The first exam

The second floor of the Hokage Office Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, his head down as he worked through the documents in his hands.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a figure flashed into view directly in front of the desk.

With blond hair, blue eyes, and a green ninja vest, he was none other than Minato Namikaze.

"Lord Third, all three children under my supervision have submitted their applications for the chunin ninja exams."

Minato bowed slightly, then took the forms out of his ninja tool pouch.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no surprise, as though he had known Minato would come.

He raised his head, glanced at Minato, and said calmly, "Minato, what did Obito say? Is he still unwilling to join the Anbu?"

Minato shook his head. "Lord Third, I didn't bring up joining the Anbu with Obito today."

"As you know, ever since that incident with Danzo, Obito has been rather resistant to the ninja divisions directly under the Hokage."

After Danzo had sent men to assassinate Obito, things had changed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent people to the patch of woods where Obito trained to investigate the battle firsthand.

The Anbu had examined the traces left behind, then considered the fact that Obito had appeared completely unharmed the following day.

The report they brought back to Hiruzen Sarutobi was that Obito had utterly overwhelmed all three Root ninja.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had also questioned Danzo closely about the strength of those three Root ninja.

Without exception, all three had possessed the strength of an elite jōnin.

That meant Obito had already been strong enough at the time to crush three elite jōnin.

His true strength might even have been more terrifying than that.

Naturally, this discovery had deeply shocked both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.

So this Uchiha boy, who had made a name for himself at nine, had actually been hiding such formidable strength?

Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent out numerous Anbu skilled in tracking to keep Obito under surveillance for a long time.

They had found nothing unusual about his behavior.

Every day, he accompanied Team Minato on ninja missions.

The rest of his time was mostly spent taking turns training with Kakashi, Rin, and Kurenai.

Among the more useful reports brought back by the ninja assigned to monitor him, there had been little of note.

Aside from Obito's apparent interest in romance at an early age and his tangled relationships with the two young girls, Kurenai and Rin, there had been no other issues.

At last, Hiruzen Sarutobi had lowered his guard toward Obito.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Hiruzen Sarutobi had once again softened toward him.

He still wanted to bring Obito into a division under his command.

After all, everyone had their secrets. Becoming a genius at nine while not wanting to reveal his strength was hardly a big deal.

Thus, Hiruzen Sarutobi had begun prodding Minato to sound Obito out.

He wanted Minato to persuade Obito to join the Anbu directly under Hiruzen Sarutobi's command.

But Obito had consistently refused, with no desire whatsoever to leave Team 7.

Even after Minato had tried persuading him many times, Obito remained unwilling to join the Anbu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed helplessly and asked, "Minato, it's still because I didn't punish Danzo for sending men to assassinate him, isn't it? Obito still resents that."

Minato nodded. "Lord Third, I believe that's the case."

"That little fellow Obito may always seem cheerful, but he's actually quite sensitive. When you didn't take his side that time, it may have already created a rift between you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "It sounds like you think quite highly of Obito. Very well. Since the two of you are close, let him remain under your command. There's nothing wrong with that."

Remaining under Minato's command was the same as remaining under Hiruzen Sarutobi's command.

Minato is Jiraiya's student, which makes him my grandstudent as Hokage.

Doesn't that mean Obito Uchiha is still under my control?

Five days passed in the blink of an eye, and the chunin ninja exams Minato had mentioned arrived.

The overall format of these chunin ninja exams was much the same as the one held in Naruto's time.

There were three exams in total.

The first round was a written test assessing theoretical knowledge.

The second round involved entering the Forest of Death for a team competition to seize Heaven and Earth Scrolls.

The third round was an individual tournament, with one-on-one arena matches whose winners would be promoted to chunin.

There was, however, one difference.

Naruto's era had been a time of peace.

To foster friendly relations with other countries, Konoha had adopted an open examination system.

Ninja from other villages could participate in the chunin ninja exams in Konoha.

Now, however, the nations were embroiled in the chaos of war.

Konoha could not possibly open its gates to all the major ninja villages and allow their ninja to come take the chunin ninja exams.

As a result, every participant in these chunin ninja exams was a Konoha ninja.

That also meant there would be no killing one another over scrolls in the Forest of Death.

Although it was permitted, they all belonged to the same village and would not go that far...

Inside a spacious classroom.

Numerous ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors sat quietly at their desks, waiting for the first chunin examination, the written test, to begin.

Obito turned his head and scanned the room.

Almost all the classmates who had graduated with him were there.

Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, Might Guy, Rin Nohara, Kakashi, Mitaraishi Anko, Shizune, Ibiki Morinai, Mizuki, Hokoku Shimura, and others.

Besides these familiar faces, there were quite a few people who had failed to pass in previous years, as well as those who had waited until they felt confident before entering the chunin ninja exams. They were generally a little older.

The oldest-looking person among them was probably around twenty.

Kakashi, Rin, and Kurenai were all seated in the front rows, far from Obito.

The only familiar face near Obito was Mitaraishi Anko, with whom he had not interacted much.

Anko had tucked a takeout box beneath her desk, filled with a large bundle of dango.

Her big eyes darted around, and once she saw that nobody was paying attention to her, she leaned over her desk and began sneaking bites.

"Mmm, today's Three-Color Dango tastes wonderful. It's so good."

Watching her eat with such relish made Obito's stomach stir with hunger.

Obito leaned closer to Anko and whispered, "Anko, could I have a couple? I haven't had breakfast either."

At those words, Anko immediately clutched the box of dango to her chest, holding it tightly.

As though afraid Obito would snatch it, she said warily, "You can't have any. I just bought this new flavor today. If I give you some, I won't have enough."

Obito pursed his lips and grumbled, "You're so stingy. Keep eating that much, and you'll turn into a sweet potato."