The First Exam
"Orochimaru, that's not a very nice thing to say. The village doesn't seem to have ever mentioned anything about a number one genius!"
After stepping off the stage, Sarutobi Shinnosuke to Orochimaru, "The village has never said that the final champion is the number one genius. It was inappropriate to say it on stage, so Sarutobi Shinnosuke didn't say it."
Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively and laughed, "Don't worry, it doesn't matter whether you say it or not. This time, except for a few villages, most villages are participating in this exam, and they've all sent their strongest and most promising Genin. You could say the venue is filled with the most outstanding generation of Shinobi World. Whoever can suppress all the ninjas and become the final winner will be the strongest genius. And don't you think that creating such a gimmick will make the competition more interesting?"
After saying that, Orochimaru smiled knowingly, turned around, and walked away.
Mite Seiun was following behind, reached out and patted Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who seemed a little confused, and said with a smile, "Don't think too much about it. Let's get ready for the first exam."
Scratching his head, a bewildered Sarutobi Shinnosuke followed behind the two, preparing for his first exam.
Inside the venue, as soon as Orochimaru and his group left, several large doors opened, and two ninjas walked out from each door, under the watchful eyes of the many ninjas inside.
"All Genin, come out through the nearest gate!" a Jonin shouted from a high platform.
Upon hearing this, the numerous ninjas in the venue split into four groups and walked out from their respective gates. Yemo and his group were at the very back of the group, while the ninjas from their respective villages filed in.
Although there were a couple hundred people in the venue, it didn't take long—only half a minute—for the ninjas inside to split into four teams from the four main gates.
Stepping out of the gate, Yemo and his dozens of ninjas followed the ninja who had given them directions to a spacious square on the edge of Konoha. After looking around, Yemo realized that this square didn't exist in his memory. It must have been temporarily created by some ninja using Earth Release Technique. "If these Earth Release ninjas were to work on civil engineering projects in the future, who could beat them? "Yemo thought jokingly.
More than a dozen Chunin wearing Konoha Forehead Protector stood around the plaza, while Mite Seiun the Anbu, who had clearly not been waiting for long, stood directly in front of the plaza.
Dozens of ninjas remained silent, their gazes all fixed on the head of the Anbu Mite Seiun, waiting for him to explain the rules of the first exam.
Seeing the crowd quiet down, Mite Seiun slowly spoke, "You are both lucky and unlucky. You are lucky because as Team 1, this is your first time participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams. You are unlucky because you will be the first team to know what cruelty is."
Mite Seiun's tone was chilling, but the many Genin listening below didn't seem to care. Despite their young age and Genin as genin, most of them were geniuses with blood on their hands. Some had even killed Genin of the same rank, and Chunin.
The expressions on the faces of the ninjas below did not escape Mite Seiun's eyes; a slight smile appeared on his lips. These people wouldn't be so calm soon.
Mite Seiun continued, "The first test is simple. Start from here and head towards the highest mountain behind me."
As he spoke, Mite Seiun pointed to the mountain peak outside the village behind him, which could only be vaguely seen as a huge black shadow. As a member of Konoha, he was naturally familiar with that mountain peak, which was the largest mountain within a hundred miles.
"It's not far from here to that mountain peak, about forty kilometers, and you have half an hour. You should be able to get there within half an hour."
Upon hearing this, a ninja in the crowd immediately retorted dismissively, "Such a simple test? I thought it would be some kind of insane test. Thirty minutes for thirty kilometers, although the time is a bit short, it's not a big problem for us."
The ninja's words echoed the sentiments of all the ninjas present. Thirty kilometers in thirty minutes, averaging one minute per kilometer, was a speed that ordinary Genin couldn't accomplish, but it wasn't a problem for these outstanding ninjas from various villages.
Yemo, standing at the back of the line, frowned slightly. As the chief examiner, Teacher Orochimaru's first exam was definitely not going to be this simple; there must be more to come.
Just as Yemo had predicted, Mite Seiun's lips curled slightly as he said, "Don't worry, how could something so simple be ruthless? There are many ninjas participating in this Chunin Ninja Exams. To avoid too many people in the second exam, each team must eliminate half of their ninjas in the first exam. In other words, once half of the people have arrived, even if you are not eliminated..."
"Also, to avoid you being lonely on your journey, there will be a pursuit team consisting of four Jonin and eight Chunin. Anyone caught by them one minute after you set off will be eliminated. Of course, if half of you are caught, then congratulations to the rest of you, you have all passed."
After saying this, Mite Seiun smiled slightly, but this smile sent a chill down the spines of the ninjas below, and they lost all their previous composure.
One in 100% of the people will be eliminated, possibly more, which means that one out of every two people will be eliminated.
This surprised many people. They were all outstanding individuals from various villages, and each of them believed that passing the Chunin Ninja Exams was a sure thing. What they were really concerned about was the third part, the one-on-one battles, which was their stage.
But now, the first exam has determined that half of the people must be eliminated. If they are eliminated in the first round, how can they face returning to the village? Moreover, this rule is completely aimed at ninjas who are not fast.
"This is Teacher Orochimaru's style, "Yemo thought to himself. "There were over two hundred people participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams, but after the first exam, only a little over one hundred remained, and there might not even be any left."
One ninja raised his hand in protest, shouting, "I'm not convinced! What kind of exam is this? It's just a speed contest. You only need to run faster than others to pass. Does that mean we slower ninjas have to be eliminated? What Chunin Ninja Exams is this?"
"Yeah, I disagree. If it's just about speed, then what's the point of us taking the Chunin Ninja Exams?"
"That's right"
The ninja's words resonated with some other ninjas. Although they were all Genin, each ninja had different strengths; some were stronger, some were faster. This rule was clearly designed to target ninjas who weren't good at speed.
As the leader of Konoha's Anbu, Mite Seiun was not Genin to be threatened by these mere genin. He snorted coldly and said, "These are the rules. If you don't participate, it's equivalent to forfeiting the competition. You can leave now."
Upon hearing this, the square immediately fell silent, and all the shouting ninjas were silenced, as forfeiting would be even more humiliating.
Yemo sneered, looking at the clamoring people with disdain. Only fools would think that this first exam was a speed competition. On the surface, it was a speed competition, but in reality, it had nothing to do with speed.