Once his chakra was completely gone, Shien finally understood what it meant to feel utterly hollowed out.
Fortunately, he had come prepared. Inside his ninja pouch was a little lifesaver— Soldier Pills, specially made to replenish chakra.
They were an Uchiha Clan product.
Though every clan called them by the same name, their effects varied wildly— Recovery speed, side effects, purity—all completely different. The Uchiha-made ones weren't quite on par with the Akimichi Clan's high-end versions, but they were still decent.
After swallowing one, Shien barely managed to shake off his "debilitated" state. Running out of chakra was one of the most miserable sensations a shinobi could experience.
He had emptied himself only because he was worried he wouldn't have enough chakra to summon Chuubeimaru, but now, after this test, he had a clear grasp of how much the summoning consumed.
With Chuubeimaru as his trump card, he finally had a sense of security.
After all, Root had been coveting his "body" for a long time. Every step he took, every word he spoke, had been carefully calculated to avoid giving them an opening. No one knew Shimura Danzo better than Shien.
"The Pot Shadow." That nickname wasn't an insult—it was a statement of fact.
Cruel, audacious, and endlessly scheming, armed with his favorite self-justifying mantra: "Everything I do is for Konoha." When it came to internal power struggles, he was unmatched.
Against a man like that, one wrong move meant death before you even realized what had happened.
In the anime, Danzo had seemed like a bit of a clown— after all, who could forget the scene where he tried to stab Susano'o with a kunai?
But here, in the real shinobi world, Shien finally understood how terrifying he truly was. The Darkness of the Shinobi. A title like that wasn't given lightly—every nickname he bore was built atop corpses and conspiracies.
And behind him was Root, that vast, cold killing machine. Even Konoha's great clans feared him. Otherwise, how could he keep extorting their children, forcing them into Root to be molded into emotionless killers?
To have such a man watching him… How could Shien not feel suffocated?
In fact, one sentence summed up his current state of mind:
I can't breathe..
He'd been living like a "time management god," busier than a corporate 007, all because of Danzo's pressure.
Now, finally, he could take a breath— though it was just a breath, not true relief. Peace was still a long way off.
"Go ahead and add your name too." Shien handed the summoning scroll to Uchiha Mei, who stood at the edge of the training field.
Giving her a place on the contract was his way of showing gratitude—after all, he had benefited from her help quite a bit.
Mei tilted her head slightly. Though she couldn't see him, her sensory ninjutsu allowed her to examine him clearly. After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"From this day forward, Chuubeimaru shall be the exclusive summoning beast of the Uchiha Main Branch."
Once, she hadn't cared much for her so-called fiancé. But the more Shien revealed of his abilities, the more her opinion of him changed. Now, she was genuinely curious—just how deep did his capabilities run?
Of course, her declaration wasn't about taking the summon for herself. It was a shield—a way to "take the heat" for him.
With Shien's current standing, many people would surely covet such a powerful summoning beast. After all, who wouldn't want a summon on par with the ones belonging to the Legendary Sannin?
The only reason no one dared target them was because the Sannin were backed by the three great Holy Lands—and the Hokage's faction.
But Shien? He had no such protection.
By declaring Chuubeimaru property of the Uchiha Clan, anyone wanting it would first have to get through the Uchiha themselves.
Soon, Mei pricked her finger and signed her name in blood on the scroll. Other than the two of them, no one else would be granted the right to contract with Chuubeimaru.
Too many summoners could cause interference— if one summoned first, the others wouldn't be able to. In battle, that could be fatal.
With this trump card secured, Shien could now shift his focus to training. The Joint Chunin Exams were just around the corner— a brutal test where death was always a real possibility.
The air in the ninja world was thick with the scent of gunpowder; war loomed on the horizon. Every village wanted to eliminate potential future threats before the storm broke. No one would show mercy.
If the exams weren't so dangerous, Shien's Third Squad wouldn't have received so many resources to prepare.
So now, he would give it everything he had. Chuubeimaru might be a devastating trump card—an absolute dimensionality-reduction attack against other genin—but he couldn't rely on that alone. A life-saving ace wasn't something you could just spam.
He still had to strengthen himself in every other way.
As the exam approached, Konoha grew livelier by the day. Outwardly, the atmosphere seemed festive, but beneath it all, tension ran deep.
The Uchiha Police Force was busy, and both the ANBU and Root were unusually active.
Meanwhile, under the tutelage of Namikaze Minato, Third Squad's strength skyrocketed. Having such an experienced, perceptive sensei was a blessing no words could overstate.
The day before the exams.
Outside Konoha's gates, crowds of nobles and merchants from across the nations filled the entrance.
Among them, a rather distinctive group appeared.
At their head walked a middle-aged man with blue hair and golden eyes, wearing a white cloak over blue ninja garb, and a conical hat marked with the kanji for Wind. His very presence was sharp—like the edge of a blade.
Beside him marched shinobi wrapped in white scarves, their skin hardened and roughened by years of sandstorms—Sand-nin, from the Hidden Sand Village.
In the middle of their ranks were a dozen boys and girls of varying ages.
"Sensei, this is Konoha? It's way livelier than our village!" a young girl with purple markings on her cheeks said excitedly to the woman ahead of her— a fiery kunoichi with her two-toned hair tied up and her smooth, pale back exposed, casual yet dangerous.
"Jun, one more word and I'll send you back to the village," the woman—Pakura—warned flatly, not even turning around.
"Nooo, Pakura-sensei! I'll be good, I swear! Please don't send me back!" The girl immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. She knew her teacher well—Pakura always meant what she said.
After all, she'd worked so hard to earn a spot on this trip to Konoha. No way was she going home empty-handed. At the very least, she wanted to buy some souvenirs!
Yes—this was the delegation from Sunagakure, one of the three great ninja villages participating in this year's Joint Chunin Exams.
A "joint" exam only required two major villages to qualify—it didn't have to involve all five.
"Kazekage, what are your orders once we enter Konoha?" one of the Sand-nin asked.
"Nothing," the Third Kazekage replied calmly. Even if something needed to be done, they would not be the ones to act.
"Yes, Kazekage!"
Under Konoha's escort, the Sand delegation entered the village.
And with that—the entire shinobi world turned its eyes toward the same stage.
The Joint Chunin Exams were about to begin.
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