Just beyond the finish line of the Demon Desert, a massive crater, a thousand meters in diameter, lay like a bizarre wound on the landscape.
The bottom was covered in cooled lava, scorch marks from lightning storms, and pools of water that hadn't completely evaporated. All of it clearly indicated that a terrifying battle had taken place there just a few days prior.
The leader of the Stone Village (Iwa) delegation sounded hoarse. "What happened here? Was there a war?"
"Don't tell me these marks were also caused by those assassins?" Many of the Jōnin leaders shivered with dread, grateful they hadn't run into those horrific enemies.
Rasa (the future Fourth Kazekage) couldn't help but wonder if the Kazekage himself had been fighting an enemy here.
"Everyone, this should be a wake-up call," Minato stated firmly. "We must stop carelessly using assassin organizations to suppress rival powers. They have grown to a size where they must be taken seriously."
Everyone nodded in agreement. If it hadn't been for this Chūnin Exam, they wouldn't have realized how powerful those assassination guilds had become.
These were no longer just ordinary hitmen; they required a strong, unified counter-attack.
Rasa instructed, "Put the situation here aside for a moment. Let's send the rescued examinees out first, and then we can discuss a second rescue mission."
By the third day, the chaotic Chūnin Exam was officially over.
Sitting in his office, a weary Rasa asked, "Alright, let's talk about the results of this Chūnin Exam."
The chief examiner for the second stage reported, "We had 36 teams enter the Demon Desert. Ultimately, 19 teams managed to make it out…"
The examiner paused, still unnerved. "If it weren't for two specific teams who protected the majority of the examinees, the number of teams to make it out probably wouldn't have exceeded five."
Although he had sounded cold and bloodthirsty before the exam, hoping a few candidates would die, too many deaths would cause trouble—especially with the Hokage's son in attendance. It could have caused a diplomatic disaster.
"And among those 19 teams who left the Demon Desert, only three secured the required Heaven and Earth Scrolls. They are the Hiruko Squad, the Setsuna Chiaki Squad, and the Pain Squad. However…"
"However what?" Rasa prompted.
"Of those three passing teams, some members withdrew, leaving only four individuals to participate in the finals. The four participants are Hiruko, Setsuna Chiaki, Might Guy, and Pain."
"Only four people?" Rasa was speechless. A Chūnin Exam with only four people in the final round must be a record low.
However, it also highlighted how dangerous the second stage of the exam had been, causing so many teams to abandon the goal of getting the scrolls.
"Setsuna Chiaki, Might Guy, Pain…" Rasa murmured the names. Hiruko was obviously an alias used by Sasori, so he ignored that one.
This meant that at least one of these three was a powerful figure who had defeated those assassins.
Rasa asked, "Did you question the teams that interacted with them during the second stage?"
"Yes, but their answers were strange. They sounded like they were on drugs," the examiner said blankly. "One minute they were talking about thousand-meter-long summoning snakes, and the next about summoning creatures that could endlessly split themselves. There are no summoning creatures like that!"
"A thousand meters? Summoning creatures?" Rasa was baffled.
"A thousand-meter-long snake! Is that your reason for quitting?" The Stone Village leader coldly scrutinized the Genin in front of him. To skip the exam, they were making up ridiculous lies.
"Yes, sir, yes!" The Stone Genin who had followed Setsuna nodded repeatedly. "We definitely couldn't beat Setsuna-sama. It was better for all of us to quit."
"Nonsense!" The leader slammed his fist on the table. "As a Stone Ninja, how can you retreat without a fight? Where is your Will of Stone?!"
The Genin who had quit jumped in fright, muttering softly, "Willpower can't be used as chakra! Setsuna-sama is too strong! A thousand-meter-long giant python—I couldn't stab it to death with a kunai in a whole month!"
"There is no such thing as a thousand-meter-long giant python! Even Orochimaru's summoning creature, Manda, isn't even a hundred meters long!" the Stone leader scoffed. "Either you fell under a Genjutsu, or your math is terrible, leading to this misjudgment."
"My math is definitely fine," Iwagetsu affirmed internally, before grumbling, "Did I really see a hallucination?"
"Use your pig brain to think for a moment. A thousand-meter-long snake—how much food would it need every day? Could a Genin afford to feed it?" The leader made a final decision. "Enough. I don't want to hear anything like this from you again. Don't let your foolishness affect Pain. He is our hope."
Hearing this, Iwagetsu had no choice but to suppress the information about the fight between Setsuna and the assassin. Fine, he thought. He wouldn't believe me anyway.
Meanwhile, at the inn where the Leaf Ninjas were staying:
"Wait, you all quit?" Guy stood in front of Obito and Asuma, asking a rather awkward question.
"You think everyone is as lucky as you, clinging to Setsuna-nii-san's coattails for a guaranteed promotion?" Obito slumped over the table, looking glum.
He didn't even make it to the finals. Kakashi was going to make fun of him again.
"The opponent we faced was just too strong. His summoning creature was simply unbeatable," Asuma sighed, shaking his head. "Aside from Setsuna-senpai, I doubt anyone in this Chūnin Exam can defeat him."
Guy asked, "Who was the person you fought?"
Obito answered, "His name is Pain. He's the red-haired guy we met on the street the other day. We actually owe him for saving us this time, too."
Genma Shiranui walked over. "So, you guys weren't defeated by that Sand Village monster?"
Obito was curious. "Is there a really strong fighter from the Sand Village?"
Genma nodded, still looking nervous. "That person took down eleven seemingly powerful ninja in just a few seconds. If we hadn't been far away, we might have been killed by him without a second thought."
"Wow, so many terrifying monsters! The difficulty of the joint Chūnin Exams is definitely too high," Obito sighed. "I guess I'll just wait for the Chūnin Exams that the village holds alone. Kakashi passed that one when he was six, so I can definitely pass it easily!"
Asuma and the others were speechless. Where do you get the delusion that you're stronger than six-year-old Kakashi right now?
Obito was completely oblivious. Having cheered himself up, he nudged Guy's shoulder, winking. "Hey, Guy, maybe you should just quit too. Competing with those monsters is going to be super stressful."
"Quit? How could I quit?" Guy clenched his fists, his enthusiasm soaring. "This is the moment for me to live out my Youthful Ninja Way! The flame in my heart is already burning bright!"