The Stage

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Yuhara felt that there were more and more ninja in the village, and many of them were the sort who had injuries all over their bodies.

At that moment, Yuhara was walking along Konoha's streets. He was wearing a blue-green garment that was neither quite a yukata nor quite a windbreaker. In simple terms, it had loose sleeves that only reached his elbows, an angled overlapping front, and a hem that fell slightly past his knees, along with a black decorative belt... Supposedly, it was an improved outfit designed for ninja to wear in combat.

Considering that wearing short sleeves in the middle of winter was a sign of serious illness, Yuhara had also put on a black "sweat-absorbing shirt" underneath and a pair of black tactical gloves. Both pieces of "clothing" were made of iron, making them warm in winter and cool in summer.

All right, this time Yuhara had finally been willing to seriously prepare some defenses for himself. He had figured out one principle... Spending a little Chakra for defensive power was absolutely worth it.

He was wearing a pair of ordinary black trousers on his lower body, along with shoes whose tops just covered his leg wrappings... Since he really wasn't used to wearing shoes that exposed his toes, his footwear was, unusually, a normal pair of shoes.

In any case, Yuhara certainly looked more energetic than he had the day before. He looked like a normal person now.

Twenty minutes later, Yuhara arrived at the Hokage office building again. He then saw the same two ninja from before, who told him that the investigation into him had concluded. Full responsibility for the previous squad's destruction lay with its captain.

However, the investigation's conclusion had not actually solved any problems. First, no one had received the punishment they deserved. Second, a captain like that might still obtain command authority, because Konoha was still the same Konoha as before, with nothing changed.

In short, the suspicion surrounding Yuhara had been cleared.

After receiving that notice, Yuhara had finished what he had come to the Hokage office building for, so he chose to leave.

As he was leaving, he saw the Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage again. Of course, he had at least enough sense to read the situation. He had no qualifications to approach them here. Their previous contact had been due to the higher-ups' "concern for those below," not because Yuhara himself was special in any way.

Come to think of it, the Hokage line was passed down from one generation to the next, and they all had some issues when it came to human nature...

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, had tried to peep at the women's bathhouse with his student, developed a long-distance peeping technique, and been knocked out by Sexy Jutsu.

The "Three Legendary Sannin," Jiraiya... Let's not even go there.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato, had fallen in love at the age of seven.

The Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, was a closet pervert and an ardent fan of the Icha Icha Paradise series.

The Seventh Hokage, Naruto, had developed Sexy Jutsu and, at such a young age, had already been eyeing the three mountains atop the Fifth Hokage's two mountains.

Thinking about it that way, Yuhara felt he should stay farther away from those people. With the mindset of respecting them from a distance, he quickly left the Hokage office building.

However, just after Yuhara reached the entrance, he noticed a new announcement posted on the village committee's bulletin board ahead. Its content was very simple: Konoha would hold another Chunin Exam in two weeks.

During wartime, some ninja could be promoted directly based on their achievements and abilities. However, that did not mean the village's regular Chunin promotion exams had been suspended. A few dead-last types had passed the exams and become Chunin at the age of eleven.

As for what was different about this Chunin Exam, first, it was the first one held since the Fourth Hokage had taken office, giving it a certain symbolic significance. Second, the exam had been changed into a three-stage examination that emphasized form and consumed time, rather than the previous practical and efficient assessment method.

Konoha was emerging from the war, and the situation within the village was beginning to return to daily life and normalcy. It seemed to be sending that very signal.

Of course, Yuhara neither understood nor cared about the deeper reasons. In any case, he had no idea what the Chunin Exams during the war had been like. After seeing the announcement, he immediately turned around and went back to the Hokage office building...

He went straight to register.

If he could rank up, then he should. There was nothing to hesitate over. Besides, he happened to need a stage with a certain degree of attention on it.

And once he had finished registering, he could no longer spend the time lazily.

"Half a month... I wonder if that's enough..."

Next, Yuhara had to complete his "balanced mode" and try to see whether he could use that ninjutsu.

However, regardless of whether Yuhara could master a new skill, if combat power was the standard of measurement, he had no reason to fail the Chunin Exam.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

In theory, Yuhara would definitely pass, unless the first exam was a written test.

There was no need for an "unless." The first exam was indeed a written test.

As usual, the exam borrowed classrooms from the Konoha Ninja Academy, so when Yuhara arrived there that day, he inexplicably felt as though he had returned to his alma mater... All right, he actually didn't feel that way at all.

The written test that followed went extremely smoothly. None of the candidates caused any bizarre trouble... Even though they were all Genin, most of them had participated in the war. At the very least, they understood what it meant to obey orders and maintain discipline.

The undisciplined ones had long since grown three feet of grass over their graves.

Yuhara sat in his seat. After waiting for the signal to begin, he opened the test paper on his desk. After a hurried glance, he found that its contents covered practically everything, including mathematics, physics, general knowledge, intelligence, and more.

In an instant, Yuhara understood one fact: he seemed to have overestimated his own abilities.

Some questions on the test paper, Yuhara knew. Some he knew but actually didn't. Some he didn't know but could still answer correctly. Some he didn't know and definitely couldn't answer...

The exam lasted only two hours. The good news was that the results would be determined quickly and announced on the spot. The bad news was that Yuhara had little confidence in his score.

Just half an hour later, Yuhara learned his score... Fifty-one points. At that moment, he felt slightly resentful of the ninja's operational efficiency.

The examiner then announced that the passing score for the written test was fifty points. At that moment, Yuhara felt that efficiency was definitely not a bad thing.

This showed that his repeated claim of being "self-taught" had not been an exaggeration.

How could ninja who focused on the battlefield possibly score highly on a written test held without warning? Naturally, the passing score had been set very low.

In reality, this written test had been conducted mostly as a formality. Yuhara discovered that most of the ninja had passed, so it was merely a procedural step... As long as one's score was not outrageously bad, there was no reason to fail.

At least for this exam, the score was basically irrelevant. Although someone had nearly failed, even if they passed by just one point, passing was still passing.

After the first written test ended, the second exam would be held the following day. The examiners had even considerately left the candidates some time to prepare.

And the content of the second exam sounded extremely advantageous for someone like Yuhara. In a single phrase...

Original Jungle Battle Royale.