On Bai Xing's side, reinforcements from Yūhi Liuyun finally arrived. He quietly gave the girl a military salute, endured her Byakugan glare, and then went back to scribbling something in the low-sixties range—just enough to fool the higher-ups.
At this moment, he had no idea that, in Mikoto's telling, he had already become a genius ninja who changed his own destiny.
The pace of eliminations continued.
Someone used a sneaky Earth Release technique to move a wad of paper—no idea where it came from—rolling it onto the desk of a genin candidate who had already finished the answers and was fast asleep. A real-name report, right there in the open.
The proctor saw everything clearly.
But failing to stay alert to one's surroundings was, ultimately, the examinee's own problem.
So—
Without any surprise, another team was eliminated.
The exam lasted only one hour, and it quickly entered its final stage. At this point, aside from substitute test-takers who had taken the exam for others, only eleven teams remained in the examination hall.
Just as Morino Ikō thought the exam was over, a pale white arm was raised from the third row.
"I withdraw."
Morino Ikō looked seriously at the Uchiha girl with long black spiky hair.
"This isn't something to joke about. Are you sure, Candidate No. 26?"
"I'm sure."
A bitter smile appeared on Uchiha Fūi's face.
"I lost."
"Sorry, Yan, Fūya. I dragged you down."
The two Uchiha ninja sitting on either side of her lowered their heads, their expressions unreadable.
Morino Ikō took a deep breath and was just about to announce the elimination of all three when twelve-year-old Uchiha Yan slammed the desk and burst into loud laughter.
"So what if it's just chūnin? Sister Fūi, you're being way too polite! We're a squad, aren't we?!"
"I thought you'd be angry," Uchiha Fūya said as he capped his water pen, glancing at Uchiha Yan.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm an Uchiha! Even if I never make chūnin and stay a genin for life, I'll still be the strongest genin!"
"You guys…"
In an instant, Uchiha Fūi stood up and covered her face, tears streaming down from the corners of her eyes.
Beside her, Mikoto spoke in a voice that Fūi could hear clearly:
"You're also an irreplaceable teammate to them."
"Don't underestimate yourself anymore, Sister Fūi."
It was the first time Mikoto had ever called her "Sister."
Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. For the first time, the girl felt that she wasn't alone—that all these years of effort hadn't been as an unnoticed, nameless nobody…
Time was up. The bell signaling the end of the exam rang out.
Ding ding ding—
Standing at the podium, Morino Ikō confirmed once more:
"Do you still wish to withdraw?"
"I haven't officially announced the result yet, so it can still be changed."
Hesitation appeared on Fūi's face. Her earlier decision had been impulsive. Because Mikoto hadn't taken advantage of the moment to crush her mentally, she had assumed she had lost.
But now, she didn't want to let down the two teammates who cared about her.
"Of course I confirm it."
"Let's go, Yan."
"Sister Fūi, what are you standing around for? Let's go. Worst case, we'll take it again next year. What's the big deal?"
Uchiha Fūya's and Uchiha Yan's choice made Uchiha Fūi nod firmly.
"This one's on me!"
"When we get back, I'll treat you guys to a meal—let's celebrate my Sharingan upgrading."
"Huh?" ×2
At the classroom door, Uchiha Fūya and Uchiha Yan stopped in unison. For a moment, Bai Xing felt like there were two clowns added to the room.
...
"Not bad, Jōnin Qizhen. Those three are good kids—you should train them well."
In the monitoring room, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave an objective evaluation of the three Uchiha ninja. Beside him, Uchiha Qizhen looked proud, his gaze sweeping around everyone present.
"Of course."
"My squad produced a fourteen-year-old double-tomoe prodigy. I'll definitely nurture her properly."
As soon as he said this, the still-pleased Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly, casting a glance at Uchiha Qizhen's somewhat abnormal expression. He could only hope that the three children wouldn't be affected by their elder's unstable emotions.
Orochimaru's eyes lit up—but he was even more interested in Uchiha Mikoto, who was submitting her test paper on the screen.
What a genius.
He'd heard she was in the same class as Nawaki. Perhaps he could arrange for Nawaki to become friends with this Uchiha girl—who knew, maybe there'd be a chance for their bloodlines to merge…
"Hmph. It's nothing more than relying on the Uchiha clan's bloodline," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said, jealousy flashing as he swept a glance over Mikoto and Fūi.
As for Bai Xing, he didn't even register him as a concern—after all, in the second exam, he would make sure his own students eliminated Bai Xing thoroughly.
...
The first stage of the Chūnin Exams ended. The proctor for the second stage arrived at the scene. This time, at least, it wasn't Mitarashi—it was a civilian tokubetsu jōnin named Akimoto.
The second stage was still survival in the wild, but not the Forest of Death. Instead, it was another enclosed forest zone, similar in nature—the Simulation Forest.
This was a special venue only Konoha ninja were allowed to use.
Bai Xing had been fortunate enough to take part in this area twice before.
Simply put, it was a battlefield-simulation assessment: forests, rivers, rocky terrain—environments unique to warfare. Within it, there might even be chūnin or jōnin acting as enemy-nation ninja squads for live combat.
The squads, meanwhile, had to reach a tall tower at the center of the forest.
The survival time was even shorter—only one day and one night, twenty-four hours. Amid constant battles with enemy-nation ninja and along routes that looked safe but were actually filled with traps, teams had to seize from other squads a scroll opposite to the one they held.
In terms of difficulty, it was even harsher than the Forest of Death. After all, this was practical chūnin combat training designed for wartime.
On top of that, the area was larger than the Forest of Death.
"Teacher~~ we passed the first exam~!"
"Hehe, sensei, you're not on a date, are you~~"
"Um, how about we—"
"Shut up!" ×2
On the street, just as Bai Xing was thinking about whether he should personally step in during the second exam or wait until the third, the sudden voices of boys and girls from behind made his hair stand on end.
Beside him, Yūhi Liuyun pursed her red lips and turned to face the three of them.
"We're discussing tomorrow's exam with your teacher."
"It's n-n-n-n-not a date at all!"
Shiranui Kumo covered his face, thinking that even an idiot could tell she had no intention of discussing the exam—after all, it was the same as last year's test. There was no need to go to a restaurant, book a private room, and eat together just to "discuss" it.
"Tch. Small fry."
Uchiha Mikoto glanced at Yūhi Liuyun and snorted internally. She curled her lips, regaining her young-lady composure.
"Then it should be fine if we eat with our teacher too, right?!"
"How could that be allowed?! We're discussing tomorrow's battle strategy! What if you eavesdrop and we suffer a huge loss?!"
Bai Xing, Shiranui Kumo: "..."
The two exchanged a look. Bai Xing asked with his eyes, Did we even discuss anything last time?
Shiranui Kumo shook his head in perfect understanding, complaining inwardly: Discuss my ass. We just said 'react as things come' and that was it.
...
The next morning at eleven-thirty, nine squads that had passed the previous day's exam stood before the Simulation Forest.
"Looking at the numbers, doesn't it seem like one squad is missing?" Might Dai worried inwardly. "Weren't there ten squads that passed yesterday? Don't tell me there's some other test we don't know about?"
Standing beside Might Dai, Bai Xing lazily swept his gaze over the crowd. He locked eyes with Yamanaka Taiji from Team Two—the blond boy's look clearly said you're finished.
"Do you even need to ask? Obviously, they failed the exam."
"Huh?!" ×3
"So some teams didn't pass after all?" Uchiha Mikoto said in surprise.
Yakushi Nono: "Sensei, didn't you say yesterday that only us, Team Eight, and Team Two were the top teams of this year's—"
"..."
Bai Xing fell silent for a moment. He exchanged polite nods with the relatively friendly Nara Hane and Akimichi Yumi. Akimichi Yumi tugged at Nara Hane—who wore a I want to die, this is such a pain expression—and whispered, "Your idol looked at you!"
"Not every squad has the ability to gather and transmit intelligence."
Bai Xing looked at his own three students.
"So you're already a very strong team."
At this point, Shiranui Kumo—chewing on a senbon—had a bad feeling.
"H-Hey, hey, hey—you're not about to pull something again, are you?! Are you planning to deliberately let your own squad pass this time?!"
Yūhi Liuyun, looking jealous, widened her beautiful eyes and stared hard at the two girls about her age:
"!!!"
Bai Xing spoke calmly.
"Kumo, don't make me laugh. No one can stop me from becoming a chūnin…"
"Not even my most beloved disciples."
"Prepare yourselves mentally and face your teacher at full strength!"
Turning his head, Bai Xing's serious gaze swept over his three students.
"I absolutely will not hold back. Absolutely!"
"This time, you'll need the resolve to die together with your teacher just to have a chance…"
"…to lose with some dignity."
The three members of Team Eleven went from faint inner joy to cold sweat pouring down their foreheads in just a few seconds—
There was no way they could beat Teacher Bai Xing, who could instantly kill a chūnin, even with their heads on the line!
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