The Second Round of Examinations

The second round of the Chunin Ninja Exams was a team-versus-team preliminary match.

Deep in a lush forest,

sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, dappling the ground beneath the trees.

In a fairly spacious clearing, six children stood facing one another in two groups.

Shikaba looked at the three across from him and sighed.

"Talk about rotten luck. We had to run into you three troublemakers."

Kakashi, Rin, and Obito.

With those three on one team,

they could steamroll just about anyone in their year.

Obito chuckled.

"Don't worry, little Shikaba. I'll go easy on you."

Nagano Nami snorted, clearly unhappy with Shikaba's attitude.

"Shikaba, why are you talking them up and putting us down?"

"If the three of us work together, I don't believe we can't beat them. Right... Ayako?"

After racking his brain, Nagano Nami finally remembered Ayako's name at the last second.

Ayako nodded and said timidly,

"Nami is right. Even with Kakashi on their side, whose strength rivals a jonin's, we still have a chance!"

Nagano Nami: "..."

Once the children had finished talking,

the teacher overseeing the exam swept a hand through the air.

The team preliminaries officially began!

Rin and Ayako quickly retreated.

Both were support-type ninja, focused mainly on keeping their opponents occupied in battle.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A series of sharp whistles cut through the air.

The two hurled shuriken one after another, opening the first exchange.

Clang, clang, clang!

Shuriken flew through the air, collided, then fell to the ground.

Short swords in hand, Obito and Kakashi charged through the scattered shuriken flying toward them.

Not to be outdone, Nagano Nami crossed his kunai and leaped at the closer Obito.

"Hey, don't rush in like that!" Shikaba cried helplessly.

They were already a little weaker. Playing it steady was their best bet.

...Nagano Nami, you idiot!

A trace of red crept into Obito's eyes.

Across from him, Nagano Nami stiffened and froze in place.

Shikaba shouted,

"Not good! It's Genjutsu!"

Kakashi seized the opening and swept past with his blade, a flash of silver bursting forth.

But Shikaba reacted with astonishing speed.

A mass of black shadow emerged from beneath his feet.

It split into several thin strands and caught hold of Nagano Nami's shadow.

Something remarkable happened.

Under Shikaba's control,

Nagano Nami moved like a marionette, perfectly copying the movements of his own shadow.

He dodged Kakashi's short sword in an impossible pose.

Shadow Imitation Technique!

Obito clicked his tongue, pushed hard off the ground, and drew his blade in midair.

Iaijutsu!

The fierce strike came almost instantly.

Shikaba cried out,

"I'm done for!"

He released Nagano Nami with his shadow

and caught Obito instead, stopping him for a moment.

"Made it just in time..."

Cold sweat broke out on Shikaba's forehead. That was close.

In that brief span,

he had already used up a quarter of his chakra.

Fortunately, Nagano Nami had broken free of the genjutsu.

Kakashi's blade came down on Nagano Nami again.

Nagano Nami sprang backward, patted his stomach, and drew a deep breath.

"Wind Release: Nagano Nami!"

He opened his mouth and spat out a concentrated mass of wind-nature chakra.

The wind howled, and the surrounding air turned razor-sharp.

Kakashi frowned slightly, planted his foot, and stopped short.

Obito, meanwhile, broke free of the Shadow Imitation Technique and regrouped with Kakashi.

With that, the first exchange ended.

Obito's team was virtually unscathed, while Shikaba's team had already been worn down.

Obito couldn't help laughing.

"Hey, Nami, that's a pretty distinctive name for a ninjutsu."

Nagano Nami replied glumly,

"It's an ancestral ninjutsu of the Nagano Family. It just happens to share my name, okay?"

He glanced at Shikaba beside him and said reluctantly,

"Sorry. I was too reckless just now, and that's why..."

Shikaba smiled, relieved, and shook his head.

"It's fine. Let's try again."

Huh?

Obito suddenly formed hand seals, turned, and spat out a ball of fire.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

As the flames swept through the air,

a series of faint sizzling sounds rang out.

Tiny black specks, barely visible to the naked eye, died and dropped to the ground all at once.

Obito smiled.

"Hey, Ayako, that's playing a little dirty."

Ayako's guilty voice came from the trees.

"Sorry, Obito. I want to win this exam too."

Obito waved it off.

"Haha, no worries. We're all using what we've got."

With that,

he wove through the trees again, circling closer to Shikaba and the others.

Kakashi did the same, appearing and vanishing among the trees as he looked for an opening.

Shikaba watched his surroundings warily.

Tendrils extended from the shadow beneath his feet, poised to strike.

Nagano Nami stood in front of him as a shield.

"Hmm..."

Obito narrowed his eyes and weighed the situation.

Beneath the trees, Shikaba's Shadow Imitation Technique had a clear advantage.

By connecting to the patchwork of shadows on the ground, his Ninjutsu's range directly doubled.

If we charge straight in, he'll pin us down, and it'll turn into a battle of attrition...

What if we use Shadow Clones to draw their attention, then try to take them out in one go?

But can we fool Ayako's senses...?

Obito glanced at Kakashi beside him.

Kakashi happened to look his way.

They understood each other's thoughts in an instant.

Let's try it!

From where Shikaba and the others stood,

Kakashi and Obito burst out, crossing paths as they attacked.

Shikaba frowned. Something felt off.

But he had no time to dwell on it.

He activated Shadow Imitation Technique, sending black tendrils toward them.

Nagano Nami roared and lunged at Obito.

"Nagano Barrage!"

Ayako's panicked voice rang out.

"Watch out, those are their Shadow Clones!"

Shadow Clones?!

Obito, that Dead Last, learned how to make Shadow Clones?!

That was Nagano Nami's first thought.

The next moment,

two more figures emerged from the trees: Kakashi and Obito.

Ayako appeared as well, trying to intercept one of them.

But Rin blocked her path with a kunai.

"Sorry, Ayako. I can't let you through."

No way...?!

Shikaba hesitated, and his shadow tendrils stalled for an instant.

In that blink of an eye, the four figures nearly surrounded them.

"Ah..."

Shikaba sighed helplessly.

If I'm right...

Thud!

A dull impact sounded, and Nagano Nami flew backward.

Shikaba gave a rueful smile and raised both hands.

"We surrender."

A short sword stopped in front of him, then the boy holding it coolly put it away.

"We did it!"

Rin pumped her little fist in excitement.

But when she saw how unhappy Ayako looked,

her smile faded, and she went to comfort her.

Nagano Nami got up from the ground, baffled, and muttered to himself,

"That doesn't make sense. Wasn't the one who appeared first supposed to be a Shadow Clone? Why...?"

Shikaba rubbed his brow and explained,

"We fell for it. The two who appeared first weren't both Shadow Clones."