Ninja Academy, second-floor conference room.
School was on break, and the entire floor was deserted.
Kitahara Kaede pushed open the door. Seven people were already seated inside.
The wartime special exams were nothing like the Chunin Exams held during peacetime, where hundreds of candidates crowded into a classroom to take written tests.
Anyone who had received a letter of recommendation from a frontline commander had already passed one round of screening.
Eight desks were spread across the conference room, spaced far apart.
Kitahara Kaede found the seat with his name on it and sat down.
A sealed exam paper and a pen lay on the desktop.
He left the paper untouched and glanced toward the front.
Two Chunin examiners and a Jonin proctor sat at the examiner's table. He didn't recognize the Jonin, but the man was watching him with a scrutinizing gaze.
Nine o'clock sharp.
The conference room's front door was pushed open from the outside.
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked in.
The Hokage had come in person.
Several candidates instinctively straightened up.
Hiruzen wore his Hokage robes and stood at the front, looking from left to right as he examined all eight candidates in turn.
When he reached Kitahara Kaede, his gaze lingered for a beat.
It was brief, but Kitahara Kaede caught it.
"The wartime special Chunin exams begin now."
Hiruzen's voice wasn't loud, but no one in the exam room dared make a sound.
"You have sixty minutes for the written exam, covering three subjects. Open your papers."
Kitahara Kaede tore open the seal.
The first subject was tactical analysis.
The question presented a complete battlefield map: under attack from three sides, their supply line severed, their forces outnumbered. Candidates had to choose the best retreat route and explain their reasoning.
He studied the map's markings—the course of