Su Zheng's Chunin Trial

Amegakure, Leader's Office.

"Lord Rui, the war with Sunagakure has basically ended. Leader Hanzo will be returning to the village soon. We won!" A ninja from the Intelligence Department happily reported on the situation at the front.

"Mm." Kaiyu Rui, seated in the leader's chair, waved a hand to signal for him to leave.

The chunin happily left the office. He had to share this news with everyone—the war that had lasted over a month was finally coming to an end!

Kaiyu Rui sat in his chair, smoking. After thinking for a long while, he said, "Immediately halt all dispatched missions and wrap things up. Hanzo is coming back!"

"Yes, my lord!"

A trusted ninja appeared, then vanished at once.

The Land of Rain had two major clans: the Gray Rain Clan and the Hizume Clan. The Gray Rain Clan was the backbone of Amegakure, and the previous leader had been a ninja of the Gray Rain Clan.

Hanzo had originally existed as a "weapon," but no one had expected him to become a powerhouse of his generation, gradually slipping beyond the Gray Rain Clan's control. Since his rise, he had steadily severed ties with the Gray Rain Clan.

Now, most of Amegakure's ninja had been trained by Hanzo. This had weakened the Gray Rain Clan's power, naturally leaving them dissatisfied.

As for the Hizume Clan, it was the maternal clan of the Daimyo. Its strength had also been drastically reduced under Hanzo's control, so naturally, it wanted nothing more than to get rid of him.

Su Zheng's escort mission had also been part of the plan. By killing Su Zheng, Hanzo's beloved nephew, and pinning it on Sunagakure, they had intended to make the two sides fight. Yet Su Zheng's strength had forced them back instead.

Kaiyu Rui narrowed his eyes, reconsidering the feasibility of the plan. His face looked all the more gloomy beneath the veil of smoke.

Su Zheng knew nothing of these people's dark schemes. He only trained diligently, preparing for the upcoming war with Konoha.

Over the past few days, just as he had expected, his Sharingan had evolved into Two Tomoe, and he felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Su Zheng had a premonition: perhaps his Sharingan was not affected by his bloodline at all. When he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, perhaps he would not gradually go blind with use like the Uchiha Clan. Could this be what a true Sharingan was supposed to be?

He shook his head. It was still far too early. Why think so much about it now?

He had already heard the news yesterday: "The war is over. Lord Hanzo will be returning soon!"

He had matters to attend to today and needed to arrange everything in advance.

After breakfast, Su Zheng left the two girls at home and headed out.

When he arrived at Shota's house, Shota's parents had already gone out, leaving only him sleeping in.

"Hey, Shota, get up already. The sun's on your ass!" Su Zheng patted Shota's drooling face.

"Mmm..." Shota was still groggy. He rubbed his eyes, sat up, and responded, "Oh, it's A Zheng. What is it? Did you need something?"

"Did you know? Our war with Sunagakure is over, and Lord Hanzo will be back in the village soon!"

"Oh, I know. Everyone in the village knew yesterday."

Remembering something, Shota said happily, "A Zheng, you have no idea—Maki kissed me yesterday!"

He immediately wore an intoxicated expression and responded, "That was my first kiss. You have no idea what it felt like. Heh heh heh..."

Su Zheng froze on the spot. He had originally wanted to tell Shota that he planned to go to the battlefield, so that his good friend would not resent him for keeping it secret.

But at that moment, he suddenly realized that Shota and Maki did not harbor any deep hatred toward ninja from other countries, nor did they possess some overwhelming drive. Perhaps they should live like ordinary people, pursue love and such, rather than be swept into a ninja's tragedy.

Perhaps all along, he had been forcing them to keep pace with him—to train hard and protect the Land of Rain. But what did they themselves want? Su Zheng's thoughts became unsettled.

"A Zheng, what's wrong?" Shota called out as he watched Su Zheng stare blankly into space.

"Oh, it's nothing. Congratulations on taking your relationship another step forward."

"I just came by to see you. I'll head back now."

"Oh, okay."

After leaving Shota's house, Su Zheng wavered. Had he unknowingly forced them to follow in his footsteps, even demanded that they help him fulfill his dreams?

Watching the drizzle fall, Su Zheng found his answer.

"What? You want to apply for the chunin examination?" Kaiyu Rui looked at Su Zheng in surprise.

Hanzo would be back soon. Why was he applying to become a chunin at a time like this? Did he have some purpose?

"Yes, my lord. I believe I am qualified to advance to chunin."

"Very well, I approve. Prepare for the chunin trial, then!"

"Yes!" Su Zheng turned and left the office, heading toward the trial grounds.

Kaiyu Rui looked at the empty room, his thoughts racing. Su Zheng's promotion to chunin should have nothing to do with Hanzo's return to the village. Their plan had already been halted, so there was no way they could have found any traces. Besides, he was only a chunin—he had even injured Shinmura before.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Kaiyu Rui still decided to see Su Zheng's true strength for himself and assess how much of a threat he posed. The plan could not afford any mistakes.

At the trial grounds, word had spread that Amegakure's genius—Su Zheng—was taking his promotion examination. Even ninja who had been working came out to watch. Figures filled the stands as they discussed and analyzed the coming battle.

"How many chunin do you think Su Zheng can defeat this time?" one ninja asked.

"How many? Doesn't he only need to defeat one chunin to advance?" a young ninja asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"You don't know about this?" A young jonin hurriedly cut in. Only after everyone's attention focused on him did he clear his throat and explain.

"Amegakure isn't like those major villages, where the chunin examinations test intelligence analysis, survival, combat, and other subjects. We only need to defeat one chunin."

A ninja impatiently asked, "What does that have to do with what you said? You still haven't explained why there would be multiple opponents!"

Seeing everyone's impatience, he stopped showing off and answered, "A genius like Su Zheng can't be treated the same as an ordinary ninja. So there is a rule to test future potential: the more opponents one defeats while advancing to chunin, the greater one's future achievements will be!"

Seeing the fiery looks in everyone's eyes, the young jonin quickly continued, "The highest record was set by Lord Hanzo: defeating three chunin. Second place belongs to Lord Kaiyu Rui today, who fought three chunin to a draw. Since then, there has been no record of anyone fighting three chunin!"

"So Lord Hanzo could defeat three chunin even as a genin. That's incredible!"

"Yeah, as expected of our leader, the 'Demigod' of the ninja world."

"Then how many chunin do you think Su Zheng can defeat?"

"I think two is his limit." A gloomy-looking ninja spoke up.

"No, I think he can fight three. Don't forget the record he achieved before!"

That was right. When escorting supplies before, their team had encountered a Sunagakure squad—one jonin and three chunin—yet they had still defeated Sunagakure.

"Did you see it yourself?" the gloomy ninja shot back.

"I..." The other ninja was stunned.

No one had seen it. Who knew whether Hanzo had fabricated the story to protect his nephew?

With those words, the discussion became even more heated.

Before long, it was time for the answer to be revealed. The gates on both sides opened, and Su Zheng faced two chunin.

"He's out! There are only two opponents?" Seeing the two chunin standing opposite Su Zheng and forming the Seal of Confrontation, the ninja who had guessed wrong looked somewhat disappointed.

"See? I told you two was his limit." The gloomy chunin was overjoyed, as though he had won some grand prize.

The young jonin merely frowned at the two ninja below, remaining silent.

A light rain fell over the field. The referee ninja glanced at both sides, waved a hand, and leaped to the edge of the arena.

"Begin!"

As though it were a starting pistol, the moment the sound ended, the two standing chunin, Kawachi and Yamashita, moved at once and charged Su Zheng.

Su Zheng seemed frozen, standing motionless in place. Kawachi was incredibly fast, and when he made contact with Su Zheng's body, a smug expression appeared on his face.

But that person dissolved into splashing water amid the rain.

"We've been tricked! Fall back!" Realizing what had happened, the two swiftly retreated.

"Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spear!"

Dozens of sharp stone pillars erupted from the ground, swiftly impaling the two men!

Likewise, the two dissolved into splashing water and vanished in the rain.

The sight made everyone widen their eyes in shock. They had not seen when any of them had formed water clones.

Kaiyu Rui sat atop the high platform, his eyes shifting slightly. "This boy has extremely rich combat experience."