July's heat showed no signs of easing.
The blazing sun beat down on the tall conference building, under which dozens of genin students waited to enter the exam hall.
—Fifty-four genin.
—Eighteen teams.
Of those, only three teams were from this year's graduating class.
The rest were students who had graduated two or more years earlier.
"Yo. Six-year genin, you came back again."
"Yo, two-year genin, you came back too."
"HEY—you little—!"
On the shaded side of the entrance stood a black-haired boy who always trained with a senbon between his teeth, and a girl with curly black hair and red eyes.
The senbon-chewing boy slung an arm over Kaito's shoulders as he walked up, immediately trading insults with him.
"You two sure love fooling around," the girl—Yūhi Ryūun—said with arms crossed.
"Try not to screw up your coordination again during the exam."
Kaito glanced at her.
"Miss Yūhi Ryūun, rest assured—I'll cooperate with you perfectly."
"Hmph. Maybe use that time to actually study instead of relying on my genjutsu to cheat."
Her cheeks reddened slightly, avoiding Kaito's sharp black eyes.
Kaito scratched his head.
He didn't pay much attention—he'd long become immune to this type of reaction.
Shiranui Unma, who wasn't quite as tall as Kaito, leaned in comfortably like a good friend.
"By the way, Kaito, aren't you going to greet your little disciples?"
Unma nodded toward Mikoto, Nonō, and Duy waving enthusiastically in the crowd.
"You lucky bastard—two cute disciples."
As for Might Duy—
Well… Unma naturally ignored him.
The true eternal genin.
Still, the fact that Duy worked up the courage to take the chūnin exam was somewhat admirable.
"They're talented kids," Kaito replied.
"I should avoid greeting them—people might accuse me of giving them unfair help."
Then his expression shifted, becoming unusually serious.
"This time, I must pass the chūnin exam."
Ryūun and Unma:
"…"
He made it sound like he was taking an S-rank mission… or a jonin exam.
Ryūun rolled her eyes.
"So? Did you study yesterday?"
"Nope," Kaito said honestly.
"You know me. School knowledge? Forgot it all long ago."
"…First time I've seen someone be so proud of not studying."
"Did you at least tell your students to study?"
"Nope."
"???"
"Two of them will definitely pass. And with the Uchiha's Sharingan hypnotic genjutsu, cheating for Duy won't be hard."
"That is giving them an advantage," Unma muttered.
"This is different."
Kaito waved dismissively.
Time passed quickly.
Soon the exam hall's doors opened.
All preparations inside the building were complete.
It was time for the candidates to head to the exam room—
Except…
The path to the exam room was lined with illusion traps—
A D-rank barrier-type genjutsu.
Compared to the original story's illusion exam, this was child's play.
After all—
Modern chūnin candidates may end up on the front lines.
Genin who had already achieved the required mission count or had clan backing had long been promoted to Provisional Chūnin to fight on the battlefield.
Genin: Academy graduate.
Provisional Chūnin: Temporary promotion; full chūnin rights during wartime. Must earn real merit to retain the rank.
Entering the stairwell officially began the illusion trial.
There were four stairwell entrances: A, B, C, D.
Every three minutes, one team entered.
If a team caught up to the team in front of them, the latter was eliminated immediately.
Kaito's team entered through Entrance C.
The illusions weren't complicated.
"I'm bored of this," Kaito muttered, stepping over a corpse that clung to his leg as he yawned.
"Same as last year—fourth floor, Room 404. Hurry up. This counts toward your score."
He glanced back.
Unma was poking at an illusionary female corpse with his senbon, watching the blood-soaked hand reaching for him despite the fact it had no physical form.
"So childish," Ryūun snapped.
She then glanced at Kaito, more mature and handsome, and sighed inwardly.
Kaito, why don't you just join my team instead?
"Kaito," she said aloud, "if our team fails again this time… how about joining mine? Jinchūriki-sensei treats his students well."
Kaito: "…"
That sentence smelled like a flag.
He stared at her shy posture, expression completely flat.
"Sorry. I refuse."
"We should move. If the group behind us catches up, we'll fail instantly."
"Hmph! I will make you join my team someday!" Ryūun declared, clenching her fist.
Unma stopped messing with the illusions and followed behind them, thinking—
Ever since last year's exam, this girl has been obsessed with Kaito. New team members keep quitting. Every mission is extra dangerous. Lovestruck idiots are terrifying…
Entrance B — Mikoto's Team
"AAAAHH—!"
"T-There are so many corpses, Mikoto!"
Yakushi Nonō clung to Mikoto's waist.
Beside her, Might Duy covered his mouth, trying not to gag from the overwhelming metallic "blood scent."
"It's just genjutsu," Mikoto said calmly.
Her resistance to illusions was high.
Even without activating her Sharingan, the scenes appeared blurry.
The smell didn't affect her at all.
"Let's move. We need to find the actual exam room."
Before entering, candidates had been told:
The correct exam room is clean and tidy.
Duy pinched his nose, nodding with a pained expression.
"We only have three minutes. If the team behind us reaches the classroom before we do, we fail."
"Uuu…"
Nonō suddenly felt maybe being a genin wasn't so bad after all.
They stepped through the bloody stairwell, checked the second floor—no exam room.
So they continued upward.
Meanwhile, the entire building had surveillance installed.
Footage from each entrance was projected onto large screens in a monitoring room on the first floor.
Inside were Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow clone, Yūhi Jinchūriki, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and many other jonin, special jonin, and chūnin instructors—
All watching.
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