The Chunin Ninja Exams

Kazan grinned and bumped his fists together in front of his chest.

He asked Hiruzen Sarutobi to prepare some weights to help with his training, then went back with Shinku Yuhi to the Training Ground they had used yesterday.

The morning was not even over before cold sweat poured off Shinku Yuhi.

His gaze swept across the Training Ground. Kazan's punches had left destruction everywhere.

Every blow of Kazan's Monster Strength Fist left a huge crater. When he stamped his foot, the ground cracked apart like a spiderweb.

What kind of Ninja was this? He was a human-shaped dinosaur!

A hit from him would leave someone dead or crippled.

I can't stay here any longer!

Shinku Yuhi told Kazan to carry on by himself, then headed straight to a village tavern to drink alone in broad daylight.

He did not dare go home. He was afraid he would start boasting again and be unable to stop!

"He's usually so serious. Why does he get so stubborn the moment he's around family?" Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head.

A crystal ball sat before him. Inside it, Shinku Yuhi looked as though he had lost all purpose in life.

The image shifted to the Ninja Academy.

The students were training hard, with less of their usual joking around.

Among certain students, there was no keeping the news that Kazan was about to take the Chunin Ninja Exams a secret.

Kazan had graduated much later than Kakashi, but he might become the fastest to earn a promotion to Chunin.

That record would probably be hard to break in the future.

Whenever people thought of this generation of Ninja, the first names to come to mind would be Konoha's "Two Kas." The rest of them would barely get a mention.

Many of their classmates could not accept that and worked even harder to prove themselves.

"Is Kazan really taking the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

"Yeah."

"Why so suddenly? He hasn't even left the village on a mission."

"Dad said the Third Hokage told him to take them."

Did that mean even Lord Hokage recognized Kazan's strength?

"That's amazing..."

Rin Nohara was not pushing herself to keep up with the other students.

She was not a combat-oriented Ninja. Her goal was to become an excellent medical Ninja.

"It really is. Kazan's incredible. Dad's been helping him train lately, and he thinks very highly of him."

Kurenai Yuhi clearly had no idea how much her father was suffering.

In her imagination, Kazan and Shinku Yuhi trained side by side in a heartwarming display of fatherly affection and filial devotion.

Little did she know, her father was sitting alone in a tavern, singing the two lines of lyrics he had learned from Kazan over and over.

"Being a man is exhausting, being a man is exhausting~~~~"

The owner thought he had gone mad.

Who came to a tavern at noon and drank themselves into that state?

Off to one side of the classroom, Obito Uchiha looked frustrated.

This time, he made no grand declaration. He just kept cheering himself on in his head.

And so, a little over half a month passed.

During that time.

The mood in Konoha grew much more tense.

Many Ninja from Konoha's allied villages arrived as "guests."

Of them all, the Sand Shinobi were the coldest. They looked at everyone as though they were a suspect.

The Cloud Shinobi wore their pride on their faces.

The Third Raikage was a forceful leader. Under his influence, Kumogakure had come to revere strength.

The Ninja from the smaller villages kept a lower profile.

Unlike the Chunin Ninja Exams in the original story, few of the Ninja who came to Konoha to compete were children. Most were experienced Ninja.

"Let's stop training here today. Go home, get some rest, and prepare for the Chunin Ninja Exams."

Shinku Yuhi ended his training with Kazan a few days early.

As one of the chief examiners, he had work of his own to do.

I'm finally free of this misery!

Shinku Yuhi tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle. Only heaven knew what he had been through these past few days.

"Thanks for everything, Uncle Shinku."

Kazan picked up his clothes and put them on.

He had gained a great deal over those days.

He had learned a lot from Shinku Yuhi.

How Ninja fought, how to use Genjutsu, and most importantly, he had awakened Observation Haki.

Afterward, he planned to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi for some reconnaissance techniques and see if they could help him take his Observation Haki further.

"Don't thank me. You earned it through your own hard work."

Perhaps because his days of suffering were finally over, Shinku Yuhi seemed much more amiable.

"Go show those people from the other villages what you can do."

"Yeah."

Kazan nodded. He was confident enough that even if the other villages played dirty and slipped Jonin-level fighters in among the examinees, he had nothing to fear.

"Good. That's the spirit. Come over for dinner tonight. Kurenai and her mother started preparing it this morning."

"Okay."

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, the Chunin Ninja Exams began.

Kazan got up early that day, dressed, and went straight to the exam site.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had arranged two teammates for him.

One was a Ninja from the Aburame Clan, and the other was from the Inuzuka Clan.

Both had qualified to take the Chunin Ninja Exams long ago, and both had a good chance of passing.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had been planning ahead. He had begun preparing for this exam six months earlier and held the two of them back until today.

They had been assigned specifically to make up for Kazan's lack of reconnaissance ability.

"He's so young..."

The two Ninja were stunned by Kazan's age when he walked in.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had told them they would have a third teammate, but he had not said it would be Kazan.

"He beat that genius Kakashi, so we probably don't need to worry about his strength."

"You're Kazan, right, kid? I'm Tsume Inuzuka. Let's work well together during the exams."

Is she Kiba Inuzuka's mother, one of the Konoha 12?

Kazan raised an eyebrow. That old man the Third Hokage had really looked out for him.

The other one looked like Shibi Aburame, Shino Aburame's father.

Ninja from these two clans were an interesting bunch.

One clan liked raising dogs; the other liked raising insects.

Both clans' Secret Techniques relied on Ninja Dogs or insects to support them in battle.

And because both clans excelled at pursuit and reconnaissance, they had dealt with each other plenty over the years.

"Shibi, your turn. Stop acting so mysterious and say something." Tsume Inuzuka nudged Shibi Aburame a few times with her elbow before he finally spoke. "Hello, Shin. I'm Shibi Aburame."

In this world, Kazan's surname was Shin. His full name was Shin Kazan.

Shibi Aburame addressed Kazan by his surname out of politeness.

In the Island Nation, only people who were very close used each other's given names.

"You really are stiff, Shibi..."

"..."

Shibi Aburame stood with his hands in his pockets and sunglasses on, giving no hint of what he felt.

But inside, he was thinking, Did I mess it up again?

Perhaps it ran in the family.

Shibi Aburame had few friends because hardly anyone liked insects.

He had liked a few girls back in school, but they had all kept their distance from him...