Chapter 360: The First Round of Chunin Exams
"Aoba, look at the three ninjas over there; they all looked at Uchiha Kaede after he came in," Saki whispered. Her eyes had a dignified look, and her mood became much more cautious. She knew that the Chunin Exams this time were not so easy.
"Uchiha Kaede?"
Aoba silently repeated this name. After that, he began to search through Sekai's memories. He had never heard of this name before, and it had never appeared in the history of the Uchiha clan. Presumably, it had disappeared in the long river of history along with the night of genocide.
Before Aoba could find this name in Sekai's memories.
Saki explained.
"Uchiha Kaede is this year's ninja school graduate. Originally, I heard that he would not participate in the Chunin Exams. I don't know why he suddenly decided to participate. Maybe it's because of Iwagakure ninjas!" Saki explained.
"So that's how it is." Aoba nodded. He did not see him in Sekai's memory because he was a student, and most of the time, he was in the Ninja School. Sekai had always been with Konoha Military Police Force, and there was almost no intersection between the two.
Because of this.
In Sekai memory, he had a lot of information about the Uchiha in the Konoha Military Police Force but he didn't have a lot of memories about the Uchiha in Ninja School.
As Uchiha Kaede walked in, it could be said that he attracted the attention of everyone present, but he couldn't attract Aoba's attention.
"Why don't you care at all? Uchiha Kaede is the hottest participant for this year's Chunin Exams. He caused the participant to mourn from the moment he registered." Saki was very nosy because she was very concerned about this year's Chunin Exams, so she knew this kind of thing very clearly.
"I don't know him."
Aoba said lightly. He looked at Saki next to him with doubt. He suddenly felt that this girl no longer had her original calm but had become like a fan girl and had begun to become so illogical.
"You have to know what kind of opponent we will face!" Saki curled her lips. After that, she turned her head away and did not say anything else. She looked back at the front of the classroom. At this time, Uchiha Kaede had already come in. He began to look around the classroom, looking for a seat to sit down.
"I already know it."
Aoba looked at Uchiha Kaede. He looked at the latter's clothes which twirled wildly in a cool way, he seemed to be another "Sasuke", but he should be far behind Sasuke in terms of talent.
Rin's line of sight followed the two of them.
She looked at Iwagakure ninja.
Then she looked at the arrogant-looking Uchiha Kaede.
However, she did not say anything.
She just watched quietly.
"AH!"
However, at this time, another cry of surprise rang out. The voice was much stronger this time than when Uchiha Kaede came in.
Swish!
Countless eyes in the classroom turned to look at the person walking in through the door.
The person walking at the front was dressed in a white kimono. His black hair was casually scattered behind him like a waterfall. The Konohagakure forehead protector was just on top of his head, which made him exude such an elegant feeling.
This person.
Aoba only took a glance.
He knew that he was a member of the Hyuga clan.
Not only the dress style he was wearing but his pair of white-colored eyes also revealed his identity.
However...
This person should be from the branch family.
"Wow!"
"Even he came!"
"I don't know why!"
"Too handsome!"
Saki's eyes were already filled with stars.
She seemed to be a celebrity fan and wished she could rush to get some autographs.
"..."
When Aoba heard Saki's words, he was speechless. His face was full of black lines, thinking that this person's resistance was too weak.
That person from the Uchiha clan doesn't seem to be as handsome as Sasuke, and that person from the Hyuga clan was not as handsome as Neji, so why were they so excited?
However.
Aoba thought about it carefully.
Then he understood.
The eras were different!
At this time, the village was still in the development period. The Third Ninja World War was in full swing, but the flames of war would not spread to Konohagakure for a short time.
At this time, people were just busy and idle. There were not many opportunities to see any handsome guy. It was not like the later era. Konohagakure did not experience any war for a long time, so people have become more in contact with each other.
The busier you were, the more weird ideas you had.
This was also normal.
Aoba didn't take the person from the Hyuga clan who walked in too seriously.
"Aoba, we have to be careful of this person. He is a member of the Hyuga clan. Hyuga does not enter the Ninja School, so no one knows his strength. There was no such person on the original registration form. I guess he came because of the fact that Uchiha Kaede came to participate in the Chunin Exams!" Saki whispered.
"Hyuga clan does not enter the Ninja School?" Aoba was stunned for a moment. This was in his blind spot. He had never heard of such a thing before.
"Don't you know?" Saki was stunned for a moment. He looked at Aoba in surprise. After that, she said helplessly, "This is a matter of common sense. The Hyuga clan is specially approved to nurture Genin by themselves. They don't need to go to the Ninja School like other clans. They already have the qualifications to certify Genin. Their clan's ninjas only learn their clan's techniques. The strength of their clan ninjas is only known to them, and others do not know."
"It turned out to be like this!"
Aoba sighed with emotion. He had never heard of such things, and it had already surpassed what he had known before. However, he did not pay too much attention to it. After all, the things he had experienced here surpassed what he had known. It could be said that more and more things have happened.
"Uchiha clan and Hyuga clan?"
The corners of Aoba's mouth slightly curled up. He suddenly felt that this year's Chunin Exams were not as boring as Fugaku said. There were still many things to watch.
"Do you know the name of this ninja from the Hyuga clan?" Aoba turned around and asked Saki.
"I thought you didn't care!"
A sly look appeared on Saki's face. She deliberately did not say this person's name just now to see if Aoba really did not care at all.
Now, it seems...
He still doesn't sound sincere!
"His name is Hyuga Hanamichi!"
Saki slowly said and directly said the name of this youth from the Hyuga clan.
"Hyuga Ikebana."
Aoba silently repeated, remembering the two most popular existences in this year's Chunin Exams in his heart.
Uchiha Kaede of the Uchiha Clan.
Hyuga Hanamichi of the Hyuga Clan.
It was quite hostile.
(TL note: It should be based on Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi in the anime/manga Slam Dunk.)
As time passed, people participating in the Chunin Exams began to walk in one after another, making the originally small classroom even more crowded.
As more and more people came.
There are also more and more discussions.
In addition to Konohagakure ninjas, there were only two ninja teams from Iwagakure.
Thus.
These two teams were easily caught in the eyes of everyone and became the object of everyone's attention.
Of course.
It wasn't just the two ninja teams that were noticed. Even Aoba's team was the focus of attention. After all, the names of Nara Saki and Akimichi Rin could be considered familiar existence.
It was just that almost no one here knew Aoba.
In addition, many of them had been approached by Shikaku, so they instinctively felt that Aoba was the one who would drag them down. Therefore, they paid some attention to Saki's team but did not really care about it.
Another period of time passed.
The sound of footsteps came from outside the door, clearly entering everyone's ears in the classroom.
These footsteps are dense in number.
There seemed to be a lot of people.
In an instant, the voices of the participant waiting in the classroom were lowered a lot, and everyone began to quiet down a little bit.
Creak~
At this time, the classroom door was pushed open.
Figures walked in under everyone's gazes.
Walking at the front was Nara Shikaku, who was wearing Konohagakure standard ninja uniform.
At this moment.
Shikaku's expression was very serious. He gave off a sense of majesty. This feeling was something that he had never revealed before. It could be said that he was very serious this time.
Behind Shikaku were Chunin dressed in Konohagakure standard ninja uniform, and each ninja had a different expression on his face.
It could be seen.
These people were the proctors.
"Quiet!"
Shikaku said lightly. With his words, no one in the audience spoke. After all, they had heard almost all of this before. The chief examiner of these Chunin Exams was this Nara Shikaku, who stood in front of them.
In a split second.
The entire classroom became extremely quiet.
Shikaku's voice echoed in the classroom. Suddenly, it brought about the effect of being injected with chicken blood, instantly igniting these participants.
"Understood!"
Everyone shouted loudly as if they were expressing their determination with their voices. Everyone's eyes flashed with eagerness, and they could not wait to start.
"Aoba, do you hear it? You have to cheat like a ninja. You can't cheat too simply. You can only rely on yourself if we are not in the same examination room. We absolutely can't fall in the first round, understand?" Saki repeatedly warned Aoba. Her reaction was quite fast. After Saki said this, she immediately attracted the attention of Rin next to her.
"What do you mean?" Rin said, confused.
"Rin, to be honest, I am not worried about Aoba. I am more worried about you. If you can be in the same classroom as any one of us, then you can wait for us. But if you are not in the same classroom as us. Just like Aoba said, you should not answer a single question and not cheat. If your point is not deducted, you still get 10 points!" Saki warned Rin, but she was not clear. If they did not answer a single question, would it be counted as all wrong? However, she had no choice. The biggest surprise now was whether they would be in the same classroom.
"I think it is better for us to be mentally prepared for three people in three different classrooms!" Aoba suddenly said.
"It can't be. We can't be so unlucky, right?" Saki spread out her hands and said helplessly.
"If it was pure luck, I don't think it would be like this. But this is not a matter of luck. Do you think your Big Brother Shikaku would let us pass the first round so easily?" The corners of Aoba's mouth slightly curled up. He was almost certain that Shikaku would definitely think of a way to separate them into three different classrooms.
"Then wouldn't we be finished!" Rin immediately said.
"Yes! If we were in three different classrooms, we could only take care of ourselves! That would be too difficult!" Saki sighed helplessly. After listening to Aoba's words, she already believed that it was something that Shikaku could do. This was not surprising to her at all. After all, Shikaku would even find someone to drag them down deliberately.
"Take this and place it on your chest where your heart is." Aoba directly took out two pieces of paper from his ninja pouch. There were strange lines that neither of them could understand on the paper.
"What is this?" Saki took the paper that Aoba handed over and immediately asked. Her eyes flickered with doubt. She did not know what was happening, but she vaguely felt that Aoba seemed to have a way.
"???" Rin also took the paper that Aoba handed over with a face full of question marks. She looked at the lines on the paper but could not see anything. It could be said that it was a kid's doodle for her.
"These two pieces of paper are sealed with our Yamanaka clan's Mind-Body Transmission Technique. If I know the answer, I can activate the seal and apply the Mind-Body Transmission Technique to you. I will then pass the questions I answered to you. This way, you can write the answer on the test paper." Aoba said slowly.
"Aoba, are you sure you're talking about the Mind Body Transmission Technique and not the Mind Body Switch Technique?" Saki widened her eyes and asked suspiciously. She knew that the difference between these two techniques seemed to be only one word, but the actual effect was much worse.
The Mind Body Transmission Technique was to transmit a specific piece of information into the mind of others. It could bring about the effect of transmitting the information. It was indeed more suitable here, but the difficulty of using it was too great, and the requirements were also very harsh. This made Saki somewhat suspicious.
Mind Body Switch Technique was much easier. Most of the Yamanaka clan members knew it. It was a technique that could inject spiritual energy into other people's bodies to control their bodies temporarily. In fact, this technique could also be used in the Chunin Exams. As long as he controlled them to answer the questions, it would be fine.
"I'm sure it's Mind Body Transmission Technique, so I need you to answer the questions yourself. I don't want to casually enter other people's bodies, especially girls. This is not very polite." Aoba said to Saki seriously.
"Ah?!"
When Saki heard Aoba's words, she vaguely felt something was wrong, but she could not say what was wrong, so she pretended that she had not heard this sentence.
"You can put the paper away."
Aoba lightly warned. After he said that sentence, he silently examined it in his mind.
Wrong!
It was so wrong!
He was not a gentleman at all!
It was all Fugaku's fault!
He must have read too many books recently and led himself astray. He was not such a person in the past!
Well...
That's it!
Aoba felt that he had found the reason. In the past, he would not say such words.
After all...
So what if he entered a girl's body?
It wasn't like he hadn't told them in advance!
Moreover, this was a matter of mutual consent, and Aoba didn't forcefully suppress the other party's mental power to enter!
Moreover...
Even if Aoba did this, his movements would still be very gentle, and he would protect them well and not hurt them.
...
"Have you all finished your discussion?"
At this time, Shikaku's voice sounded again, clearly entering everyone's ears. Once again, everyone's attention in the classroom was drawn back to him.
"I will emphasize it again!"
"When the exam is over!"
"If someone's score is 0..."
"Then everyone in his group will be disqualified from the Chunin Exams together!"
As Shikaku said this, the entire audience was in an uproar!
The sounds of discussion rose again, and it was even more intense than before!
"Aoba, I can almost be sure that the three of us will be assigned to three classrooms and will be taken care of. This way as long as one of us gets 0 points, we will be eliminated collectively!" Saki seemed to have seen through Shikaku's trick.
All of a sudden.
Saki once again thought of Shikaku wanting to find someone to drag them down.
That was simply too easy!
As long as that person deliberately cheated during the written exam and was discovered five times in a row, then that person would drag down the entire team.
"Act according to the plan. If you don't know the answer, just wait for the information I sent over."
Aoba said indifferently.
He did not care about these so-called Chunin Exams at all.
He didn't want to become a Chunin.
If not for the nonsense Shikaku had said, he would fail this exam.
After all, Chunin Exams were just a formality to him!
It was fine as long as he fulfilled Eaton's request!
But...
It was precisely because of Shikaku's words that made him very uncomfortable, and he did not want to listen to Shikaku's arrangements!
Aoba raised his eyes to stare at Shikaku on the podium, and the corners of his mouth curled up into an imperceptible arc.
"If you want me to hold them back, then if I fail, wouldn't I agree with your idea? How embarrassing that would be! It's okay for me not to pass the Chunin Exams, but they absolutely can not fall in the first two rounds. This is my response to you!"
Aoba muttered to himself silently.
He had been approached by Shikaku three times, which had already agitated his heart. He was already extremely displeased.
"I understand!"
Saki nodded. At this time, she had no choice but to believe in Aoba.
After all, these Chunin Exams were not fair exams for her. Her opponent was not only the other participants sitting here but also Shikaku, who was in charge of the Chunin Exams.
This kind of random sitting arrangement.
It made her believe that it was Shikaku who wanted to punish her!
After all, she could control herself, but she could not control her teammates, especially a temporarily inserted teammate. This made the Chunin Exams' first round full of uncertainty.
One person was eliminated.
The whole team was also eliminated.
In front of this almost harsh system, they might really be divided into three different classrooms.
"Actually, this rule is quite bluffing. It's not just you who are worried. You can see that everyone here is very worried!" Aoba said slowly. He said this to ease the two girls' mood so they would not feel so much pressure. After that, he continued, "Everyone is afraid of being cheated by their teammates, and everyone is afraid that they will cheat their teammates. With such pressure on their heads, it will definitely make their actions restricted. They will have misgivings before doing anything. This should be to test everyone's ability to obtain information under high pressure!"
"What you said makes sense!" Saki nodded and said with a wry smile, "Actually, if it's just a random sitting arrangement, I don't have that much pressure. The main reason is that Brother Shikaku is standing in front of me. I can be sure that Brother Shikaku will not let us pass this written exam easily."
"Let's try our best," Aoba said indifferently. He knew that no matter what he said now, Saki and Rin's nervous emotions would not be relieved, so it was useless to say anything.
Everything could wait until the information arrived!
They should be relieved when the two of them saw the information sent over.
Then...
Aoba already understood in his heart.
The first round of this Chunin Exams could be considered a test of his information-gathering ability!
However...
No one here knew!
Obtaining information was what Aoba was best at!
There was an unknown amount of information in his head right now!
...
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Shikaku's palm once again made contact with the blackboard. As he tapped the board, it once again interrupted everyone. Everyone's attention was drawn back to him, and everyone's gaze focused on him.
"Now, you can take your registration forms and line up here to receive your number plates!"
"When you line up, don't be crowded, don't fight for it. Everyone's number plates are random, and it's useless for you to be anxious!"
"If anyone tries to snatch or exchange a number plate, your entire team will be disqualified!"
"After getting the number plate..."
"You can't stay or communicate!"
"Please leave the classroom!"
"Someone will take you to the examination room!"
"Then..."
After Shikaku had said so much, his voice paused slightly, and his eyes immediately became sharp.
"Get ready for your Chunin Exams first round!"