Shifting the Blame

The fifth day.

Above the Forest of Death, the final signal flare rose into the sky and burst into a scarlet flower against the gray canopy.

The second exam was officially over.

In the tower's largest tiered lecture hall, the twenty-four examinees who had passed the second exam sat scattered among the stepped seats.

Three teams from the Hidden Leaf Village had advanced:

Menma, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hinata Hyuga.

Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi.

Sasuke Uchiha, Sai, and Shigaraki.

Two teams from the Land of Stars had advanced:

Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

Uzumaki Kaori, Kurotsuchi, and Ranmaru.

One team from Kumogakure had advanced:

Karui, Omoi, and Atsui.

One team from Kirigakure had advanced:

Hozuki Suigetsu, Chojuro, and Uzumaki Honoka.

One team from Iwagakure had advanced:

Deidara, Ōnoki Ku, and Kirara.

Eight teams in total.

Twenty-four examinees.

Every one of them bore wounds of varying severity.

But every pair of eyes shone with resilience and confidence.

Anko Mitarashi stood at the podium with a skewer of Three-color Dango in her mouth, arms folded across her chest.

Her eyes narrowed as she swept her gaze over the twenty-four young faces below, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Tsk, tsk. Eight teams actually passed the test." She bit into a dumpling and spoke indistinctly. "Aren't you all a little too lucky?"

Sparse laughter rang out.

Everyone knew this had nothing to do with luck.

Every single person standing here had proven themselves through strength.

If not for the unprecedented scale of this exam, this batch of examinees could have been promoted to Chunin in any other ninja village.

Unfortunately, this was a joint exam involving the Five Great Nations and over a dozen ninja villages. They were still far from enough.

"So there are actually this many