The July heat showed no sign of easing.
The blazing sun beat down on the entrance of a tall building, where countless genin candidates had gathered for the exam.
There were:
54 genin
18 teams
Among them, only three teams were fresh graduates from this year's Ninja Academy.
The rest had graduated two years earlier—or even longer.
"Yo. Six-year genin, you're here again."
"Yo. Two-year genin, you're here too."
"Hey! Watch your mouth!"
In a shaded corner near the building stood a black-haired boy who constantly trained his mouth technique by holding senbon needles between his lips, and a girl with curly black hair and red eyes.
The senbon-chewing boy wrapped an arm around Bai Xing's shoulders as he arrived, and the two immediately began mocking each other.
"You two really love arguing," the girl said, arms crossed.
"Just make sure you don't mess up your teamwork again during the exam."
Bai Xing glanced at her.
"Miss Yūhi Ryūun, you can rest assured."
"I'll cooperate with you perfectly."
"Hmph. Instead of talking, you should study more," Ryūun muttered, blushing slightly.
"I even have to use genjutsu to help you cheat."
She avoided Bai Xing's bright black eyes.
Bai Xing scratched his head, completely unfazed.
He'd encountered this kind of shy reaction too many times to care anymore.
The senbon boy, Shiranui Genma, wasn't as tall as Bai Xing, but Bai Xing bent slightly so Genma could keep his arm over his shoulder like close brothers.
"By the way, Bai Xing," Genma said.
"Shouldn't you go greet your students?"
He glanced toward the crowd where three people were waving enthusiastically.
"You're really lucky."
"Two cute female students."
As for Might Dai—
Genma completely ignored him.
That guy was the true eternal genin.
Though honestly, it was somewhat admirable that he even had the courage to take the exam this time.
"They're all talented kids," Bai Xing replied.
"I'd rather not greet them. People might accuse me of helping them cheat."
Then his expression turned serious.
"This time…"
"I will definitely pass the Chūnin Exam."
Genma and Ryūun stared at him silently.
Anyone overhearing might think he was heading into an S-rank mission, not an exam.
Ryūun rolled her eyes.
"Did you study yesterday?"
"No."
Bai Xing shook his head.
"You know me. I've forgotten most of that school knowledge."
"…."
Ryūun had never seen someone admit that so confidently.
"Did you at least tell your students to study?"
"Nope."
"…?"
"Two of them will pass for sure."
"And an Uchiha Sharingan hypnosis genjutsu isn't any worse than your Yūhi clan's."
"As long as they use genjutsu to help Dai cheat, it'll be fine."
Genma snorted.
"That's still giving them a shortcut."
"It's different," Bai Xing insisted.
Exam Begins
Time passed quickly.
Soon the exam building opened.
After confirming all preparations were complete, the candidates were allowed to proceed to the exam halls.
However—
The path to the exam rooms contained genjutsu traps.
This was a D-rank barrier-type illusion test.
Compared to the illusion test shown in the original story, this one was far more serious.
After all—
Passing the Chūnin Exam during wartime meant a real chance of being deployed to the front lines.
Most genin who already met the combat requirements had long been promoted to Provisional Chūnin and sent to war.
Definitions:
Numbered Genin: standard academy graduates
Provisional Chūnin: temporary battlefield promotion requiring war achievements for confirmation
Inside the Stairwell
The illusion test officially began the moment candidates entered.
The building had four stair entrances:
A
B
C
D
Each entrance allowed one team every three minutes.
If a team caught up to the team ahead of them—
the team in front was immediately eliminated.
Bai Xing's team entered through Entrance C.
The illusion itself wasn't particularly advanced.
"I'm already bored of this," Bai Xing muttered.
A corpse illusion clung to his leg as he yawned.
"Same as last year. Fourth floor, Room 404."
"Move it. Stop playing around—this counts toward the score."
He looked back down the stairs.
Genma was poking a female corpse illusion with his senbon.
The blood-covered arm of the corpse stretched toward him—
though in reality it had no physical body at all.
Just a genjutsu.
"So boring," Ryūun sighed.
She glanced from Genma's childish behavior to Bai Xing's calm, mature demeanor.
Why won't Bai Xing join our team…
"Bai Xing," she said hesitantly.
"If we fail again this year…"
"Will you join my team?"
"Uncle Yūhi Shinku treats his students very well!"
Bai Xing froze slightly.
He smelled a flag.
Looking at Ryūun's shy posture, he replied expressionlessly:
"Sorry."
"I refuse."
"Let's move. If the team behind us catches up, they can eliminate us."
"Hmph!"
Ryūun clenched her fists.
"One day I'll make you join my team!"
Genma finally stopped playing with illusions and followed them up the stairs.
Watching their backs, he sighed internally.
Ever since the last Chūnin Exam, Ryūun has been obsessed with Bai Xing.
New teammates keep quitting because of her…
Having a lovestruck teammate is terrifying.
Entrance B
"AAAAAH!"
"So many corpses… Mikoto!"
Inside the stairwell, Yakushi Nono clung tightly to Uchiha Mikoto's waist.
Nearby, Might Dai covered his mouth.
The smell of blood in the illusion was so realistic that it made him nauseous.
"It's just genjutsu," Mikoto said calmly.
With her natural resistance to illusions, she only saw a blurry version of the scene even without activating her Sharingan.
She couldn't even smell anything.
"Let's go."
"We still need to find the exam classroom."
Before entering, candidates had been told:
The exam would take place in a clean and tidy classroom.
Dai pinched his nose.
Hearing the screams of corpses echoing through the stairwell, he nodded with difficulty.
"We only have three minutes."
"If the next team enters and reaches the classroom before us…"
"We'll fail."
"Waaah…" Nono suddenly felt that staying a genin forever didn't sound so bad.
The three of them stepped over blood-stained stairs and searched the second floor.
No classroom.
They continued upward.
Monitoring Room
Hidden cameras had been installed throughout the building.
All footage was projected onto screens inside a monitoring room on the first floor.
Watching the screens were numerous instructors:
Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow clone
Yūhi Shinku
Sarutobi Shinnosuke
Several jōnin, special jōnin, and chūnin instructors
They carefully observed every candidate's performance.
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