Crushing and Raking (Seeking Follow-up Reads on Tuesday!)

The first round of the written exam was simple for Genma; his knowledge base was vast, arguably at the level of a jonin.

He finished the exam and handed in his paper in half an hour, which made Uchiha Obito, who was biting his pen and struggling in deep thought, quite envious.

"Sigh, if only I had studied seriously."

Uchiha Obito sighed to himself in regret.

After leaving the exam hall, Genma thought for a moment before creating a shadow clone to activate the Wood Release Chakra Mode.

He knew that ordinary Sensory Ninjutsu would certainly not be able to find White Zetsu.

But the Wood Release Chakra Mode might be a different story.

After all, White Zetsu was a plant-based being!

Once the Wood Release Chakra Mode was activated, the Genma clone immediately used the Transformation Technique to turn into a crow and flew toward the vicinity of the Uchiha clan's residential area.

He did not enter the Uchiha clan's territory; the Sharingan could see chakra, and while his Transformation Technique could hide his chakra from ordinary Sensory Ninjutsu, it would absolutely not fool ocular techniques like the Sharingan or Byakugan that could see chakra directly.

One had to admit that White Zetsu's Transformation Technique was indeed formidable, as even the Byakugan could not see through it.

The crow landed on a large tree, and while its eyes watched the Uchiha compound, its sensory perception spread out accordingly.

Genma sensed with extreme caution, striving for the most precise perception possible.

However, even as his chakra was nearly exhausted, he still did not detect the presence of White Zetsu.

Perhaps it had already hidden itself, or perhaps it wasn't monitoring the Uchiha clan at all.

Having returned home, Genma felt slightly disappointed after receiving the memory feedback from his clone.

"If Uchiha Madara really isn't monitoring the Uchiha clan, then Uchiha Obito becoming Madara's pawn might truly be a coincidence."

Following this line of thought, Genma couldn't help but ponder: "If not for Uchiha Obito, would Uchiha Madara have specifically sought out an Uchiha to serve as his substitute after death, to monitor and guide Nagato to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan?"

"But since the Rinnegan is with Nagato, he should have been the first choice; otherwise, the Rinnegan should have been transplanted into a suitable Uchiha."

"The Battle of Kannabi Bridge really is a massive turning point of fate."

Genma sighed to himself.

Unfortunately, the Battle of Kannabi Bridge was something he could hardly change with any certainty.

Or rather, even if he replaced Kakashi's team to carry out the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, there was no guarantee that Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and the others wouldn't just repeat the original timeline in a different battle.

"However, although the current Kakashi didn't graduate early and didn't become a chunin at age 6, his strength is definitely much greater than it was at the same period in the original timeline."

Putting aside these many thoughts, Genma stopped dwelling on them and continued to absorb knowledge on the Sealing Technique.

In terms of the entire ninja system, the Sealing Technique is very, very unique.

It could even be said that it is one of the few ninja system powers capable of dealing with the Otsutsuki.

He had to learn it; he would fiercely modify the settings in the future!

Three days later.

The second round of the Chunin Exams, the team battles, began.

This was completely different from the Chunin Exams in Naruto's era; the team battles were similar to arena matches.

It was just held in a training ground with no audience, where teams drew lots and fought in turns according to a set schedule.

At 2:00 PM, outside the training ground, Genma and his team saw their opponents.

"What a coincidence!"

Genma raised an eyebrow imperceptibly. The opponents facing them were none other than Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Tobitake Tonbo, who had bandages wrapped around his head, his eyes seemingly obscured if one didn't look closely, and his ninja headband worn around his neck.

They were all former classmates.

Both sides exchanged greetings and then entered the exam area together.

At the examiner's signal, both sides lined up about a dozen meters apart.

On Genma's side, Yamashiro Aoba was at the front, with Genma and Shizune side-by-side behind him.

Opposite them, Sarutobi Asuma was at the front, with Yuhi Kurenai and Tobitake Tonbo side-by-side, all in a triangular formation.

Seeing that both sides were ready, the examiner raised the triangular flag in his hand and then swung it down.

Start!

Yamashiro Aoba immediately formed hand seals, while Sarutobi Asuma charged forward. Tobitake Tonbo raised his hand to throw shuriken to cover Sarutobi Asuma, then followed him in the assault.

Meanwhile, Yuhi Kurenai formed hand seals, and her figure rapidly vanished from the eyes of Genma and the others.

It was a genjutsu!

Genma raised his hand and threw shuriken to intercept Tobitake Tonbo's, simultaneously activating his own genjutsu.

Demonic Illusion: Spider Bind!

Sarutobi Asuma, who was charging in for the kill, was caught in the technique, his body suddenly falling forward as if it were made of wood.

"Not good, it's the Binding Technique."

Sarutobi Asuma realized he had been caught and immediately tried to dispel the genjutsu, but he found it completely impossible to do so.

Tobitake Tonbo was startled from behind, never expecting Sarutobi Asuma to be taken down in a single exchange.

Just as he raised his hands to weave signs and dispel the genjutsu, Yamashiro Aoba's Great Fireball Technique came whistling toward him.

He had no choice but to use the Body Flicker Technique to dodge.

After Genma dealt with Sarutobi Asuma using a genjutsu, his figure flashed and appeared behind Shizune, reaching out to grab the neck of Yuhi Kurenai, who had been sneaking over under the cover of a genjutsu.

BOOM!

The ground exploded. Yuhi Kurenai was pinned to the floor by Genma, her head buzzing and her entire body going limp, unable to muster any strength.

The examiner watched this scene unfold, his eyelids twitching: This guy really doesn't know how to be gentle with the ladies!

He did not know, however, that Genma had already held back eighty percent of his strength.

Had he used his full power, Yuhi Kurenai's neck would have snapped.

Releasing the dazed Yuhi Kurenai, Genma turned his head to see Yamashiro Aoba and Tobitake Tonbo locked in combat.

In this taijutsu duel, the gap between them was small, and neither could secure a victory in the short term.

Genma acted immediately, augmenting himself with Lightning Flicker to easily take down Tobitake Tonbo.

"Team Sakumo, victory!"

The examiner waved his flag to announce the result.

Shizune hurried over to wake Yuhi Kurenai, while Genma dispelled the genjutsu on Sarutobi Asuma.

Climbing up from the ground, Sarutobi Asuma's face flushed slightly: "Genma, I didn't expect your genjutsu to be even more formidable than Yuhi Kurenai's."

Being taken out in one move by a peer was a first for him.

Genma smiled: "You just didn't know enough about me."

Caught off guard, even a jonin like Hatake Sakumo would be unable to break free from his genjutsu.

It was worth noting that while Hatake Sakumo might not have been a master of casting genjutsu, his ability to dispel them was exceptionally strong.

Sarutobi Asuma shook his head with a bitter smile: "The gap in our strength is simply too vast."

Yuhi Kurenai walked over, not blaming Genma for his rough handling, but instead saying in shock: "Genma, your strength is too great; it's not something someone our age should possess."

Shizune explained from the side: "Genma has mastered Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred."

Yuhi Kurenai realized, then said: "I hope to face you again in the third round and spar with you on genjutsu."

Genma nodded in agreement: "If there's an opportunity, no problem."

And so, the second round came to an end.

The two teams left, yielding the arena to the others.

Just as they stepped out, they saw Kakashi and Nohara Rin waiting.

"Kakashi, Rin!"

Genma greeted them with a smile, then thought for a moment and said to Yamashiro Aoba and the others: "You guys go ahead, I want to watch Kakashi and the others' battle."

At his words, Shizune and Yamashiro Aoba both chose to stay and watch.