The Exam Hall and the Written Test!

When the bright sunlight illuminated Konoha.

The Joint Chunin Exams!

Had begun.

Held once every few years, it was also the greatest celebration in the ninja world.

Countless merchants, nobles, merchants, ninja... and others gathered there.

In the ninja world, these groups also had the greatest spending power.

Thinking about it now, it was easy to understand why the Chunin Exams in the future had been spaced out over an entire month.

It was entirely to drag things out as long as possible and keep tourists in the village.

It was all money!

Their spending was an astronomical figure, something no ninja village could afford to miss.

Take Honda Taka, for example.

He had made a killing during this period, leaving Tang Ping and Yamaa Koji green with envy.

They risked their lives carrying out missions, yet earned less than a fraction of what he made from setting up a stall.

Who could they even complain to about that?

All one could say was that ninja were complete trash at making money.

One ninja squad after another began to gather.

Meanwhile!

Tang Ping stepped out of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

As for his fiancée, she had been holed up in the clan grounds this entire time and had not taken a single step outside.

Now that word had gotten out that her eyes were recovering, Root definitely did not want to see an Uchiha Genius like her regain her strength, so they had to be cautious.

As for internal protection, aside from the people stationed in secret, Uchiha Shizuka herself never left her side.

The use of the Rebirth Potion had been postponed until after the Chunin Exams.

Because she did not want Tang Ping to be too distracted.

"Tang Ping!!"

Honda Taka waved from not far away, with Yamaa Koji standing beside him.

He and his two classmates were basically a slacking squad, which was why they had time to run a stall and cheer on their two best friends.

"You're really early today!"

Tang Ping teased.

This fat bastard was usually just as lazy as him. He had not expected him to arrive so early today.

"Hehe!" Honda Taka laughed awkwardly, then asked with a somewhat bashful expression, "Tang Ping, do you still have any of that Healing Potion?"

Yes, he had another reason for coming this time.

Healing Potion!

It was no longer a secret.

Its effects were far inferior to Medical Ninjutsu, but the problem was—

You could not carry a Medical Ninja around with you at all times.

But you could carry Healing Potion.

Though it was rather expensive, it could be kept on hand. It was currently being snapped up like crazy.

Honda Taka had received some from Tang Ping when they were assigned to their squads, so he naturally knew Tang Ping had a way to get it.

Of course, he assumed that Tang Ping got it through his "fiancée." It had never occurred to him that Tang Ping himself produced the stuff.

Due to the growth limitations of the core ingredient, seaweed, Tang Ping could only hand over one hundred bottles of diluted Healing Potion each week.

As for how the Main Branch gave eighty bottles to the clan, the clan gave fifty bottles to the village, and only twenty bottles were ultimately distributed by the village, he had no idea.

Blackhearted!

Truly blackhearted!

At any rate, Tang Ping had come to realize something: if there was any good stuff, it would never end up in the hands of civilian ninja. It would have long since been carved up.

At times like this, no one talked about the Will of Fire. They only looked after their own people.

If Tang Ping had not gifted it to him, Honda Taka would never have possessed Healing Potion.

"Use it sparingly. This stuff won't help you lose weight!"

Tang Ping took out a Healing Potion and tossed it to Honda Taka.

The other party was thoughtful and considerate. If it were not necessary, he definitely would not have asked, so Tang Ping could not be bothered to ask for the reason.

It was only Healing Potion, after all. It was not as though he lacked undiluted Source Liquid. Given his fiancée's status, taking some out would not arouse suspicion.

All he could say was, having an Uchiha 'Princess' for a fiancée was great—she really took the blame when things went wrong.

"Here!"

Honda Taka handed over a scroll.

It listed the prices of various materials.

Tang Ping couldn't possibly leave every material-gathering task to the Uchiha.

So he also collected and purchased materials himself in private, with the fat guy always helping him out in that regard.

"Good luck!"

After handing the scroll to Tang Ping, the fat bastard waved and left.

Today was an absolutely perfect chance to make money. How could he possibly miss it?

He had even accepted a designated mission from the village, having his own three-man team carry out a stall-running assignment.

That way, he could both rack up mission credit and set up a stall openly.

Perfect!

And this sort of thing wasn't unusual. Quite a few ninja clans operated this way.

As for Tang Ping and Yamaa Koji, they naturally headed for the examination site. Kakashi had already gone ahead.

Written test, elimination, PK!

That was more or less the Chunin Exams' process, not much different from the future.

The first test was held at the ninja academy.

It was only a written test, so there was no need for a large venue.

"There are way too many people!"

Tang Ping struggled through the sea of people and instinctively complained.

If not for what everyone was wearing and the surroundings, he would have suspected that he had returned to Commercial Street on Blue Star.

"The Joint Chunin Exams are only held once every few years. Of course there are lots of people!"

As Yamaa Koji replied, his gaze hardened with determination.

Because this was the best opportunity to restore the Yamaa Clan's reputation.

The Joint Chunin Exams!

They were like a stage open to the entire ninja world. Any ambitious ninja would give everything they had.

Tang Ping didn't turn around, but he could have guessed what his best friend was thinking without looking.

He said nothing about it. It was someone else's choice; all he could do was lend a hand when the opportunity arose.

Once they entered the ninja academy, the packed crowd around them vanished, replaced by genin from various ninja villages.

"They're from Konoha!"

"Tch, aren't those stats way too weak?"

"One of their teammates is actually Kakashi?"

Whispers rose all around them.

Most of the examinees held intelligence booklets containing their appearances and stats.

Both Tang Ping's and Yamaa Koji's stats had been deliberately lowered by Honda Taka, so it was no surprise that they were treated as dead last.

In the eyes of the other examinees, Team 3 was entirely Kakashi leading along two tagalongs.

As a transmigrator, Tang Ping didn't care in the slightest.

Only people from the ninja world regarded reputation as more important than life itself, willing to pay even with their lives for it.

Just like now, unwillingness flashed through Yamaa Koji's eyes.

"Let's go!"

Tang Ping lightly patted his shoulder and headed toward the building containing the classrooms.

The moment he entered the building, he felt that something was off.

Genjutsu!

The thought flashed through Tang Ping's mind as his hands formed seals.

Release!

A very basic technique for dispelling genjutsu.

Soon, the scene before his eyes changed.

The previously empty corridor was now filled with genin, all watching their group with looks of anticipation.

But when they saw Tang Ping dispel the genjutsu, every one of them looked disappointed.

For ninja, dispelling genjutsu was nothing special. The difficult part was noticing the genjutsu in the first place.

And Tang Ping was genuinely not weak in that regard.

Spiritual power!

It was the most basic advantage of a transmigrator.

The higher one's spiritual power, the stronger their resistance to genjutsu.

At the same time, Tang Ping spotted Kakashi leaning against the corridor wall, watching them from the corner of his eye.

It looked like he had been waiting there because he was worried about the two of them.

"Hmph!"

After a soft snort, Kakashi haughtily headed toward the classroom. The examinees around him parted like the sea, his swagger utterly maxed out.

Tang Ping and Yamaa Koji followed him into the classroom as well, taking their seats according to the roster.

Clang! Clang!

The bell rang, signaling the start of the Chunin Exams' first written test.