To Repay My Debts, I'll Become Hokage!

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The number of people dancing in front of Uchiha Chonhua had increased from three to nine.

During this period, two more ninja squads who didn't fear them had appeared; one wanted to snatch their flags, while the other intended to drive them away to occupy the arena on the other side of the river.

But without exception, they lacked the ability, and in an instant, they were controlled by Uchiha Chonhua's genjutsu and joined the dancing army.

As soon as midnight struck on the third day, Uchiha Chonhua and his two companions rose, leisurely crossed the river to the arena, and planted their red and blue flags. Then, they busied themselves—some pulling out sleeping bags, others starting a campfire.

As for those nine people... they could watch their dance better from the high platform over there. As it happened, they hadn't extinguished the campfire on that side, leaving them a bit of warmth.

"Awoo..."

Mikoto Uchiha let out a yawn, tightened her sleeping bag, and drifted into a peaceful slumber with a serene expression on her small face.

Uchiha Chonhua and Hizashi Hyuga felt no sleepiness and busied themselves with the campfire.

"This exam is so boring."

Hizashi Hyuga suddenly complained, his usually lake-like calm expression cracking slightly.

The three-day time limit was originally intended for examinees to slaughter each other, seize flags, and defend the arena, but for the three of them, it was nothing but torture.

Chapter 48: Batch After Batch of Genin

Because the other two members of Team Tsunade were being lovey-dovey, Hizashi Hyuga felt it was inappropriate to stay, so he made an excuse to go scouting, leaving the space to the pair.

One couldn't just keep scouting all day long, except when hungry.

Therefore, these past few days, Hizashi Hyuga had been wandering back and forth in this dense forest, using his Byakugan to observe the battles of other examinees.

At first, it was somewhat interesting, but as time dragged on, it became increasingly torturous and boring.

Hizashi Hyuga sighed, feeling mentally exhausted.

"Because of Teacher Tsunade's big mouth, the other examinees don't dare to face us."

Uchiha Chonhua handed over a water bottle and smiled: "Even if they dared to face us, their strength is insufficient, and the battle would end in an instant. Isn't that still boring?"

Hizashi Hyuga's face was gloomy: "This year's batch is much worse than the previous ones. Aside from us, there isn't a single person from any other clan."

His words were filled with contempt for commoner ninjas; they didn't even dare to face them, and those who did were so incompetent.

Uchiha Chonhua smiled: "Don't underestimate commoner ninjas, Hizashi. Have you forgotten Minato?"

Hizashi Hyuga came to his senses, his contempt receding as he realized that Namikaze Minato also came from a commoner background.

However, his conduct and formidable strength always made people overlook his origins, subconsciously assuming he was some young master of a noble house.

"That's right, Minato is also a commoner ninja." Hizashi Hyuga wondered: "How is there such a huge gap in their skill levels?"

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head: "We only have the advantage of our bloodline. If we were truly on the same starting line, we might not necessarily be stronger than them."

Before he had the system, his own abilities weren't anything special, only slightly stronger than the average commoner ninja. If one wanted their Uchiha bloodline to actually matter, one had to awaken their eyes first.

Heh, fortunately, he had the system by his side; a cheat was far more unreasonable than a bloodline.

Uchiha Chonhua glanced at Hizashi Hyuga's forehead protector; the Caged Bird Seal imprinted beneath it was like a ticking time bomb.

He suddenly gave a wry smile. If Hizashi Hyuga, who often had the phrase "destiny is fated" on his lips, were truly no longer a member of the Hyuga clan, perhaps he would be filled with anxiety.

After all, Hizashi Hyuga possessed the pride of a clan member.

This was what they called "Lord Ye loving dragons"—professing a love for something while fearing its true form.

The sky brightened.

Dusty and filthy examinees emerged from the dense forest. Some were wounded, their sleeves stained with blood, looking to be in bad shape.

Gritting their teeth, they supported each other as they crossed the riverbank in search of an arena.

They couldn't relax yet; the deadline was tomorrow. In this short yet long time, they had to protect the flags in their hands and defend the arena to ensure they were the ones standing on it.

The struggle was not over.

Uchiha Chonhua and his group remained outside the fray, carefree and relaxed.

Some saw them, and those who knew their identities simply avoided them.

Those who were half-informed and had the guts to approach hesitated and dared not advance when they saw those nine strange people dancing.

In the end, the examinees tacitly ignored the three of them.

By the time the second exam ended.

Everyone else was in poor condition, their faces pale. Yet, the three of Uchiha Chonhua were relaxed, joking and laughing as they passed.

The proctor was puzzled, looking left at the six battered examinees, then right at the clean and cheerful Team Tsunade.

The contrast was far too stark.

"Ahem, congratulations on passing the second exam. You have one day of rest. Tomorrow morning, go to the High Tower to take the final exam."

Three squads, nine ninjas in total, had passed the second Chunin Exams.

The proctor clicked his tongue; there were fewer survivors than he had imagined. Once the examinees had returned to rest, the proctors entered the training grounds to handle the cleanup.

They encountered several deceased examinees along the way, and the proctors collected the bodies with cold, heartless efficiency.

Genin appeared every year like leeks, one crop after another. It was neither strange nor a pity that these genin, lacking the strength for the Chunin Exams, had been killed.

Furthermore, an excess of genin was not necessarily a good thing. The number of D-rank missions grew slowly, while the number of genin increased rapidly every year.

There were also those who failed the Chunin Exams yet continued to occupy spots in the system.

Ultimately, the vast Konoha relied on its chunin and jonin; wasting a few genin didn't even make them blink.

When the proctors arrived at the riverbank, they encountered nine examinees dancing.

The head proctor's face went dark and he was speechless. Good grief, so this was why the pass rate was so low.

There were already few examinees to begin with, and here were nine of them dancing...

Uchiha Chonhua and his two teammates stood beneath the stage, refreshed, listening to the speech given by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with passionate, stirring words, yet only Uchiha Chonhua and his two teammates responded with enthusiastic applause.

As for the others...

They were listless, feeling a sense of sorrow as they looked at the missing people around them.

Only six people remained in the entire arena; the other three had been so severely injured that they were sent directly to Konoha Hospital to recover, making it impossible for them to participate in the final round.

Looking at the energetic Uchiha Chonhua and his two teammates, the remaining three only hoped they wouldn't be drawn to fight them.

Some were even thinking that they might as well just forfeit...

"Failure is of no consequence. Show your abilities to the fullest; the Chunin Exams are not judged solely by success or defeat..."

Hearing this, the three perked up, a fighting spirit igniting in their eyes.

As long as they didn't lose too miserably, there was still a chance to be promoted to chunin.

Sarutobi Hiruzen finished his speech and handed the proceedings over to the head proctor.

The proctor produced a lottery box and signaled for the candidates to come up and draw.

Uchiha Chonhua drew a slip at random, glanced at the number, and then looked at his teammates' results.

"Oh? Bad luck. It seems we have a civil war."

Uchiha Chonhua raised an eyebrow, looking at Hizashi Hyuga, who had drawn the same number.

Hizashi Hyuga shook his head with a wry smile: "Indeed, bad luck." Immediately, his gaze turned fervent as he looked at Uchiha Chonhua: "I will not forfeit, Chonhua. I want to know my own limits."

He knew he couldn't beat Uchiha Chonhua, but he would not retreat or avoid the fight.

Uchiha Chonhua smiled faintly and nodded: "I look forward to your guidance, Hizashi!"

"Ah!" Tsunade groaned, her face falling as she watched two of her students face off.

Fortunately, promotion to chunin was based on the evaluation and recognition of the Hokage and the proctors present, not merely on victory or defeat.

Otherwise, the bets she had placed at the casino would have gone down the drain the moment this civil war was announced.

"First match, Mikoto Uchiha vs. Nagano Aka!"

"Mikoto, good luck!"

Uchiha Chonhua cheered her on, then headed upstairs with the other examinees, leaving the arena to the two combatants.

Nagano Aka took a deep breath, his expression tense and guarded.

His opponent was a member of the Uchiha clan, a name famous in his ears; even if she was a dainty girl, he dared not underestimate her.

Whoosh!

Before the opponent could move, Mikoto Uchiha struck.

She opened with a kunai throw. Seeing this, Nagano Aka immediately gripped his own kunai backhanded to deflect it, then pushed off the ground to attack Mikoto Uchiha.

Mikoto Uchiha remained calm and unhurried, holding a kunai in each hand and throwing them.

Nagano Aka twisted his body to dodge, only to be met by Mikoto Uchiha swinging a short blade down at him.

Chapter 49: Hizashi: Stabbing you, stabbing you!

Nagano Aka scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding the short blade, when he suddenly heard a clinking sound behind him.

Nagano Aka turned his head in confusion, only to see the kunai Mikoto Uchiha had thrown earlier colliding with each other in an unexpected, erratic trajectory.

In the end, the very first kunai thrown was struck, causing it to change direction and head straight for Nagano Aka's back, tip-first.

Nagano Aka's soul nearly left his body. Too embarrassed to care about his dignity, he performed a clumsy, desperate roll, his eyes wide with terror as he panted, watching the kunai embed itself into the ground.

It was close—just a hair's breadth away from being pierced by the kunai.

He forced himself to calm down. Without a moment to catch his breath or recover from the shock, Nagano Aka pulled out a smoke bomb and crushed it, releasing a massive cloud of smoke.

Nagano Aka vanished entirely within the haze.

Mikoto Uchiha formed hand seals with both hands, exhaling a ball of fire that roared toward its target.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

The fireball engulfed the smoke, and with a thunderous boom, it smashed a massive crater into the ground.

Mikoto Uchiha frowned; there was no sign of Nagano Aka within the smoke.

Snap!

At that very moment, the floorboards beneath Mikoto Uchiha shattered, and a hand suddenly emerged to grab her ankle.

Hidden beneath the earth, Nagano Aka felt a surge of joy. Got her! He exerted force with his right hand, intending to drag Mikoto Uchiha down.

But with a dull thud, Nagano Aka's hand grasped only empty air, leaving his expression one of shock.

Missed!?

He scrambled out from the ground, glancing over to see that only smoke remained where Mikoto Uchiha had been standing.

Aside from the smoke, there was also a piece of paper burning on the ground.

"Damn it! An Explosive Tag!?"

Bang!

The explosion caused the entire area to tremble, sending wood splinters flying.

Having dodged the blast with a Substitution Technique, Nagano Aka was drenched in sweat as his eyes darted around, searching for Mikoto Uchiha's figure.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

Mikoto Uchiha's voice rang out abruptly. Nagano Aka looked down in horror; the voice was very close, right beside him.

Yet, nothing around him had changed, save for some wood splinters and gravel... wait!?

Clap! A piece of gravel suddenly transformed into Mikoto Uchiha, her short blade swung out and came to a halt right against Nagano Aka's neck.