No one expected the Uchiha to swing first.
One heartbeat he wore a pleasant smile; the next he'd moved—faster than a page could turn.
"Uchiha, you've gone too far!" the Iwa head jonin on the gallery snarled, eyes knifing down. "Our shinobi are not yours to discipline."
Pakura traded a look with Garyuro and rose. "Agreed. As chief proctor you struck an examinee. That violates the rules. We'll report your conduct to the Hokage."
"Oh? Go ahead." Uchiha Sogetsu dropped the limp Iwa genin and glanced up, voice level. "But I'm the proctor. Iwa's examinee provoked the staff and insulted the exam. Their pass is revoked. As for Suna—your entire cohort 'died' and failed. Any objections to those results?"
"What?!"
"All dead?!"
The Suna and Iwa jonin went stone-faced.
Iwa's short-fused Dong Shibito bared his teeth. "Cancel Iwa's qualification? Say that again."
Pakura squinted at her genin. "What happened? Not a single survivor?"
Umezono Chizu dropped his gaze, shame burning his cheeks.
"Don't play dumb, Pakura-sama—that's on him." Daigo's eyes were bloodshot with fury at the memory. "He ditched us and ran. Still died in the end. Useless."
"I…" Umezono Chizu had no excuse; he stared at his boots.
"This exam is co-hosted by three great villages," Dong Shibito growled. "Konoha doesn't get to dictate. You have no right to void our pass—much less lay hands on our shinobi. We demand an explanation."
Sogetsu cocked his head, lids half-lowered. "Heh. What 'explanation' do you want?"
"An apology," Dong Shibito said, chin high. "To Iwagakure. And a full disclosure of the genjutsu used here. We'll verify there was no collusion."
Garyuro's eyes lit. She'd followed his line at once. Mass-domain genjutsu that hosts a shared 'world'—applied to training, it was a factory for elites.
"I concur," she said smoothly. "Release all information on the technique and the ninjutsu involved—or we will consider this exam invalid."
"Publicly release everything?" Sogetsu's mouth crooked, a shred of mockery in his eyes. "So that's it. You're after my genjutsu."
"Watch your mouth, Uchiha," Dong Shibito said, arms folded. "No one covets your tricks. We're making a reasonable request."
"I stand with Iwa," Pakura added, her gaze openly provocative. Then, as if the pot weren't boiling hard enough, she ladled in, "You misplayed this, Sogetsu. Even if the Hokage shields you, this won't be 'handled' so easily."
"Be realistic," Garyuro cooed, softening her tone to play 'good cop'. "If this escalates, even Konoha will struggle to explain itself to the Kazekage and Tsuchikage."
Leverage—names of Kage—stacked to press him down.
Konoha's chunin broke a sweat.
"W-what do we do?" the scar-faced proctor whispered, pale. "Sogetsu-sama, should we inform the Hokage?"
"You're out of line," Kos— cough—Kosuke stepped forward anyway, reading the air and choosing steel. "This should go to the Hokage for judgment."
"A 'genin' of decades?" Dong Shibito cut him a cold glance. "Get lost. I don't care what you 'really' are—this isn't your turn to speak."
"Hey! That's too much!" Might Duy, slow to many things but not to justice, planted himself beside Sogetsu.
"Didn't you hear?" Pakura's smile thinned. "Genin don't speak here."
Kosuke's eyes darkened. Yes… this had blown up. He flicked Sogetsu a tiny look. Say the word—do we move?
"Three on three?" he tallied without moving his lips. Doable. I can stall one. With Duy, we can hold two.
"Oh? Planning to fight?" Their subtle shifts didn't escape Dong Shibito and Pakura.
"Perfect." Pakura licked her lips; heat flared in her gaze. "I've long wanted a look at the Sharingan up close."
Tension ratcheted. Sweat beaded. Even the genin felt crushed between the jonin's pressure.
"We can hand over the technique," Sogetsu said suddenly, tone mild.
"Sogetsu-sama?" Kosuke and Duy both blinked at him, baffled.
"Good. You're sensible." Dong Shibito chuckled, patronizing. "That's better. All in the name of fairness."
"The jutsu is yours," Sogetsu said, raising one finger—and crooked it. "Come down and take it. If you win, it's yours. If you lose, you kneel and apologize."
A hush—then a murmur rippled the Leaf genin ranks. So bold… so Uchiha. Even Kosuke's old blood ran hot.
"I'll lend a hand," Kosuke said, eyes shining. "I won't sit while outsiders stir trouble."
"And me!" Duy pumped a fist, fired up.
On the gallery, Dong Shibito's face iced over. He let his arms fall. "Insolent whelp. I've already killed three Uchiha jonin like you on the front."
"So noisy," Pakura hissed through her teeth. "Do you think you're a Kage? You're just a jonin."
"Apologies," Sogetsu said, nudging his frames. "Busy schedule. Lots to do. So… would you come together?"
That did it. Chakra boomed from Dong Shibito and Pakura like the sea breaking a cliff.
"You're dead."
"Arrogant brat!"
"Sogetsu-sama, we've got you!" Kosuke and Duy stepped in on either flank, eyes locked on the two raging jonin.
"Ah—my mistake," Sogetsu said, eyes glinting. "You misunderstood."
He smiled.
"I wasn't looking down on you two. I meant—everyone here is trash."
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