Pre-Exam Preparations

The eight-month confinement period finally came to an end. The first thing Kanna did upon returning home was to read an intelligence file that the village had issued to Kanna Tokiomi.

Kanna's efforts and progress had already gained Tokiomi's recognition. Furthermore, his performance in dealing with the Security Force and the clans some time ago was quite commendable, so he agreed to let his son begin contact with the village's affairs. After all, the contents of this file could hardly be called classified; it was a cold case circulating throughout the ninja world.

The Third Kazekage of Sunagakure, known as the strongest Kazekage in history, had gone missing mysteriously in August, his life or death unknown! Sunagakure had mobilized a vast amount of manpower and resources but failed to find any trace of the Third Kazekage. For a time, the people of Sunagakure were gripped by panic, and the political situation began to show signs of instability.

Kanna, of course, knew the truth: Sasori of the Red Sand, a genius of puppetry from Sunagakure, had been forced to defect from the village last year after being discovered developing forbidden techniques. After completing his own transformation into a puppet in the outside world, he had snuck back into the village, assassinated the Third, and would later transform his corpse into the strongest human puppet in history.

Kanna had originally intended to participate in this event, but since he couldn't find an entry point, he let it go. It was a pity, but it didn't matter much.

The disappearance of the Third Kazekage served as a reminder to Kanna. First, his own strength was still far from enough. At this time, Sasori of the Red Sand was only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet he already possessed the strength to defeat the strongest Kazekage in history. Moreover, it was worth noting that in this unknown battle, there were quite a few factors working against Sasori—such as infiltrating the enemy camp alone and his puppetry being countered by the Third's Magnet Release. Even so, the Third Kazekage couldn't even call for help or escape, which showed just how far Sasori's strength had reached.

Furthermore, the most important point was that the disappearance of the Third Kazekage meant that the Third Great Ninja War was not far off. This was a massive, large-scale conflict that would surpass the previous two wars, affecting almost every country and village in the world. Except for the Land of Iron, which claimed permanent neutrality, no one could stay out of it!

According to the original story, Kirigakure entered the war in the middle stages, only to be repeatedly suppressed by the Land of Fire and end up in a crushing defeat. To put it in one phrase: they tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it.

Regarding the Third War, Kanna had only one thought: the plan to seize the perfect flesh cells. Everything else was secondary. As for the final outcome, it would depend on fate.

However, before that, there was one more thing to do. It was now the end of November in the 44th year of the Konoha calendar. This year's Chunin Exams in September had long since ended, but Kanna could participate in the exams next March.

Before the outbreak of the Third War and Kirigakure's entry into it, if Kanna remained a Genin, no matter how strong he was, he would only be able to follow the orders of his superiors. A Chunin, however, was qualified to be a squad leader and possessed a certain degree of freedom of action. A Jonin could command local battles and oversee the big picture. As for the Mizukage, unless the Land of Fire fought all the way overseas and invaded the Land of Water, they would absolutely not be deployed.

Kanna didn't need to think about the Jonin level for the time being. This rank wasn't something one could reach just by having strength; ability, philosophy, personality, combat records, and contributions were all factors in the evaluation. Unless it was a special period like wartime, where the higher-ups had enough grassroots support to ignore the opposition of some, or the village was in urgent need of promoting a few representatives to boost morale, it was out of the question.

There was another piece of news that greatly gratified Kanna: after nearly a year of struggle, the higher-ups of Kirigakure finally took a step back and produced a new set of regulations. Starting this year, the graduation exam for the Kirigakure Ninja Academy would be greatly simplified. Under the supervision of teachers, students only needed to demonstrate the skills taught at the academy, and they would pass upon meeting the requirements; in principle, there would be no accidental casualties. As for the Chunin Exams, in addition to the joint exams with multiple countries, the three-man team system was no longer strictly required. The exams would be divided into written tests and practical combat, with the latter being the focus, accounting for 70% of the score.

This system was undoubtedly copied from Konoha. Of course, the national conditions were different, so the difficulty of the exams in Kirigakure would be slightly higher than in Konoha. As for the specific results, it would only be clear once it was put into practice, but it was certain that the number of Genin and Chunin promoted in Kirigakure each year would increase.

The name Momochi Zabuza was mentioned once again; he was the culprit behind the reform of the Kirigakure exams, a genius whose reputation was a mix of praise and criticism.

Four months later would be the first Chunin Exam after Kirigakure's initial reforms. Kanna believed that there would be two situations: either people would choose to wait and see, resulting in few participants, or those full of confidence in the village would scramble to join. However, he didn't care at all. In any case, there would only be a few elites, and Kanna was already prepared to sweep the field and succeed in his promotion on the first attempt.

After Kanna Tokiomi learned of his son's intentions, he originally planned to set aside some time to give him special training or ask a Jonin to provide guidance, but Kanna refused. It was just a Chunin Exam; with his ninjutsu, even if his experience wasn't fully sufficient, it was unlikely that any accidents would occur. It wasn't the World Martial Arts Tournament where only one person could win, so some normal pointers would be enough.

The only thing limiting Kanna was that his "Highland" could currently only accommodate one ninjutsu. For this precious, singular slot, the super-strong ninjutsu Shinra Tensei, which combined both offense and defense, was the undisputed choice. He had not yet mastered other S-rank ninjutsu, so he couldn't cast them on his own—though, of course, they wouldn't be needed for practical combat at the Chunin Exam level. As for other ninjutsu, with the personal experience gained from the "Highland" and the help of the perfect chakra circulation system built within his body, Kanna's learning speed far exceeded that of ordinary people. He could fully focus on selecting a few to practice and learn before the Chunin Exams.

Time passed bit by bit, and Kanna was also preparing for the exam items with all his might. Fortunately, the "Kanna" from before his transmigration had been quite diligent at the academy, and his basic skills were solid, so he had inherited and initially mastered some basic ninja knowledge. However, the Chunin Exams often involved theoretical questions at the Chunin level; Kanna didn't force himself—as long as he passed the written test, that was enough.

In the first month, he practiced the Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms daily, mastering the sixty-four variations one by one. Although he couldn't precisely execute the sixteen variations of the pressure point and meridian-blocking styles without the assistance of the Byakugan, he had no problems with the other palm techniques targeting joints, muscles, vital points, and centers of gravity. He could be considered to have officially entered the gate.

At the same time, Kanna converted his lottery opportunities for the month into three B-rank and one C-rank, obtaining the following ninjutsu.

B-rank ninjutsu: Summoning Jutsu, Shadow Possession Jutsu, Water Style: Water Cannonball. C-rank ninjutsu: Water Style: Syrup Capture Field.

The Summoning Jutsu was not needed for the time being, and the Shadow Possession Jutsu was the signature technique of the Nara clan in Konoha, so the only ones he could use were the latter two.

The chakra control techniques required for Water Style: Water Cannonball were "Circle" and "Stability," both of which happened to be Kanna's strengths. As for the Syrup Capture Field, it was a low-level Water Style. "Syrup" was a sticky liquid substance made by heating and fermenting maltose with tapioca starch. This was a binding ninjutsu that transformed water into syrup; it wasn't difficult, and Kanna learned it successfully.

In the second month, Kanna began to try controlling his bones to grow between his muscles and skin. Because the Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya clan was quite famous, it was currently a Bloodline Limit that couldn't be seen in public, so he had to treat this lethal move as a defensive technique. Bloodline Limits were innate abilities of ninjas, and some could be mastered naturally without practice by the possessor. Thus, Kanna didn't spend much effort to complete this bone membrane. After testing, it could perfectly block the physical damage of ordinary sharp and blunt weapons. As for other high-end Shikotsumyaku techniques, they remained to be developed.

In addition, Kanna followed his old routine, drawing one B-rank ninjutsu every nine days, and finally a C-rank ninjutsu for the last three days. The results were as follows.

B-rank ninjutsu: Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Wall, Ninjutsu: Ink Flow, Secret Technique: Shadow Stitching Jutsu. C-rank ninjutsu: Earth Style: Earth Flow Divide.

His luck didn't seem very good this time. None of these techniques were what Kanna wanted. Even though two of the Earth Style techniques were very useful in combat, given Kanna's life experience, it was impossible for him to come into contact with these techniques from Iwagakure. Therefore, he had to spend his time studying the White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppets. This technique contained some research on the human body by a master of puppetry, which, when combined with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, was not bad—it could be considered a small consolation.

In the third month, Kanna first studied the Ninjutsu: Exploding Bubble he had drawn previously and, based on some principles involving Explosion Release, made preliminary modifications to it, achieving a level where any water ball could explode. Although these exploding water balls were much worse than those made according to the formal procedure, they could still achieve significant results if used by surprise to hit vital points. It was a gain. After nine days passed, Kanna couldn't wait to draw the first B-rank ninjutsu of the month.

This time, he obtained an incredible technique: the Mayfly Technique!

This was a secret technique of Zetsu, "created" by Madara Uchiha after he obtained the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama. Its effect was to merge one's body with the earth, grass, and trees, and then move at high speed to any place by intervening in the organic networks such as plant roots and underground water currents existing in the ground. During the activation of the ninjutsu, all traces of one's presence were severed; no one would be able to detect the user's presence. It was a quite practical ninjutsu for information gathering, stealth, and escape among mid-level techniques.

However, it was a pity that this technique, on a certain level, belonged to the category of Wood Style, which Kanna could not understand or use at all.

The second B-rank ninjutsu was Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere, a move of the Konoha elder Shimura Danzō. This person was accustomed to hiding behind the scenes and had basically not made a move in front of others since reaching middle age, so this technique could be used, but one had to consider whether there were any seniors in Kirigakure who had witnessed Danzō's combat, which carried a certain risk.

The third B-rank ninjutsu was Desert Suspension, a technique used by Gaara for aerial movement in his daily life, lifting the human body with sand to float in the air. Because it belonged to the power bestowed upon the Jinchuriki by the One-Tail, although it was not a Bloodline Limit, it was not easy to master. Plus, it was unlikely that aerial combat would occur in the Chunin Exams, so he didn't learn it for the time being.

The last C-rank ninjutsu was Wood Style: Cutting Wood, which, like the Mayfly Technique, was a technique he could not analyze on his own and was shelved for future consideration.

By this time, it was already the end of February, and there were only about fifteen days left until the Chunin Exams. Kanna seized the final time to review his taijutsu and conduct low-intensity practical training with his mother. Furthermore, he drew the last B-rank ninjutsu and two C-rank ninjutsu.

B-rank ninjutsu: Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock Technique, a Bloodline Limit technique of the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi. It created high-temperature lava balls with super-strong lethality, but it belonged to the power of a Tailed Beast and could not be used, so it was excluded.

C-rank ninjutsu: Paper Style: Paper Tree, a move of Konan. It used a large amount of paper to disguise itself as a large tree, generally used to protect the leader of the Akatsuki, Nagato. Paper Style did not belong to traditional elemental releases, nor did it belong to a Bloodline Limit; it was a form of using ninja tools, much like Gaara's Sand. It did not change the basic nature of chakra but was a form of attaching chakra to ninja tools and modifying them for ease of use. Of course, Gaara attached chakra to sand, while Paper Style attached it to paper.

After obtaining the specific technique, the Paper Tree technique was not difficult to master, but Kanna felt that he shouldn't need this move in the exam, so he didn't practice it.

In addition, there was a Secret Technique: Insect Wall, a secret technique of the Aburame clan, which required raising insects to use, so Kanna decisively excluded it as well.

With this, Kanna's pre-exam training finally came to an end. The ninjutsu available for use were: S-rank ninjutsu Shinra Tensei, B-rank ninjutsu: Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, Ninjutsu: Exploding Bubble, Water Style: Water Cannonball, C-rank ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Body Flicker (not yet fully supplemented in terms of movement), Water Style: Syrup Capture Field, D-rank ninjutsu: Transformation Technique, Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill, Clone Technique, Shuriken Manipulation Technique, Substitution Technique, Water Ball Technique. And the bone membrane from the Shikotsumyaku. To deal with the Chunin Exams, this was absolutely enough!