Half an hour later, all the candidates gathered in the open space in front of the teaching building.
Yuzi had returned as well. Although the blush on her face had faded, she still didn't dare to look directly at Mo Yu and kept her head lowered.
The middle-aged chief examiner walked to the front, his face not looking too good.
"The first round of the exam, everyone passed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the candidates below erupted into cheers.
Mo Yu couldn't help but grin.
No wonder his face looked so bad—there hadn't been a single eliminated candidate. This was probably a first in history.
As the one responsible for it, Mo Yu felt no guilt whatsoever.
Looking at the cheering candidates, the middle-aged examiner gritted his teeth in frustration.
He glared at them, looking as though he wanted to eat someone alive, wishing he could grab the one who had shamelessly helped everyone cheat.
Without a doubt, when he reports the results, higher-ups will want to investigate.
"Dammit, you'd better not let me find out who did this, or else..."
At this moment, five ninjas walked in from outside.
The one at the front was a handsome young man, dressed in the Uchiha clan attire. He wore a calm smile on his face, completely lacking the arrogance typical of the Uchiha clan, and instead gave off a warm, approachable aura.
He walked up and said, "Shikawa-senpai, what's going on here? Why is everyone so happy? Did you drive them insane?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged examiner, called Shikawa, looked even more displeased.
"Tch, just take a look for yourself," he said, handing over the exam list.
The young Uchiha ninja took a look, and his eyes widened. Unable to stop himself, he cursed out loud:
"What the hell, they all passed?? Are you kidding me! Senpai, even if you were going easy on them, this is just too blatant."
Shikawa coldly replied, "If it were just going easy, that would be fine. But there's a remarkable kid among these candidates. You'd better pay attention, don't let him cause any trouble during the second stage."
"What happened? Tell me," the Uchiha ninja asked, his curiosity piqued.
Shikawa briefly explained what had happened.
The Uchiha ninja thought for a moment and said, "From what you're saying, this kid really seems special. He might be the dark horse of this Chūnin Exam. Shouldn't be hard to figure out his identity later."
Shikawa, feeling too embarrassed to stay any longer, said, "Fukai, you can handle the rest of the exam. I'm leaving now."
After sending Shikawa off, Uchiha Fukai's expression gradually grew more serious as he and the four other ninjas behind him walked to the front of the group.
"Ahem, quiet down."
The laughter immediately stopped, and the area fell into complete silence.
"I am Uchiha Fukai, and along with my four colleagues, we are the examiners for your second-stage tests."
Upon hearing this name, Mo Yu's heart skipped a beat.
Uchiha Fukai? Could he be Uchiha Fugaku's older brother?
Mo Yu's guess turned out to be correct. This Uchiha Fukai was indeed Uchiha Fugaku's older brother, though from a different mother—his father's concubine.
So, despite being born into the clan leader's line, Uchiha Fukai had never held much status. All the glory and favoritism went to his younger brother, Uchiha Fugaku, while he had always been closer to the elders.
"Hmm?"
A scrutinizing gaze suddenly landed on Mo Yu. He looked up, but the gaze was already gone.
For some reason, Mo Yu had a feeling that the person behind that look was Uchiha Fukai.
A heavy feeling settled in Mo Yu's chest. He knew that what had been inevitable was finally coming.
Ever since his return to the village, the Uchiha clan had been unusually quiet, no longer causing trouble for him.
But Mo Yu knew very well that beneath the surface of this apparent calm, the Uchiha were only preparing for their next move.
From the start, the Uchiha had never taken direct action. They had always used others, manipulating the three Kaji clans to attack him.
Now that the three Kaji clans had been consecutively defeated, and with Uchiha Fukai's appearance, it seemed the Uchiha were ready to take matters into their own hands this time.
Given Fukai's status, if he did act, it would be with thunderous force, leaving no chance for survival.
Fortunately, Mo Yu still had many hidden cards that the Uchiha didn't know about. If used properly, there was still a chance to turn the tide.
Moreover...
Mo Yu glanced at his system's recharge balance, which had reached 985 coins—just a bit shy of 1000 coins.
"Becoming a Jōnin is my chance to turn things around!"
Mo Yu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes gleamed with a hint of madness.
The more he was pressured, the more he would resist. That stubbornness deep within him would never let him yield.
"Uchiha! Since you've been biting at me like a rabid dog, I'll break a couple of your teeth!"
...
Under the leadership of Uchiha Fukai and his four elite ninjas, the group of candidates left Konoha Village.
In past years, for each Chūnin exam, aside from the written part, the second stage of the exam was always different.
Sometimes candidates had to fight each other beforehand, other times the exam was split into smaller groups to seize certain items, or even a full-on free-for-all battle. The methods varied greatly.
After traveling for most of the day, by evening, this large group—consisting of five Jōnin examiners and more than twenty Genin candidates—arrived at a vast, endless forest.
"Alright, we'll stop here," Uchiha Fukai said.
Having traveled for such a long time, some of the candidates, especially the girls, were panting and out of breath.
For example, Yuzi had a flushed face and was sweating profusely.
At this point, the advantage of the Taijutsu-type ninjas became evident. Each of them was in high spirits, glowing with energy.
What was exhausting for others was just a warm-up for them, and they were in perfect condition.
Mo Yu, too, appeared unaffected, probably one of the most relaxed of the twenty-plus candidates.
Though he still had two hundred pounds of weights strapped to his arms and legs, for someone like Mo Yu, who trained at extreme intensities every day, this level of exertion was nothing.
Mo Yu walked over to Yuzi, pulled something from his bag, and handed it to her.
"Here, eat this."
Yuzi looked at the pill in Mo Yu's hand, puzzled. "Is this a military food pill? I don't need it, I have some myself..."
Mo Yu didn't explain. "Eat mine. This one's special—it works wonders for restoring stamina."
Yuzi, still a little skeptical, took it and ate it, trusting Mo Yu.
Not long after, she stopped panting, her face was no longer flushed, and she looked rejuvenated.
"Wow, this is amazing! I've never had such an effective military food pill before."
Mo Yu smiled without explaining.
This wasn't a military food pill—it was a solid recovery pill.
Although the solid recovery pills no longer had much effect on Mo Yu's physical enhancement, they were still excellent for restoring stamina. In fact, they were hundreds of times more effective than the so-called military food pills.
"I've got more of these. Keep some for emergencies," Mo Yu said, pulling out a small pouch containing twenty or thirty solid recovery pills.
If he weren't worried that these might attract envy or greed from others, he could easily have taken out hundreds more. After all, these low-level pills no longer held much value to him.
Yuzi quickly shook her head. "I don't need that many. A few will be enough."
Mo Yu, however, insisted, pushing the pouch into her hands. "Just take them. I've got plenty left."
Yuzi's heart warmed as she shyly accepted the pouch, carefully tying it to her waist.
"Thank you."