Jinchūriki

"It's fine. Just call me by my first name. I'm not used to people calling me by my surname."

Kazan waved a hand. Little things like that didn't bother him.

"Then... Kazan..."

"Yeah, that's it. Keep it up. You can become popular too, Aburame."

"..."

Why did he ask me to use his first name, then call me by my surname?

Shibi Aburame couldn't make sense of it.

Father, dealing with other people really is hard.

"Let's go in too. The exam's about to start."

Tsume Inuzuka pushed open the door and led the way into the classroom.

The moment the door opened,

dozens of eyes turned toward them.

Including Konoha's entrants, there were more than sixty Genin inside.

They paused briefly when they saw Kazan, then went back to normal.

Kazan was definitely the youngest candidate there.

Next came a Ninja from one of Kumogakure's teams, who wasn't much older than Kazan.

Yugito Nii. (I've seen her name translated as Yugito Nii. I'm not used to the other version, so I'm going with Yugito Nii.)

"The Two-Tails Jinchūriki?!" Kazan's pupils contracted slightly.

He hadn't expected Kumogakure to commit its Two-Tails to this Chunin Ninja Exams.

"They've gone all in."

This Chunin Ninja Exams was even more important than Kazan had thought.

At the dawn of the Shinobi World era, Hashirama Senju had convened the first Five Kage Summit.

The purpose of that summit was to have the villages set aside their hatred, forge a peace treaty, and build a peaceful world together.

As a show of sincerity, Hashirama Senju captured eight Tailed Beasts. He kept only the strongest, the Nine-Tails, for Konoha and distributed the other seven among the Shinobi Villages.

Supposedly, even keeping the Nine-Tails had been at Tobirama Senju's insistence.

The God of Shinobi himself didn't care about the Tailed Beasts.

Sunagakure, short on resources, chose none. It traded its claim to another Tailed Beast for resources that could help the village develop quickly.

The Sand Shinobi already had Shukaku, the One-Tail. They didn't need another.

Ridiculous as that sounded, Hashirama Senju had captured the Tailed Beasts. Sunagakure was benefiting for nothing and had no grounds to demand more.

Yet its request was approved, and Sunagakure received a vast amount of resources at that summit.

Kumogakure, which prized military might and believed strength was everything, gave up some resources to obtain the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails.

Then there was this:

Kumogakure was the only Shinobi Village that had consistently researched how to turn Tailed Beasts into a regular part of its fighting force.

And it had succeeded!

The current Jinchūriki were Killer B, host of the Eight-Tails, and Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki standing before him.

"Killer B has already won over the Eight-Tails by this point. But what about her?" Kazan couldn't be sure.

Tailed Beasts were the Five Great Shinobi Villages' ultimate weapons, intended more to deter other villages than anything else.

They were practically nuclear warheads!

But most of those warheads hurt their own side before they ever killed an enemy.

Tailed Beasts were especially sensitive to the evil in humans and hated being sealed inside human bodies, stripped of their freedom.

Whenever a Sealing broke, the Tailed Beast went berserk and caused massive casualties.

As a result, Jinchūriki throughout the generations had been treated like walking plagues by their villages. Everyone avoided them like the plague.

Kumogakure was the exception.

It had produced that one-of-a-kind Killer B, who moved the Eight-Tails with his singing, dancing, and rap...

Well, not really. It came down to Killer B's nature. The Eight-Tails sensed none of that filthy malice in him and gradually accepted him over time.

Kumogakure also knew of a place called the Waterfall of Truth, where people could confront the deepest darkness in their hearts.

That helped Jinchūriki form friendships with their Tailed Beasts.

Unlike the other Shinobi Villages, Kumogakure was one of the few that could deploy Tailed Beasts on the battlefield.

"Now this is interesting. If we cross paths later, I've got to fight her!"

Kazan fixed his gaze on the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.

His Observation Haki could sense the monster living inside Yugito Nii.

"Yugito."

"What is it, Matatabi?"

"Watch out for that Konoha brat. He's got his eye on you."

Matatabi spoke to Yugito through their shared consciousness.

She could feel an intense desire to fight radiating from Kazan.

Unlike the malice she felt from most people, that Konoha brat's intent was pure. So pure that even Matatabi felt a chill run down her spine.

"A brat?"

Yugito Nii followed Matatabi's cue and looked over.

The Genin was even younger than she was.

"Is Konoha so short on people that they're sending a kid like him to the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

"Lord Raikage must have worried too much. Konoha isn't as strong as we thought."

Her village had chosen her as a Tailed Beast's vessel when she was young, making her the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.

She had endured plenty of hostile looks and hatred, but the Third Raikage had always encouraged her. Later, with Lord B's help, she had learned to control her Tailed Beast.

Now the entire village accepted her.

She carried a heavy responsibility in this Chunin Ninja Exams.

"Don't underestimate him, Yugito."

Matatabi had no concrete proof, but her instincts told her Kazan was anything but simple.

"I know. I'll be careful."

Yugito turned away and gave Kazan no further glance.

"Got your eye on that girl from Kumogakure?"

Tsume Inuzuka chuckled, looking like she knew all about it.

"Yeah, but not the way you think."

"If you end up alone with her, don't hesitate. Run."

A Jinchūriki who could fully control her Tailed Beast would be at least Kage Level when she went all out.

Shinku Yuhi had warned Kazan that the other Shinobi Villages might plant dangerous surprises among their candidates.

Kazan just hadn't expected Kumogakure's surprise to be this powerful.

They'd put a nuclear bomb on their team!

These villages were already preparing for war!

"Quiet!"

Just then, the proctor for the first exam entered.

The pressure of a Jonin's presence silenced every candidate in the classroom and cut off their conversations.

The distinctive pineapple-shaped hairstyle belonged to Shikaku Nara, a Ninja of the Nara Clan.

He was in his early twenties and had been a student at the same time as Minato Namikaze.

Shikaku Nara got straight to the point. The exam he announced was the same as in the original story.

First stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams: written test!

"The first stage is simple. You'll each receive a test paper. Score a passing mark and you pass."

"But there's one condition! Every member of your team must pass. Otherwise, the entire team is eliminated!"

The classroom erupted in an uproar.

Everyone turned to look at the worst student on their team.

Minds raced as they tried to figure out how to save their struggling teammates.

We'll have to cheat!

No sooner had that thought crossed their minds than Shikaku Nara added,

"One more thing. To prevent cheating, I'll rearrange all your seats so you're nowhere near your teammates."

"Other proctors will also help me monitor the room. If you're caught cheating, you'll be disqualified on the spot!"

As he finished, the door opened again. Several Konoha Ninja came in and took seats along the classroom walls, their eyes covering every corner.

This...

We're done for!

How were they supposed to cheat without getting caught by so many proctors, all of them at least Chunin?

It was impossible!