Early the next morning.
Standing in front of the Ninja Academy gates, Yuki Seisui couldn't help but sigh.
"I never thought I'd be back here," he muttered. "Honestly, I thought I'd never return in this lifetime."
He glanced at Minato and added with a hint of exasperation,
"But… aren't we here a little too early?"
The empty surroundings confirmed his suspicion — not a soul in sight.
"I didn't want you to oversleep!" Minato responded self-righteously. "Seisui, you've got to learn some discipline. I can't always be your alarm clock."
Uchiha Haru glanced at Minato and said softly,
"It's okay. You still have me."
Her voice was quiet, but both Seisui and Minato heard it loud and clear.
Seisui immediately threw an arm around her shoulder, looking genuinely touched.
"Haru, you're the best!"
Watching the two of them stand in perfect sync, Minato found himself at a loss for words.
You two act like a family already. I'm just the third wheel here.
"Minato!"
A voice called out from the distance. Turning around, Minato saw Kushina Uzumaki and Nawaki waving at them.
"Kushina!"
His expression instantly brightened. The glum look he wore moments ago vanished, replaced by joy.
"That sudden mood shift, did you learn that from Jiraiya-sensei?" Seisui muttered from the side.
"Since you guys are taking the Chunin Exams, we get the day off," Kushina said cheerfully.
She had long grown tired of school, any excuse to skip it was a blessing.
"Hard to believe…" Nawaki added with a wistful tone. "I haven't even graduated yet, and you guys are already taking the Chunin Exam."
"Best of luck to all of you!"
He pulled out a stack of Explosive Tags as he spoke.
Ever since his unfortunate run-in with one last time, he'd been obsessed with studying them. His supply of anything else was sparse, but Explosive Tags? He had plenty.
Seisui accepted the tags and gave Nawaki a strange look.
Nawaki-brand Explosive Tags. Quality guaranteed!
After chatting briefly with Kushina and Nawaki, Seisui checked the time — it was about right.
He stuffed the tags into his ninja tool pouch and waved to them.
"We're off to the exam! Catch up later!"
Minato turned back to look at Kushina, reluctant to leave. She waved at all three of them, calling out:
"You better pass that exam!"
"We will!" Seisui called back with a confident wave.
==========
The exam was being held on the academy's training field. As Seisui and the others arrived, they found the area already filled with desks and chairs.
Each desk had a slip of paper with a participant's name.
Seisui glanced around, scanning for familiar names and mentally noting their locations.
Even if I don't see them as a threat, even a lion goes all out to catch a rabbit. I'm not going to trip on a pebble just because I got careless.
After surveying the field, Seisui returned to his designated seat.
Unbeknownst to him, one of the exam proctors was observing from the shadows and silently shook his head, jotting something down in his notebook:
Didn't gather intel. Too rigid.
From the moment they stepped onto the school grounds, the Chunin Exam had already begun.
It looked like a written test, but in reality, it was a trial of a Chunin's information-gathering and espionage skills.
In other words — cheating.
Seisui's team was the first to arrive, yet all they did was look around. They didn't even try to adjust the name slips on the desks.
Automatic fail, the examiner thought.
Seisui, however, didn't care about any of that.
Haru's a top student. Once the Duel Arena opens, what question can she not answer?
Leaving the test blank or not writing anything down isn't even an option for me. If I fail and get disqualified, I'll probably lose my three-year vacation. Better play it safe.
==========
"Hahaha! So this is what Konoha's ninja have come to?"
From the shadows, the Third Raikage, A, laughed as he spoke to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Hiruzen shot him a look, internally thinking,
You're the last person who should be talking, you reckless brute.
Cloud Village is full of muscleheads, and you've got the nerve to criticize others?
Onoki was thinking the same thing, but that didn't stop him from joining in.
"Sarutobi, your Leaf ninjas really seem to be slipping. Want me to train them for you over in Iwa?"
"No need," Hiruzen replied with a forced smile. "Those three are just confident. Confidence is essential for a ninja."
"If they don't even know what the test is and start making moves, that's even more embarrassing, don't you think?"
The moment Hiruzen said this, the Raikage scoffed loudly, while Onoki simply glanced over at Seisui's idle group in the distance.
"Ninjas operate from the shadows. Nothing unusual about that."
Raikage gave both men a look, then glanced at the silent Third Kazekage.
He hated these kinds of situations, a room full of sly old foxes playing verbal chess. He preferred to solve things with a punch.
==========
Meanwhile, Seisui, unaware that several Kage were secretly observing them, suddenly had a thought.
He grabbed the slip of paper on his desk and casually sat down next to Uchiha Haru.
"Pakura?"
Seeing the name on the desk, Seisui shrugged and returned to his original seat.
He looked at Haru and muttered,
"As expected, it's not boring sitting next to you."
Her face immediately turned red.
"If it's you, Seisui… I don't mind."
While the two chatted, the rest of the Chunin Exam participants began arriving.
The most eye-catching among them was undoubtedly Might Duy.
"My youth won't allow me to fail!"
"I will become a Chunin!"
"That's right!"
"We believe in you, Duy!"
Their enthusiastic shouts drew everyone's attention.
Seisui didn't even need to turn around to know who it was — nobody else in Konoha behaved like that.
Youth on the lips. Actions fueled by youth.
But what puzzled Seisui was that two people beside Might Duy were actually cheering with him.
He turned to glance back, but didn't recognize either of them.
Must be those nameless background ninjas from the original story…
"Namikaze!"
"Yuki!"
"Sob sob, we'll definitely become Chunins!"
Might Duy shouted as he hugged the other two, all three of them crying together.
The surrounding students instinctively stepped back to give them some space.
Just then, a sharp female voice cut through the air:
"Who threw my name on the ground?!"
Pakura had picked up her name tag from the floor, clearly furious.
No one answered her.
Seisui cleared his throat and did his best to blend into the crowd, acting like an innocent bystander.
Moments later, several figures appeared at the front of the field.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm Yamanaka Yukio, your proctor for this exam."
"Yukio-sensei?" Seisui blinked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
Yukio gave Seisui a quick nod before turning serious.
"This is a joint Chunin Examination. I hope none of you bring shame to your village."
As he spoke, exam papers were handed out.
Seisui looked down at him, just as he expected: Not a single thing I understand.
But this didn't faze him. He glanced at Haru, then at Minato a few seats away.
Silently, he activated the Duel Arena.
=============
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