Blocking the Gate

After collecting the cards, Chentian found a wooden board, carved the words "Explosive tags within a three-hundred-meter radius" onto it, and planted it beside the corpse.

Then he moved away from the body, found a spot, and began restoring his chakra.

Although the previous battle had ended quickly—almost an instant kill—he had used quite a few ninjutsu.

First there had been the Clone Technique and the Earth Release technique, followed by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave and the three dragons.

Aside from the first two, the latter four were at least B-rank ninjutsu, if not A-rank. Their chakra consumption had been enormous!

Half a day passed like that. As the sun slanted westward and cast down the last rays of sunset, a team finally arrived before the central tower.

This was a team from the Sand Village. They had not taken part in many battles. Relying on powerful detection ninjutsu, they had quickly found their scrolls and made it here.

From a distance, the three of them saw the mangled corpse and immediately became wary.

Only when they drew closer did they see the sign Chentian had set up, leaving them at a loss.

Yet the corpse on the ground told them that what was written on the sign was definitely true!

Just as the three hesitated, a calm voice sounded behind them. "Since you're here, you must have scrolls. Hand them over obediently."

The voice came from directly behind them, startling all three into jumping up. "Who? Who's there?"

Only after they had retreated did they see Chentian. But none of them dared underestimate him now.

Who else could have appeared behind them without making a sound?

Though wary, they did not want to hand over the scrolls they had worked so hard to obtain.

Seeing what they meant, Chentian pointed at the ground beneath their feet. "You're all within the range of the explosive tags right now. If you don't hand them over, I'll set them off."

Hearing that, the three looked down, their faces instantly turning pale. One of the girls said, "I checked. He's telling the truth."

"Throw out the scrolls, and I'll let you leave."

Chentian had no real killing intent toward ninjas outside the bounty exchange. During the Fourth Shinobi War, they would all be on the same side. The more survivors, the better.

The three exchanged glances, then obediently threw out their scrolls.

After picking up the scrolls, Chentian used an almost perfected Body Flicker Technique and appeared behind them before they could react.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three hand chops landed in rapid succession, and the three Sand Village genin fainted spectacularly.

He dragged the three beneath a tree within the explosive tag zone. The men were stripped and hung from the tree, while the women were hung up directly. Every one of them was suspended upside down.

Since the River Crab God was far too formidable, Chentian did not dare go overboard, so he at least left the men their underwear.

After dealing with the three, Chentian created a shadow clone to hunt while he leisurely returned to his original spot.

Before long, the shadow clone returned with a wild chicken. Killing it, plucking it, cleaning out its innards, and roasting it.

After that seamless process, Chentian ate and drank his fill before slowly strolling into the central tower to rest.

As long as he did not voluntarily open the scrolls, he had not passed the test yet. Chentian could continue blocking the gate.

The several jonin examiners inside the tower could only watch helplessly, but there was nothing they could do!

What if they went out to reason with Chentian and got beaten up? They had all seen his strength. They could not beat him!

"Report this to Lord Hokage. If that kid keeps this up, every examinee will be wiped out!"

Gritting his teeth, one of the jonin examiners finally made up his mind.

Just as he was about to leave and report the matter, an adorable little face appeared before him. Yet the voice that followed sent chills through his entire body.

"The outside is covered in explosive tags. If you go out, you'll be blown to pieces without even a corpse left behind!"

After saying that casually, Chentian returned to where he had been resting and fell sound asleep once more.

He wanted to end the Chunin Exams in one go. How could he let them interrupt him?

"What do we do?" the jonin asked the others helplessly.

Strength did not matter. If it had been anyone else, even someone as strong as Chentian, he absolutely would not have indulged them.

But this guy's background was simply too immense. He could not afford to offend him at all.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha; Minato Namikaze, the Hokage; and Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.

The others might have been manageable, but Tsunade and Kushina would not care about any of that. Anyone who dared bully their child would get beaten up.

And no one could restrain those two.

Beyond that, if he dared lay even a finger on Chentian, the villagers of Konoha would definitely make him commit seppuku!

Chentian was the one who had reformed Konoha. Nearly everyone remembered his kindness. By then, even Lord Hokage probably would not be able to protect him!

Thinking of that, the jonin felt a wave of sorrow.

Bang! Bang!

The next moment, he heard several familiar sounds. When he turned around, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The other four ninjas had already fainted. They had knocked each other unconscious.

"You... You could at least have taken me with you if you were going to pass out!"

He looked at his palm with tears in his eyes. Then, gritting his teeth, he viciously chopped himself in the neck.

The next moment, with a bang, the jonin voiced his silent protest through his actions.

You can threaten my body, but my spirit will never submit—!

Chentian, who had not yet fallen asleep, was dumbfounded. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Was that really necessary? Huh? Was it really that necessary?

Unfortunately, no one could answer him anymore.

Early the next morning, Chentian woke up.

When he got up, he found that the five ninjas who had originally fainted had changed into more comfortable positions. There was even a roasted rabbit beside him.

"Thanks!"

After offering his thanks and seeing that the five showed no reaction, Chentian's mouth twitched.

They were putting on quite a convincing act. Weren't they afraid he would fall asleep again later?

Still, he did not expose them. After eating breakfast by himself, he went back to guard the gate.

Watching Chentian leave, the five all smiled faintly.

There was no one in Konoha who disliked Chentian—aside from the ambitious schemers.

Frankly speaking, Chentian's contributions to Konoha were not much less than those of the First Hokage. He was also so adorable and usually such a polite, well-behaved child.

Chentian guarded the gate for three days. Only after seizing all twelve scrolls did he dig up the explosive tags and end the second stage of the Chunin Exams a day early.

It was not as though no one had tried to resist during that time, but they all ended up swinging alongside the three Sand Village genin.

Only Konoha's genin managed to keep their clothes, though they still could not escape the fate of swinging from trees.

By the time Chentian ended the test, the area outside the central tower was a dazzling expanse of pale flesh.

The five miserable examiners also spent three whole days sleeping. They could only go hunting for food after Chentian had fallen asleep.

Chentian felt rather embarrassed about it and could only decide to treat the five of them to a lavish meal after the exams.

And so, this Chunin Exam ended in an unprecedentedly bizarre fashion.

When Minato and the others learned what had happened, they all stared in shock and claimed they could not believe it.

In the end, reality slapped them hard across the face.

Chentian happily returned home and enjoyed Kushina's cooking.

But Minato had two heads' worth of headache. He had invited the daimyo and Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, to watch the third stage of the Chunin Exams.

But now there was only one contestant left. What was there to watch?

With no other choice, he selected eleven eliminated genin to join Chentian in the third-stage examination.

However, Chentian righteously refused. He said that these people had already been eliminated by him and were not qualified to take the exam alongside him.

What a joke. He had gone to such great lengths to end things early, and now they still wanted him to participate? You must be dreaming!

Minato was just about to suppress him by force when Chentian actually ran to complain to Kushina. As a result, Minato was suppressed by force by Kushina.

In the end, they could only select someone else to replace Chentian and directly grant Chentian the title of chunin.