The Shortest Contestant
He glanced at the sword hanging on the wall, then decided against bringing it. Since the Third Hokage needed him to fully demonstrate his abilities, it would be more appropriate to use Ninjutsu to defeat his opponents Chunin Ninja Exams.
After leaving the house, they arrived at the Hokage Administration Building. It was exactly the time the team had agreed to meet. Sarutobi Kohei Hyuga Akiha also arrived shortly after. The three of them gathered together and headed towards the written exam venue not far from the Forest of Death.
The written exam venue was a somewhat historic building, which appeared to be several stories high from the outside and occupied a considerable area.
When Shuichi and his two companions arrived at the entrance to the second floor, there were a few ninjas scattered around the entrance to the examination hall. Judging from their age and clothing, they were probably the instructors from various villages.
Hearing that another group of examinees was approaching, one of them glanced in the direction where Shuichi was.
"Pfft!" Someone seemed to laugh. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if your Konoha has no Genin? Or are you looking down on other ninja villages? Why would such a young brat participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams?"
A somewhat fierce-looking ninja couldn't help but laugh when he saw Shuichi. Judging from his Forehead Protector, he was a teacher leading the team from the Kusagakure.
At this moment, several teachers leading the group also heard his voice, and they all looked towards where Shuichi was.
"I think you'd better shut up. It's none of your business what happens in Konoha. You should worry about your own subordinates instead," a Konoha instructor retorted bluntly. Although he didn't know what the Lord Hokage was thinking, other ninja villages had no right to interfere on Konoha's territory.
"You..."
Ignoring their argument, and under the watchful eyes of many, Shuichi narrowed his eyes and glanced at the Kusagakure ninja.
"The Kusagakure? I hope your people don't run into me in the Second Stage," Shuichi thought to himself.
In his past life, he was a very good-tempered person, but that didn't mean he could ignore provocations, especially after killing someone, and he also acquired some characteristics of Shinobi World.
There was no need to make threats now. After glancing at the other teachers in charge, Shuichi led Sarutobi Kohei Hyuga Akiha the examination room for the first exam.
At a glance, there weren't many people in the examination hall, probably only thirty or forty, but at least one team from each of the five ninja villages participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams had arrived.
"Some of the ninjas' outfits are really bizarre. Is this a fashion show? Or are they trying to conceal their identities?" Shuichi noticed that although there weren't many people, everyone in the room seemed to look completely different.
Some people had their heads and limbs completely wrapped in bandages; it was unclear whether they were genuinely injured or just trying to scare the children.
After Shuichi's squad entered, almost all the Genin looked at them. After all, they were rivals, and they could get some information from their appearance.
"Haha..." A few people were about to laugh out loud, but they were immediately pulled back by their companions, and some murmurs began to rise from the crowd.
"Kohei? Is this your team?" A boy with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle called out to Sarutobi Kohei. Standing next to him were a fat boy and a blond boy. Judging from their appearance, they were the Ino- Ino-Shika-Cho from Konoha's generation.
"Oh? It's you, Shikajin. You're here quite early. This is my captain, Takeda Shuichi, and my teammate, Hyuga Akiha." Sarutobi Kohei and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio graduated from the same Ninja Academy and were already quite familiar with each other.
"Hello, I've heard Daimyo the Ino-Shika-Cho. It would be great to meet you all in the future." Shuichi greeted Sarutobi Kohei politely, since they seemed to know each other.
However, the other members of the two teams weren't very familiar with each other, so they didn't talk much. Shuichi and his two companions walked to a table and stood there, waiting for the exam to begin.
"Shikajin, Kohei and his group..." a young man from the Yamanaka Clan whispered to Nara Rokujin.
"Hmm, you mean their captain, right? A lot of people around here were trying to laugh at him, but many others probably noticed that this Takeda Shuichi the leader of this team." Nara Rokujin knew what his companion wanted to ask; he had already noticed Shuichi when he first came in.
"He walked in right in the middle, and the other two team members were a step behind him. It was quite unexpected to see such a respectful manner from a Genin squad."
"We all know that Kohei is quite outstanding among his peers, and the other team member is from the prestigious Hyuga Clan. I think it's Hyuga Akiha the previous year, who is also a top student." Nara Rokujin said what everyone around him had in mind.
He didn't continue, but his two companions already understood what he meant. This Takeda Shuichi must have been superior to his teammates in at least one aspect—strength or intelligence—for them to treat him this way.
The Genin from the surrounding villages gradually noticed these developments during this time. They didn't know Sarutobi Kohei, but they had all heard of the Hyuga Clan's reputation. The threat of the Byakugan, Kekkei Genkai, was something their instructors emphasized they needed to be aware of.
Only three years after the Second Great Ninja War ended, Konoha's defeated adversaries, Sunagakure and Amegakure, suffered greatly from being out of information on the battlefield. The power of Konoha 'Hyuga Clan's Byakugan and Gentle Fist on the battlefield remained fresh in the memories of all the villages.
Upon seeing Hyuga Akiha, who possesses the Byakugan, one would naturally notice the unusual nature of this squad, and those who sensed something was amiss immediately pulled back their companions who were about to mock Shuichi.
Shuichi little surprised. These Genin various villages were quite quick-witted. He guessed that many of them had spent some time on the battlefield at the end of Second Shinobi War, and their overall quality was much higher than that of the Chunin Ninja Exams the original story.
"Interesting. This exam is also a good opportunity to observe the unique characteristics of the ninjas from different villages and see what surprises they can bring."
In the next ten minutes or so, the Genin of the genin taking the exam accelerated significantly, and the classroom was quickly filled.
"There are exactly 40 teams, with a total of 120 participants. Konoha has 17 teams, Sunagakure has 8 teams, and the other 3 small villages each have a few teams." Shuichi calculated the total number of participants in this Joint Chunin Exam after observing the situation.
"Whether I'm the strongest or not hasn't been determined yet, but I'm definitely the shortest!" This time, none of the people sent by each village were older Genin; they were mostly young men and teenagers under 20. But at a glance, there were definitely no ones under 10 years old, except for Shuichi, who clearly looked like a child.
"This is really frustrating. We can't take action right now, so we can only teach these people a lesson during the upcoming exams." Among the people who came in later, quite a few were still staring at Shuichi, seemingly surprised that such a young child was participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams.