Rules Changed, Qingchuan Tianming Receives an S Rating

As all the ninjas participating in the Chunin Exams gradually arrived at the Central Tower, the Konoha ninjas in charge of the second round discovered the bodies of several Hidden Grass Village ninjas somewhere on the outskirts. Every one of them was missing their face.

After arriving at the scene, examiner Anko Mitarashi silently returned to the Konoha office to make her report.

"Orochimaru has infiltrated?" Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered as he listened to Anko Mitarashi's report.

"There's no mistake. That method had to be his." Anko Mitarashi's expression was complicated. As the disciple of an S-rank rogue ninja, she was under no small amount of mental pressure herself.

"Understood. But the Chunin Exams cannot be canceled. Pass the order down: have every Konoha jonin head to the Central Tower, while the chunin handle reconnaissance around the perimeter." Hiruzen Sarutobi was someone who prioritized stability.

If they allowed their fear of Orochimaru to interfere with the Chunin Exams, Konoha would likely become a laughingstock for future generations. That was something Hiruzen Sarutobi could not accept.

"Yes!"

After those who had passed the second round waited in the Central Tower for some time, the iron doors inside finally began to pull open. Several familiar figures appeared—teachers from several Konoha teams, all well-known jonin.

"Teacher Kakashi!" Naruto Uzumaki called out.

Kakashi Hatake nodded in response.

The sharp-eyed Tianming noticed that Kakashi Hatake was not holding Icha Icha Paradise. He was only this serious when something major had happened.

The same was true for the other jonin. Following the Third Hokage's orders, they had to guard against Orochimaru's interference while ensuring that the Chunin Exams proceeded smoothly.

The pressure was enormous.

At that moment, Anko Mitarashi stepped forward. Her beautiful eyes swept over all the genin present as she said, "This year's circumstances are highly unusual. More people passed the second round than in previous years, so we have decided to make temporary changes to the rules."

"Teams possessing Heaven-and-Earth Scrolls will have their individual overall performance reassessed and be divided into brackets. Those within each bracket will undergo preliminaries. The final ten winners will receive chunin qualifications. Hayate Gekko, the examiner for the third round, will explain the details."

"Cough, cough..." Hayate Gekko was thoroughly sickly, the kind who coughed twice after every sentence.

"Teacher Anko Mitarashi has already explained it quite comprehensively. I'll just add a little more. Under the current rules, cough, cough... teams holding Heaven-and-Earth Scrolls are qualified to participate in the preliminaries. During the preliminaries, it will become individual combat."

"People within the same score bracket will fight one-on-one. You may end up facing someone from the same village or even the same team... cough, cough."

Listening from the back, Tianming felt something subtle shift inside him. These Chunin Exams seemed different from the original.

In the original plot, everyone who passed the second round was split up and randomly matched.

But now, they were being divided by score brackets.

After Hayate Gekko finished speaking, he wasted no words. Taking out a remote, he pressed it a few times, and the display screen immediately began to scroll.

Before long, the B-rank evaluations appeared.

Shikamaru Nara, Kankuro, Temari, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, Rock Lee, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno.

Behind each name, their individual data was displayed as well. There was no need to question the source of the data; every ninja village participating in the Chunin Exams sent jonin to supervise the event.

After B-rank came A-rank!

There were fewer people at A-rank: Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Kabuto Yakushi, and several ninjas from the Sound Village.

By this point, the names of most people in the hall had already been called.

Just as everyone wondered who remained, the screen changed again, displaying S.

And there were only two people in the S bracket!

Qingchuan Tianming, Gaara!

The latter's name was renowned. Gaara had made a name for himself at a young age and was the Kazekage's son. But who exactly was Qingchuan Tianming? That was what confused everyone else.

Soon, the two men's statistics appeared.

Gaara had been placed in S because he had single-handedly wiped out an entire team within the Sand ninja group, and they had been the first to reach the Central Tower.

As for Qingchuan Tianming, when his data appeared, everyone's eyes widened.

This guy had gone the opposite route—he had killed a lot of people!

Ten people! There had been seventy-eight participants in the second round of the Chunin Exams, and Qingchuan Tianming had killed ten of them—one-seventh of the total.

There had been twenty-one deaths in total, and Qingchuan Tianming accounted for nearly half of them.

This was likewise unprecedented and unlikely to ever be surpassed.

"Tianming, did you split off from us just to kill people?" Naruto Uzumaki asked in shock.

Tianming did not know whether to laugh or cry. Had he gone out intending to kill people? Orochimaru had simply been too accommodating, having the Sound Village send people over to die.

"I had no choice," Tianming said with a laugh. Beside him, Gaara gave Qingchuan Tianming a thorough look for the first time.

Tianming raised his eyes to meet his gaze. Invisible sparks collided in their eyes.

"Examiner! I request to withdraw from the third round!" At that moment, Kabuto Yakushi in the corner raised his hand. "I suffered serious injuries in the second round and cannot take part in the third round."

"Cough, cough, that is permitted." Hayate Gekko took out a notebook and began recording. "Since someone has withdrawn, there will be an additional spot in the S bracket. That spot will be decided by the A-B bracket!"