Across the many screens in the monitoring room,
one feed showed the genin teams that had already entered the exam hall. Seeing his niece successfully pass this stage, Yūhi Shinku nodded slightly, a smile tugging at his lips.
—But when his gaze landed on Baixing, standing beside his niece with that annoyingly handsome face, he couldn't help but curse inwardly. That guy was a walking disaster.
Fortunately, his own daughter had just turned one. With that kind of age gap, there was no way she'd be charmed by that fellow in the future!
"Baixing's still showing off as much as ever," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said, arms crossed, dissatisfaction clear in his voice as he watched the screen. This was his first time in the back room observing a chūnin exam.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Shinnosuke but said nothing, quietly shifting his attention to the other examinees instead.
Click.
The door to the monitoring room opened. A chūnin in charge of exam operations walked in, carrying a list of the chūnin exam candidates.
"Report! All genin have entered the examination hall!"
"Good. You've worked hard today. Prepare for proctoring duties," Hiruzen said.
"Yes!"
The chūnin acknowledged the order and left. On the screens, all examinees had now completed the preliminary trial and arrived at the fourth-floor Room 404.
The written exam hall was enormous, able to seat one hundred and fifty candidates. With only a little over fifty genin present, it felt rather empty.
Might Dai stood in the aisle at the back of the classroom, hands on his knees, breathing lightly.
"Thank goodness… we made it in time."
"Ah~ Dai, with your level of strength, I'm really worried for you~"
Uchiha Mikoto placed one hand against her forehead, striking the pose of a refined young lady.
"At this rate, I'll probably become a chūnin before you~"
The blonde Yakushi Nono, standing nearby, twitched at the corner of her mouth.
Mikoto really knows how to put on airs… even better than Sensei Baixing~!
Nono sighed softly and turned her head, her eyes drifting across the seated examinees. She spotted Baixing-sensei sitting in the third row with his teammates and instinctively wanted to greet him.
"Yo, Mikoto. What a coincidence—so you're taking the chūnin exams this year too. These must be your genin teammates, huh? They suit you quite well~"
"En, that's enough."
"We're all examinees here, same as Mikoto. There's no need to say things like that."
"Fūya, En isn't wrong. We all heard Mikoto joined a team led by a genin. I've been pretty curious about that myself~"
"Right~ little Mikoto?"
Black high-collared outfits, each marked with the same crest as the one on Mikoto's clothes.
The black-haired, straight-haired girl lifted her gaze to the girl she had a minor feud with—Uchiha Fūi, a sharp-haired, black-haired young woman with decent looks.
Mikoto's eyes then swept over the other two.
"Fūi, En, Fūya. Long time no see."
—The Uchiha trio.
"Has it really been that long?"
Uchiha Fūi relied on the fact that she was three years older than Mikoto, stepping closer like a friendly older sister and draping an arm over Mikoto's shoulders. Her red lips leaned toward Mikoto's ear, her voice dropping so only the two of them could hear.
"Two years ago, you beat me in a spar. Because of that, I'm still a genin to this day."
"That debt—"
"You can repay it today."
Even after saying those words, Fūi's face still wore a gentle, neighborly smile, betraying none of the threat she'd just delivered.
She then spoke again, this time loud enough for everyone to hear.
"If there's anything you don't understand during the exam, big sister can help you~"
"Of course, cheating is off-limits~"
Mikoto glanced coldly at the clan sister three years her senior and replied without mercy,
"Sorry. This time, you'll probably still be stuck as a genin."
"Drop the fake smiles. They make me sick."
"You—!"
"Enough, Fūi."
Uchiha Fūya frowned, arms crossed, adopting the demeanor of an older brother.
"You still can't let that go?"
"Becoming a chūnin is simply survival of the fittest."
"If you didn't make it this year, then aim for the next."
"Don't stand here blaming Mikoto. She only completed the training her grandfather gave her."
"Hah. So what you're saying is, I was just part of her training?"
"Hey, hey—Fūya, that's not what he meant," Uchiha En hurriedly stepped in as a mediator.
"Those records might affect how the higher-ups view us, sure, but in the end, what matters most is our actual strength."
"Right, Fūi?"
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Fūi ignored En completely and walked straight to a row of seats, sitting down.
Fūya looked helpless. After all, being easily defeated by a nine-year-old Mikoto right after graduating from the clan—if it had been him, he'd probably still be traumatized too.
Fūya apologized to Mikoto, then dragged the still-chatty En over to sit beside Fūi, waiting for the proctors to arrive with the seating assignments.
Only after the three had left did Nono lean closer to Mikoto and whisper,
"Mikoto… are they your friends?"
Might Dai nearly performed a classic anime faceplant.
"Nono, how did you get 'friends' out of that?"
"But… aren't they from the same clan?"
Nono pointed at the Uchiha trio's clothes, which bore the same crest as Mikoto's.
"Being from the same clan doesn't mean everyone gets along," Mikoto said quietly.
As the granddaughter of one of the two remaining elders, her status often attracted jealousy. Her grandfather had taught her this: never use status to oppress others—if you must suppress someone, do it with your own strength.
"Come on. Let's find seats and sit down first."
The three of them didn't have much mood left to greet Baixing. Though he appeared to be chatting casually with Shiranui Kumo, Baixing had actually seen everything.
—Being a young lady really isn't easy~!
As Mikoto took her seat, her thoughts drifted back to a scene from a year ago.
After class, passing by the clan training grounds, she had personally seen Uchiha Fūi's grueling training—and her strength. In sparring, Fūi had cleanly defeated an Uchiha ninja rated as chūnin-level.
And yet, the clan still hadn't promoted Fūi to chūnin.
Even this time, she hadn't received a slot as a provisional chūnin.
As a genin, all she could do were menial village tasks.
Especially since most C-rank and above missions for the Military Police Force required at least chūnin rank.
Without chūnin certification, the police force would never let a mere genin accept those missions. If a mission failed, a lowly genin simply couldn't bear the consequences.
—
Before long,
the proctors for this exam entered one by one. The blackboard was posted with the seating assignments, instructing candidates to take their designated seats.
The genin began switching places…
Unluckily—
"How unfortunate. Sitting right next to you."
Uchiha Fūi glanced sideways at Mikoto.
"This time, I won't go easy on you."
Mikoto frowned.
"What do you mean? Isn't this a written exam?"
Uchiha Fūi gave a cold smile, looking at her naïve younger clanmate.
"Written exam?"
"That's just a way of putting it."
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