A month passed in the blink of an eye, and high-ranking officials and nobles from various countries had already taken their seats in the stands.
The entire examination venue instantly became lively, and the entrance of the three Shadows further ignited the enthusiastic atmosphere.
"Wow, is that the Rainbow Shadow? I didn't expect her to be a Little girl."
"The Rainbow Shadow has always been mysterious; we only know that this Little girl is the Second Generation Rainbow Shadow."
Two men in noble attire in the stands whispered to each other, discussing.
Not far from them, the Konoha Genin who had been eliminated in the preliminaries also looked at the expressionless Little girl with surprise.
From her appearance, she didn't seem old, yet she had already become the Shadow of a village, and it was the Rainbow Ninja Village, known as the Shinobi World's strongest ninja village.
This made the Konoha Genin, who had initially thought themselves formidable, suddenly feel an inexpressible sense of frustration.
Everyone looked roughly the same age, so why was she so outstanding?
"Hehe, Second Generation Rainbow Shadow, this should be our first meeting, shouldn't it?"
Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, smiled faintly as he looked at Kurotome, who was seated to Sarutobi Hiruzen's right, and said.
"Kazekage, not only is it your first time meeting her, but I also only had the opportunity to meet the current Rainbow Shadow through this examination."
Hearing Rasa's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen also offered a feigned smile and chimed in.
Kurotome didn't respond to their words; instead, she continuously stuffed snacks into her mouth.
Watching Kurotome, who seemed not to have heard them speak, a gloomy glint flashed in Sarutobi Hiruzen's and Rasa's eyes.
Was this Little girl not taking them seriously enough? They were all Kage; at least they should maintain appearances.
Although they thought this, they couldn't say it aloud. Feeling the situation was a bit awkward, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued:
"Hehe, the Rainbow Shadow might not be good at communicating with people. After all, she's not old; it's understandable, isn't it?"
"The Hokage is right; the Rainbow Shadow indeed seems unaccustomed to communicating with others."
Hearing Rasa's and Sarutobi Hiruzen's sarcastic remarks, Kurotome merely turned her head, glanced at them, and then turned back to continue eating her snacks.
Kurotome always remembered Zhong Chen's instructions: when dealing with old foxes like Sarutobi Hiruzen, the best way to communicate was not to communicate at all.
After all, there's a good saying: silence is the greatest contempt. Today, Kurotome was going to contempt these old geezers.
The two, who had expected Kurotome to at least respond, suddenly felt like their punches were hitting cotton; their opponent wasn't engaging at all.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, somewhat helpless, saw the examinees entering and immediately stood up, looking at Rasa and Kurotome with a slightly apologetic smile.
"Ahem... The examinees have all entered. Rainbow Shadow, Kazekage, this old man will excuse himself for a moment."
"As the guest, I'll follow the host's lead. Hokage, please proceed."
"Chomp, chomp, chomp..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Kurotome, who was still eating snacks, and his mouth twitched involuntarily.
This Little girl really doesn't say a word. He wondered why the Rainbow Ninja Village chose her as the Rainbow Shadow; how could she carry out her duties like this?
At this moment, Namikaze Minato, who was handling official business on the Rainbow Shadow's throne, sneezed heavily.
"Minato, are you sick?"
Kushina Uzumaki stood nearby, asking with concern, but Namikaze Minato only shook his head.
In his heart, he couldn't help but wonder if that Little girl Kurotome had left another mess for him to clean up.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!!!"
"It's finally starting! This time, not only can we see excellent ninjas from various countries, but we also get to see the Kage of the three great ninja villages at once. This trip is truly worthwhile."
"Hahaha, you're right, coming this time was definitely the right choice."
"Good luck, all you examinees down there!!!"
The nine examinees standing in the center of the circular arena heard the exclamations from the stands and all showed confident expressions.
"Well then, let's begin."
As Sarutobi Hiruzen approached the edge of the railing, the noisy sounds in the venue gradually faded away.
"Distinguished guests, regarding your presence in Konoha to observe the Chunin Selection Exam."
"I express my heartfelt gratitude."
"Next, the nine examinees who passed the preliminaries will proceed with the official selection matches."
"Please enjoy the viewing."
As Sarutobi Hiruzen's words fell, deafening applause and cheers erupted in the venue.
At this moment, Genma Shiranui, who had a senbon in his mouth, walked up to the nine with a small box in the center of the venue.
"Because the combat rules are two-on-two, one person will receive a bye. The person with the bye will need to accept a challenge from one of the defeated combatants."
"Now, please come forward and draw lots, examinees."
Hearing his words, the several people successively took a slip of paper from the box.
"Hehe, I got the bye!"
Nis looked at the slip of paper in her hand, which read "Bye," and excitedly raised her right hand, shouting loudly.
"Since the person with the bye has been decided, now please draw for your opponents."
With another round of drawing lots, the following match-up chart was formed:
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji.
Kaguya Kimimaro vs. Temari.
Kankuro vs. Uzumaki Karin.
Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara.
"Now, please, the first group of examinees remain. Everyone else, please go to the waiting area."
After Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji remained, the other nine returned to the waiting area.
"Lord Chen, when do we begin our operation?"
Mine leaned close to Zhong Chen, asking in a low voice.
"No rush. This so-called joint Chunin Exam is the last one, so we should really watch it through, shouldn't we?"
Zhong Chen looked at the lively scene before him and suddenly thought of Dragon Ball's World Martial Arts Tournament. Then, with a hint of excitement, he turned to Mine.
"Mine, what do you think if I organize an internal martial arts tournament for the Monster Country Federation when we get back? Wouldn't it be countless times more lively than this?"
"Martial arts tournament?"
Mine looked at Zhong Chen with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he meant by a "martial arts tournament."
"Hehe, it's about having all the experts of the Monster Country Federation compete to determine the strongest in the Monster Country Federation."
Hearing Zhong Chen's explanation, Mine couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Huh? Then why don't you just give yourself an award?"
All the experts competing together? Was there even a need to compete? There was no suspense for the champion.
If one were to ask who was second among the many top combatants of the Monster Country Federation, it would be hard to say, as Rimuru, Veldora, and others were all quite similar.
But if you asked who was the strongest combatant, there was absolutely no suspense: it was definitely Zhong Chen.
There were even rumors among the high-ranking officials that Zhong Chen's combat power was countless times stronger than the combined total of everyone in the Monster Country Federation.
Although this rumor had no concrete evidence, strangely, none of the many high-ranking officials came out to refute it.
"Uh... I won't participate."
"That sounds like a great idea, Lord Chen..."