Qingyu looked up.
At the top of the tower, someone stood on the railing. No one knew when he had appeared.
Someone else was crouched on a telephone pole.
The truth was still somewhere in the darkness.
One had silver hair, a mask, and dead-fish eyes—Kakashi Hatake.
The other had black hair, a serious expression, and the Uchiha Clan Crest—Itachi Uchiha.
Qingyu's heart gave a sudden jolt.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru said in surprise. "And... Itachi-senpai?"
"Ah, I just happened to stop by," Kakashi said lazily, though his eyes were fixed on Qingyu.
"We saw your fight just now. Some impressive tactics, especially that Steam Technique... did you invent it yourself?"
Qingyu nodded, his scalp prickling. "Yes."
"A combination of Fire Release and Water Release?" Kakashi mused. "Interesting."
Itachi's gaze settled on Qingyu. His dark eyes showed no emotion, yet Qingyu felt the chill of being seen through completely.
"Uchiha Qingyu," Itachi said, his voice calm.
"I remember you. Third from the bottom in theory, dead last in practical combat."
"Y-yes, that's me." Qingyu's palms began to sweat.
Please, I'm begging you! Don't remember me!
"But your performance just now didn't look like that of someone who came in last," Itachi continued. "Explain."
The air froze.
Qingyu's mind raced, while two voices inside his head argued:
Izuna: "Just say you suddenly had a breakthrough! An Uchiha's potential is always drawn out by pressure!"
Tobirama: "You need a more plausible explanation! His current situation won't stand up to close scrutiny!"
Kakashi cut in, his tone light. "Itachi, don't scare the kid. He's only twelve."
"Relax. It's just a routine inquiry. Any examinee who shows unusual ability during the Chunin Ninja Exams needs to be documented."
"I..." Qingyu gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble. "I have Bloodline Disease."
"Bloodline Disease?" Itachi frowned slightly.
"It's a hereditary condition that runs in my family," Qingyu said, following the story he'd made up earlier.
"It usually suppresses my chakra and mental strength, but under extreme pressure, like when my life is in danger, the symptoms temporarily ease, allowing me to perform at... my normal level."
Silence.
After a long pause, Itachi nodded. "I see. There have been records of similar cases among the Uchiha."
Qingyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A clan where everyone was a little crazy had enough credibility to claim any disease.
The three pillars of the Uchiha: beauty, strength, and tragedy.
If you were ugly or bizarre, you weren't an Uchiha!
If you were weak or hadn't awakened the Sharingan, you weren't an Uchiha!
If your family was happy and your life was worry-free, you weren't an Uchiha!
The Uchiha Clan was basically one giant beauty pageant!
But Itachi's next words made Qingyu's heart jump again. "However, the Shurikenjutsu you used just now... it's a variation of Uchiha Style, isn't it? Who taught you?"
"I-I taught myself," Qingyu said. "I read about it in some old books in the clan library."
"Old books..." Itachi's gaze deepened. "Ordinarily, only clan members of Chunin rank or higher are allowed to borrow those."
"But I remember," Kakashi cut in, flipping through the little notebook in his hand.
"Qingyu's parents were Special Jōnin before they died, so they would have had the necessary clearance. After their deaths, Qingyu inherited their estate, including the right to borrow books. In theory, he had access."
Itachi looked at Kakashi. "You looked into it?"
"As one of the proctors for this exam, I've reviewed every examinee's basic information." Kakashi closed his notebook.
"All right, that's enough questions. You can go inside. The exam isn't over yet. This was only the first stage."
The tower's gates swung fully open.
The six of them filed inside.
As they passed, Itachi murmured, "Be careful, Qingyu. Someone in the clan... has their eye on you."
Qingyu stiffened, but didn't dare look back.
I'm done for.
A chill ran down Qingyu's back.
I'm begging you—just don't yell, "I believe this is the only way to reach the future..." and chase me around with a knife!
I'm no innocent little melon, and I haven't split yours open...
Please, give me a guide to getting Konoha to treat me better.
Inside the tower was a spacious hall.
Quite a few teams had already arrived. Some sat, some stood, most were injured, and the atmosphere was tense.
At the raised platform in front, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the middle, with the jōnin instructors for the various teams on either side.
"Team 7, Team 10, and... Team Qingyu," the Third Hokage said gently.
"Congratulations on passing the first stage. Turn in your scrolls, then rest over there while you wait for instructions about the second stage."
As Qingyu handed in the scroll, he could feel several gazes falling on him: some curious, some appraising, some wary.
He kept his head down and went to sit in a corner of the rest area.
Yamada leaned over and whispered, "Captain, those two seniors just now... were terrifying. My legs nearly gave out."
Nakamura nodded. "Same here... especially that Uchiha. His eyes were like he could see right through you."
Qingyu said, "Don't worry. They won't do anything to you two..."
You two aren't Uchiha, and you aren't Rin. Just relax.
At last, the two big shots in his head began reviewing the crisis.
"That Itachi Uchiha..." Izuna's voice was unusually serious.
"His gaze... is no ordinary thing. He's young, but he already has the air of a powerful shinobi."
Qingyu: It'd be even better if he didn't chase me around with a knife to "comfort" my neck.
"Kakashi Hatake was impressive too," Tobirama said.
"Excellent chakra control, plenty of combat experience, and... he was helping you out just now."
Qingyu: Are you sure his control is good? Couldn't it just be that he has too little chakra?
"Helping me?" Qingyu asked, puzzled. This body had never had any connection to Kakashi.
"If he hadn't mentioned your parents' clearance, Itachi's questioning wouldn't have ended so easily," Tobirama analyzed.
"Why would he help you? Coincidence? Or..."
"Or did he discover something?" Qingyu's heart sank.
"Not very likely," Tobirama said. "But if you keep showing unusual abilities, someone will eventually set their sights on you. From now on, you need to be more careful."
Izuna scoffed. "But you can't hide your abilities too much, either. In the shinobi world, being weak is a sin. Show what you can when you need to—just know where to draw the line."
"So," Qingyu said with a bitter smile, "should I keep a low profile or show off?"
"As long as you stay alive," they said in unison, "get as strong as you can."
Qingyu: "..."
Just then, the hall's doors opened again, and several more teams filed in.
One of them was Team Gaara from Sunagakure.
When Gaara entered, the temperature in the hall seemed to drop by a few degrees.
The gourd on his back gave off a faint killing intent, causing quite a few examinees to instinctively move away.
His gaze swept over the room before finally stopping on Qingyu.
The sand inside his gourd trembled slightly, as though answering an ancient call.
Qingyu's heart skipped a beat.
"That Jinchuriki teammate of the blond kid," Izuna said. "He's looking at you."
"He's not looking at me," Tobirama corrected him.
"He's sensing the chakra inside you. Our presence is concealed, but entities of the same level of energy may be able to sense us faintly."
Gaara stared at Qingyu for a few seconds, then looked away, walked to a distant corner, and sat down with his eyes closed.
But Qingyu knew he'd been noticed.
Over the next hour, more teams arrived.
Some were at full strength, some had lost members, and some had only one person left.
By the deadline, only thirteen of the original twenty-six teams had passed the first stage.
Half had been eliminated.
The Third Hokage stood up, and the hall fell silent.
"First of all, congratulations to everyone here," the Third Hokage said.
"You've demonstrated the basic qualities of a shinobi: survival, reconnaissance, and tactics. But the Chunin Ninja Exams aren't over yet."
Before you continue