Three Rounds of Exams

Hearing Danzo's words and seeing the fleeting expression on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of helplessness. Although they were also advisors, they were far inferior to Shimura Danzō; the chemistry between Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi was something neither of them possessed.

Utatane Koharu had no choice but to ask, "Hiruzen, what did Danzo mean by that? Who in the village can gain the trust of the Akatsuki Organization?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a few puffs of his pipe and then said, "It was Jiraiya. Near the end of the Second Shinobi War, he took on three disciples in the Land of Rain. Later, I summoned Jiraiya back to participate in the First Shinobi War of the Land of Whirlpools. After being injured, Jiraiya went to the Land of Rain to recuperate."

One of his three disciples possesses the Rinnegan.

Utatane Koharu was initially delighted, but then her brows furrowed. She knew Jiraiya's personality Jiraiya too well. Not only Jiraiya, but none of the Legendary Sannin had a normal temper. If the Legendary Sannin had been obedient, Konoha wouldn't be in its current state.

"Put that aside for now, Homura. Make a list and have Minato Namikaze lead it to support the Uchiha Clan. End the war with Mist ninja as soon as possible." Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have any better ideas and could only put the Akatsuki Organization matter aside for the time being.

Iwagakure), Ninja Academy.

Yichen hid behind a tree, using Mind's Eye perception to sense the scenes unfolding in several classrooms.

This theoretical exam was created by Yichen based on the Chunin Ninja Exams the original work, and it can be considered the first time that a theoretical component has been added to the Chunin Ninja Exams Ninja World.

The test takers are now using their individual talents to cheat in all sorts of creative ways.

Yichen's Mind's Mind's Eye and Sensory Ninjutsu are essentially for detecting Chakra fluctuations. They are probably not very strong for many delicate operations.

Two people were standing next to Yichen. One of them had a completely white left eye with bulging blue veins at the corner of his eye. He was a member of the Anbu had received a transplanted Byakugan.

The other person's right eye was blood red, with three Tomoe spinning rapidly inside; this was the Anbu of a transplanted Sharingan.

The transplanted white Anbu of her Byakugan is working easily, and she is carefully observing the activity in the examination room.

However, the Anbu who had received the Sharingan was struggling greatly. Yichen could easily sense through his Mind's Eye that his Chakra was being rapidly depleted. In addition to the extremely rapid depletion of his Chakra, his physical condition was also poor.

He could only observe with his Sharingan for less than a minute before he couldn't hold on any longer. Yichen quickly called over the Medical Ninja waiting nearby and asked them to remove his Sharingan.

Yichen shook his head as he watched the Anbu Ninja, who had been nearly killed by the Sharingan in just one minute, without gaining any information and even being carried away by Medical Ninja. The Sharingan was far too unfriendly to non -Uchiha Clan members.

Yichen guessed that only those who genuinely gave their Sharingan to their comrades, like Obito, would experience fewer side effects when using those eyes that carried the original owner's immense goodwill.

The Sharingan used by that Anbu just now was something Yichen obtained from the corpse of an Uchiha after killing him in the Land of Rain. Forget about goodwill; it would be good enough if it wasn't malicious.

"Byakugan is still the cutest, "Yichen thought, glancing at the remaining Anbu beside him. This was the ninja Yichen had chosen from the Anbu who was most skilled in Ninjutsu.

Codename: Hu, Elite Jonin, possessing all four elemental attributes: wind, lightning, fire, and earth. He knows more Ninjutsu than Yichen.

Ever since Yi Chen learned some new uses of Lightning Release from Yung-nin Yanagihara that day, he thought of the legend in the original work where Kakashi used his Sharingan to copy thousands of ninjutsu. That's why this scene happened today.

Yichen still remembers the incredulous expressions on the faces of Ōnoki and the others when he suggested using the Sharingan and Byakugan to copy the Ninjutsu of the students participating in the Joint Chunin Exams.

His expression seemed to say, "You can do this?" Then, following Yichen's request, Ōnoki selected this elite Elite Jonin Ninjutsu skills from the Anbu: Hu.

"Senior Hu, have you gained anything?" Yichen asked, seeing that Hu was engrossed in his reading while he himself hadn't discovered anything using his Mind's Eye and Sensory Ninjutsu.

Hu rolled his Byakugan at Yichen and said, "These are just petty cheating tricks; they don't yield results so easily. Let's wait and see during tomorrow's wilderness survival exercise."

Yichen realized he was being too hasty, and then said, "Tomorrow we'll follow behind the Cloud ninja. You help me take a look at their Cloud ninja Lightning Release Ninjutsu, especially the Ninjutsu of that guy named Yanagihara."

Yichen wasn't a saint; he came up with the idea of using his Byakugan to try and spy on the Ninjutsu of other ninja villages, with the most direct goal of completing his own clan's main mission.

Helping the village enrich its Ninjutsu repertoire and other functions are merely incidental.

Hu nodded and said, "No problem. However, this is just a wilderness survival exercise after all. The Cloud ninja probably won't use too many Ninjutsu, right?"

"Please rest assured, Senior Hu, I have already arranged for many of our ninjas participating in the exam to provoke those Cloud ninja."

"Especially those teams that have mastered Lightning Release transformations, there will be Iwa ninja teams of similar strength that will come looking for them," Yichen said confidently.

This is true. It just so happens that Yichen had previously tested the Cloud ninja and knew the strength of each of Cloud ninja squads.

Hu was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Is this a good idea?"

Yichen smiled and said, "Senior Hu, rest assured, Lord Tsuchikage also agrees to this."

"The Cloud ninja are different from the Sunagakure; the Daimyo of the Land of Wind is inclined towards us. Furthermore, the Sunagakure suffered significant losses in the Third Shinobi War and are currently in a weakened state. Therefore, the Sunagakure are potential allies, and we should still try to win them over."

"However, the Cloud ninja's motives for participating in this Joint Chunin Exams are not pure, so we don't need to care too much about Cloud ninja thoughts. Moreover, the Cloud ninja is currently at the peak of their strength, just like our Iwa ninja, so the possibility of us forming an alliance with Cloud ninja is slim."

This is true. Although the Sunagakure achieved good results at the beginning of the Third Shinobi War, it was ultimately defeated. Furthermore, the Sunagakure lost the Third Kazekage and Tailed Beast before and after the Third Shinobi War, making it the only ninja village to lose both a Kage and Tailed Beast.

Although Rasa is quite strong, and Chiyo is an old codger, it's a pity that one is too young and the other is too old, and neither of them has the intimidating power of the Third Kazekage.

But the Cloud ninja is different. Not only are the Third Raikage and his son both young and strong Kage Level, but there are also recent rumors in the Ninja World that the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is about to become the first Perfect Jinchuriki.

The Cloud ninja are not necessarily less prominent than the Iwa ninja, so the Cloud ninja would never admit that they are inferior to the Iwa ninja.

Hu nodded in agreement.

After sensing with his using Mind's Eye for a while longer but still finding nothing, Yichen couldn't help but ask, "Senior Hu, how is this competition going?"

Hu glanced at Yichen, knowing that Yichen was using Sensory Ninjutsu to investigate, smiled, and said, "Can you find that Sunagakure in the third row on the edge?"

"Is he manipulating a tiny centipede puppet? Can he sense that Chakra Threads?"

"The Chakra Threads he controlled passed between the two proctors on his left, went through the window, followed the outer wall of the classroom all the way to the last row, and finally entered the classroom, reaching a candidate in the last row."

"Apart from the Chief Examiner who noticed something, none of the proctoring Chunin teachers noticed, including the two right next to the Chakra Threads."

"This person should be the best performer in the first game."

Yichen was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Although the Chakra Threads of the Sunagakure Puppet Master were known for their concealment, to be able to deceive so many Chunin at such close range was definitely the work of a genius.

The teachers knew about the Puppet Master, so they would have been paying close attention to Chakra Threads. The fact that none of them noticed is quite remarkable.

Following Sasori of the Red Sands, Puppet Master has emerged from Sunagakure Village? I've never heard of that in the original work. Is it some kind of butterfly effect?

This really is the butterfly effect.

Sasori's life trajectory differs from the original story. Having been captured, Sasori's life in Sunagakure was not smooth. After learning of Sasori's talent, the High-ranking officials initially did not want to accept him.

Later, a compromise was reached. Sasori made puppets for the Sunagakure in exchange for relatively fair treatment.

The exquisite puppets created by Scorpion enhance the Puppet Master's abilities, allowing more geniuses to stand out.

Furthermore, because the Third Shinobi War started early and ended early, the one that Yichen was currently sensing escaped the fate of dying in the Third Shinobi War as depicted in the original story.

These are all digressions. After finding this Sunagakure, Yichen began to slowly examine the subtle Chakra Threads as Hu had instructed.

This really tests Yichen's perception, because the Chakra Threads are so thin and hidden. And there are many Chakra sources in the examination room that interfere, Yichen's attention is often drawn away when he tries to probe the Chakra Threads.

The situation inside the classroom was too complicated. After several unsuccessful attempts, Yichen focused his attention on the outer wall that Hu had mentioned.

To concentrate, Yichen closed his eyes, ignoring his normal Five Senses and focusing all his attention on his Mind's Eye. To minimize the influence of the numerous Chakra sources in the classroom, Yichen forced himself to ignore the situation inside.

Then, in Yichen's mind, the chaotic Chakra source in the classroom was slowly peeled away. Finally, after all the Chakra fluctuations disappeared, Yichen discovered the Chakra Threads that was tightly attached to the outer wall of the classroom.

Yichen followed the Chakra Threads all the way into the classroom, eventually arriving at an area where Chakra was concentrated. Yichen's senses circulated in this area for a moment before leaving.

Because in Yichen's perception, there was something else right next to this Chakra gathering area.

Sure enough, after leaving the Chakra gathering area, Yichen quickly discovered a massive Chakra source. This Chakra source was countless times larger than the one in the previous gathering area.

Yichen felt as if he had suddenly traveled from a small stream to a boundless ocean.

Yichen was immersed in sensing the scene when he was startled by it, and he quickly recovered from that strange state.

I was so scared I broke out in a cold sweat!

"Consultant Yichen, what's wrong?" Before Yichen could calm down, a familiar voice came from beside him.

Several seconds passed before Yichen recovered. He didn't answer Hu, but instead carefully recalled what had just happened, and then chuckled to himself.

That Chakra gathering area must be the spider puppet that Hu mentioned. The massive Chakra source that startled Yichen awake must be the spider puppet observing the ninja who was copying.

The reason Yichen was so frightened just now was because he was too engrossed in his work. When using Mind's Eye to sense the Chakra Threads, he subconsciously used the amount of Chakra contained in the Chakra Threads as a reference to measure the spider puppet and ninja he sensed afterward. The proportions were, of course, extremely exaggerated.

Coming to his senses, Yichen shook his head at Hu and said, "I'm fine. I just entered a strange state."

When Hu heard this, he didn't dwell on it. Yichen was not only a high-ranking advisor, but also more capable than him. If there were any actions that Hu didn't understand, he wouldn't press him for details.

Yichen savored the feeling he had just experienced, feeling as if he had opened a new door.