Since Uchiha Sora and Itachi had arrived so early, they exchanged a few words before each finding somewhere to rest.
The second exam would last until the next day, so Uchiha Sora simply went to sleep.
After a night had passed, a burst of commotion woke him.
It was already the early hours of the next morning.
The ninja teams who had taken part in the second exam with them yesterday had arrived at the Tower one after another.
Compared with the spotless Uchiha Sora, they looked far more miserable. Their clothes were in tatters, some were missing arms or legs, and some teams had even lost members.
Quite a few casualties!
Uchiha Sora yawned as he walked toward the crowd.
By then, the chief examiners and the various other parties had gathered in the stands at the Tower, waiting for the results of the second exam to be announced.
The chief examiner for the second exam walked into the arena and announced, "This exam will also include a round of one-on-one elimination matches! The results of these matches will determine who advances to the final round!"
His words immediately drew cries of dismay from the Genin present.
"Why do we still have to fight elimination matches? We're already injured! How are we supposed to compete?"
"Exactly! We barely got any rest last night. Even if we compete, there's no way we can perform at our true level!"
The examiner sneered. "A competent ninja must be able to respond to unexpected situations at any moment. Anyone injured may withdraw. Anyone who doesn't want to compete in the elimination matches is also free to withdraw from this exam!"
"Fine, I withdraw."
"I'm withdrawing too!"
Voices announcing their withdrawal rang out one after another. A few minutes later, only twenty people remained who could compete in the elimination matches.
Their twenty names were recorded, and the examiner drew lots.
Soon, the first matchup was selected. It wasn't Uchiha Sora's turn.
Uchiha Sora returned to the stands alone and leaned against the railing, watching the fight in the arena with little interest.
To him, these fights were hardly interesting at all.
As he stood there bored, the second match began.
Uchiha Itachi entered the arena. His opponent was a Puppeteer from Sunagakure.
Only then did Uchiha Sora perk up a little and watch.
Uchiha Itachi's current strength definitely surpassed that of an ordinary Chunin. With the boost from his Sharingan, he had undoubtedly reached the level of an elite Chunin.
Facing the Puppeteer, Uchiha Itachi hurled one Kunai after another the moment the match began, displaying his almost miraculous Shuriken Technique.
Before the Puppeteer could react, he discovered that Itachi's Shuriken had struck every one of his puppets in its vital points, disabling their mechanisms and rendering them immobile.
With his puppets out of action, the Puppeteer was knocked straight out of the arena by a series of Taijutsu strikes from Itachi.
The match was a completely one-sided rout!
"Uchiha Itachi wins the second match!" the chief examiner announced.
Uchiha Itachi glanced at Sora in the stands before returning there himself.
Uchiha Sora smiled and nodded at him.
Itachi has made it to the finals. Naturally, I can't let him down.
As though it had all been arranged, Sora was called up immediately for the third match.
Uchiha Sora leaped into the arena. Having changed into white clothes, with his handsome features and a short sword at his side, he made the female ninjas' eyes light up.
His opponent happened to be a female ninja.
"A-are you Uchiha Sora?" the female ninja asked, looking a little lovestruck.
Uchiha Sora smiled and nodded.
"Hehe, how about this? Call me big sister, and I'll concede!" she said with a giggle.
Uchiha Sora shook his head, speechless.
Unable to watch any longer, the chief examiner beside them coughed. "Maintain order in the arena!"
Only then did the female ninja stop and assume a fighting stance.
"Begin!" The chief examiner blew his whistle.
Thud!
The female ninja suddenly collapsed and lay motionless!
Uchiha Sora looked toward the chief examiner.
The chief examiner froze, unable to react for a moment.
Meanwhile, the expressions of every elite Jonin in the stands changed dramatically.
"Genjutsu! That kid just cast Genjutsu without anyone noticing!"
"Heavens! What level of mastery is that? I didn't see him form any Hand Seals at all!"
"No, he definitely didn't use Hand Seals to cast that Genjutsu!"
"I get it! That was Visual Genjutsu! It was the Sharingan!"
"The Sharingan? Has this child awakened his eyes too? But his eyes look perfectly normal right now!"
"Idiot! The Sharingan can be activated and deactivated at will! He must have activated it the instant he cast his Genjutsu, then deactivated it immediately afterward!"
"Uh, is that so? I think I did see a flash of red in his eyes just now..."
In the stands, Uchiha Itachi stared at Sora with a grave expression and murmured, "Just what you'd expect from Three-Tomoe Sharingan Genjutsu. It looks like Sora has fully grasped the insights into Genjutsu that Shisui gave him!"
Amid the uproar around him, the chief examiner finally came to his senses and hurriedly announced, "Uchiha Sora wins the third match!"
Uchiha Sora smiled faintly at the Medical Ninjas approaching with a stretcher. "This female ninja has only suffered a little mental shock. She'll be fine once she wakes up."
"Yes, yes!" The Medical Ninjas looked at him with some awe and nodded hastily.
Only then did Uchiha Sora flash back to the stands.
Uchiha Sora had no interest in watching the remaining matches. By the time they ended, ten contestants had qualified for the final round.
The finals were scheduled for a month later.
Lord Hokage would watch in person, and the leaders or Daimyo of Konoha's major allied nations would also be invited to attend.
That month would give the Genin participating in the finals plenty of time to prepare.
Everyone went their separate ways, and Uchiha Sora returned home.
Meanwhile, documents containing detailed intelligence on the course of the Chunin Ninja Exams were delivered to the Third Hokage's desk.
The Third Hokage studied a report in his hands and fell into thought.
The report contained a detailed intelligence profile.
Uchiha Sora: age 10. Entered the academy at 6; graduated and became a Genin at 7. Supervising instructor: Uenaka Masaki. Genin teammates: Hirai Mitsuteru, Uzuki Yugao. Participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams at 8; eliminated during the second exam. Reason for elimination: an opponent exploited an opening and knocked him out of the arena. Mission history: 65 D-rank, 135 C-rank, 7 B-rank, 0 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
There appeared to be nothing unusual about this intelligence.
Yet Uchiha Sora's performance this time had far surpassed the level of an ordinary Genin. Even an ordinary Chunin couldn't have accomplished what he had.
"The Uchiha Clan really does produce one genius after another..." the Third Hokage suddenly remarked, his tone inscrutable.
Before you continue