Chunin Exams

Chiba followed Hirohiko and Yukina up the steps, while Hyuga Yukyō climbed into the stands from another staircase. All the while, his gaze remained fixed on Chiba. Though he concealed the killing intent in his eyes well, Chiba saw it clearly.

This guy wanted to use the match to kill him! Chiba showed no reaction, pretending not to notice anything as he focused on eating his bun, but killing intent rose within him as well.

Perhaps before he had killed that Earth Style Jonin, if Chiba had encountered Hyuga Yukyō, his first thought would have been to guard against him. He would never have harbored any desire to kill.

But ever since killing someone, Chiba had realized that killing was nothing much. Besides, he still somewhat viewed himself as a transmigrator. This was the Naruto World, and the guilt he felt over killing was far less than it would have been in his previous life.

Even though he had lived in a peaceful era in his previous life and had not even dared to kill a chicken, Chiba, whose hands were already stained with blood here, no longer feared killing. He might still hesitate if asked to kill someone proactively, but he could make up his mind to kill someone who wanted to kill him!

No matter whether this Hyuga Yukyō was some kind of genius, if he really wanted to kill me, I won't show him any mercy either.

With that in mind, Chiba found a place to stand with Hirohiko and Yukina, then looked down. Two eleven- or twelve-year-old ninjas had already begun fighting in the arena.

"Hirohiko, if I get called up later, can I borrow your Ninja Tool Pouch?" Chiba suddenly asked.

"Sure." Hirohiko readily agreed. After thinking for a moment, he removed his Ninja Tool Pouch and said, "Check it. I switched things out."

Chiba instantly understood what Hirohiko meant. To take part in the exam, he had replaced the tools in his Ninja Tool Pouch. Chiba should inspect them so nothing unexpected happened later. He nodded, took it, and carefully examined it.

Though the Ninja Tool Pouch was not large, it made efficient use of its limited space and could hold quite a few things—at least eight to ten Shuriken, three Kunai, as well as Smoke Bombs, Exploding Tags, and similar tools.

While Chiba carefully inspected the Ninja Tool Pouch, Yukina quietly glanced at him. Seeing how focused he was, a faint, almost imperceptible smile rippled across her lips before she quickly hid it.

All of this fell into Hirohiko's eyes. His poker face did not change, but a flash of understanding passed through his gaze.

So that was it... Yukina...

Hirohiko nodded repeatedly, feeling more and more certain that his thoughts were correct.

"What are you doing?" At that moment, Chiba handed the Ninja Tool Pouch back to Hirohiko and asked curiously when he saw him nodding over and over.

"Nothing." Hirohiko took the Ninja Tool Pouch, still wearing the same poker face. Fortunately, he had been born with one. In truth, he had been badly startled inside.

Chiba furrowed his brow in confusion, but did not dwell on it. He lowered his head and watched the two Genin fight.

Honestly, the fight between these two was a little... boring.

It was somewhat disrespectful to say so, but compared with Kakashi, they were far too lacking. They basically relied on taijutsu to decide the outcome. Their hand-sign speed for ninjutsu was a little slow as well, and although they were proficient with the Three Body Techniques, their openings were far too easy to spot.

As for chakra reserves, after casting one or two D-rank to C-rank ninjutsu, they would be nearly drained.

Still, their movements were fairly fluid. Their fundamentals were solid, but limited by their chakra reserves and ninjutsu, their strength was only around elite Genin level, approaching that of an ordinary Chunin. Overall, from a Genin's perspective, they were quite good, even outstanding. From a Chunin's perspective, they were slightly lacking, but nearly Chunin-level nonetheless.

The other Jonin had thoughts similar to Chiba's. They discreetly took out small scrolls, wrote down a few things, and then put them away.

That small action did not escape Chiba's notice either.

Sure enough, these Jonin weren't just standing around watching. Were they scoring them? But this exam was elimination-based, so there was no need for scoring, right? Then what were they doing? Chiba took a huge bite of his bun. He had nearly finished the oversized bun.

At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki watched the arena, then said to Minato Namikaze beside her, "Minato, shall we make another bet?"

"A bet? Kushina, you've really been into betting lately... Last time, you won a specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai from me. What do you want this time?" As her lover, Minato Namikaze was quite competent. He immediately realized that Kushina wanted something again!

Really, Kushina only needed to tell me if she wanted something. But in situations like this, she was especially competitive.

Minato Namikaze merely smiled faintly. Perhaps that was exactly what he liked about Kushina.

"Hehe..." Kushina Uzumaki gave an adorably smug smile, then leaned close and affectionately whispered something into Minato Namikaze's ear.

After hearing it, Minato Namikaze's expression clearly showed surprise. "This... You want to bet on who would win between Hyuga Yukyō and Chiba?"

"Yes." Kushina Uzumaki looked seriously at Minato Namikaze.

"The condition is actually..." Minato Namikaze glanced at Chiba, then at Kushina Uzumaki.

Kushina... did she think that highly of him?

No, the condition involved her disciples. Kushina had three disciples. She was not simply placing her faith in Chiba alone—she believed in all three of them!

Still, Hyuga Yukyō's openly displayed strength was no weaker than Kakashi's. Beneath that, he likely hid even more strength. He had once substituted for Mu Zhen and led them on a mission, and that Hyuga Yukyō had truly been impressive.

Well, there was nothing bad about it, and Kushina would be happy too. I should agree.

Thinking this, Minato Namikaze nodded. "All right. If Chiba loses, you'll have to agree to one condition of mine as well."

"What condition?" Kushina Uzumaki's face brightened when Minato Namikaze agreed, but when she heard his demand, she asked.

"Hmm... as for that condition, you'll have to agree to do one thing for me someday." Minato Namikaze smiled gently.

"What thing?" Kushina Uzumaki asked in confusion.

"I'll tell you when the time comes." Minato Namikaze kept her in suspense.

"Fine. Chiba won't lose anyway." Kushina Uzumaki was full of confidence in Chiba.

Minato Namikaze simply smiled faintly at that.

At that moment, the match in the arena ended. The loser returned to the line in disappointment, while the winner was panting heavily. The two had been evenly matched.

"In this match, Kusunoki Masaru wins!"

With the proctor's announcement, the first match came to an end.

The Sannin stood silently outside the arena, occasionally exchanging a few comments.

"Average," Orochimaru concluded of the winner.

Jiraiya nodded. "But his fundamentals are solid."

"Let's make a note of him for now." Tsunade took out a scroll and wrote something on it.

"Then let's hurry up with the second match," Jiraiya said.

"The second match..." the Chunin Exam Proctor called out loudly.

At the same time, the names on the large screen began to cycle.

Hyuga Yukina VS Kurenai Yuhi! At last, the words on the large screen stopped, displaying those names.

Yukina and Kurenai? Kurenai could already take the Chunin Exams?

Chiba stopped biting his bun and looked in surprise toward the red-eyed young woman slowly walking to the center of the arena.