Naruto: Saving the Uchiha from the Plunder System Chapter 37

Aside from the area where Uchiha Mirai was, nearly everywhere else had been affected.

Inside the monitoring room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shinku Yuhi, Minato Namikaze, and the other Jonin instructors all wore shocked expressions.

"Shinku, your student is truly perceptive."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a complicated expression.

He had personally set the rules for this Chunin Exam.

He had even designed many trials that he considered quite interesting.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally been rather pleased with his own design, but he had never expected Uchiha Mirai to see through his intentions in such a short time.

Recalling Shimura Danzō's earlier warning, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Had he really raised a tiger that would one day bring disaster upon him?

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly laughed at himself. Danzō really had influenced him too much.

He had turned Konoha into an impregnable fortress. A mere Uchiha could never stir up any trouble!

"Senior Shinku is truly fortunate to have such a worry-free student."

Minato Namikaze also smiled as he praised him.

After spending so much time together, he had also grown quite fond of Uchiha Mirai.

"Hehe..."

Faced with everyone's teasing, Shinku Yuhi felt a jumble of emotions.

Good, my ass. That brat was about to steal away his daughter.

The thought that the scarf Kurenai Yuhi had stayed up all night knitting was not for him made this old father feel as though his heart were bleeding.

Ding ding ding!

A burst of urgent ringing sounded as several masked Anbu ninja entered the classroom.

"Quiet!"

Following the low shout, the classroom gradually fell silent.

"Now, anyone without a seat must leave the classroom immediately."

"What?!"

Hearing the Anbu's demand, all the standing ninja cried out in shock.

Leave the classroom?

Did that mean their qualifications for the exam had been revoked?

"Why should we leave the classroom?"

"We clearly had seats. They were just taken from us by others."

"If we have no seats, isn't that because your arrangements were unreasonable? Why should we bear the consequences?"

Faced with the crowd's questions, the several Anbu released undisguised killing intent.

"These are the rules. If you don't want to have your examination qualifications permanently revoked, leave at once."

The cold tone caused the indignant Genin to fall silent.

They knew that these Anbu, who answered directly to the Third Hokage, were not joking with them.

Everyone turned their gazes toward the window seats in the back row.

There, Uchiha Mirai sat in his seat with his arms crossed and a calm expression, as though he had anticipated all of this long ago.

This guy... had he thought of this from the start, which was why he had moved to seize a seat?

The gazes everyone directed at Uchiha Mirai were filled with fear.

To notice this hidden rule the very moment he entered the exam hall—his insight was far too terrifying!

Some of the ninja sitting in seats wore relieved expressions. If they had not figured it out beforehand, they would be the ones losing their qualifications now, wouldn't they?

The others who had lost their qualifications wore regretful expressions.

Just moments ago, they had been condemning Uchiha Mirai's overbearing behavior, only to realize that they themselves were the clowns.

He had clearly revealed the solution at the very beginning, yet they had chosen to ignore it out of ignorance and arrogance.

If they had figured it out sooner, they would not have ended up like this.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for anything now.

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Uchiha Mirai with sparkling eyes. She knew it—there had to be some special meaning behind Mirai's actions.

And now, it had indeed proven to be so.

Asuma Sarutobi, meanwhile, lowered his head in disappointment.

Although he had not embarrassed himself through impulsiveness this time, he still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He felt miserable every day he spent in Konoha.

Perhaps...

Leaving Konoha would be a good choice.

Once the examination room had quieted down, the Anbu ninja took up positions in the four corners.

The Anbu ninja standing at the podium swept out a hand.

"Alright, the first round of the Chunin Exams officially begins!"

An Unheard-of Way to Pass

After briefly introducing the rules, the Anbu handed out the pre-printed test papers.

The rules were simple. As long as one earned a passing score, one could advance to the next round of the assessment.

Uchiha Mirai picked up the test paper and glanced over it, finding that it was filled with very basic questions.

For example, the nature of Chakra, the meridian pathways within the human body, how to perform ninjutsu, and so on.

Only the final two major questions concerned Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta, and answering them required a certain breadth of knowledge.

"Compared to the Chunin Exam overseen by Morino Ibiki that the Konoha Twelve took, this is ridiculously easy."

"It seems... that in an era of war, the theoretical knowledge required of ninja was far more lenient."

Uchiha Mirai finished the test in a very short time.

He swept his gaze across the examination room and found that everyone looked relaxed, as though they felt no pressure at all.

Soon, the examination time came to an end.

The proctoring Anbu graded the papers on the spot. In the end, only five people were eliminated for failing.

Only two were eliminated for cheating.

This showed just how ordinary the difficulty of this test truly was.

"Candidates who passed, gather at the Forest of Death in three days."

After providing some information about the next exam, the Anbu ninja left with the test papers.

The first round of the Chunin Exams had ended.

After lying dormant for some time, Uchiha Mirai's name once again entered people's sight.

Three days later.

Outside the Forest of Death.

After signing liability waivers, the ninja teams participating in the Chunin Exams each received one of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls.

This exam was conducted by team. As long as a team gathered both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and successfully entered the central tower, they would pass.

The Forest of Death was filled with savage beasts and poisonous insects, and its harsh environment could easily prove fatal if one was careless.

Moreover, in order to simulate the brutal conditions of the battlefield, this assessment permitted teams to use any means necessary to win and slaughter one another.

Of course, if a team chose to surrender by handing over their scrolls before being killed, the other teams were not allowed to continue attacking them.

Such brutal rules made every candidate's expression grave.

Except for Uchiha Mirai's team.

Nearly every team had reached the same understanding.

If they encountered Uchiha Mirai's team, they could only consider themselves unlucky.

Noon.

The various ninja teams entered the Forest of Death through different entrances.

The second round of the Chunin Exams officially began!

Forest of Death.

Since it was the middle of winter, the area was filled with bare tree trunks and withered yellow vines.

Compared to spring and summer, it was difficult to find suitable hiding places in the Forest of Death at this time of year.

Furthermore, it had snowed not long ago, leaving the ground blanketed in white.

Hiding one's tracks was almost impossible.

"Mirai, what's the plan?"

After observing the surrounding environment, Kurenai Yuhi habitually sought Uchiha Mirai's opinion.

Uchiha Mirai gestured ahead. "Head straight for the central tower."

"Huh?"

Kurenai Yuhi was somewhat confused. "But if we can't gather the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, we still won't be able to pass even if we reach the central tower."

"We'll run into other teams along the way," Uchiha Mirai patiently explained. "If we don't, then we'll wait at the entrance to the central tower and catch whoever comes."

"Any team that reaches the central tower will definitely have gathered the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. If we take them, we'll pass too."

Hearing Uchiha Mirai's words, Kurenai Yuhi's mouth fell open in shock.

You could do it like that?

After thinking it over carefully, she realized it actually made a lot of sense.

If it were any other team, this method would probably be completely impractical.

After all... guarding the entrance to the central tower would likely make them a target for everyone.

But their team was different!

With Mirai's strength, there was no need to worry about something like that at all.

"Asuma, do you have any objections?"

Uchiha Mirai turned to Asuma Sarutobi.

"I'm fine with anything. You decide."

Looking at the silent Asuma Sarutobi, Uchiha Mirai was somewhat puzzled.

He did not know whether it was just his imagination, but ever since the first Chunin Exam, Asuma seemed to have become somewhat dejected.

Still, he had no interest in digging too deeply into the affairs of this Hokage's rebellious son.