Exam Day

Early on the morning of the Chunin Exams, Konoha.

As usual, Chiba entered the village and made his way to the Konoha Giant Steamed Bun shop.

This shop, which specialized in giant steamed buns and was called "Konoha Giant Steamed Bun," was probably the place Chiba visited most often besides his home.

The owner of Konoha Giant Steamed Bun was a tower-like man, dark-skinned and powerfully built. He was middle-aged and a man of few words. Among Konoha's ordinary civilians, he was one of only two people who did not feel disgust toward Chiba. The other was Old Man Ichiraku of Ichiraku Ramen.

"One Konoha Giant Steamed Bun." Chiba grabbed a bun and was about to hand over the money, but the tower-like man pressed down on his hand.

Slightly puzzled, Chiba looked up at the owner.

The owner remained silent, his face stern and rather fierce. Chiba did not mind, though, because the owner wore that expression practically all three hundred and sixty-five days of the year.

Then, Chiba felt the owner lift his hand and slowly move it to the bun beside it before setting it down.

Chiba looked at the bun, which seemed identical to the ones beside it... and grew slightly confused.

Was this the owner's heartfelt recommendation? The owner did not talk much... Uh, why was everyone around me so quiet?

But the gathering for the exams was about to begin, so Chiba could not spare it much thought. He grabbed the bun, paid, and said, "Thank you."

The silent owner did not reply. He merely watched Chiba leave before serving the next customer. That customer frowned as he watched the child run off into the distance, unable to hide the disgust on his face.

"Boss, I really don't know what the Third Hokage is thinking, letting the Traitor's Son take the Chunin Exams..." the customer complained.

The owner said nothing and simply continued his business in silence.

This year's Konoha Chunin Exams were being held at the First Indoor Training Ground. When Chiba arrived, he found it somewhat similar to the location of the Third Exam in the anime's Chunin Exams. The statue with its hands forming seals was especially eye-catching. However, the anime's Third Exam arena had been inside the Death Forest, while this one was in a training ground within the village.

Since these were Konoha's internal Chunin Exams, there were no shinobi from other countries participating. Chiba gave the crowd a rough count and found around forty-three participants, completely unlike the Chunin Exams in Naruto's era, when eighty-seven Konoha shinobi had taken part.

Vaguely, Chiba began to understand why the Chunin Exams had been held ahead of schedule.

Since the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha had been recovering its strength, but it still sorely lacked fresh blood. That was why the Chunin Exams had begun early: to select shinobi capable of standing on their own, or those about to become capable of doing so.

At that thought, Chiba's heart skipped a beat.

According to the history of the Naruto World, the Third Shinobi World War was about to erupt. Konoha's higher-ups had probably sensed something as well... And judging by the current situation, his idea of becoming a "seed" and receiving "protection" was completely impossible.

In fact, because he was a "seed" with room to grow, he would instead be sent to the battlefield first to temper himself. He would not be a disposable pawn, but he would experience the most warfare.

As he thought about it, Chiba's brow furrowed tightly.

At that moment, Hirohiko and Yukina, who had arrived early, spotted him. Yukina called out and waved at him.

Not just me—even Hirohiko and Yukina will suffer through the harshest trials of war!

Chiba's heart tightened, but he ran over with a delighted expression on his face.

"You're not late." Hirohiko nodded at him and secretly gave him a thumbs-up, as if Chiba arriving on time was something remarkable.

Hey! I'm usually not late, okay? I only oversleep once in a while!

Chiba felt helpless.

"Look." At that moment, Yukina raised her head and swept her gaze over the spectator stands on the second floor.

Chiba looked up as well and found quite a few shinobi standing there already. Among those he recognized were Minato Namikaze, his teacher Kushina Uzumaki, and Hokoma, the referee. The rest were unfamiliar shinobi, most likely all Jonin.

Aside from the people he knew, there were another five or six Jonin.

At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki seemed to spot them as well and discreetly clenched her fist at them.

Immediately, cold sweat ran down the backs of all three of their heads.

That gesture clearly meant that if they failed the exam, she would make them regret it! "Assemble!" At that moment, a rather authoritative female voice rang out above them. The forty-three Chunin Exam candidates promptly formed rows, with each team standing in its own line. Even those without teams did not stand about in disorder; like the others, they formed lines of three.

Chiba stood behind Hirohiko and Yukina, looking at the three shinobi before them as he subconsciously took out the Konoha Giant Steamed Bun he had bought that morning.

They really were worthy of being the Sannin! That pressure was no joke! Chiba could clearly feel the faint but ever-present pressure radiating from the three shinobi ahead of them. He knew all three of them, and knew them well.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru!

Konoha's Sannin! Chiba took a bite of his bun and quietly began eating.

At that moment, Jiraiya, standing at the front, noticed Chiba at the back of the line and saw him eating a bun.

This brat... Did he have no sense of tension at all...?

Tsunade and Orochimaru also noticed Chiba's movements, but they did not pay much attention or stop him from eating. Instead, they swept their eyes over the others and silently thought, Even beneath our pressure, they can remain calm. Teacher Sarutobi really did pick some good prospects.

With that sweep of their eyes, they could roughly tell that the forty-three candidates had an average age between eleven and thirteen.

Only one was over fifteen, while the youngest was only seven.

Tsunade looked at these shinobi, unable to suppress the sorrow in her heart. Sending these children to the battlefield was simply too cruel.

Then, she began to announce the rules of the matches.

They were simple. This exam was the First Exam, and could also be called the Preliminary Exam. Every shinobi participating in the Preliminary Round would be randomly assigned an opponent. Winners would advance to the Second Exam, while losers would be eliminated.

The rules were basically similar to those of the Chunin Exams in Naruto's era. Konoha needed talent now, so there probably would not be life-or-death battles.

Furthermore, ever since the Third Hokage had taken control of Konoha's affairs, the village's policies had steadily softened and become more reasonable. A series of measures for nurturing talent had also been improved. It could be said that Konoha had been able to recover so quickly from the devastating losses of the Second Shinobi World War and enter its current stage of normal recovery largely because of the Third Hokage's contributions.

As Chiba listened to Tsunade announce the rules while chewing on his bun, he sensed a hostile gaze filled with faint killing intent from diagonally ahead of him.

Hyuga Yukyō!

Chiba did not even need to look to know it was that bastard! Then he viciously bit down on the bun, only to feel meat juices slide into his mouth, exceptionally delicious.

This was...! Chiba froze and looked down at the Konoha Giant Steamed Bun.

It had a meat filling! A pork cutlet, too, topped with special sauce!

It was delicious! So that was it... The owner knew I had the Chunin Exams today too! So the owner had wanted to cheer me on!

Chiba looked at the Konoha Giant Steamed Bun in his hand, and a smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his lips.