The First Exam: Does This Count as Cheating?

"... And then, where did those two Rain Ninja go?"

Kakashi looked around and saw only two Cloud Ninja corpses half-buried in dust.

"Those two."

Shuyuan pointed to the corpse that Kakashi had seen.

"I used the power of the Rinnegan to extract their souls, and they became like this, seemingly made from dust to resemble the dead. After the souls disappeared, the dust also lost its power... and thus became like this."

Seeing the puzzled looks on Minato and Kakashi's faces, he gave them an explanation.

Shuyuan was born with the Rinnegan.

When Shuyuan was four years old, she opened her eyes, which frightened Katsuki.

He then conducted a series of studies and confirmed that this was the result of the fusion of the bloodlines of the Uzumaki and Uchiha families, a combination of the Sage Body and Sage Eyes in another form.

Compared to Madara Uchiha, who transplanted Hashirama Senju's cells and only awakened the Rinnegan in his later years, Shuyuan's method of awakening the Rinnegan was the correct one.

However, it's not that simply marrying a member of the Senju or Uzumaki clan to the Uchiha will automatically result in a bunch of Rinnegan users.

In this regard, Katsuki studied for a long time before concluding that Shuyuan's power was an exceptional case, one in ten thousand.

Otome possesses a remarkably pure Uchiha bloodline, and her Sharingan had already awakened to the Mitsudomoe long ago.

Katsuki inherited the Sage Body from the Uzumaki Clan and used the power of the Hito Hito no Mi to develop the Sage Body to an extremely high level. The combination of the two, the fusion of the Sage Body and the Sage Eye, is what gave Shuyuan innate Rinnegan.

"Phew! I understand now, but why did those two missing-nin leave?" Minato then asked about Senju Zen and Uchiha Genso, who had left.

At this point, Shuyuan's face also showed a look of confusion.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm not really sure either. They just left like that... It felt like they came over to say hello, like new neighbors coming to check in..."

Minato and Kakashi both frowned; such vague explanations were too difficult to understand.

"They are not targeting us."

Sasuke suddenly said.

Ignoring the surprised looks on Minato and Kakashi's faces, he continued, "That person, Uchiha Genso, his killing intent was very strong, while the other person didn't seem to have any killing intent at all. Even Uchiha Genso's killing intent only erupted after he saw Shuyuan's eyes. Before that... the two of them were like cats toying with a mouse."

"They must have ulterior motives."

Sasuke's expression was not good. He was very unhappy about being looked down upon, especially since the other party was Uchiha Genso, a traitor to his clan.

Having said that, the cause and effect have been roughly clarified.

Minato and Kakashi looked around, breathed a sigh of relief, and put away their weapons.

"Wait... Sasuke, you mean that Senju Zen, the one who came with Uchiha Genso, has eyes like Shuyuan?"

Minato suddenly realized what was happening and looked at Sasuke in surprise.

"Yes... yes, that's right, those wavy eyes. My Sharingan has Futatsudomoe, and although it doesn't have the same range as the Byakugan, the distance between them and us wasn't beyond my field of vision at the time!"

Sasuke nodded.

Minato wore a wry smile.

After Nagato's death, the matter of those Rinnegan was no secret to the higher-ups of Konoha. Jiraiya's tireless pursuit of those people over the years was undoubtedly motivated by a desire to avenge his disciple.

Death wasn't a distant prospect for ninjas, but to be blinded after death...

I just can't calm down!

"I never expected those Rinnegan to fall into Senju Zen's hands... and he's also proficient in the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. Such an enemy... is truly troublesome."

A look of apprehension appeared on Minato's face.

Kakashi instinctively looked around again.

"They've come, after all! Yellow Flash."

"Tsk tsk!"

Senju Zen and Uchiha Genso did not go far. They hid in the trees on the outskirts of the forest, with most of their bodies wrapped in White Zetsu and blending into the tree trunks, concealing their Chakra fluctuations.

This distance might be a bit far for an ordinary person, but both of them possessed the ability to see clearly, so it wasn't difficult for them to see Minato others' movements.

"Luckily we left, otherwise we would have been in big trouble if we had gotten entangled with an enemy like that."

Senju Zen made no attempt to hide his fear of Minato.

"Hmph! It's not that exaggerated! If you and I join forces, we can catch him off guard and kill him without difficulty, relying on my abilities," Uchiha Genso retorted.

"Not difficult? Your ability is indeed very effective when used to catch enemies off guard, but that's only against ordinary enemies. Yellow Flash... Space-Time Ninjutsu are a realm we haven't explored before; everything is unknown! It's best not to be careless..."

Senju Zen shook his head.

He possesses a copy of the Scroll of Seals, which contains the Flying Thunder God Technique.

He was very interested in this Space-Time Ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, and while studying the power of the Rinnegan, he also devoted himself to learning about this technique.

The result was disappointing; he had very little talent in this area. Later, Uchiha Genso also tried to learn it, but he couldn't even get to the basics.

"However... the plan is on track now, and we just need to wait for the Yellow Flash to deliver the message to the Raikage."

Senju Zen narrowed his eyes.

"Let's go, Genso, let's go hunting."

The body, enveloped by the White Zetsu, slowly merged into the tree trunk.

Uchiha Genso pursed his lips, said nothing, and let White Zetsu pull his body away and disappear.

"Dad, should we continue with the exam?"

Naruto looked up at Minato and asked.

This question stumped Minato.

The organizer of this Chunin Ninja Exams is the Cloud Ninja, and whether or not to continue is not up to him, but he estimates that the Cloud Ninja will most likely not stop the exam.

As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, this was the joint Chunin Ninja Exams they organized. The exam was interrupted halfway through due to two missing-nin, and the belligerent Cloud Ninja couldn't bear to lose face like that.

Of course, Minato could have allowed the Konoha examinees to give up the exam; as the team leader, he had that authority. But doing so would undoubtedly be a slap in the face to the Cloud Ninja protection.

"Besides, Dad, does your presence here count as cheating?"

Naruto's question was unexpectedly sharp and pointed.

Minato's lips twitched. This idiot son of his was always so perceptive in these inexplicable situations.

After Naruto said that, both Shuyuan and Sasuke became conflicted, as they were both quite insistent on this point.

"Definitely not!"

Kakashi said firmly.

"Our presence here hasn't helped you in any way. If we had saved you, helped you kill the enemy, or provided you with any supplies, that would be cheating. Right now, we've just stood here and said a few words to you."

He took a breath and continued, "So, this isn't cheating." (To be continued)