Taking the Chunin Ninja Exams

Before learning Flying Thunder God, Uchiha Sora had always thought its teleportation range was unlimited.

Only after learning it did he discover that Flying Thunder God's teleportation was not without limits.

There were prerequisites for using Flying Thunder God.

The user had to be able to sense the location of his own formula. Only then could he teleport to it.

After sensing the formula, he still had to activate the ninjutsu, a process that depended on his chakra control. Only with sufficient control could he instantly harness the power to traverse space and complete the spatial jump.

Aside from that, the speed of teleportation also depended on his reaction speed.

All these factors combined to create the high barrier to learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Among the successive Narutos, only the Second Hokage, who had created this Ninjutsu, and his successor, the Fourth Hokage, had managed to learn it.

Through automatic training, Uchiha Sora had barely mastered its first stage.

But his chakra was not yet strong enough, and his ability to sense the formulas could not compare with the Second and Fourth Hokage's. As a result, the range of his first-stage Flying Thunder God was still far shorter than theirs.

With his current strength, even with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, he could only sense formula coordinates within roughly two hundred kilometers.

That was actually a considerable range. After all, Konoha itself had a radius of only thirty or forty kilometers.

Uchiha Sora's teleportation range extended far beyond Konoha.

Under normal circumstances, it was more than enough.

What was more, it was best not to have too many Flying Thunder God Formula coordinates...

Although the user could leave coordinates on other objects anytime and anywhere, having too many fixed coordinates would interfere with his ability to sense their locations.

If he was not strong enough, he could even misread a location and risk teleporting to the wrong place.

With Uchiha Sora's current strength, five Flying Thunder God Kunai plus his short sword made six formula coordinates in total-just right, neither too many nor too few.

After finishing the formula coordinates, Uchiha Sora hung the first marked kunai in his room.

Then he traveled to spots one hundred kilometers east and west of Konoha, found deserted locations, placed the second and third kunai in separate boxes, and buried them in the open wilderness.

That gave him three locations he could teleport to, each at least a hundred kilometers from the others.

As for the remaining two specially made kunai, he carried them with his short blade.

That would make them convenient to use in battle.

Of course, he would never use them until the last possible moment.

With everything done, Uchiha Sora let out a long breath. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. Now he finally had a true lifesaving trump card.

The day of the Chunin Ninja Exams soon arrived.

"Itachi, I'm taking the Chunin Ninja Exams alone this time too, just like you. No teammates. But I'm sure we'll both make it to the finals. See you there." At the entrance to the venue for the first written exam, Uchiha Sora spoke to Itachi with a smile.

"Yeah. See you in the finals." Itachi nodded slightly.

Both exuded such powerful confidence that the other genin taking the Chunin Ninja Exams could feel their imposing presence.

"Good luck, big brother!" Sasuke Uchiha, who was only a little over four years old, stood beside his mother, Mikoto, cheering Uchiha Itachi on at the exam entrance.

Uchiha Itachi glanced back at Sasuke, a rare, gentle smile appearing on his face.

Seeing this, Uchiha Sora could not help looking back at Uchiha Izumi, who was cheering him on, and giving her a small smile as well.

The two entered the exam venue.

The first written exam soon ended. Uchiha Sora and Itachi both answered all the questions without trouble and advanced.

The second exam took place in the Forest of Death and involved competing for scrolls.

It was almost exactly like the original story: contestants had to seize Heaven and Earth Scrolls, collect one of each, and reach the tower in the center of the Forest of Death to pass.

Uchiha Sora and Itachi, the youngest contestants and the only ones without teammates, split up after entering the forest.

This seemingly suicidal behavior immediately made them targets for the other teams.

Reality, however, caught those teams completely off guard.

At best, their members barely reached the level of a chunin.

Never mind Uchiha Sora as he was now-even two years ago, he could have dealt with them effortlessly.

He did not even need ninjutsu. He simply drew his short blade and used a few sword techniques, and everyone who dared covet his scroll fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

After collecting both scrolls, Uchiha Sora headed straight for the tower.

He easily took down every team that tried to ambush him along the way.

The entire process took only a little over an hour.

When he reached the tower, the examiners waiting there were stunned.

"He's the first to arrive! That was incredibly fast!"

"And he doesn't even have teammates. He made it here entirely on his own! Uchiha Sora? It looks like he's only ten this year!" One of the chief examiners pulled up Uchiha Sora's information and exclaimed in shock.

Ignoring the examiners' remarks and stares, Uchiha Sora found a spot to sit down and rest.

He had come to secure his promotion to chunin, but his goal went beyond that. He wanted to join the ANBU.

Becoming a member of the ANBU was the best way to temper his will.

So, since Uchiha Sora had already decided to stand out, he naturally intended to deliver an eye-catching performance and lay the groundwork for his later selection into the ANBU.

About another hour passed before a second figure arrived at the tower.

"It's Uchiha Itachi!" The chief examiner recognized him at a glance.

Uchiha Itachi, the clan leader's son, had started school at six, graduated at seven, and awakened his Sharingan at eight. Now, at only ten, he was taking the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Anyone with even a little knowledge would have heard of that dazzling record.

In this exam, however, someone had outdone Uchiha Itachi.

One chief examiner glanced toward Uchiha Sora and deliberately said to Itachi, "Uchiha Itachi, congratulations on reaching the tower so quickly. However, you've only placed second. Someone else arrived before you!"

Uchiha Itachi had already spotted Sora. He paid no mind to the chief examiner's words and replied calmly, "I'm not surprised at all that Uchiha Sora arrived before me."

With that, he leaped over to Uchiha Sora and sat beside him. "Sora, you really were faster than me!"

Uchiha Sora, who had been resting with his eyes closed, smiled. "Hearing something like that from you really is surprising."

Uchiha Itachi shook his head and sighed softly. "Everyone calls me a genius, but I know you're the real genius. You've already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan."