By getting information from the shadow clones, I not only learned about the strength of my opponents - Ai's wards are too skilled at resisting various seals, which in itself is highly suspicious - but also of my allies. Kushina-chan surprised me with her chakra chain modification and a very close resemblance to a biju's protective shield, only made of her own chakra, negating a lot of the girls' strategies against her, not to mention the nine-tailed fox's good power control.
I wouldn't hesitate to say that I should adopt similar techniques if the lightning bolt doesn't work out. Minato, on the other hand, has gotten even faster, and I know a few tokubetsu jonins who will lose to him in speed.
And from the looks of it, he's taken the initial reinforcement courses over the past few months - Jiraiya wasn't kidding at all when he called him a favorite for the exam. Jiraiya understood that his reputation as a teacher was at stake, so he wasn't surprised to see the blond calmly practicing not only variations of Hari's techniques, but also Rasengan.
What a coincidence that two of my strongest underlings know them well too. I didn't teach Surizawa, because she doesn't have enough chakra to use it even a couple times, and her role in the team doesn't involve using techniques left and right. The girls will have to try hard to defeat him one-on-one.
When it was time to finish the second stage and I had dispelled all the shadow clones, another Sunagakure genin had reached the tower, wounded but still able to stay on his feet. He and all the other genin were taken to the Konoha shinobi arena, and the mentors of the past candidates were seated on the balconies on the right and left sides.
***
Looking around at the jonins present, all I could do was shake my head - almost none of them had expected such a result for their village, except for Takigakure. And I could understand them a little, because even when the test was held for their own, with all the advantages, the result almost never exceeded two-fifths of the total number of participants, but here it was less than a third.
For years now, the jonin council has had the idea of thinning out the deadliest animals in the Forest of Death, so as not to lose so many talented youngsters to death or serious injury, but when it comes to voting, the majority of votes are not cast. I suppose that should change this year, due to a similar result.
However, except for my satisfied face, hidden behind a mask, the expressions of the other Konoha jonins are also far from happy, as most of those present have lost one team, permanently. That's what happens when you invest in the training of only one ward, and the rest of them serve as background. I could have done the same thing with Surizawa, but I found a way to mold her into a good support fighter who wasn't a liability to the team.
- I congratulate you on successfully completing the second stage of the chunin exam," the Hyuga began his speech from the balcony as the Hyuga genin were lined up, 'you've shown great qualities for future chunin - the ability to complete the mission...' he said.
Hiruzen passed by his ears the typical speech of Hiruzen, who was telling young talents about peace, friendship, cooperation, of course, with the nuances of the shinobi world, like the presentation of the village, and thought about how they would reduce the current number of candidates - for the announced number of the final seventeen people is obviously too many, but to organize the elimination of half - there is no sense, because there would be too few genin and spectacular competition would not work.
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