Near sunset, warm slats of light slipped into the tower.
Yamanaka Inoichi rubbed his brow, a pulse pounding at his temple. He looked washed-out and hollowed, voice thin. "That should… do it, right? Sogetsu."
Sogetsu glanced at him and let concern touch his face. "Are you alright, Mr. Inoichi?"
"Ahem—fine. Fine." Inoichi brought a loose fist to his lips and coughed. His overtaxed face pulled into a brave smile. "Just burned more chakra than I should. A few days' rest will do."
"You've worked hard." Sogetsu dipped his head, sincerity unfeigned. "Without you, this would've gone far less smoothly."
"N-no, I—cough—" Inoichi looked into the boy's clear eyes and felt guilt sting. What a good kid… Shikaku worries too much.
During the exam, per Nara Shikaku's plan, he'd used the Mind Body Switch Technique to slip into Uchiha Sogetsu's inner sea and comb his surface memories without being noticed.
How to put it… clear blue sky. Not a speck of grit. Pure, translucent, clean.
This child's heart was pure.
He could swear it to the Hokage himself: "Uchiha Sogetsu is a comrade with the Will of Fire in his chest."
Pat. He clapped Sogetsu's shoulder. "Do good work, Sogetsu. The Hokage will value you."
"Uh—yes, sir." Sogetsu smiled, a touch sheepish. "It's an honour to serve Konoha."
What a good kid… Inoichi felt that guilt deepen and made a private vow. No. The Hokage needs to hear this from me. Sogetsu is the key to healing Konoha–Uchiha rifts. We cannot fail a child this earnest.
"Leave it to me!" he said, eyes lighting, fist tightening with fresh resolve.
Sogetsu watched him go, a little baffled. …I didn't cue him. When did his whole arc flip?
He shook his head faintly. "Whatever. The result's the same."
He rose and looked out over the tower plaza.
Dozens of examinees sat sprawled, each face twisted like a sleeper lost in a nightmare.
He formed a single seal. "Genjutsu—Release."
Sogetsu covered his ears in advance.
"AAAHH—!"
"NO—!"
"Help me!"
"Don't kill me!"
"Save me!"
"Rin—!"
The wail hit like a tidal wave. The scar-faced proctor and the other chunin flinched as the roar clattered around the rafters.
It was carnage. Some sobbed. Some swung at empty air. Some crawled. Someone… had wet themselves. "Ninja lords," as civilians called them, weren't immune to collapse.
"Order!" the scar-faced proctor bellowed at last, voice wrapped in chakra. It smothered the din.
Only then did the tortured faces begin to clear as the kids realised where they were.
"It… was fake?"
"Thank… thank goodness… I'm alive—"
"RIN—!"
"Damn it—it was genjutsu!"
Reactions forked. A friendship shattered in a fistfight over a "betrayal" that never happened. Someone sobbed into Rin's shoulder. Others just sat shaking—then, almost as one, they turned to the dais.
If looks could kill, Uchiha Sogetsu would have been confetti.
"As you can see, it was all illusion," Sogetsu said, stepping forward with a gentle smile. "Stage two of the chunin exams measures your responses under engineered catastrophe—from four angles: survive, evade, resist, and escape. Your scores derive from those."
"You've got to be kidding!"
A barrel-chested Iwa genin shouldered forward, eyes flaring. "Is this how Konoha runs things? Rigged! I'm filing a complaint!"
"Yeah! Cheaters!"
"Using genjutsu is already sus—and those two—" He jabbed at Kosuke and Duy. "Say it again in front of everyone: are they really genin?"
Kosuke spread his hands, helpless. "I really am."
"I'm a genin too," Duy said, scratching at his bowl cut.
"Bullsh—!"
The Iwa bruiser spat. "Old man, since when does a genin sling Water, Fire, and Earth like that? And you, watermelon head—you nearly kicked a cave in. You call that genin?"
He wheeled on the Konoha kids. "Well? Are they genin?"
The Leaf genin stared at their sandals. "W-who says they can't be… maybe genin can be strong…"
"Shameless!" The Iwa-nin shook with fury, jabbing at Sogetsu. "This exam is unfair. Iwa demands a retest—and I'm reporting you!"
"Reporting me?" Sogetsu's mouth curved. Light flickered under his glasses. "Humanitarian impulse: I'll ask once more. Are you sure?"
Here it comes—the devil's smile.
The Sand kids twitched. They knew this face. Gooseflesh shivered up their arms.
"H-hey—Suna—back me up here!"
The Iwa-nin tried to drag them in.
"Nope, no complaints!" Umezono Chizu flapped both hands. "Sunagakure's fine with the process and the result. No reports from us."
"???"
The Iwa-nin's eyelid jumped. Cowards. He squared his shoulders. "That's it. I'm—"
He didn't finish "report."
He flew like a fired shell.
BOOM.
When everyone blinked, they saw Sogetsu with a fistful of collar, pinning the big man in a shallow crater on the wall. The man's eyes rolled white; foam flecked his lips.
"W-what are you doing?!" another Iwa-nin blurted, blanching. "You dare attack us—are you—"
"Apologies," Sogetsu said, still smiling. "This is how we operate. If you don't like it—swallow it."
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