Nagato had no idea he was the new center of attention.
Even while prepping for the Chunin Exams, he found himself curious about Jiraiya's student, Uzumaki Naruto. He wanted to see what kind of kid he was.
He didn't have to wait long.
To Nagato's shock, the chief examiner for the exams was none other than his own teacher, Jiraiya.
Apparently, Jiraiya had just returned to Konoha after a fruitless hunt for Orochimaru, only to be immediately roped into overseeing the exams by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Obviously, there was more to it than that.
This Chunin Exam was a big deal, with all of Konoha's allies participating. Making Jiraiya the chief examiner was a power move—partly to impress the other villages, and partly to show how much faith Hiruzen had in him. Maybe it was even a hint about who would be the next Hokage.
Not that Jiraiya wanted the job. He'd already refused and suggested Tsunade, but she wanted the troublesome responsibility even less than he did.
"What a drag..."
Jiraiya slouched in Hiruzen's chair, looking over a list of pre-selected proctors. He was mostly just a figurehead. But after scanning the list of genin participants, he scratched his head. He realized this wasn't going to be a simple babysitting job.
There were a lot of genin competing.
From the Sand Village, the Fourth Kazekage's own children were participating. Konoha had also sent its entire new generation: his prized student Naruto from Team 7, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio of Team 10, and Team 8 with Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Team 3, who had missed the last exams, was in the mix too.
Basically, all of Konoha's best and brightest rookies were here.
On top of that, there were teams from smaller, more distant villages like Rain, Grass, and Waterfall—places that rarely produced noteworthy talent and were usually easy to ignore.
"This exam could actually be interesting," Jiraiya muttered, flipping through the schedules and proctor notes to get a handle on his duties.
But as the first written test kicked off, Jiraiya noticed something familiar. It came from one of those small villages he'd almost written off.
The first test was all about gathering intelligence. The chief proctor, Morino Ibiki, had given the candidates an insanely difficult paper to force them to cheat. Their ability to cheat was, in itself, the real test.
It was an interesting spectacle. The Hyuga's Byakugan saw through papers, the Uchiha's Sharingan copied movements, and the Sand ninja used a third eye made of sand.
But none of that was new to Jiraiya. He'd seen it all before.
What really caught his eye was a Rain ninja wearing a mask, using folded paper to pass answers. It was a sharp, painful reminder of a student he'd lost long ago.
But that was ancient history.
After the relatively tame written test, the second exam began immediately. This one was far harsher, with a very real risk of death. It was designed to test a genin team's coordination, survival skills, and grit in the face of danger.
The second proctor, Anko Mitarashi, gave each team a "heaven" or "earth" scroll. They were then thrown into the Forest of Death and forced to fight each other for the opposing scroll. The goal was to reach the tower in the center with both.
Frankly, it was the only part of the exam where you could actually die.
Outside the Forest of Death, Team 7 was curiously sizing up the competition. Naruto looked around, trying to spot anyone who stood out, but he couldn't tell much with his untrained eyes.
"That's the kid," Konan whispered to Nagato, her eyes fixed on Naruto. "Konoha's Nine-Tails host. He's also Master Jiraiya's new student. Lord Emiya told us to keep an eye on him."
"He seems..." Nagato began, looking confused.
He'd been watching Naruto since the first test.
How to put it? The kid seemed a little… slow.
In that sense, he was a lot like their teacher.
Yeah... their teacher was also kind of an idiot. Maybe more than just a little.
Pain glanced over, his voice flat. "Once the exam starts, we find them immediately. No screw-ups."
He then glanced at the consent form all candidates had to sign. By signing it, you agreed that you might die.
Of course, Nagato's team had nothing to worry about.
It was doubtful anyone in the entire exam—hell, in all of Konoha—could actually beat them. To say they were "seal-clubbing noobs" would be putting it mildly.
But talent like that is hard to hide.
Even though Nagato and Pain held back from using the Rinnegan and stuck to basic jutsu, their skill was impossible to miss.
-----
In the proctors' room, Jiraiya was now paying close attention. The Rain team's performance was just too clean. No matter how much they tried to act their age, they stood out like sore thumbs among the green genin.
"This team is something else," Jiraiya said calmly, watching the monitor. "Their pre-fight sensing, their sharp execution... that's not something any ordinary genin team can pull off." He glanced at the other jonin in the room. "In fact, a lot of registered jonin aren't this good."
"No kidding," Sarutobi Asuma agreed, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Rain Village sent some real monsters this time. Guess they're trying to make a name for themselves."
"Without a doubt," Kakashi added, his standards notoriously high. "They're even more confident than the Sand team. They know their opponents pose zero threat."
"And every single time..." Kurenai Yuhi said with a worried look, "only one of them even bothers to fight."
"The other two just stand back," she continued. It meant they were so certain of their teammate's victory that they didn't feel the need to waste chakra.
"Looks like these kids are finally about to meet a real challenge!" Jiraiya rubbed his chin, looking at another monitor. On the screen, Uchiha Sasuke was casually using a Fire Style jutsu to wipe out an entire team. The blast was so powerful it took out the forest's surveillance camera with it.
"They're no match for them," Might Guy said, his face dead serious. His focus was locked on Nagato's team.
His fighter's instincts were screaming, and even he felt a knot of tension. "I have faith in Lee and the others, but... the gap is just too damn wide."
Guy knew his students, Lee and Neji, could handle any of the other prodigies, even the red-haired Sand genius.
But that Rain team was different. Guy felt a real sense of danger from them. The kind of danger that meant if he had to fight them himself, it would be a life-or-death battle.
Meanwhile, Emiya Shirou was also observing the exams and had noticed the same thing.
"Nagato and his team... are doing a little too well," he mused. "They're going to attract a lot of attention in Konoha."
"By the way..." he wondered aloud.
"What names did they even use to sign up?"