The second stage of the Chunin Exam ended swiftly, and the Kimimaro Squad successfully advanced to the third stage.
The Iwagakure and Kumogakure squads had been eliminated. None of the remaining squads could pose any trouble for the Kimimaro Squad.
Nor did the Kimimaro Squad block the only route to completing the test and eliminate every squad, as they had during the Jonin Exam years ago.
Doing something like that once was enough.
If this exam had been held in Konoha, Ye Ning might have asked Kimimaro to eliminate every last squad. But since this exam was being hosted by Iwagakure, they had to give the other ninja villages at least a little face.
There was a full half-month break between the second and third stages, which meant Ye Ning and the others would have to remain in Iwagakure for another half month.
Originally, Ye Ning had intended to take Tsunade around Iwagakure and experience the village's local customs.
However...
As they wandered around, Tsunade plunged headfirst into one of Iwagakure's casinos.
To keep Tsunade from gambling away the more than two hundred million ryo they had painstakingly taken from the various ninja villages, Ye Ning had no choice but to accompany her and sweep through the casino.
More precisely, Tsunade lost money in every imaginable fashion, while he bet against her and reeled back in everything she lost.
Ten days passed like that.
On the eleventh day, someone Ye Ning had expected came knocking.
It was none other than Deidara, unable to accept his defeat.
Ye Ning had thought this guy would come looking for them much sooner. He had not expected him to delay for a full ten days.
It seemed Deidara's injuries from the second stage had been rather serious.
"Hey! You Konoha bastards, bring out that