The shadows of the trees in Training Ground 3 stretched long.
Yamato leaned against an old tree, his gaze fixed on the entrance to the training ground.
When three familiar figures came into view, a smile appeared on his honest face.
Tejima Shinichi walked at the front, with Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu behind him, their faces still carrying traces of excitement and fatigue.
"Teacher Yamato!" Kobayashi Ken waved and shouted from afar, quickening his pace as he ran over. "We're back!"
Sato Yu followed close behind, a relaxed smile on her face.
Yamato straightened up and looked at his three subordinates before laughing heartily. "Judging by the looks of you, you must have passed the first exam without any trouble. So, did everything go smoothly?"
"More than smoothly!" Kobayashi Ken eagerly blurted out, speaking at a rapid pace. "Teacher Yamato, you should've seen it. That chief examiner, Morino Ibiki, had such terrifying presence! And those questions were impossible for Genin to answer!"
He gestured animatedly as he spoke.
"And then there was cheating! Good heavens, the exam hall practically turned into a showcase for cheating techniques! There were all kinds of methods—I could barely keep up!"
Sato Yu picked up where he left off and nodded with lingering fear. "Yeah, those Chunin proctors had incredibly sharp eyes. But the most thrilling part was at the end..."
She described the harsh, almost cruel rules surrounding the tenth question, as well as the atmosphere of despair and hesitation that had filled the exam hall.
"Back then, a lot of people couldn't withstand the pressure and raised their hands to give up," Kobayashi Ken interjected, his face full of emotion. "Yu and I almost..."
He did not finish, but Yamato understood what he meant. Under that kind of pressure, wavering was only