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Aside from Ryūsei, there were twenty-three candidates who passed the second stage of the examination.
Among these twenty-three, only six were not ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. The rest… all were Leaf Genin!
First, the Twelve Rookies alone accounted for twelve slots.
Due to Inuzuka Kiba's efforts, his two teammates also passed the second stage, bringing the total to fourteen slots.
Yakushi Kabuto and his teammates, all undercover agents planted in the Leaf Village by Orochimaru, claimed another three slots.
The Sound Trio had already been eliminated by Ryūsei, but the Hidden Sound Village still had three ninja who passed the second stage.
Clearly, during these five days, Kabuto had learned of The Sound Trio death and informed Orochimaru.
These three Sound ninja were likely inserted by either Kabuto or Orochimaru himself.
Their purpose? To allow Orochimaru to appear here openly and legitimately.
After all, since the Sound Trio had not returned to report, Orochimaru was unaware whether Uchiha Sasuke had used the power of the Cursed Seal, or whether he appreciated the "gift" Orochimaru had bestowed upon him. Thus, Orochimaru had come personally to observe Sasuke's reaction.
The Twelve Rookies, Ryūsei, Inuzuka Kiba's two teammates, Kabuto and his teammates, the three Sound ninja, and the Gaara siblings… exactly twenty-four candidates in total!
"Cough, cough… I am the chief examiner for this stage, Hayate Gekkō."
After Hokage Hiruzen finished his speech, Hayate appeared in a flash, holding a roster. However, his dark eye circles and frail appearance made the candidates doubt his status as a Jōnin.
Hayate paid no mind to their skeptical gazes. Instead, he pointed to the large screen on the wall and said, "In a moment, your names will appear on the screen. They will be randomly matched. Those whose names are displayed will remain here, while the rest of you will proceed to the second-floor viewing platform to wait."
"Before the elimination matches begin, I need to confirm: is there anyone who wishes to forfeit?"
No sooner had Hayate finished speaking than Kabuto, concealed within the crowd, stepped forward and raised his hand. "I choose to forfeit!"
"You are… Yakushi Kabuto, correct? Understood. You may leave," Hayate said, glancing at the roster in his hand. He nodded, crossed out Kabuto's name, and continued, "One candidate has forfeited, so—"
"I forfeit as well."
"Me too."
At that moment, two Sound ninja suddenly stepped forward, also choosing to forfeit.
The sight caused several Jōnin to raise their eyebrows in surprise.
However, upon noticing the bandages wrapped around the two Sound ninja, a flash of understanding crossed their faces.
This village, newly established and shrouded in mystery, was unfamiliar to them.
Judging by the appearance of these two Sound ninja, their strength was likely quite limited.
Reaching this stage was probably already their limit.
The forfeiture of the two Sound ninja also diverted much of the attention from Kabuto's withdrawal.
"Understood. You may both leave," Hayate said, crossing out two more names. "With three forfeitures, twenty-one candidates remain. One of you will receive a bye in the final round."
"If no one else wishes to forfeit, I will now declare the start of the elimination matches."
Hayate deliberately paused for a few seconds. Seeing no further forfeitures, he picked up his communicator and instructed the backstage proctors, "Begin!"
Swish—
The large screen on the wall lit up with a radiant glow.
The names of the twenty-one candidates, including Ryūsei, appeared one by one on the screen.
Once all the names were displayed, a massive "VS" symbol materialized.
Names flickered rapidly on either side of the "VS."
Soon, two names locked into place:
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Yoroi Akadō!
Seeing these names, Ryūsei couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
They called this a random match? This was clearly a rigged setup.
If Sasuke's name hadn't appeared in the first match, Ryūsei might have believed the original story was merely a coincidence.
But now, with the matchup mirroring the original tale, it was evident that Hiruzen had deliberately arranged this to ensure Sasuke would face a challenge that would force him to confront the Cursed Seal and have it sealed as soon as possible.
"Uchiha Sasuke and Yoroi Akadō, remain here. Everyone else, please proceed to the second-floor viewing platform," Hayate announced.
As Hayate's voice echoed, Ryūsei and the others ascended to the viewing platform, joining their respective Jōnin instructors.
Kurenai gave Ryūsei's team a thumbs-up and smiled. "Well done. After this exam is over, I'll treat you all to barbecue."
"Thanks to Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's insects, we didn't have to waste time searching for targets or the central tower," Ryūsei said with a smile.
Hinata blushed shyly, while Shino responded calmly, "Ryūsei's genjutsu was the key."
"No need for modesty. All three of you performed admirably," Kurenai said, patting Ryūsei and Shino on the shoulders before wrapping an arm around Hinata's delicate shoulders. She smiled and added, "Let's watch the match first. Observe the gap between you and the others and get a sense of your opponents' abilities."
"Yes, Sensei," the three responded in unison.
Some stood, others leaned against the railing of the viewing platform, watching Sasuke and Yoroi face off below.
Yoroi was one of Kabuto's teammates, another of Orochimaru's spies planted in the Leaf Village.
By sheer coincidence—or perhaps not—Orochimaru's pawn had been matched against Sasuke.
Ryūsei couldn't help but smirk inwardly. As expected of master and disciple, both Orochimaru and Kabuto had a hand in manipulating this matchup with uncanny coordination.
The battle began swiftly but ended just as quickly.
As in the original story, Sasuke, hindered by the Cursed Seal, was temporarily unable to use the power of his Sharingan. He was forced to rely on the basic techniques taught at the Ninja Academy to fight Yoroi.
However, Yoroi possessed the ability to absorb chakra, and Sasuke, already weakened by the torment of the Cursed Seal, struggled to defeat him.
Just as the Cursed Seal threatened to spread further, Sasuke, through sheer willpower, suppressed its power and unleashed his self-created technique, the Lion Barrage, to defeat Yoroi.
It seemed that, as in the original tale, Team 7 had encountered Might Guy's team at the central building, and Sasuke had likely been humbled by Rock Lee before leaving.
Seeing Sasuke defeat Yoroi without relying on the Cursed Seal, Orochimaru's desire for this "vessel" grew even stronger.
After the battle, Sasuke was whisked away by Kakashi to a sealed chamber to have the Cursed Seal suppressed.
Witnessing this, Orochimaru quietly slipped away.
The screen flickered again, and the names for the second match soon locked into place:
Aburame Shino vs. Takuto Igu!
"No way! My opponent isn't Naruto? I'm definitely done for!"
A wail of despair rang out from the other side of the viewing platform.
There, standing beside Inuzuka Kiba, was his civilian teammate, clutching his head and shouting in frustration.
Hearing this, Naruto immediately shouted back, indignant, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Takuto didn't respond to Naruto. Instead, bolstered by encouragement from Kiba and their other female teammate, he bravely faced Shino.
The outcome of the battle was unsurprising: Aburame Shino secured an effortless victory.
Unless a civilian ninja earned the favor of their Jōnin instructor, was promoted to Chūnin and received the village's investment, or earned enough merits to exchange for ninjutsu scrolls, they might learn one or two techniques from their instructor in their lifetime—if they were lucky.
Moreover, civilian ninja typically had pitifully low chakra reserves.
In the original story, when Sasuke used a single C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Kakashi was astonished.
At this age, civilian ninja lacked the chakra to even perform a C-rank ninjutsu.
Facing Shino, who had been trained by his clan since childhood and wielded a variety of secret insect techniques, Takuto's survival without being instantly defeated was only because Shino was holding back.
Such was the cruel reality of this bloodline-dominated world!