Figures flashed past the exit of the Third Exam Hall one after another. Each successful candidate appeared like a stone tossed into a lake, sending ripples through the spectator stands.
The giant screen outside showed what was happening inside in real time. As the images shifted, the crowd in front of it had already erupted—some clenched their fists and thrust their arms up in celebration.
They shouted themselves hoarse. "Lady Temari! Lord Kankuro! They're from our Sunagakure!"
"Our Iwagakure's Lady Kurotsuchi and Lord Akatsuchi... they passed!"
"Our Konoha came first! That kid from the Nara Clan, well done..."
Others stared at the names making no progress on the screen and kicked the railing in fury, spraying curses along with their spit.
In a corner, several ninja wearing uniforms from smaller ninja villages stood in silence, the initial hope long gone from their eyes. Every one of their villages' young candidates had been eliminated in the third stage.
They stayed only to see for themselves just how capable the elites from the major ninja villages were, so they could tell the children back home about the wider world and teach them how much they still had to learn.
One middle-aged ninja with a full beard smacked his lips as he watched the scrolling list of successful candidates. "Well, well. Thirty-five have passed so far. Konoha and Iwagakure have seven or eight each, and Kirigakure and Sunagakure have five or six...
"Amegakure, Kusagakure, Takigakure, Yugakure, Hoshigakure, and Otogakure all have one or two. Cloud Village... looks like—
"Not a single one... hahahaha!"
His words were like an ice-cold needle, striking the nearby Cloud Village group right where it hurt.
"Those bastards! Do they think this trial is a sightseeing trip?" A barely restrained roar suddenly rang out. The speaker was Darui, who