Chūnin!

As the great battle began, everyone who had come to watch, aside from the listless Uchiha Obito, focused intently.

After all, Asuma was already well-known.

It had only been a short time since he graduated from the Ninja Academy, yet rumor had it that he had already slain over a hundred enemies—more than many veteran ninja who had been active for over a decade.

In the arena, Asuma and Might Guy were using nothing but taijutsu, their fists and feet clashing back and forth as deep, muffled impacts continuously rang out and shockwaves scattered in every direction.

By now, Asuma's unarmed taijutsu had reached Level 5. In terms of technique, he was not far behind Might Guy.

In terms of Constitution, however, whether it was speed or strength, he held the advantage.

In their taijutsu duel, Asuma slightly overwhelmed Might Guy.

"As expected of Asuma!"

"It looks like I can't defeat you under these circumstances. Then..."

After their intertwined figures separated, Might Guy's expression turned solemn. He untied the weights from his legs and hurled them to the ground with a boom.

"This guy!"

Uchiha Obito, leaning over the railing, widened his eyes.

Kakashi glanced at him from beside him. "He's not the only one. Asuma is wearing weights too!"

As soon as he spoke, Uchiha Obito saw Asuma remove his weights as well.

"Burn, youth!"

Might Guy shouted passionately. The next moment, the ground sank with a boom, and his figure vanished.

Boom!

Asuma's and Might Guy's long legs collided in midair, blasting apart the air.

The two grew even faster, their fists and feet colliding without pause, each impact shattering the air and sending rings of shockwaves rolling outward.

Even the examiner was secretly alarmed as he watched. "This batch of Genin really is impressive. Their taijutsu has reached such a level at such a young age."

Five minutes later.

Their flashing figures finally stopped once more.

Might Guy gasped heavily before collapsing onto the ground.

This time, he was completely exhausted!

Asuma's forehead was covered in sweat as well.

In the end, the one with cheats had still come out slightly ahead.

Without training in the Eight Inner Gates, Might Guy clearly could not defeat Asuma's powerful Constitution under normal circumstances.

After returning to the spectator stands to rest, Yūhi Kurenai was next to fight.

Her opponent was unexpectedly a Hyuga Clan ninja, Hyuga Tetsu.

A Genjutsu specialist facing a Hyuga ninja with the Byakugan was a troublesome matchup.

It was not exactly a matter of being countered, but the Byakugan's insight, along with the Hyuga Clan's ability to release Chakra from every part of their bodies, made them far better than ordinary ninja at dispelling Genjutsu.

Or rather, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan gave them far greater resistance to Genjutsu than other ninja.

And that was indeed the case.

Yūhi Kurenai fought a difficult battle.

Hyuga Tetsu could not guarantee that he would avoid falling under Genjutsu, but he could instantly dispel it by observing his own Chakra.

And in such an open area, in a one-on-one fight, it was difficult for Yūhi Kurenai to deceive Hyuga Tetsu's eyes in a short time.

However, in Asuma's view, setting aside victory or defeat, Yūhi Kurenai's performance had been outstanding. Time and again, she cleverly used Genjutsu to disrupt Hyuga Tetsu and put him in peril, while repeatedly using those openings to evade danger herself.

Overall, Yūhi Kurenai had fully demonstrated her abilities and completely possessed the qualities of a Chūnin.

The Chunin Exams were not judged entirely on victory or defeat, either.

"But if I encountered a ninja with ocular techniques, how should I deal with them?"

"For example, the Uchiha Clan..."

Asuma's thoughts could not help but wander.

Closing his eyes and avoiding eye contact with the Uchiha Clan was one option, but it would undoubtedly greatly reduce his combat ability.

And techniques like Izanagi and Izanami were not visual Genjutsu.

"Sensory Ninjutsu is a very good solution, especially tactile sensing..."

Asuma was still thinking when Yūhi Kurenai's match ended.

In the end, Yūhi Kurenai had fallen just short.

"Your performance was perfect!"

Gathering his thoughts, Asuma smiled and praised Kurenai as she returned.

Shizune smiled too. "Your use of Genjutsu was extremely skillful and clever. Among our peers, aside from the Uchiha, no one should be better at Genjutsu than you!"

The individual battles below continued.

After two more matches, Shizune took the field. Coincidentally, her opponent was Rin, another medical ninja.

"Rin, go!"

Uchiha Obito shouted repeatedly.

Asuma and Kurenai exchanged smiles, both completely confident in Shizune.

They would not dare say that Shizune surpassed Rin in Medical Ninjutsu, but in combat, they had confidence in her.

Sure enough.

Having been taught by Tsunade, with Asuma and Kurenai as her teammates, Shizune not only surpassed Rin in taijutsu, but also cleverly used poisoned needles and Poison Gas. She defeated Rin and claimed victory without even needing to use the Chakra Scalpel.

"Next match, Asuma versus Hatake Kakashi!"

After Shizune and Rin left, the examiner immediately announced.

Asuma turned and met Kakashi's gaze. Then both of them vanished at once and appeared below.

The examiner looked at the two strongest participants of this batch with great anticipation, though he showed no expression as he announced, "Begin!"

The next moment, accompanied by blinding Electric Light and the piercing chirping of birds, Asuma and Kakashi almost simultaneously used Chidori.

Lightning collided with lightning, erupting in blinding radiance and deafening noise.

Terrifying lightning snaked in every direction, leaving streaks of scorched black marks across the ground.

"Such powerful Lightning Style!"

The examiner was alarmed and had no choice but to retreat from the scattered lightning.

Asuma, who had also retreated, dispersed Chidori and instead covered his entire body in Lightning Chakra.

"So fast!"

Watching Asuma vanish from his sight, Kakashi could not help but be startled. His mind tightened to its limit as he responded to stillness with stillness, blocking Asuma's attacks again and again as they flashed about like lightning.

This left him entirely on the defensive.

Asuma was too fast, leaving him no chance to counterattack at all.

Suddenly.

Asuma stopped, brought his hands together, then spread them apart. Brilliant Electric Light burst from his palms.

Lightning Style—False Darkness!

"What?"

Kakashi was startled. He hurriedly raised the Chidori in his right hand to block it, pushing the technique to its limit.

The watching examiner nearly intervened.

Electric Light collided with Electric Light, and intense lightning radiated outward, engulfing an area dozens of meters wide before finally dispersing after a while.

Smoke rose from Kakashi's right hand, and his entire body was drenched in sweat. Then, with a thud, he dropped to one knee.

His Chakra had been completely exhausted just now!

"Asuma wins!"

The examiner immediately announced.

In the spectator stands, many of their peers stared in stunned silence.

Uchiha Obito looked at the fallen Kakashi, then at the relaxed Asuma, and swallowed. "This guy... he's even stronger than Kakashi!"

The third exam continued until four in the afternoon.

Half an hour later, the final results were announced. As expected, Asuma, Kurenai, and Shizune all passed the assessment and received green Chūnin Vests, officially becoming Konoha Chūnin.

Whether in Konoha or other ninja villages, Chūnin made up the largest group and were considered the backbone of their forces.

In fact, Chūnin were also the ones most often assigned to lead newcomers.

Besides Asuma's group, Kakashi, Shiranui Genma, Ebisu, Tsubaki, Yamashiro Aoba, and several others successfully advanced to Chūnin as well.