Someone Died?
In just ten minutes, the first exam ended, with 26 out of 52 participants eliminated. Most of them were defeated by Genin, while others were captured and eliminated by Konoha Chunin and Jonin.
When Yemo emerged from the dense forest, a slightly dazzling light shone upon him, causing him to squint instinctively. After a few seconds of adjustment, Yemo opened his eyes fully.
One by one, some ninjas emerged, some holding their heads high after passing the first test, while others, injured and dejected, looked on.
"Yemo, are you alright?"
A familiar greeting came from the dense forest behind him. Yemo turned around and saw Shikaku and Hyuga Hiashi walking out. Choji had a white bandage wrapped around his arm, obviously injured in battle.
"I'm fine, but you guys aren't doing so well. Choji is injured," Yemo said, indicating that he was alright, before glancing at the injured Choji.
Waving his injured arm, Choji laughed nonchalantly, "It's just a minor injury; it won't affect the upcoming exams."
Shikaku suddenly regretted his words and said, "Choji's injury is my responsibility. If I hadn't misjudged the situation and acted too aggressively, Choji wouldn't have gotten hurt."
With a smile, Choji didn't blame Shikaku, and said, "It's not your fault. Who knew those people could activate Chakra and transform it into various shapes?"
What are you talking about?
Listening to their conversation, Yemo looked completely bewildered. What was this about Chakra activation and transforming into various shapes? What kind of village's ninjas had they encountered?
Shikaku, Choji, and Inoichi are not particularly strong individually, but when the three of them team up to form the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, their combat power can be increased several times or even ten times. Logically speaking, a small village's ninja team should not be able to gain an advantage against them.
In response to Yemo's question, Shikaku explained, "Here's what happened: We encountered a team of Genin from Star Ninja Village. They weren't very strong, and we quickly gained the upper hand. But just when we were about to defeat them, they were able to activate their Chakra and use Chakra to change various shapes. We weren't prepared for their strange attacks, and because I was a bit too aggressive, Choji got injured."
In the end, Shikaku's tone still held a hint of regret. If he had been more cautious and observed the opponent's strange abilities before making a move, Choji wouldn't have needed to get injured.
Although Choji's injury is minor now, if they were to face a stronger enemy, the consequences would be far more serious than just being injured; all three of them could very well perish.
"Chakra activation?" Yemo had never heard of this before. He only knew about cell activation, such as Nintaijutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, which use Chakra to stimulate cells, causing them to unleash several times their normal power, thereby enhancing overall reaction speed, perception, etc.
However, judging from Shikaku's words, this Chakra activation is not simple. It allows Chakra to change into various shapes. Yemo only knows one method, which is Chakra Shape Transformation. When Chakra Shape Transformation is cultivated to the extreme, it is possible to compress Chakra into various shapes, such as the Rasengan and Yemo's Lightning Sword. These are the ultimate examples of Chakra Shape Transformation. Unfortunately, this method not only requires reaching the extreme of Chakra Shape Transformation, but also requires precise control of Chakra that is no less than that of medical-nin. Even among Jonin, very few people can master it.
This so-called Chakra activation allows Genin to wield abilities that even Jonin may not possess, making it a truly powerful and extraordinary ability.
Just as Yemo was about to ask what was going on, Mite Seiun came out, followed by two Anbu members wearing animal masks and carrying long Anbu on their backs.
Mite Seiun stopped and said, "Time is of the essence. You have a second exam this afternoon. Those who pass will be led out to rest temporarily while the other three teams finish their exams."
After he finished speaking, two ninjas led the way, guiding Yemo and the others who had passed the first test to the rest room.
It was called a lounge, but it was actually just the Ninja Academy's auditorium. The huge auditorium was empty, with hundreds of red seats arranged in an orderly fashion, and the stage above was covered by a curtain.
As the first group to pass the exam, the auditorium was empty, allowing them to choose their seats freely. Once inside, the twenty-six successful candidates were divided according to their villages. Yemo and the other Konoha Ninja found a rather unappealing spot in the upper left corner and sat down.
After finding a seat and glancing at the people behind him, Yemo suddenly realized that only twelve of their fifteen people remained. One team was missing; he didn't know whether they had been defeated and eliminated or captured and eliminated.
Although the rest are all ninja villages, it must be said that these small ninja villages are quite capable. Each village has its own outstanding features, otherwise they would not have been able to establish villages in the dangerous Shinobi World.
Konoha is considered relatively better off; some villages only have one or two people left. After all, out of twenty-six people, Konoha alone accounts for twelve, leaving only a few for each of the remaining fourteen when distributed among the villages.
It's considered good if some villages manage to have someone pass the first exam, but Genin one or two villages, all the genin are wiped out in the first exam.
Yemo glanced around casually, then closed his eyes tightly. Time slowly passed, and after about half an hour, the second team entered the auditorium. After about an hour, all four teams had completed the first exam.
After the rule that half of the participants must be eliminated in the first exam, only a little over 100 of the more than 200 people who took the exam remained, and the auditorium felt somewhat empty.
With half the people gone, the auditorium was no longer as noisy as a marketplace. In addition, the elimination of their companions had left many in low spirits, so the auditorium was surprisingly quiet, with only a few soft whispers.
Logically, once all the teams had passed, Mite Seiun, as the examiner, should have appeared. However, after everyone waited for half an hour, Mite Seiun still hadn't shown up.
"Something's not right, Yemo," Shikaku suddenly whispered from the side.
Nodding, Yemo also noticed, saying, "Something does seem off; it feels like something has happened."
After about an hour, just as everyone was getting impatient, Mite Seiun finally appeared. However, Mite Seiun's expression was not good, which made Yemo even more certain of his guess; it seemed that something bad had indeed happened.
It's just unclear what happened to make Mite Seiun, the head of the Anbu, look so unwell.
Mite Seiun walked up to the platform with a dark expression, stood in front of the loudspeaker, and remained silent for a full half minute before slowly speaking.
"I just received some very bad news: during Team 3's first exam, three participating ninjas died."
Upon hearing this, the quiet crowd seemed to drop stones into water; everyone was stunned and began to whisper among themselves.
"Holy crap, who's so bold as to kill someone during an exam?"
"Who knows? The forest is so vast, and everyone is so spread out; even if they were killed, they wouldn't be found."
"However, the murderer must be among the people who passed through in the third group."
Immediately, the crowd began to discuss the matter, and the people in the third group who passed through were suspected by the others. The murderer was hiding among these twenty-odd people.