July 1st - The Chunin Exam Venue
Zwei simply pushed open the door to Classroom 301.
The room was packed with ninjas from various villages, all of them staring grimly at the newcomers. Zwei paid them no mind. With his hands in his pockets, he told Fuu and Karin, "Let's find some seats."
They quickly made their way to a bench in the middle of the classroom and sat down.
"Hmm?"
Karin felt a heavy presence for a moment. Adjusting her glasses, she looked toward the source of the energy. A boy with dark brown hair was carrying a large gourd on his back, staring at them with an intimidating glare.
Fuu also seemed to sense the boy's hostility. "Why is that guy looking at us like that?"
Zwei answered coolly, "Don't worry about it. Let them stare all they want."
If this were the old Karin, she would have probably tried to hide in a corner from that glare. But she was no longer the girl from the Hidden Grass Village. No, she was now the daughter of Takigakure's leader, and she returned the boy's hostile gaze with one of her own.
Suddenly, the classroom door opened again, and three more people entered. A girl with a high forehead, pink hair, and a red dress; a short boy in an orange tracksuit with spiky yellow hair and three whisker-like marks on his cheeks; and leading them all, a black-haired boy in a blue, high-collared outfit with white shorts. All three wore Konoha forehead protectors.
Karin's eyes immediately landed on the black-haired boy. "He's so handsome!"
Zwei smirked at the sight of the boy, grinding his teeth.
"Sasuke! Where have you been?! I was so worried waiting for you!" A long-haired blonde girl ran up to the black-haired boy and hugged him from behind.
"Oh, I guess he has a girlfriend," Karin said, a little disappointed.
"Hmph! So disgusting!" Zwei seemed grumpier than ever after seeing Sasuke.
"Stay away from Sasuke, you pig!"
"Forehead Sakura! You're as ugly as ever!"
Fuu, with complete innocence, said, "It looks like he has two girlfriends..."
Zwei sneered, "He's a womanizer! And they call him a genius!"
Fuu turned to Zwei. "You know him?"
Zwei looked away. "No!"
He ignored the ongoing commotion of Team Seven. Suddenly, Fuu said, "That guy is dangerous!"
Without turning around, Zwei asked, "Besides being a womanizer?"
"I don't mean Sasuke... I mean that guy with the glasses."
"Huh?" Zwei turned back and saw a completely ordinary-looking boy talking to Sasuke and his teammates. He was tall with long gray hair tied back in a ponytail and wore round spectacles. "He doesn't look dangerous at all. Are you sure?"
"Yeah... I'm getting a bad feeling from him."
Fuu was watching him intently. Something inside her screamed that this man was not what he seemed. She turned to Karin and asked, "What do you think, Karin?"
Karin adjusted her glasses again, staring at the newcomer. "I don't know. But I do know he's completely concealing his chakra... I can't feel any energy from him at all. It's best if we avoid him as much as possible during the exam."
Zwei glanced at another group that was talking. A shy, short-haired girl with pure white eyes stood among them. "A Hyuga..." He subconsciously adjusted his eye-protective glasses. This could be dangerous. He tried to blend in more with the crowd.
At that moment, a commotion started at the front of the class.
BooM!
Along with the sound of an explosion, a thick cloud of smoke rose in front of the blackboard.
"Calm down, you delinquents!"
"Sit down and listen up!"
The smoke slowly began to dissipate. A group of Konoha shinobi stood in front of the blackboard. Leading them was a large-bodied Konoha ninja with a scarred face, wearing a long black coat.
"My name is Ibiki Morino, and I am the proctor for your first Chunin Exam."
The entire room fell silent, and all eyes were on him.
"In this exam, you are not allowed to fight each other unless I, the proctor, give you permission. And you are not allowed to kill your opponent, again, not without my permission. So get your butts in gear and sit in your seats like good little kids! Understood?!"
Once everyone had taken their seats, Ibiki began to explain the rules. "Each of you will be given a number and a sheet that corresponds to it. You must sit in the seat with that number to prepare for the written exam."
"A written exam?!"
For the first time, sweat began to trickle down Zwei's forehead.
..
Inside a café,
three ninjas sat resting together. Kakashi put his tea down and said to Asuma, "Now that the genin are gone, it feels pretty boring."
Asuma took a deep drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke. "Don't worry, they'll be back soon enough, crowding around us."
"What do you mean?"
Asuma replied, "The first part of the exam is being proctored by Ibiki."
Kakashi was taken aback. "So they chose a sadist."
Kurenai, who had been listening, asked, "A sadist?"
Asuma recalled, "Kurenai, you're a new Jonin, so maybe you don't know Ibiki..."
Kurenai cut him off. "Who is he?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. "He's a specialist."
Asuma took another drag from his cigarette. "Torture and interrogation... This means he's going to put the students under a lot of pressure..."
Suddenly, another voice chimed in. "Asuma-sempai, Kakashi-san... Don't talk about Ibiki-san like that... He's not as bad as you guys make him out to be. He's just a little serious about his work."
Mitsuro walked towards them, one hand in his pocket and a cup of tea in the other.
"Yo."
Asuma smirked. "Oh, Mitsuro... What a surprise. What brings you here?"
"Got a little work to do... Are you guys worried about your students?"
Asuma nodded. "Mitsuro, you don't have any students this time, so you can't understand our worry."
Mitsuro smirked. "Don't worry... If you believe in your students, you shouldn't be concerned about Ibiki-san's methods. He only weeds out the ones with weak minds..."
Kakashi sighed. "You're taking this too lightly."
Mitsuro took a sip from his cup and said, "I'm not taking it lightly... I know him."
He continued, "I'd rather think more about the second stage... I really think it's going to be very interesting this time..."
Asuma, seemingly relieved, said, "Mitsuro... Why don't you come back?"
"Huh? Come back to what?"
"To being an active ninja! You're wasting your talent..."
Mitsuro drank the last of his tea and then said, "I've already come back... but don't expect too much from me. I'm more of a teacher now."
He then said goodbye and left.
Kurenai, having overheard the conversation between Mitsuro and Asuma, asked, "What's the story? What do you mean by his talent? Why did you relax as soon as he said the first exam wouldn't be a problem?"
Asuma looked at Kurenai. "I forgot you never went on a mission with Mitsuro, so you only know him from afar, right?"
Kurenai nodded. She only knew that Mitsuro was an Uchiha who had been severely injured in the Konoha Incident a few years ago. After that night, he had stopped working as a shinobi for a while and had only returned to the village about a year ago.
Asuma put out his cigarette and said with a tone of respect, "Mitsuro is a knowledgeable guy. When a person like him says there's no problem, it's because there's definitely no problem."
Kurenai asked in surprise, "Really?"
Kakashi calmly explained Asuma's words. "Mitsuro is a specialist in intelligence gathering and analysis. When he makes a guess, it's usually backed by a lot of information and research."
Kurenai was astonished and looked in the direction Mitsuro had gone with disbelief. "Wow, really?"
Asuma nodded and continued, "When Mitsuro was an active ninja, he was skilled at gathering and analyzing information; so much so that if you didn't know him, you'd think he was a ninja from the Nara clan, not an Uchiha. Maybe that's why after he was promoted to Chunin, he was placed under Shikaku-san instead of joining the Konoha Police Force. He had no interest in direct combat; his skill was mostly in stealth and surprise attacks."
Kakashi also confirmed Asuma's words, "I remember Mitsuro wasn't an expert at any one thing, but he knew a little about everything. That's what allowed him to reach the rank of Jonin. He knows how to take down an enemy at the perfect moment with the least amount of skill."
The target is 100 POWER STONES for the BONUS CHAPTER!