Three days later.
Hiruzen stared at the monitor screens and the reports from his ANBU, his expression darkened by the smoke from his kiseru.
"So…" he placed his hand on one of the report scrolls. "Not only was there an issue with the scrolls, which resulted in only one out of forty-five teams managing to pass—one of them from Kumo, no less, with one of its members badly beaten," he said in a low voice, raising the volume word by word, "but on top of that, Orochimaru showed up during the exam and put that damn cursed seal on Sasuke?!"
To Hiruzen, the truth was obvious: Orochimaru had sabotaged the scrolls as well!
All of it just to mock Konoha and expose it to the world!
"What do we do, Hokage-sama?" one of Konoha's jōnin asked. "Ending the Chunin Exams like this…" he shifted uneasily. "It would give far too much credit to Kumo. Even if we try to downplay it and say this generation simply isn't that outstanding, half of the teams in the exam are ours."
Ending the exam with these results would humiliate them—but contradicting the results would be even worse!
They needed at least a few teams to save face and be able to hold the third test, where the village would earn a substantial amount of money and could tilt the balance back in its favor.
"How many teams reached the tower safely within the time limit?"
"We have one team from Suna, four from Konoha, two from—"
Hiruzen listened while his mind ran calculations. He wrote on a blank scroll and then handed it to the jōnin.
"Take these teams and tell them they've passed."
"What? But, Hokage-sama—"
"They passed the hidden test of the exam." Hiruzen waved his hand to dismiss him quickly, fixing him with a deep look. "I'll take care of the details."
If they hadn't met the conditions to pass the test, then… they only needed to meet the "hidden conditions" to pass. As for what those were, he was still thinking about it.
…
Shikaku looked at the scroll in his hand and then at the jōnin who had given it to him, as if asking whether he was being messed with after reading its contents.
Why did it have to be him making the announcement?
That was the Hokage's damn job!
So it was fine for him to lose face, but not Hiruzen?
"Lord Shikaku, we can't delay this," the jōnin said cautiously. "The test ended half an hour ago. If we don't say something now…"
He knew that one bad look from Shikaku would land him on trash-collection missions for a month, but he couldn't contradict the Hokage!
The small suffer while the powerful clash.
"Fine." Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose. "At least the preliminary matches won't be necessary," he consoled himself.
After gathering all the teams, it was announced that the team composed of Ororomoi, Isaribi, and Guren had passed. At the same time, the Suna team composed of the Kazekage's children and Konoha's Team Seven had cleared the "hidden conditions" of the second test.
Yes, Hiruzen had blatantly manipulated the results in Konoha's favor to avoid public embarrassment, but even so, he had to maintain a semblance of neutrality. Including teams from three different villages was more than enough.
Kumo's team passed through the expected means; even if he wanted to expel them, he couldn't.
The team of the Kazekage's children was there to reassure the Kazekage and avoid straining relations with Suna, their "ally."
As for Team Seven, the daimyō and others undoubtedly wanted to see the "last Uchiha of Konoha." As for Naruto and Sakura—well, the other teams needed opponents, and promotion didn't necessarily require victory, only a strong showing.
"Additionally, since the number of participants in the third test is uneven, after a draw, the Kumo genin Ororomoi has received a bye for the first matches," Shikaku announced.
No one protested, though it was clear that some genin—like Neji, Ino, or Kiba—were far from happy with the results.
"I suppose that's the bone the Hokage is throwing us," Chad thought, shaking his head in amusement, almost admiring Konoha's sheer audacity.
His plan to make them look ridiculous before the world had been overturned by a casual decision from Hiruzen. He had truly mastered the art of shamelessness at an advanced level.
Of course, Baki and Kakashi, who represented the teams that had passed "on merit," had no complaints. The only party offended by the situation was Kumo, who should have been the sole victor.
But by pardoning the weakest member of the team through a "fair draw" and allowing him to reach the finals, the playing field was leveled, and Kumo could gain its share of extra glory.
That, at least, was what a naïve observer would think.
"He wants Ororomoi—the 'weak link' of the team—to reach the finals so he can be defeated, probably by Sasuke or Naruto, creating a visual contrast in strength," Chad realized. "There's a month to gather information on opponents while resting—he could even send Haruno!"
Kumo going from clear winner to being defeated by a Konoha ninja (even a civilian, if they really put Sakura in during the 'draw') was the only way they could reclaim their prestige. And since Hiruzen seemed wary of Chad's students, he had adjusted his target.
"Still, I'll have to take measures at that time for the benefit of the village…"
Upon returning to his quarters, Chad wrote a report on the situation for the Rai—bah, who was he kidding? The report was for his older sister.
He handed the scroll to the jōnin escorting the genin who had failed the test back to Kumo for delivery, then dismissed them.
"Ororomoi," he said, glancing sideways at the small genin, "from today until the third test begins, you'll stay close to me or go out accompanied by one of my clones."
"Y-yes, sir…"
The young ninja understood that the bye was not an invitation to dinner.
They were fattening him up to send him to the slaughter!
Chad noticed Ororomoi's spirits were rock bottom, which was hardly surprising given the circumstances. Assigned to a squad just to meet requirements, a significant gap in strength compared to his teammates, and now a piñata prepared for Konoha.
"Rest today. Tomorrow I'll start training you."
"W-what?!"
"Your situation is pretty unfair in the end. I might as well help you get a bit stronger," Chad shrugged. The genin probably hadn't had any say in the matter and wasn't even aware of whether he would be compensated for all this. "You don't want to spend a whole month doing nothing, do you?"
"Is it safe to train in Konoha?" Ororomoi asked bluntly.
If Konoha's people saw his capabilities, they might find ways to counter them.
It didn't feel fair…
But being a ninja had never been about fairness to begin with.
"Don't worry. I have a plan for that," Chad assured him. "What matters is that you focus on training."
"I—I understand."
Even if he somehow became a chūnin by some miracle, it would be enough to limit his missions to the Land of Lightning for two or three years for that information to become outdated.
Isaribi and Guren exchanged uneasy glances. That sounded like another plan going off the rails.
And indeed, they were absolutely right!
Even if Konoha wanted to use Ororomoi to save face, Chad had a way to preserve Kumo's dignity and deny Konoha what it wanted.
It was simple: he would withdraw Ororomoi from the exam. All he had to do was inform them that his genin would not continue.
He didn't even need to give a reason!
It might look like he was wasting the pass they had obtained with such "luck," but Chad couldn't care less.
He would send a few clones using the Transformation Technique to investigate places of interest within Konoha. After all, with Orochimaru's imminent "visit," it would be a waste not to secure some benefits for Kumo.