The Chunin Ninja Exams

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

He asked Hiruzen Sarutobi to prepare some weighted gear to help with his training, then returned with Shinku Yuhi to yesterday's Training Ground.

The morning was not even over before Shinku Yuhi broke out in a cold sweat.

Everywhere he looked, Kazan's fists had left destruction across the Training Ground.

Every blow of Kazan's Monster Strength Fist gouged out a huge crater. When he stamped his foot, the ground fractured like a spiderweb.

How is he a Ninja? He's a human-shaped tyrannosaur!

If that hits me, I'll be crippled even if I survive.

I can't stay here!

Shinku told Kazan to train on his own, then headed to the village tavern to drink alone in broad daylight.

He did not dare go home. He was afraid he would not be able to stop himself from bragging!

"He's usually so serious and conscientious. Why does he get so stubborn about what he says in front of his 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, and a view of the Ninja Academy appeared in the Crystal Ball.

The students were training hard, with less of their usual laughter and chatter.

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

Compared with Kakashi, Kazan had graduated much later, but he might become the fastest Ninja ever to advance to Chunin.

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

When people thought of this generation of Ninja, the first names to come to mind would be Konoha's "Two Kas." There would be no room for anyone else.

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 did not join her classmates in pushing themselves harder.

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

"It is. Kazan really is amazing. Dad's been guiding his training lately, and he thinks very highly of him."

Kurenai Yuhi clearly had no idea what her father was going through.

In her imagination, Kazan and Shinku Yuhi were training side by side, as close as father and son.

Little did she know that her father was alone in a tavern, singing the same 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 in the middle of the day and drank themselves into that state?

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

This time, though, he made no grand declarations. He merely kept cheering himself on in his head.

And so, more than half a month passed.

During that time,

the atmosphere in Konoha grew much tenser.

Many Ninja from Konoha's allied villages came to "visit."

Of them all, the Sand Shinobi were the coldest, looking at everyone as though they were suspects.

The Cloud Shinobi wore their pride openly.

The Third Raikage was a forceful leader. Under his influence, Kumogakure had come to prize strength above all else.

The Ninja from the other small Shinobi Villages kept a lower profile.

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

"That's enough training for 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 other work to do.

I'm finally free of this misery!

Shinku Yuhi tilted his face forty-five degrees toward the sky. Only heaven knew what he had endured these past few days.

"Thanks for everything, Uncle Shinku."

Kazan picked up his clothes and put them on.

He had gained a great deal from these past few days.

Shinku Yuhi had taught him a lot.

How Ninja fought, how to use Genjutsu, and, most importantly, how to awaken Observation Haki.

Afterward, he planned to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi for some reconnaissance techniques to see whether he could develop his Observation Haki further.

"Don't thank me. You earned this 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 Shinobi Villages what you can do."

"Yeah."

Kazan nodded. He was confident enough that even if the other Shinobi Villages played dirty and slipped in candidates with Jonin-level combat ability, he had nothing to fear.

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

"Sure."

Time flew, and before long, the Chunin Ninja Exams began.

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

Hiruzen Sarutobi had assigned him two teammates.

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 stood a good chance of passing.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had planned ahead. He had been preparing for these exams for six months and held the two of them back until today.

They had been chosen specifically for Kazan, to make up for his lack of reconnaissance ability.

"He's so young..."

The Ninja from the Aburame Clan and the Inuzuka Clan were both stunned by Kazan's age when he walked in.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had only told them they would have a third teammate. He had not said it would be Kazan.

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

"You're Kazan, right, kid? I'm Tsume Inuzuka. Looking forward to working with you in the exams."

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

Kazan raised an eyebrow. The Third Hokage really had treated him well.

As for the other one, judging by his appearance, he must be Shibi Aburame, Shino Aburame's father.

The Ninja of these two clans were interesting.

One clan liked raising dogs, and 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 often over the years.

"Shibi, your turn. Quit acting all mysterious and say something." Tsume Inuzuka nudged Shibi Aburame several times with her elbow before he finally spoke. "Hello, True. I'm Shibi Aburame."

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

Shibi Aburame had addressed Kazan by his surname out of courtesy.

In the Island Nation, only people who were very close addressed each other by their 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 up again?

Perhaps it ran in the family.

Shibi Aburame had few friends because hardly anyone liked insects.

There had been a few girls he liked at school, but they had all kept their distance from him...