"
Some voiced suspicion, assuming Aoshi only treated Konoha shinobi, which would be unfair to others.
"He helps everyone equally—Konoha ninja and foreign village ninja like us."
"Well, in that case, he actually sounds like a good guy."
For every person who praised him, though, someone harbored darker thoughts.
"A medical ninja, huh? Interesting. Tomorrow, let's go hunt him down and take his scroll."