[White]

The pension payments and daily login rewards were enough for Akiyama Shun to make twenty pulls.

[Summoning]

[Gamahiro Fragment x1 (13/100)]

[Secret Scroll]

[Water Style: Water Shield Fragment x1 (5/5)]

[...]

[S-Rank Ninja]

[Otsutsuki Toneri (Final Chapter) Fragment x4 (4/100)]

[A-Rank Ninja]

[Haruno Sakura Fragment x4 (8/40)]

[B-Rank Ninja]

[Haku Fragment x4 (40/40)]

[Orochimaru (Konoha Sannin) Fragment x4 (24/40)]

[C-Rank Ninja]

[...]

Perfect!

Akiyama Shun nearly burst out laughing when he saw the results of this draw.

Not only were Gamahiro's fragments steadily adding up, but he'd also gotten another Secret Scroll: [Water Style: Water Shield]!

Just as its name suggested, using it left a circular water shield in place.

In the Naruto mobile game, [Water Style: Water Shield] could block projectiles. If an enemy touched the shield, it would knock them back.

But in reality, it definitely wouldn't have the effect of knocking enemies away. The water shield could only block projectiles, and even that wasn't guaranteed. If the opponent's attack was too powerful, the shield would vanish.

At least for now, the [Water Style: Water Shield] Akiyama Shun could cast definitely wouldn't stop a single fireball from Uchiha Madara.

But that was only because of the massive difference in power. It would still be more than enough in a fight between opponents of the same level.

The S-Rank and A-Rank Ninja fragments were both pretty good, but they were still a long way from being combined, so there was no need to dwell on them.

The most important thing was [Haku]!

He finally had forty fragments. He could combine them!

Haku, a descendant of the Yuki Clan and Momochi Zabuza's companion, had inherited the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai from his mother. He was male.

Haku was such a pretty boy that when Akiyama Shun first saw him, he'd genuinely thought he was a beautiful older girl.

In the original story, Haku fought the reincarnations of Indra and Asura at the same time and even achieved an utterly crushing victory. His combat strength had been terrifying. In the end, he died taking a blow meant for Zabuza.

After combining [Haku], Akiyama Shun didn't hesitate. He removed [Tsunade (Young)] from the lineup and put [Haku] in.

The instant [Haku] entered the lineup, a strange sensation spread through Akiyama Shun's entire body.

He knew exactly what it was: a Kekkei Genkai! Ice Release!

[Haku] came with a lot of ninjutsu. The most basic was coating objects with Ice Release chakra. Haku most often attacked by coating senbon with Ice Release chakra, but Akiyama Shun didn't have any senbon. He did have shuriken and the like, though.

Next came Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles, Ice Release: Ice Pillar Swallow, and, most importantly, Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!

The first two were standard offensive techniques, nothing worth mentioning. But Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was different. It formed ice mirrors around the enemy, allowing the user to move between them at the speed of light.

In a way, it was practically a junior version of Flying Thunder God. It could greatly improve Akiyama Shun's mobility!

And Akiyama Shun had to admit, Ice Release techniques really did have much cooler names. Thousand Flying Water Needles, for example, just sounded incredibly badass.

Perhaps sensing how pleased Akiyama Shun was, Kakashi, who'd been training, suddenly turned to look at him. "What's up?"

Akiyama Shun hummed a little tune and glanced at Kakashi. "Nothing. Just thought of something that made me happy."

"Something that made you happy?" Kakashi looked puzzled. The two of them had barely been apart lately. How had he not heard about anything that could make Akiyama Shun happy?

"Yeah. Maybe it's because I get to eat delicious food," Akiyama Shun said with a smile.

Kakashi: "..."

The next day.

The final stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams had finally arrived.

The practical matches!

First came the Chunin Ninja Exams preliminaries. Only the winners could advance to the next round.

Then came the official Chunin Ninja Exams. It was a tournament-style elimination, but winning wasn't the only way to pass. The examiners would judge whether someone qualified to become a Chunin based on their performance in battle.

There were no special tests. It was a pure contest of strength!

At that moment, the Third Hokage and Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the main seats on either side, with the senior officials from the various villages beside them.

Compared to Konoha's lineup, however, Sunagakure's side looked a little sparse.

Chiyo had gone into seclusion, so Rasa was the only one who had come.

The Third Kazekage felt it was a real shame. He'd actually wanted Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, to come and watch.

He knew Sasori was powerful, a true genius. Despite his young age, Sasori was already remarkably capable. He'd not only mastered all of Chiyo's Puppet Techniques, but even seemed poised to surpass her.

Unfortunately, when the Third Kazekage sent someone to find Sasori, Sasori seemed busy with something and didn't want to come.

Sigh...

Thinking of this, the Third Kazekage sighed. He knew Sasori resented him because his parents had died, but Sasori was still a child of Sunagakure. Although he didn't know what Sasori was working on, he still hoped Sasori would succeed.

While the Third Kazekage was thinking, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly spoke beside him.

"Sunagakure has its share of talented people, too. Over these past two days of exams, I've seen many promising young shinobi from your village."

Of course, none of them compared to Akiyama Shun and Kakashi.

Sarutobi Hiruzen silently added that to himself.

Truthfully, Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking forward to seeing Akiyama Shun fight. That boy always managed to surprise him whenever he appeared.

He wondered what new ninjutsu the boy had learned lately—or whether he'd invented another technique.

"Konoha's not bad either, especially those two called Akiyama Shun and Hatake Kakashi. I expect everyone taking the Chunin exams has remembered their names."

After the Third Kazekage finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled modestly, and the two exchanged a few polite compliments.

While the two of them displayed their diplomatic finesse,

Akiyama Shun and Kakashi were sitting in the stands, watching the arena.

The first match had already begun.

It was between Konoha and Kusagakure. There was little suspense; Konoha's shinobi were practically crushing their opponents.

The gap between the resources of a major village and a small one was simply too great. With equal talent, a smaller village had almost no chance of winning.

The next few matches were much the same.

Only the occasional match between Konoha and Sunagakure seemed to hold any suspense.

But Akiyama Shun and Kakashi couldn't be bothered to keep watching.

"Too weak."

Kakashi watched for a little while, then closed his eyes to rest. Watching such pointless fights was a waste of time for him.

The only thing he was looking forward to now was Akiyama Shun's match.

Of course, it would be even better if he got paired against Akiyama Shun.

Soon, Kakashi's wish was granted.

After Konoha and Sunagakure finished their match, with Sunagakure taking the win,

the referee glanced at the match list and announced:

"Next match: Akiyama Shun versus Shoumon Tetsu!"