The Exam Begins

Sarutobi Toru's group, who had caught the Third Hokage's attention, was currently beating people up.

"Ah-tah!" Might Duy let out a strange cry and threw several punches in rapid succession, knocking down both members of Amegakure.

"Damn it, Water Style—pfft!" The last Amegakure member had just begun forming hand seals when the two Water Clones blocking the way were instantly blown apart. The Main Body took a punch to the face as well and immediately passed out. The entire team was down.

"Duy really has incredible compatibility with Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do!" Hatake Sakumo said in surprise.

How could it not be? His future son and grandson-in-law were both modeled after Bruce Lee! Sarutobi Toru thought to himself.

Sarutobi Toru had found Jeet Kune Do and Wing Chun on a phone from the Reincarnation Warehouse. They were both real-world martial arts and combat techniques, of little use to him.

With a try-it-and-see attitude, he had taught them to Duy. The result was that Duy's talent in these two martial arts was astonishingly good. Combined with Konoha's taijutsu, he had developed new techniques from the old, faintly displaying the bearing of a master.

He just did not know why, but after learning them, Duy had to shout, "Ah-tah!" every time he attacked.

At that moment, Duy had already knocked down seven Genin examinees. Several examinees lay piled together on the ground, while the remaining candidates hesitated to step forward.

Although Sarutobi Toru's sweeping insult had been humiliating, getting knocked down before even meeting the person they had come for would be far too embarrassing.

They had not expected Duy, dressed in such a ridiculous outfit, to be so capable in a fight.

After this Chunin Exam, Duy could no longer remain an eternal Genin. That counted as changing his fate, didn't it?

Seeing the small ninja villages shrink back, the brutes from Kumogakure looked eager to try. Fukai pushed through the crowd and prepared to step forward.

When they saw Kumogakure getting ready to act, the other examinees all wore looks of anticipation.

"Konoha ninja, let me test both your strength and that mouth of yours—"

Boom! A lovely figure rushed in through the door. Fukai's hairs stood on end as a chill ran through his heart. Lightning instantly covered his body, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Then he saw a delicate, fair, exquisitely small fist lightly tap against his arms. In an instant, his tough and powerful Lightning Armor shattered like a thin sheet of glass. That terrifying force pressed through his arms and slammed directly into his chest.

In that instant, Fukai felt as though he had been struck by a mad rhinoceros. He completely lost control of his body and flew backward.

Like a bowling ball, the flying Fukai crashed into numerous examinees, sending them reeling in every direction as cries of pain rang out without end.

"I'm Tsunade, the assistant examiner for this exam! Anyone who disrupts order in the examination hall will be disqualified! I assume you don't want to go home just like that, do you?"

Tsunade flashed a brilliant smile and blew on her little fist.

Dodai swallowed hard. Fifteen-year-old Fukai was Kumogakure's greatest trump card, considerably stronger than ten-year-old A. And he had been knocked down with a single punch?

Was Konoha really this strong now? This little girl was only twelve or thirteen, wasn't she? She had not even disguised herself... ahem, lowered her rank to Genin to take the exam?

As for the other examinees, they immediately erupted in outrage. "Konoha was clearly the one that provoked us first!" "Damn it, can't you see the examinees lying on the ground?" "Is there some kind of shady arrangement going on?" "You're being way too biased toward your own village's candidates!"

Tsunade nonchalantly dug at her ear, then suddenly stomped on the ground. The earth shook and the mountains trembled, and the entire waiting room swayed. The numerous examinees instantly fell silent, staring at her with fearful eyes.

"Well, aren't you pathetic? You're practically a bunch of children running to complain to their parents. Do you think I beat up that idiot because he broke the rules?"

The examinees looked at her, furious but not daring to speak, their eyes plainly saying, "Wasn't that why?"

"Hehe, of course not." Tsunade suddenly reached out and took Sarutobi Toru's hand. "Him! He's my boyfriend! If someone dares provoke my boyfriend, shouldn't they get beaten up?"

The examinees were completely bewildered. What was that supposed to mean? Was that even a thing?

Fukai, who had just unsteadily gotten back to his feet, nearly coughed up blood. This was even worse than Konoha favoring its own examinees!

For a time, the entire waiting room fell into an extremely strange atmosphere.

When Torifu Akimichi and the group of Jōnin entered, the waiting room was still steeped in that atmosphere. He scratched his head, ignored whatever was going on inside, and said directly, "I am Torifu Akimichi, chief examiner for your first test. I will now announce the rules."

"There are eight Invitation Letters for the second round's Final Round. The examination grounds are in the forest outside Konoha. Teams holding an Invitation Letter may set out three hours in advance. Three hours later, the locations of all Invitation Letters will be announced every half hour. After three days, any team still holding an Invitation Letter may participate in the Final Round!"

"As for the Invitation Letters, they will be distributed voluntarily. Those who want one may come collect one directly. If there are too many or too few teams, lots will be drawn."

"Also, teams holding Invitation Letters are not permitted to come into conflict with one another!"

After the rules were explained, the examinees looked at one another.

Under these rules, teams holding Invitation Letters were at an overwhelmingly disadvantage. Their only advantage was being able to avoid other teams with Invitation Letters.

It could be said that the Invitation Letters had been prepared specifically for seeded teams. Weak teams simply could not hold onto them. Only powerful teams could protect them, while this also prevented seeded teams from clashing too early.

Hatake Sakumo stepped forward first and took an Invitation Letter. Sarutobi Toru also directly took one.

Rōshi, Kosa, and Yagura each took one as well. Even Fukai, who had just been beaten up, did not say anything and simply went to collect an Invitation Letter.

With two remaining, Torifu Akimichi saw that no one else was coming forward and directly drew lots. A moment later, two more teams were chosen.

Tsunade, who had already moved behind Torifu Akimichi, waved to Sarutobi Toru. "Toru-kun, see you in three days!"

Enough already! How were examinees like us supposed to feel at ease with an examiner like this?! The examinees roared inwardly.

Sarutobi Toru waved the Invitation Letter at Tsunade, then led Might Duy and Inuzuka Hana out.

The other seven teams began leaving as well. The two teams that had won Invitation Letters by drawing lots in particular wore bitter expressions and ran off faster than rabbits.

After leaving Konoha Village, Sarutobi Toru's team did not hurry onward. Instead, they found a place near water and began making camp.

"Are we really camping here?" Inuzuka Hana asked uneasily, looking at Sarutobi Toru, who had found a rock to sit on and was writing and drawing in a book.

Beside them, Might Duy was cultivating the Yang God Martial Way. He had already completed skin, flesh, and tendons, and was now working on bone forging.

As he scribbled away, Sarutobi Toru said, "Don't worry. Once the positions start being announced, the teams that ran the farthest will definitely be watched the most."

The reasoning was simple. The weaker one was, the more one needed all sorts of methods to protect oneself. The farther they ran, the stronger they appeared. Those who truly had strength would not care as much and would instead stay put.