You Call This a Genin?

"Your four genin were killed?" Jiraiya froze for a moment at the Third Lightning Kage's question, then said,

"They were worthy of being genin from the Cloud Hidden Village. They actually lasted more than ten seconds against Minato. You should be proud."

Hiruzen Sarutobi cared about diplomatic etiquette, but Jiraiya did not.

Facing Jiraiya's mockery, the Third Lightning Kage's dark golden beard trembled. "Jiraiya!"

Lightning crackled all over his body, as though he might erupt at any moment.

Yet Jiraiya was not nervous in the slightest. He was no longer the Jiraiya who, together with Orochimaru and Tsunade in the Land of Rain, had been unable to defeat Hanzo.

His senjutsu training had inexplicably progressed rapidly lately. Perhaps finding the Child of Prophecy had put him in a good mood.

Instead, he pressed the matter. "Raikage, I heard your son came to take the Chunin Exams too. Don't tell me your son died as well? When I get back, I'll have to criticize Minato. How could he so completely disregard the Cloud Hidden Village's dignity? This could cause serious diplomatic repercussions."

"Enough!" Hiruzen Sarutobi cut off Jiraiya's mockery.

Anbu Squad Captain Hima returned shortly after leaving, bringing the latest intelligence.

Leaning close to Hiruzen Sarutobi's ear, he gave a brief report. "Lord Hokage, the Cloud ninja enraged Kushina Uzumaki, and she used the Nine-Tails Chakra cloak.

"When Minato Namikaze saw it, he got serious and killed until the Cloud ninja collapsed. Only Ei Yano Yu escaped.

"As for why Kushina nearly lost control, we don't know yet. However, the situation is under control now. Kushina has regained her senses."

His own son was still more reassuring. Even when speaking in private, he addressed him by title instead of acting as disrespectfully familiar as Jiraiya.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, finally understanding why Minato Namikaze, who always wore a sunny smile, had suddenly become so murderous.

So it had been to stop the Nine-Tails from going berserk. That explained everything.

Compared to the Nine-Tails going berserk, the deaths of a few Cloud ninja were insignificant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the Third Lightning Kage. He had not expected the Cloud Hidden Village to know who Konoha Village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was, much less send people to provoke her.

If Minato Namikaze had not acted decisively, the Cloud Hidden Village would have succeeded.

He told Hima, "Continue monitoring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and observe her condition at all times.

"Arrange some Heaven and Earth Scrolls and deliver them to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Have her reach the observation tower as quickly as possible. Once she gets here, we'll be at ease."

Hima was somewhat confused. Wouldn't that undermine the fairness of the Chunin Exams?

But then he thought of the Nine-Tails, of the Jinchuriki. No matter how worried his father was, it would not be excessive.

If the Nine-Tails had gone berserk today, half the village might have suffered.

After watching Hima leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to the others. "There was a minor accident, but there's no need to panic. The Chunin Exams will continue.

"Konoha's genin may die, and the Cloud ninja's genin may die as well. Before death, everything is fair. Let's wait for the teams that pass the second round to arrive."

After leaving the tower, Hima went straight to the intelligence division and had them create new mission scrolls, preparing matching scrolls based on those held by Minato's four teams.

These scrolls would be placed along the routes Minato's teams were taking. They would be able to pick them up all the way there and would not encounter any more battles.

In the Death Forest, Uchiha Yashiro found a Cloud ninja Earth Scroll and returned to the group.

He looked happily at Mikoto.

The death of their Konoha companions, Kushina being brutally beaten by the Cloud ninja, and the ominous chakra permeating the air had actually caused Mikoto to awaken her Sharingan.

Some Uchiha awakened their eyes only upon the deaths of their closest loved ones. Such Uchiha often lacked talent and required intense emotional stimulation.

True geniuses did not need anything so extreme to awaken their eyes. A little anger and a little tension were enough.

Those Uchiha who killed their own parents to awaken their eyes not only had trash talent, but also gave the Uchiha Clan a cruel and extreme negative reputation.

Though the clan repeatedly emphasized this, there were always extreme Uchiha willing to do anything for power.

It seemed Uchiha Mikoto's talent was exceptionally high. No wonder Fugaku, the young clan leader, valued her so much that he had even sent Yashiro to participate in the Chunin Exams.

Yashiro had long possessed chunin-level strength. It was only because the clan had plans for him and might need him in a certain Chunin Exam that he had never participated before.

Kushina was still unconscious, having fainted after exhausting all her chakra.

The condition of the other Uzumaki clansman, Uzumaki Shinmen, who was only five or six years old, was far worse.

Haneina was treating Uzumaki Shinmen. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and a thin sheen of cold sweat covered her face.

Uzumaki Shinmen had suffered abuse and experimentation at the hands of the Cloud Hidden Village. His condition was terrible; otherwise, the Cloud ninja would not have set their sights on Kushina.

A common man was innocent, but possessing a treasure invited disaster. The Uzumaki bloodline alone was enough to make several major ninja villages covet them.

The Uzumaki Clan were natural-born Jinchuriki. Their immense chakra reserves, bloodline sealing secrets, and various Sealing Technique inheritances developed over hundreds of years made them exceptionally suited to becoming Jinchuriki.

After the Uzumaki Clan was exterminated, these Uzumaki clansmen became experimental subjects for other ninja villages to manipulate as they pleased.

After a long while, Kushina woke up. The first thing she did was carefully examine her younger brother Shinmen's face, then she held the unconscious Uzumaki Shinmen and wept.

Minato crouched down and said, "Kushina, let's leave this place quickly. Haneina helped stabilize your brother's condition, but we should still find a medical jonin as soon as possible—Senju Takeoto, or even Princess Tsunade."

Minato also told Haneina, "Haneina, come with us then. You'll get to see Princess Tsunade's medical ninjutsu."

The team headed toward the central tower.

The journey was exceptionally smooth. They came across several ninja teams that had mutually wounded each other and easily obtained the scrolls they needed.

This was far too smooth. Whatever character they lacked, they found that exact character. Even Minato suspected there was something shady going on.

The first genin to enter the tower was Ei Yano Yu from the Cloud Hidden Village.

However, the Third Lightning Kage's face was ashen. His skin was dark bronze, and the mix of ashen and bronze made his face appear bluish-purple.

The Cloud Hidden Village had sent two elite teams to Konoha's Chunin Exams. Aside from the Uzumaki Clan child, everyone else was a powerful genin.

The Raikage's son and Toroi, a bloodline ninja, had actually lost so badly.

In the end, only one person had survived to enter the third round.

Ei Yano Yu was in an equally terrible mood.

Just as he was about to walk toward the Third Lightning Kage, he noticed someone else had passed through the Death Forest behind him.

The moment he saw Minato Namikaze, Ei Yano Yu's mood worsened even further.

Electricity coiled around his body, and his blood surged. He could barely restrain himself as he prepared to attack Minato.

Minato looked at Ei Yano Yu without the slightest fear. Chakra even spilled from his body, sending rings of dust swirling around them.

The people on the second floor stared at the two genin near the entrance, both radiating astonishing pressure, in disbelief.

Were genin this strong nowadays?

Didn't the Ninja Academy teachers say each class was worse than the last, that every new class was the worst of the previous few and merely passable compared to the next few?

The hell is this a genin? You call this a genin?