Three hours had passed since the start of the exam.
Only five teams remained. Of them, just two had successfully assembled both the Heaven and Earth scrolls—and one of those teams had already reached the Central Tower and completed the assessment.
By coincidence, Bai Xing ran straight into Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was coming down from the tower to apply for withdrawal.
"Sorry about that," Bai Xing said, raising the genin forehead protector in his hand—it belonged to Nara Hane.
"I eliminated your students."
"Hmph!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke snatched the forehead protector from Bai Xing and followed the silent ANBU ahead of him, exiting through the tower gates.
As the doors shut once more, Bai Xing's calm, breezy expression instantly darkened.
"Are you all right, Bai Xing?"
Yūhi Liuyun blamed herself. "It's my fault. If I'd used genjutsu on Nara Hane right away, you wouldn't have had to spend so much chakra…"
"It's fine."
Bai Xing forced himself to lean against the tower wall.
"I also burned a lot of chakra just rushing here. That was to help you finish the exam as quickly as possible—so you wouldn't miss the third stage again because of some accident."
"Us?"
Shiranui Kumo stiffened.
"Bai Xing, don't tell me you're—"
Bai Xing shook his head. His face was pale and drained. If someone with the Byakugan—or the Rinnegan—were here, they'd clearly see that his chakra was almost completely exhausted.
"I'm out of chakra."
"And the mistake was mine to begin with. Continuing the exam would only be an insult to the title of chūnin."
The two who had also made mistakes: "..."
For a moment, Yūhi Liuyun didn't even feel like becoming a chūnin anymore—after all, she'd barely done anything this time.
"What a pain…"
Shiranui Kumo's expression dimmed as well.
"We're finally this close to the third stage. Are you really going to give it up?"
He could clearly see the hesitation on Liuyun's face as Bai Xing decided to withdraw from the third stage.
Pat. Pat.
Their shoulders sank slightly as Bai Xing patted them both, smiling.
"I'll be watching you in the stands during the third stage."
"So give it everything you've got. Your stamina and chakra are still in great shape—you're more than ready for what comes next."
"Yeah!"
Yūhi Liuyun's resolve instantly firmed up. Her bright eyes locked onto Bai Xing.
"I'll definitely become a chūnin!"
"Then when I do, will you join my team?"
"..."
Bai Xing fell silent for a moment, then promptly withdrew one hand.
"I think… you should just withdraw instead."
"Huh?!"
Shiranui Kumo burst into laughter. At the very least, tomorrow's third-stage exam wouldn't leave him fighting alone. During wartime, the Chūnin Exams prioritized speed—there was no luxury of a month-long preparation period.
Simulation Forest — Eastern Sector
Strong winds fanned small flames into broad sheets of red light, reflecting across the faces of two boys and one girl.
"The fastest way is to wipe out all the remaining teams. That way, we win by default, right?"
Shimura Yūko spoke bluntly.
"That's enough, Yūko," said a black-haired boy from the Sarutobi clan.
"We've already eliminated two teams. If we keep going, the clans will start raising objections."
"This is what happens when you mess around."
A third boy—black-haired, from the Mitomon clan—cast Water Release: Great Waterball Jutsu, extinguishing the flames on a Konoha genin who had been hiding in the grass and was nearly burned alive.
"I… I'm saved…"
"How did I even get found? And the attack came way too fast…"
Mitomon Hayate scratched his cheek, glancing at the three of them.
"There was only one place around here you could hide."
Nearby, two injured Konoha genin struggled to their feet, staring at the trio of clan heirs.
"As expected of elite genin trained by major clans."
"Ninjutsu, taijutsu—there's no obvious weakness."
"Yeah. At this point, maybe only that Uchiha girl… or Ino–Shika–Chō could beat them one-on-one."
Simulation Forest — Southwestern Sector
The forest was the same—but the matchup was not.
This time, it was one jōnin facing three genin.
"I'm very sorry," the man said calmly.
"You offended us Iwagakure ninja, so I'm afraid your lives have to stay here."
"Even if you're an Uchiha prodigy."
"After all—I'm an Iwa jōnin."
The wind slipped through the trees, brushing against all four of them. The three members of Team Eleven were visibly tense.
An Iwa jōnin—didn't that basically mean a Konoha jōnin?!
What kind of chūnin exam made genin fight a jōnin?!
Uchiha Mikoto swallowed hard. Her right hand, gripping her kunai, was already slick with sweat.
"I remember… this wasn't part of the exam."
Ahead of them, the middle-aged man with black hair and brown eyes stood with his arms crossed, calmly observing every movement.
"The rules never said you were allowed to attack ninja from other countries."
"That isn't part of your mission."
"But—we didn't do anything!"
Yakushi Nono's voice trembled.
"Attacking is enough," Hirata Shinichi replied.
"And now, I'll tell you a hidden rule."
"Your forehead protectors represent your lives."
"If one falls, the mission is judged a failure."
"What?!" ×3
The three were stunned.
Hirata Shinichi didn't hesitate. A killing intent forged on real battlefields poured out of him, crushing down on them.
"So—will you surpass your teacher?"
"Under my killing intent, your teacher took two seconds to break free."
"How long will it take you?"
The air itself seemed to gain weight, pressing down heavily on their bodies.
Whether it was Might Dai—who'd been a genin for years—or the newly graduated Mikoto and Nono, this was their first time facing such terrifying killing intent.
"To be a qualified Konoha chūnin means carrying the village's name completely."
"In missions, on battlefields, or before others—you can never show fear."
Hirata Shinichi counted silently.
Two seconds passed. Then more.
Seeing the three still gritting their teeth and enduring, a trace of disappointment crossed his face.
"Only then will the enemy fear Konoha ninja, and only then can the village's authority be established."
At the fourth second, Mikoto's fingers twitched.
The numbing paralysis in her chakra pathways began to fade. She tightened her grip on the kunai and looked straight at Hirata Shinichi.
"Uchiha do not retreat."
At that moment, the long black-haired girl activated the Uchiha bloodline—
The Sharingan.
Hirata Shinichi was mildly surprised.
"Two tomoe. You've got some talent."
Then he noticed movement from the other two as well—they had also shaken off his killing intent.
"Four seconds. Seven seconds."
"Not bad."
"But compared to your teacher—still lacking."
"Hmph! Then let us show you the power of Team Eleven!"
Whoosh!
Mikoto's kunai flew toward him.
Hirata Shinichi narrowed his eyes. He noticed something—but didn't care. Such low-level tricks wouldn't work on him.
Mikoto immediately leapt into the trees, throwing four shuriken from different angles.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Hirata Shinichi finally moved.
Kunai in hand, chakra reinforcing his body, his jōnin-level Body Flicker made his position impossible to track. As he moved, he slashed toward the airborne Mikoto.
"Got her!"
The kunai pierced Mikoto's body—yet Hirata Shinichi already knew the truth.
Poof!
"A substitution, of course…"
"Then the next attack—"
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Hirata Shinichi dodged Might Dai's kick effortlessly. Without opening the Third Gate, Dai's movements looked slow even to chūnin—let alone a jōnin.
"And then what?"
"You're not seriously saying this is all—"
He evaded Dai and could have counterattacked at any moment—
But in that instant, he fell into a blind spot.
From a low position to his left, Mikoto unleashed a D-rank nin-taijutsu created by Bai Xing—
"Fire Release: Powered Shuriken!"
Hirata Shinichi smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
The shuriken moved far faster than normal, a straight streak of crimson light that slammed directly into his side.
Might Dai flipped past him and landed, turning back in surprise when he saw Hirata Shinichi standing motionless.
"Mikoto… you didn't kill him, did you?"
Uchiha Mikoto, Yakushi Nono: "..."
Dai's combat experience with ninjutsu really was terrible.
"He's below," Nono said after a brief thought, pinpointing Hirata Shinichi's actual position.
As her words fell, the "wounded" man turned into a Earth Clone. From beneath the ground, a row of earthen waves surged toward Nono.
"Watch out!"
Mikoto rushed forward, forming hand seals mid-run.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
One fireball after another shot toward the advancing earth waves.
Sensing the attack, Hirata Shinichi accelerated again, slipping past the fireballs—each one barely failing to block his advance.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Behind the collapsing earth waves, the ground was blasted full of smoking craters.
The clash had only just begun.
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