The first round of the Chunin Ninja Exams

The Land of Lightning lay among the highland mountain ranges in the northeastern Naruto Continent, while Kumogakure was built between several of the tallest peaks.

The towering mountains blocked the moist air carried inland from the ocean by the monsoons, causing rain clouds to gather around their slopes. The air was extremely humid, and deafening thunder occasionally echoed through the mountains.

Because the village was situated in the highlands, the air was thinner than in other countries and ultraviolet radiation was stronger, so most of Kumogakure's ninja had dark skin.

Of course, everything had two sides. Although the highland environment brought the Cloud Ninja some inconveniences, it also offered considerable benefits.

For example, after adapting to the low-oxygen environment, the Cloud Ninja who lived here generally developed stronger physiques. This was one reason Nintaijutsu flourished in Kumogakure.

Under the covert surveillance of the Cloud Ninja ANBU, Kazuhiko Uchiha wandered around Kumogakure and discovered that there was little to do for fun. There were only countless peaks covered in jagged rock formations, though mountaineering enthusiasts would certainly find plenty to enjoy.

Kazuhiko Uchiha first familiarized himself with the exact locations and surroundings of the various Chunin Ninja Exams venues, then sampled some of the Land of Lightning's local specialties on Kumogakure's snack street. Finally, he replenished some of his ninja tools at a shop before returning to the inn to train.

Over the next two days, candidates from the other ninja villages arrived one after another. By May 26, once all the candidates had arrived, Kumogakure sent someone to notify them of the exam format.

Like the Chunin Ninja Exams held in Konoha in the original story, these exams consisted of three rounds.

The first round was a written test for the initial screening. Its purpose was to weed out academically inept ninja who could not even master theoretical knowledge or intelligence gathering, shortening the overall duration of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

The second round was a team battle in the mountain forests, testing teamwork and overall combat strength. Following the usual practice, roughly half the candidates would be eliminated. Only strong teams or those with good luck would advance to the next round.

The third round consisted of randomly matched individual battles. These were the fights actually presented for the high-ranking officials of the various countries to watch, and the ultimate purpose of holding these joint exams. They were therefore extremely brutal, with many candidates dying every year.

After the notice arrived, Kazuhiko Uchiha learned the time and location of the first written test: eight o'clock the following morning, in the Cloud Ninja School's third lecture hall.

Early the next morning, candidates wearing all sorts of Forehead Protectors arrived at the Cloud Ninja School one after another and waited for the exam to begin.

Standing amid the tightly packed crowd of candidates, Kazuhiko Uchiha studied the other participants in the Chunin Ninja Exams with curiosity.

As the hosts, the Cloud Ninja had the most candidates, numbering nearly a hundred. However, a large portion were only there to join in and gain some exam experience in advance, improving their chances of passing future Chunin Ninja Exams.

The second-largest contingent came from the Stone Ninja, the Cloud Ninja's longtime rivals, with whom they had a constant love-hate relationship. They had sent nine teams, presumably intending to suppress the Cloud Ninja teams and sweep the top places, humiliating their hosts.

Next came Kazuhiko Uchiha's village, Konoha. Aside from Kazuhiko Uchiha, who was participating alone, there were six ordinary three-person teams. Their strength was clearly much lower than that of the other major ninja villages. This was probably why the village had specifically transferred Kazuhiko Uchiha from the ANBU.

After all, Konoha was the largest ninja village. Failing to secure even one of the top places would seriously damage its prestige.

After Konoha came the last of the major ninja villages: Sunagakure.

Sunagakure had fought fierce battles against Konoha in the previous wars of the Shinobi World and suffered heavy losses. Later, when the Daimyo of the Land of Wind called for military reductions, it had no choice but to focus on quality over quantity, training a small number of elite ninja. As a result, it had sent only five teams to these exams.

As for the smaller ninja villages, they had sent two or three teams at most. Some of the weaker villages could barely scrape together a single team to participate.

Soon, the Cloud Ninja proctors arrived and admitted the candidates to their respective examination rooms. After checking their documents and handing out the papers, they announced the rules for the first round.

"You have one hour to answer twenty questions. Copying is prohibited, and you may not hand in your paper early. Those who finish must remain seated quietly until the exam ends..."

"If we catch you copying, your entire team will be disqualified. In addition, once the results are released, if even one member of a team fails, the entire team will also be disqualified..."

After sternly explaining the rules, the examiner announced the official start of the first round of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Kazuhiko Uchiha skimmed through the paper in his hands and found that half the questions tested basic Genin-level knowledge. However, their wording contained traps, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a wrong answer.

The other half covered material beyond the syllabus, at the Chunin or even Jonin level. Unless a candidate possessed knowledge far beyond that of a Genin, or could covertly copy the correct answers from the papers of Cloud Ninja staff disguised as candidates, elimination was inevitable.

After all, Naruto was a world centered on combat. Even the knowledge required of a Jonin was not particularly extensive; what mattered more was applying that knowledge in practice.

Back at the Ninja Academy, Kazuhiko Uchiha had used his free time between training sessions to read every book he could find in the school library. Thanks to the rote memorization skills he had developed during nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, remembering the main points was easy, even if he could not recite everything word for word.

These questions beyond the syllabus were difficult for others, but trivial to Kazuhiko Uchiha. He finished writing all his answers with ease in just half an hour.

Once he had finished, Kazuhiko Uchiha raised his head and began observing the other candidates in the room.

There were high-achieving candidates quietly answering questions just as he had, hopeless slackers scratching their heads without a clue what to do, and quick-witted candidates who had begun cheating through various means.

Fifty candidates were spread throughout the semicircular lecture hall, with a fair amount of distance between them. This made ordinary copying by eyesight alone almost impossible-unless, of course, someone possessed an ocular ability such as the Byakugan or Sharingan.

Thus, candidates who wanted to cheat could only use special ninjutsu, tools, or similar methods. The slightest mistake would alert the Chunin proctors and cost their entire team its qualification.

"Number forty-seven, cheating. Your entire team has failed."

"Number fifty-three, cheating. Your entire team has failed."

"Number sixty-nine, cheating. Your entire team has failed."

Although the examiners had declared at the start that cheating was prohibited, they turned a blind eye to the candidates' first few attempts. Only when someone used a particularly obvious method or was caught repeatedly did they call out their number and remove the entire team from the room.

After several teams were escorted out of the classroom in succession, the cheating candidates grew more cautious. With the proctors also going easy on them, they managed to write down their answers.

Time ticked away, and by the end of the exam, only a little over a hundred candidates remained to finish their papers.

They handed their papers to the examiners present for grading, and the results were soon delivered to the candidates. With a score of ninety-seven, Kazuhiko Uchiha successfully passed the first round.