He looked calm on the surface, but inside, he was panicking like crazy.
Though he had driven many candidates out of the exam room, even more still remained inside.
If they banded together and attacked him, then...
There was Kisame Hoshigaki among them—a Genin on the surface, but someone who actually possessed Chunin-level strength, perhaps even greater.
Without fully exposing his abilities, Qifeng did not think he could beat him.
Fortunately, these people still had their reason and would not do something like that.
Just as someone dragged away the unconscious mist ninja, Nara Chuichi arrived.
He gave Qifeng a look, signaling for him to come out.
Qifeng shrank his neck and walked outside.
"Qifeng, well done." Nara Chuichi opened with praise.
Qifeng breathed a sigh of relief.
He had thought Nara Chuichi had come to hold him accountable. After all, he had nearly killed the Chunin Exams all by himself.
"When dealing with ninjas from other villages, we can be polite and amicable, but that does not mean Konoha is weak enough to be bullied. You did very well this time."
Nara Chuichi understood the true purpose of these Chunin Exams better than anyone.
It was to intimidate the major Hidden Villages that had come to participate, while also providing an opportunity for "negotiations."
For Konoha to hold greater initiative at the negotiating table, these Chunin Exams had to fully demonstrate Konoha's advantages and strength.
Qifeng rubbed his nose. "It was my duty."
No one found it strange that he had knocked the mist ninja unconscious with a single kick.
Qifeng was a Chunin and an examiner, while the other party was a Genin and an examinee. There was an insurmountable gap in strength between them. What was wrong with a Genin being knocked unconscious by a Chunin's kick?
Nothing.
The fact that no one paid too much attention to his strength made him relax slightly.
He had been forced into a corner just now. He did not want this incident to draw unnecessary attention.
Orochimaru alone was troublesome enough. If Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, the Uchiha, the Hyuga, and others got involved too, he probably would not be able to peacefully continue being a corpse collector.
Those tangled power struggles were too exhausting to think about. Better to leave them to those old men.
Young people should act like young people.
After discussing business, Nara Chuichi glanced around. Once he confirmed no one was nearby, he whispered, "Qifeng, ease up on the supervision a little. Don't kick out most of them. There are still two rounds left, and we've been preparing for a week. We can't just watch everyone else's efforts go to waste, can we?"
Qifeng held up his hand and made an "OK" gesture.
"Actually, I understand. Most of the time, I only call them out after they've finished cheating. As long as they complete the paper within five attempts, they won't be eliminated."
He was only "slightly" targeting certain individuals.
He was not someone who held grudges.
Nara Chuichi thought about it.
It did seem that Qifeng had been doing that from the start.
Feeling greatly relieved, he patted Qifeng on the shoulder. "Very good. Then follow your own rhythm."
Nara Chuichi greatly appreciated people like Qifeng, who had principles.
"He's someone who gets things done," he could not help remarking.
He watched Qifeng return to the exam room.
But the moment those words left his mouth, they caught in his throat.
"Number twenty-five! Disqualified!"
"Number thirty, fourth warning!"
Hearing Qifeng's stern voice from inside, Nara Chuichi's eye twitched.
He suddenly regretted telling him to follow his own rhythm.
Surely there would not be only a handful of people left after the first round, right?
Nara Chuichi wished he could slap himself twice.
In truth, he had overestimated Qifeng.
Even if Qifeng truly had the ability to kill the Chunin Exams all by himself, he would not dare do so.
All it would take was asking anyone afterward to know he was responsible. Being exposed to everyone's attention was not what he wanted.
Besides, doing so would not earn Konoha's praise. Instead, it would make the Genin he eliminated bear a grudge against him.
He slightly lowered the frequency with which he called people out.
Two hours later.
The exam these Genin would probably never forget for the rest of their lives finally ended. The candidates still seated in the room silently wiped the sweat from their foreheads, their eyes filled with fear when they looked at Qifeng.
Was this guy a demon?
So long as they made even the slightest movement or showed even the faintest tendency to cheat, he could spot it.
Fortunately, while that mist ninja had gone mad and while Qifeng had been called out by Nara Chuichi, many of them had frantically worked on their papers. Otherwise, quite a few more probably would not have passed.
Especially since he now looked so calm and unruffled, as if catching them cheating had taken barely any effort.
What a joke. In the subject of cheating, Qifeng declared that everyone here was trash.
Showing off a broadsword before Guan Yu, wielding an axe before Lu Ban.
How embarrassing.
When Nara Chuichi walked in, his expression froze slightly.
Out of more than a hundred and thirty people, fewer than sixty remained in the end.
Such an elimination rate in the first round of the Chunin Exams was practically unheard of.
What relieved him was that Qifeng had shown some restraint. Every major village had retained at least a few people.
Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure each retained the basic configuration of six Genin, along with ninjas from several minor Hidden Villages and Konoha ninjas.
By a rough count, nineteen teams had passed the first round.
Nara Chuichi gathered everyone and, under the escort of the various examiners, led them toward the second-round examination site.
These Chunin Exams were not being held in Training Ground 44's Forest of Death like in the original story, but in Training Ground 11's Terrifying Cave.
The Terrifying Cave lay underground. Above it was a barren region covered in rocks, as though it had been gnawed apart by an enormous mouth, jagged and rugged.
Openings of all sizes could be seen beneath those rocks, their passages extending in every direction.
The dark cave mouths resembled the bloodied jaws of demons. Simply approaching them was enough to make one's heart palpitate.
There was no doubt that the underground world held something else entirely, inhabited by many ferocious creatures. Some of them were no less intelligent than humans.
Within the Terrifying Cave, they had to beware not only of ninjas from the various villages, but also these wild creatures.
"Chuichi, you're here."
As Nara Chuichi led everyone closer, a ninja with long blond hair, wearing a Konoha Jonin vest beneath a red cloak, came forward to greet them.
"Iyo." Nara Chuichi nodded.
Yamanaka Iyo, the head of the Yamanaka Clan and the current "Ino" of Ino-Shika-Cho, was a Jonin proficient in the Mind Transfer Jutsu and the captain of the Konoha Analysis Team.
"So few people this time?" Yamanaka Iyo frowned.
Qifeng, following behind, subtly shifted his feet, trying not to draw attention.
Nara Chuichi smiled awkwardly and offered no explanation.
Qifeng was merely a proctor, while he was the chief examiner. He could not dodge responsibility for this.
"It's fine. Leave the rest to me."
With that, he stepped forward.
His intelligent gaze swept across the crowd. Everyone who met his eyes felt as though their eyes had been pricked, a chill rising in their hearts as though all their secrets had been seen through.
With a smile, he said, "Before the second exam begins, each of you must sign a consent form. Casualties are unavoidable, but you may still choose to refuse. The way out is behind you."
The gathered ninjas looked at one another.
They had already endured that hellish first round. If they gave up now, it would be an insult to all the brain cells that had died in the first round.
No one withdrew, and they quickly signed the consent forms one after another.
"Very good. Next are the exam rules."
Yamanaka Iyo put away the consent forms and said solemnly, "There are now nineteen teams. Each team will receive one scroll, either a Scroll of Heaven or a Scroll of Earth. Only teams that gather both types of scrolls and reach the Cave of Salvation at the center of the Terrifying Cave will pass this round.
The time limit is three days!"
"Now, come collect your team's scrolls."
The real exam had actually begun the moment the scrolls were distributed. The examiners made no attempt to conceal them, so every team knew which type of scroll the others had received.
Quite a few people had already begun picking their hunting targets.
"Alright, each examiner will lead one team into the Terrifying Cave from a different direction."
With that, the teams departed one after another under the guidance of their examiners.
And by sheer coincidence, the team assigned to Qifeng was Kisame Hoshigaki's team.
Before you continue