The Chunin Exams were about to begin, and the signs had been evident for some time. More and more "outsiders" had started appearing in the Hidden Leaf Village, and Leaf ninja were gradually returning home, no longer taking long-term missions abroad.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, also asked squad leaders during an internal meeting whether they recommended their genin to participate in the Chunin Exams. Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Aoba Yamashiro all submitted recommendations for their genin to take part in this round.
This even caused some dissatisfaction from Iruka, leading to a small conflict, but in the end, the Third Hokage approved the jonin's recommendations. With that, the Chunin Exams officially entered the agenda.
Compared to the other three groups, Ethan had an additional problem to solve before participating.
The first two stages of the Chunin Exams were team-based. Naruto and his team already had three members, but Ethan was alone. Therefore, he needed to team up with other genin who had registered for the exams before he could take part.
This wasn't a rare situation in the Leaf Village. It was never guaranteed that existing genin teams would participate as-is, nor that there wouldn't be genin signing up solo.
So, before each Chunin Exam, a reorganization would typically occur, pairing up solo genin to form temporary teams.
Because Ethan had received special attention, he was given preferential treatment again. He didn't need to wait for a random assignment. Instead, he could directly choose suitable teammates from the list of registered genin.
"Hello, I'm Ethan."
And so, after picking through the options, he ended up choosing one of Orochimaru's spies? His teacher really had sharp judgment.
"Kabuto is a genin with extensive experience. He has participated in the Chunin Exams multiple times and is very familiar with the format. You can consult him about anything related."
After giving those instructions, Aoba left. As for the third teammate, he wasn't planning to waste time on it. Whether the two found someone themselves or waited for an assignment from the village didn't matter.
Through the Land of Waves mission, Aoba had confirmed that Ethan's strength was already sufficient to qualify for Chunin. What he still lacked most was experience, and Kabuto was a fitting supplement.
Even if Ethan failed this time, it wasn't a big deal. He was still young. The main purpose of letting him participate was to broaden his horizons and build experience.
Of course, for the major nations, the Chunin Exams were also a platform to display their talent reserves. A young genius like Ethan definitely needed to appear on such a stage.
"I'm a bit older than you and became a ninja earlier. You can call me senpai."
Ethan naturally wouldn't call him senpai. He explained that he was more used to addressing people by name directly, saying it felt more familiar that way.
"After all, we'll be teammates for a while."
"Heh heh."
Responding to the seemingly innocent Ethan with a kind smile, Kabuto pushed up his glasses and began explaining various aspects of the Chunin Exams to him, including the kinds of test questions he had encountered in past years.
Overall, what Kabuto shared was quite superficial, perfectly fitting the image of a genin who lacked talent and had only managed to scrape together some shallow experience through repeated participation.
After spending time together, if Ethan didn't have a cheat-like ability, he absolutely wouldn't be able to tell that this was all an act.
As expected of an elite spy.
After finishing his sharing, the two began discussing finding a third genin to join them, as a two-person team couldn't participate.
"Leave it to me."
Kabuto said that since he had been a ninja for a few years, he knew some decent genin and also knew who had signed up for the exam, so he could go invite someone.
Ethan had no objections, just saying that the genin he knew all had teams already, so he'd leave it to Kabuto to find someone reliable.
But in his heart, he was wondering who Kabuto would bring.
The next day, he met the teammate Kabuto had found. It was a man wearing black sunglasses and a black cloth covering his face.
"This is Akado Yoroi-senpai, a very capable ninja. With him on board, we'll definitely pass this exam."
Ethan looked at the guy. He knew that, like Kabuto, this person was a spy. Did that mean he had essentially taken the place of another spy, Misumi Tsurugi?
Had he unknowingly joined a team full of spies? Were these two planning to get rid of him during the exam?
The introductions proceeded as usual, but compared to Kabuto's carefully crafted polite image, Akado Yoroi's attitude of "you're all trash and I'm the best" was genuinely annoying—even knowing it was likely an act.
"Akado Yoroi-senpai is actually a good person, he just comes off a bit cold."
"Hmph."
Akado Yoroi had always been annoyed by Kabuto and didn't hide it. He clearly didn't take Ethan seriously either, acting like he could eliminate him with a flick of the hand even if his identity was exposed.
In that moment, Ethan suddenly hoped to face Akado Yoroi during the Chunin Exams. That way, he could beat him cleanly and openly.
For now, killing a fellow village ninja would be troublesome. He had just started to enjoy this life and didn't want to ruin it.
"Alright, next we should get to know each other as teammates."
In the following days, the temporary team focused on coordination. Although Akado Yoroi was unhappy that their originally planned team had been disrupted, he understood that this kind of interference from the village's upper levels was beyond his control. Until the time came, he had to continue hiding his identity. Even if irritated, he could only endure.
As for the Chunin Exams? In his mind, they were just a formality.
He didn't realize that Ethan also saw the exams as a kind of game. The difference was that Ethan wasn't going to just go through the motions—he thought this interesting game should be played seriously.
It was a shame that his teammates were two spies. He hadn't seen Gaara yet and missed his first appearance, which was a bit regrettable.
"Well, I'll see him soon..."
Ethan suddenly thought of something. If he ended up facing Gaara in a one-on-one match, should he beat him up? Beat him hard? Or beat him to death?
"What a headache."
He wasn't worried about his displayed strength being too shocking. In the eyes of the village's upper ranks, he was a hardworking genius who improved every day.
Combined with the generous resources the Leaf Village had provided him earlier, a significant jump in power wasn't too strange.
Besides, Ethan didn't plan to use any overly flashy moves. He hadn't raised this persona's power ceiling too much.
He had been improving at a steady pace, matching the level of a diligent genius who trained hard—not talented to an unbelievable degree that would make people suspicious.
So far, aside from his solid taijutsu and impressive speed, the skills he could display were increasingly proficient Earth Release, Water Release ready for use, and... barely usable Medical Ninjutsu.
"Should I reveal that?"
He had been laying the groundwork, but he felt that revealing that particular move now would be too much. It would be better to wait a while longer.
So, for now, he decided not to stand out too much and to just participate in the Chunin Exams using his current set of abilities.
The day to submit the application forms arrived quickly. Ethan had already received his form from Aoba Yamashiro. Today, he was to meet his teammates and go register together.
"Tch, what a pain."
Ethan was actually right on time, but since Kabuto and Akado Yoroi had arrived early and waited for a while, Akado Yoroi grumbled as usual. Ethan suspected this guy had deliberately created an annoying personality for himself. Someone like that having no friends wasn't suspicious and helped him conceal his identity.
"Alright, senpai, Ethan's not late. We just got here too early... Now that he's here, let's go."
The registration location was Classroom 301 at the Ninja Academy, easy to find.
Perhaps because he arrived early, Ethan didn't see the other freshmen from his year, nor did he witness Rock Lee's impressive display on the second floor.
Things like Rock Lee getting rejected by Haruno Sakura after confessing, and the nickname he earned from it, didn't matter much. But missing the scene of Rock Lee revealing his strength was a bit of a shame.
The main reason was that Ethan wanted to use Rock Lee as a benchmark to gauge whether the strength he was showing was too exaggerated. In terms of taijutsu, Rock Lee was an excellent standard.
"Missed it again?"
Compared to the Land of Waves arc that he'd been dragged into, Ethan seemed to always miss these everyday events.
Kabuto didn't understand why Ethan's emotions had suddenly fluctuated, assuming he was just nervous about taking the Chunin Exams for the first time.
"Looks like it's not time yet. Let's find a place to wait."
"Okay."
As time passed, more and more people arrived in the classroom, and some of Ethan's acquaintances began to show up.
"What, you're taking the exam too?"
Shikamaru Nara, looking as lazy as ever, saw Ethan, glanced at the two people next to him, and immediately judged that they were clearly much older—temporary teammates, most likely. They might even drag Ethan down.
As someone sharp and observant, Shikamaru had already noticed that Ethan was quite strong. And in this kind of exam, that meant they could very well end up facing each other.
"Ah, what a drag."
(To be continued.)