On the bustling streets of Konoha—
"A full ninja tool kit, twenty thousand ryō! Comes with all kinds of standard gear, plus a bonus intel manual containing information on every major village's participants in the exams!"
"Authentic goods, guaranteed quality!"
"Still worried about not having enough ninja tools? Or about lacking intel on your opponents?"
"Buy just one ninja tool kit, and all your problems disappear!"
The loud, clear sales pitch instantly drew a crowd.
The streets were filled with exam candidates—many of them from smaller ninja villages. For these people, ninja tools were precious, and intelligence on rival villages even more so.
"I'll take one!"
After a short discussion, one small village team bought a ninja tool kit.
Inside were kunai, shuriken, senbon needles, and other basic gear.
As for the quality? Well, that depends on where you bought it.
High-quality tools easily cost over ten thousand ryō each. Thinking you could get that kind of craftsmanship for this price was pure wishful thinking.
Still, for what it was—no one could really complain.
"Here you go!"
Behind the stall stood three boys wearing Konoha forehead protectors. The chubbiest one, with surprising agility for his size, swiftly took the money and handed over the tool kit and intel manual.
The genin from the small village left, looking satisfied. He needed the tools, and that intel booklet? A total bargain.
Once the customer was gone, the lean, handsome boy in a fitted black shirt and cropped pants finally spoke up.
"Oi, fatso, how'd you come up with the idea of selling ninja tools with bonus intel like this?"
The pudgy boy looked genuinely puzzled. "Didn't you say something like this before, Shien?"
Another slim, quiet boy chimed in. "Yeah, you definitely did."
Indeed, the trio behind the stall were none other than Shien, Yamakana Kōji, and Honda Taka.
They had just met up for a casual hangout, but apparently the fat one had decided to turn it into a business opportunity.
"I never—wait…" Shien froze mid-sentence as realization hit. Right. He had mentioned an idea like this before.
Damn it. The clown… was himself.
At this rate, if the fat one's business took off, maybe he'd end up being remembered as the "Godfather of Ninja World Commerce."
"But seriously, where'd you get all that intel?" Shien asked, pointing at the booklet.
Intel was no joke for ninjas—if the source was suspicious, it could get them into serious trouble.
"Relax! I gathered it from the exam candidates themselves," Honda Taka said proudly.
If not for wanting the intel to seem more convincing, he wouldn't have bothered dragging his two friends here to help run the stand.
Having three Konoha genin behind the stall made customers trust the operation far more than if it were run by random civilians.
"…Alright then."
Shien finally relaxed. As long as the information hadn't been stolen from anywhere dangerous, it was fine.
Rustle!
Yamakana Kōji flipped through the intel manual, his expression growing heavier with each page.
"What's wrong?"
Curious, Shien picked one up too—and quickly saw why his friend's face had darkened.
Too many strong contenders!
And some of these so-called "genin"… looked like full-grown adults.
Remember—the Chunin Exam only restricted rank, not age.
Fifteen years old and under—that was the only limit.
Unlike in the anime, not everyone here was a fresh academy graduate.
Promotion wasn't easy. Beyond experience from missions, true strength was required. More than half of all ninjas retired as genin, never advancing further.
So it wasn't unusual to have fifteen-year-old genin competing.
And the evaluation system written in the intel manual— It was based on one Shien himself had once proposed:
Nin, Tai, Gen, Ken, Riki, Soku, Sei, In — representing ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, wisdom, strength, speed, precision, and seals.
It was far more detailed than the vague systems used by actual villages.
The stats were simple yet intuitive:
1 point – Academy Graduate 2 points – Genin 3 points – Chunin 4 points – Special Jonin 5 points – Jonin 6 points – Elite Jonin 7 points – Quasi-Kage 8 points – Kage-level 9 points – Peak Kage 10 points – Beyond Kage
This scale made everything crystal clear—no wonder Kōji looked so serious.
He'd heard Shien mention this system before but never paid it much thought. Now, seeing it written down in a formal intel dossier—it hit differently.
The manual even had evaluations for them.
Yamakana Kōji: Nin 3 / Tai 2 / Gen 1 / Ken 3 / Riki 2 / Soku 2 / Sei 2 / In 2
Pretty accurate, actually.
He specialized in ninjutsu and had solid battle instincts. The booklet only listed public stats—no mention of their specific jutsu or trump cards—so it was surprisingly considerate.
Shien flipped to the back page, where a bold title caught his eye:
Top Ten Examinees Ranking!
He blinked in disbelief.
"The top rank… isn't Kakashi?"
The number one name wasn't the prodigy he'd expected.
Then it hit him—Kakashi was still barely seven years old!
Even in a world where child soldiers matured early, that was ridiculously young.
He was the youngest participant here, yet already ranked in the top three. A true monster of talent.
Give him a few more years, and he'd definitely top the list. After all, he would one day become a Jonin at age twelve—a record that would go down in history.
But talent could only go so far against literal cheat codes.
Later geniuses—like the "white-eyed wolf" and the "dutiful son"—would break into Kage-level territory as teenagers, completely unfairly.
No wonder everyone said—Sharingan was the ultimate cheat. No surprise Danzo coveted it so much.
At the top of the list was a boy named Gantō— Fourteen years old, making him one of the "older" candidates.
But his combat record was insane.
The booklet listed Konoha candidates only with stats, but for outsiders, the details were exhaustive.
Apparently, Gantō was the "Strongest Genius of Iwagakure," and had even fought an upper-level Jonin head-on.
Cheating, plain and simple.
There's no way that guy was still a genin!
But clearly, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, didn't care about appearances—he forced the boy into the genin category just to compete.
Shien silently cursed the old man for half a minute straight.
Truly a man who valued results over honor— a stark contrast to their own "Most Upright Hokage."
Still, the boy's age fit the rules, and since Iwagakure hadn't officially promoted him to Chunin, technically it was fair game.
All three of the Great Villages were pulling dirty tricks— each wanting to flaunt their strength and sabotage their rivals' geniuses.
Ninja weren't samurai; honor didn't win wars. Only results did.
"Excuse me, I'll take one ninja tool kit, please!"
As Shien silently cursed the hypocrisy of the great villages, a hearty, honest voice spoke up—
He looked up, and froze on the spot.
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