"What? I still have to take the Chunin Exams?"
Genichi could hardly believe it when he was summoned to the Hokage's office first thing in the morning.
"Heh heh. With your strength and your contributions to the village, it would be only natural for you to become a Jonin." Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of his grand-disciple's outstanding performance on the battlefield and took a deep drag from his pipe before slowly explaining, "But the village has never promoted a Genin directly to Jonin. And you're only thirteen this year, aren't you? You're still so young. Pass the Chunin Exams first, and then I'll promote you directly to 'Konoha Jonin' based on your contributions on the battlefield."
"Doesn't that sound much better? Your classmates and teammates will be taking the exams too. Once Mikoto Uchiha and Hyuga Hana pass, I'll promote them to 'Special Jōnin' as well."
"Well, if there's no other choice, I'll take the exams." Genichi still felt a little helpless. He could kill ordinary Jonin with ease, yet he was still a Genin.
"Heh heh. Don't worry about the trouble. The person in charge of this exam is none other than your teacher, Orochimaru," the Third Hokage added with a smile.
At this time, Orochimaru was still Sarutobi Hiruzen's most outstanding student. Knowing full well just how dark Root was, Sarutobi Hiruzen had appointed Orochimaru to oversee the Chunin Exams as a way of making it up to him and winning people over.
"I'll return like a bolt of lightning," Genichi promised strangely, thinking to himself, This is in the bag. It's a fish-farming match, and even the examiner's one of ours. I have no idea how I could possibly lose.
To show that despite having endured war, the village still had a powerful foundation and an abundance of talent, with new talent always on the rise, the Chunin Exams were held on an exceptionally grand scale, attracting the attention of both the villagers and the Konoha Ninja.
"Genichi, please give it everything you've got. I want to know how much of a gap there is between us now," Minato said earnestly, making a request outside the exam venue.
Genichi put his hands behind his back, lifted his head, and gazed up at the sky at a 45-degree angle. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in a calm tone.
"Oh? Minato, do you want to see me at my full strength too?"
The first test was a written exam. It was a straightforward theory test, not an intelligence-gathering exercise.
"Why did things turn out like this? How did it all come to this?"
Looking at the bizarre questions on the test paper, Genichi was close to losing his mind.
When he'd first entered the Ninja Academy as a first-year student, his memories from his previous life, combined with paying attention in class, had been enough to earn him full marks without breaking a sweat. He'd easily taken first place and become the academy's top student.
Later, though, he'd focused all his attention on improving his strength and stopped caring about the increasingly complicated classes at school, which had little practical value.
Now he was paying the price. The things he hadn't learned at school had come back to haunt him in the exam room.
What angle and force should he use to throw a Shuriken? And how could he account for wind speed to accurately hit a moving target?
What proper ninja even used Shuriken? Did Hashirama? What about Madara Uchiha? Did he?
Suppose an Earth Release ninja had 100 units of chakra and naturally recovered 2 units per minute. The ninja was required to build a 100-meter bridge. Ninjutsu One could create a 15-meter-long section of bridge at the cost of 30 chakra, while Ninjutsu Two could create a 10-meter-long section at the cost of 22 chakra. How quickly could the ninja complete the task, and exactly how should he do it?
Recalling all the test-taking tricks he'd learned over the years, guessing and reasoning his way through the questions, Genichi managed to scrape by and pass the first round of the theory exam. Thank goodness for exam-focused education! Thank goodness for Teacher Orochimaru!
The second test still assessed wilderness survival and teamwork. Candidates were divided into teams of three and randomly given either a "Heaven" or "Earth" Scroll. Teams that gathered both the "Heaven" and "Earth" Scrolls and reached the tower at the center of the Forest of Death would pass.
After the first test, Genichi was in a bad mood, so he had Hana use her Byakugan to randomly pick a lucky team. They got lucky: the team had both a "Heaven" and an "Earth" Scroll. They headed straight for the tower and became the first team to pass.
Genichi didn't wait by the entrance to ambush anyone. Since he was already preparing to run for Hokage, he made sure to maintain his image. He didn't intend to do anything so undignified that could easily make enemies of people.
The final test was once again the classic one-on-one elimination tournament. Candidates were paired off by random draw and fought until a champion was crowned. The examiners would judge each candidate's performance throughout the tournament and select those who had qualified to become Chunin.
Minato Namikaze was far stronger than he had been in the original story. Not only did he have a rival to push him, but he also trained harder than before. What's more, he had already mastered the Rasengan—a technique he should only have developed after becoming a Jonin and spending three years researching it with Jiraiya.
Even the invincible Minato eventually fell. Still young, he failed to overcome the genjutsu of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and was cut down by Mikoto Uchiha. He never got the chance to face Genichi at the peak of their abilities.
The final was Mikoto Uchiha versus Chiba Genichi. As expected, Genichi won.
Watching his student effortlessly defeat his opponent, looking youthful and full of energy, Orochimaru was deeply pleased. He slowly walked onto the stage, took out the Chunin certificate, the Special Jōnin certificate, and the Jonin certificate, and handed them all to Genichi.
He declared, "Compared to Chiba Genichi, no one else is outstanding enough."
Sarutobi Hiruzen led the applause from the stands. A wave of applause swept through the venue, and soon it was filled with laughter and cheers.
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