Chapter 131: Konoha Genin, Terrifyingly Strong
"Is that Lord Jiraiya? One of the Sannin?"
"He's completely different from what I imagined!"
"He seems pretty unreliable."
After a few seconds of silence, the crowd couldn't hold back their urge to complain, and began whispering. In their minds, the Sannin were heroic ninja. But Jiraiya's behavior made them feel utterly disillusioned.
Hoshikawa shook his head. The shinobi world was one where power reigned supreme, which was why the "Three Sannin" title existed. If it were based on personality and behavior, they would be known as the "Three Evils of the Leaf," a complete trifecta of gambling, lechery, and drunkenness.
"You're a bit early, Lord Jiraiya," Dōtō Akimichi said, quickly stepping forward.
"I figured the examinees would be happy to see me, so I came early to say hello," Jiraiya said, his eyebrows raised playfully.
"..." Dōtō thought to himself, You've had the opposite effect.
"Hello, everyone!" Jiraiya said with a confident smile, waving his hand. "I'm the proctor for the second stage. Don't mistake me for a candidate this afternoon!"
"Me, fighting Jiraiya? Is that for real?"
"He's the proctor, not a candidate! Don't say such a terrifying thing!"
"The difficulty is going to be super high now! We're doomed!"
A commotion erupted in the classroom. None of them had expected a simple internal Chūnin Exam to attract the presence of Jiraiya. Hoshikawa was also surprised. He didn't understand why it would be Jiraiya. Does it have something to do with me? Hoshikawa couldn't think of a reason, so he stopped trying. After all, it wouldn't make much of a difference to him who the proctor was.
"See you this afternoon, everyone," Jiraiya said, falling backward. Amidst the gasps of surprise, he vanished.
"..." Dōtō Akimichi looked at the broken window pane, speechless. He'd have to report this to the Hokage and have it charged to Lord Jiraiya's account. As a member of the Akimichi clan, all his money was spent on food and drinks; he had no extra to spare.
"Quiet down!" Dōtō turned around and said in a low voice. The crowd in the classroom immediately fell silent, no longer gossiping about Jiraiya.
"The written test results will be posted on the bulletin board. Go check for yourselves," Dōtō continued. "The second stage is at 2 p.m. this afternoon. All who pass should gather at Training Ground 1 on time."
"Yes, sir!" everyone said in unison.
"The results will be posted in about an hour." After saying this, Dōtō left the classroom with the exam papers in his arms. Hoshikawa recalled that in the original Chūnin Exams, there was a so-called 10th question, a psychological test. But this exam didn't have one; it was just a normal written test.
"Since we have some time, how about we go to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch?" Asuma was the first to ask.
"Sounds good," Shisui said with a nod and a smile. "It's been a while since I had Ichiraku Ramen. I kind of miss it."
"Then Ichiraku Ramen it is!" Kurenai said, waving her hand and pulling Hoshikawa along as she walked out.
"Damn it!" Asuma said, gritting his teeth. "I need to get a girlfriend, too!"
The ninja world was always quick to mature. They were all 12 or 13 years old and had heard of boyfriends and girlfriends.
"What's a girlfriend?" Guy asked with a puzzled look.
"She's your youth," Kakashi said, giving him a look before leaving the classroom.
"Youth!" Guy suddenly got excited and chased after him. "Let's race to see who gets to Ichiraku Ramen first!"
Obito's eyes showed envy, even jealousy. How does Hoshikawa get all the good things? I wish Rin would do that to me.
"Rin, wait for me!" Obito quickly ran ahead.
The only one left was Shizune. She didn't have any particular plans. Right now, she just wanted to improve her medical ninjutsu. Like Rin, she was in the awkward position of having two extremely strong teammates. Especially Shisui.
The group quickly arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Welcome, welcome!" Teuchi said with a big smile. "To celebrate your Chūnin Exams, the extra noodles are on the house today."
"Huh? Uncle Teuchi, how did you know we had our Chūnin Exams today?" Kurenai asked, surprised.
"Don't underestimate my information network!" Teuchi said with a wink.
"Thank you, Uncle Teuchi," Hoshikawa said, remembering how Teuchi often gave Naruto free food in the original story. He felt that at least a third of the credit for Naruto not turning into a villain belonged to Teuchi and his ramen shop.
"No big deal," Teuchi said, waving his hand. "Just come visit more often."
Hoshikawa looked around. None of their friends were from the Akimichi or Hyūga clans. If they were, Teuchi would be losing money today.
After they finished their ramen, the group chatted and laughed as they returned to the Ninja Academy. A large crowd of examinees had gathered at the bulletin board by the entrance. The results hadn't been posted yet, so everyone was waiting.
"I hope I passed." Obito clasped his hands together and prayed.
"Did you do it yourself?" Asuma asked, looking at him. Among their group, he and Guy were probably the ones who had the most doubt about passing.
"Of... of course!" Obito said, a little guiltily. He didn't dare to tell the truth in front of Rin. But if he didn't cheat, he was afraid of being eliminated and becoming a laughingstock.
"Guy, how do you feel?" Kakashi asked, looking at the bulletin board.
"I feel great!" Guy said confidently. "My youth won't end here!"
"..." Kakashi felt like he had worried for nothing. Guy was simply fearless.
"It's fine, as long as you pass," Asuma said nonchalantly. "Rankings don't matter."
"You're just saying that because you can't get first place, right?" Kurenai called him out directly. "After all, first place is definitely Hoshikawa !"
"How is that possible?!" Asuma said, refusing to admit it. "As a ninja, surviving is the most important thing!" He wasn't exactly lying. This was a deep-seated realization from doing missions with Sakumo Hatake. Because their team was strong, their missions were always very dangerous.
"Here it comes," Hoshikawa said, noticing a proctor approaching. The man walked to the bulletin board and posted a list. The waiting examinees immediately crowded around.
"I passed! I passed!"
"Why isn't my name on it?!"
"Damn it! This is rigged!"
Some people groaned in despair, while others cheered in excitement.
"Hoshikawa is first, just as I thought!" Kurenai said, looking at the ranking, then at Hoshikawa , her voice full of joy.
"What about you?" Hoshikawa asked, patting her head.
"F-fifth place," Kurenai said, turning her head, her face a little flushed. Before, she didn't feel anything when he patted her head, but now she felt a strange sensation.
"I passed!" Guy said excitedly. "My youth is burning!"
"Rin, you're in second place," Obito said, sounding a little disappointed. She was so close to surpassing Hoshikawa .
"Second place is already great," Rin said, smiling without a care. "You're in 21st place. Congratulations."
"Thanks," Obito said, scratching his head. How am I only 21st? Did I cheat for nothing?
"Everyone passed!" Shisui said with a smile after scanning the list.
Hoshikawa nodded slightly. There were 54 genin who took the written exam, and 45 of them passed, eliminating only nine. Compared to the joint Chūnin Exams in the original story, the difficulty had been drastically lowered.
"Let's go to Training Ground 1," Hoshikawa said, turning his gaze away. "The most important parts of the Chūnin Exams are the second and third stages. Everyone, be prepared."
"Don't worry!" Asuma said confidently. "I'll definitely surprise you."
"Good luck," Hoshikawa said with a smile.
"I feel like you don't have faith in me," Asuma said with a light huff.
"Let's go!" Kurenai moved closer to Hoshikawa and pulled him away.
Asuma's mouth twitched. You two are too much!
"Rin, are you ready?" Obito asked Rin.
"I'll just do my best," Rin said, shaking her head.
"With your high ranking, maybe you'll have a bonus," Shizune said. She was also a medical ninja and could understand Rin's mindset.
"You can definitely pass!" Obito said with a strange confidence.
Rin didn't pay much attention, still feeling a bit anxious.
"Don't worry," Hoshikawa said, looking back. "You'll be fine."
"Really?" Rin's eyes lit up. Because of Hoshikawa 's strength, she trusted him completely.
"Yeah," Hoshikawa nodded slightly. After all, he had the Byakugan—he could see the future. Rin let out a sigh of relief, no longer feeling so stressed.
"..." Obito clenched his fists. Damn it! Why don't you believe me? That evil brat Hoshikawa ! His eyes reddened as if he'd just eaten a lemon.
"What's that?" Just then, a series of shocked gasps came from the examinees walking with them.
"It's huge!" Obito subconsciously looked up. "Why is there such a massive toad?"
A gigantic toad with a pipe in its mouth was sitting in the middle of Training Ground 1.
"There's someone on top of it!" Shizune said, stunned. "It's Lord Jiraiya."
"You guys don't know, do you?" Asuma cleared his throat, about to explain, but was cut off.
"It's Uncle Jiraiya's summoning creature, from Mount Myōboku, one of the three great summoning places," Hoshikawa said. He even recognized which toad it was: Gamabunta. The one Naruto called "Toad Boss," a powerful summon that could fight evenly with Shukaku for a short time.
Is he summoning him now? Hoshikawa could already guess what the second stage of the exam would be.
"It looks so cool," Rin said, sighing in admiration.
"What's so great about it?" Kurenai scoffed. "Don't you remember that Tsunade-sensei also has a summoning creature? We'll have a contract with her summon one day!" Rin froze, then got excited. She was filled with anticipation at the thought of having such a powerful summoning creature in the future.
"Hoshikawa , did you sign a contract?" Asuma suddenly thought of a serious problem.
"I did," Hoshikawa nodded slightly.
"Then wouldn't you be able to pass easily by summoning a creature from the Shikkotsu Forest?" Asuma said, feeling indignant. "That's cheating! Damn it! I should have asked the old man for his summoning creature!"
"My summoning creature is a healing type," Hoshikawa said, shaking his head. "I won't be using it."
"Oh, good," Asuma said, relieved.
"So what if it's a summoning creature?" Obito said sourly. "A ninja who becomes strong doesn't need a summoning creature." He was actually drooling with envy. Everyone knew that a lot of the Sannin's fame came from their summons.
"Hey! Little ones, come on over!" Jiraiya noticed them and waved.
The crowd of genin walked forward.
"The rules are simple," Jiraiya said once everyone was gathered. "You just have to get through the Forest of Death as quickly as possible."
"That's it?" Kakashi asked. "Is it just a race?"
Just then, Jiraiya leaped down from Gamabunta and stood in front of them, forming hand signs. With a poof of smoke, a bunch of toads of all shapes and sizes appeared.
"Along the way, they will set up traps and attack you, so be careful!" Jiraiya said with a smile. The crowd of genin stirred in a panic. These were the legendary Sannin's summoning creatures!
"Two things to remember," Jiraiya said, holding up two fingers. "First, your team's time will be determined by the slowest member. Second, only the first seven teams will pass."
"What?"
"Half of us are going to be eliminated? We're finished!"
"I don't have the Body Flicker Jutsu. I'm not fast enough."
Everyone looked worried, and many were already sweating profusely.
"Alright!" Jiraiya said with a laugh. "The exam starts now! Good luck, everyone!"
The sound of air rushing by filled the air as the genin all charged into the Forest of Death as fast as they could.
"See you at the finish line." Asuma, Shisui, and Shizune took off. Kakashi, Obito, and Guy did the same.
"Let's go," Hoshikawa said, leaping into the trees and moving quickly. Rin and Kurenai quickly followed.
Shortly after they left, a large group of toads hopped into the Forest of Death. Jiraiya rubbed his chin. Should I make it a little harder for Hoshikawa ? If he summons Katsuyu, I'll send Gamabunta after him.
Perception Expansion Jutsu! Hoshikawa formed hand signs as he ran. Suddenly, his eyebrow twitched. "Kurenai, left."
Kurenai didn't hesitate to stop, forming hand signs with both hands. The next second, a wave of heat rolled toward them. A large fireball flew out from the nearby trees.
Water Release: Water Wall Jutsu! Kurenai spat out a stream of water that transformed into a wall, blocking the attack.
Hoshikawa leaped backward, his body vanishing. Rin, meanwhile, took out a kunai and stood back-to-back with Kurenai, vigilantly watching their surroundings.
"Where'd that brat go?" A purplish-red toad looked around.
The sound of crackling lightning filled the air. It instinctively turned its head, only to see a brilliant flash of lightning.
"Ahhhh!" The purplish-red toad screamed, its head spinning from the shock. Hoshikawa didn't kill it. After all, it was one of Jiraiya's summoning creatures.
"Y-you passed..." the purplish-red toad said, its voice faint. It had only one thought: These Konoha genin are terrifyingly strong!
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