End of Phase 2

Soon, all of them went out of the cave to traverse the hallways of the underground facility. Using Clairvoyance, he saw where the exit was and noticed 3 people standing by it. He knew them because he once saw them at the graduation ceremony at the academy more than a year ago.

Hyuga Neji, Higurashi Tenten, and Rock Lee.

He immediately knew what their strategy was, and it was to ambush people that have found the jade coins required to pass the test while they are heading towards the exit.

He chuckled. They've been a team for a year, of course they know a lot about teamwork. Neji probably used his eyes to locate his teammates, converged with them one by one, then they instantly realized how much of an advantage they had over the other teams, and other than Team 8, they're the only ones capable of surveying everything in their surroundings with Neji's eyes.

But trying to search for Jade Coins is dangerous, considering that they'll have to be on the lookout for another genin team and monsters. So, they devised a plan to search for the exit, wait there, and steal the jade coins from passing teams.

He told the other 5 about this, and they all agreed to just give Team 9 the jade coins that they needed so that all of them would pass the exam. Helel is grateful that Sasuke and the girls haven't put suspicion on his "sensor" bullshit, or else he'd have to bother thinking about another reason.

Since the others aren't capable of keeping up with him, even at half his maximum speed, he decided to slow down to their pace. He noticed that the fastest among them was Hinata, and even though her team and his team were running at their top speed, the Hyuga Heiress was still able to run ahead of them.

Aside from Azumi, Hinata has the highest amount of chakra between all of them.

He mentally smirked. The lavender-eyed girl is going to be a great ally for him when the time comes. He just has to earn her trust, to the point that she'll pick him over his sister. He's going to do that by helping her ascend to the throne of the Hyuga Clan Head, either by using manipulation or force.

Along with her, Sasuke also has a lot of potential to become someone great in the future, especially with his eyes. However, the insecurities that fill his heart and mind need to be expelled from him. His carefree act is merely a façade to hide those feelings, and if he can get rid of them, then, only then, would he become something great.

As they ran through the dark hallway, with their only light source being a Tier 1 spell, Light Orb, that Helel conjured earlier, they noticed something in the distance. It was another genin like them.

It was Fuu.

As they passed by her, he tossed a jade coin towards her, and startled, she clumsily caught it.

She looked behind her back, and they're already meters away from her.

"That's weird… that's the same boy, right? Chomei?" She muttered, speaking to the tailed beast.

("Yeah. Look at your hand, I think that's the jade coin the proctor was talking about earlier.")

She did as she was told, and her face lit up.

"Wah, he gave me something like this? What a sweet boy! Maybe I should ask him to hang out later, Chomei?" She almost yelled in excitement.

The Nanabi sighed.

"Why did you give that girl one of our jade coins?" Hinata asked as she kept up with him, just slightly behind him.

"That girl is a jinchuuriki from Takigakure. I'm trying to win her over so that she'd switch villages," he replied while running.

"You know that's a crime, right? It's been stated after the third war that stealing jinchuuriki from other villages is no longer legal, and could get the village you're affiliated with to take the fall," she said, warning him.

He grinned.

"I'm not stealing her, don't worry. She'll come to me on her own. And even if it's a crime, what could a small village like Taki do to Konoha? Even if there are repercussions, it'll be minimal at best."

She narrowed her eyes, and said, "But still, you're playing a very dangerous game, Asahi."

"I know," he simply said.

The other 4 were a few meters away from them, so they couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Moments later, after some scuffle with other genins, which ended after Hinata and her team killed them, they finally reached the exit. It's stationed in the middle of the weirdly clean hallway, and there's a plaque literally saying the word "EXIT" on top of it. Right by its side was a small post but they ignored it.

And even though the coast seems to be clear, they didn't approach it yet. They looked at each other, and nodded.

Helel walked a bit forward, almost stepping on a ninja wire, and said, "I know you're there, come out already. We have nine jade coins, and we only need six of them. I'll give you the other three so we can pass phase two without a hitch."

Silence covered the area for a few seconds, and then they appeared.

Neji took his attention first, due to how rigid and unbending his stance is. He wore a white kimono-shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-gray apron tied to his waist, and black sandals. His forehead protector is tied to his temple to the back of his head.

A careful and observant look was visible in his expression, with a bit of contempt directed at somebody behind Helel. He has long, black hair, and white eyes, just like his fellow clan members.

The only girl in their team, Tenten, wore a sleeveless pink qipao-style blouse, with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons, and dark green pants. Her forehead protector and sandals were both blue, and like Neji, she had it tied to her head.

She has black hair tied to two buns, along with gray eyes.

Then, there's Rock Lee, whose clothing is just a dark green spandex with orange leg warmers, bandages around his arms reaching down to his fingers, and a red forehead protector worn like a belt around his waist. His black hair is styled like a bowl cut, and he has a pair of very round eyes with thick, black eyebrows, which almost seemed like a centipede.

"Then where are the coins?" Neji coldly said.

Helel tossed a jade coin to each of them, and all 3 of them caught it, albeit barely.

"There. Now, let's get out of this place."

Lee turned to his teammate, and said, "See, Neji? We didn't have to do such an unyouthful thing like stealing from other teams!"

"Shut up, you untalented fool. At least we managed to get some due to my plan," The branch-Hyuga harshly said to his spandex-wearing teammate.

"You two, shut up! We haven't even thanked them yet!" Tenten yelled at them, and they both clamped up. Seeing this, she went to the red-head and sighed, as she said, "I'm really sorry about my teammates. I just wanna say my thanks since you saved us the time of fighting another team for these coins. And you should probably move a little, the trap that I set up would explode once someone steps on it. It has a few dozen exploding tags attached to it."

The way she said that last part made the other genins shiver for a bit. Such a brutal girl…

Ren moved away a little, and she dismantled the trap she made after a minute or so.

As soon as she was finished, he said, "Can we go now?"

She shrugged, and replied, "Well, I think the door is stuck. We tried opening it earlier but it didn't budge. I noticed that a talisman was put on it, and I don't know if it'll even open even with the coins. Look," she pointed at it.

He turned to the metal doors, and noticed that it indeed has some kind of seal placed on it. He went towards it as they all watched him.

He stopped in front of it.

(Just Outside of the Doors)

Two Jonins guarded the exit. They all wore the same standard uniform, standing inside the basement of the facility.

"Damn, Kakashi-senpai is really harsh. Our chunin exam wasn't like this back in the day," Ichika said, a bit amazed at their superior.

"Well, he is a war veteran. He must not want weak genins to pass so easily, especially now that a war could break out at any moment. I hear Iwa is boosting their numbers, and they've been acquiring alliances with other small villages left and right," Nimura said, his tone serious.

"That's scary, ya know? One moment we're partying, drinking, living our life, and the next we're being sent to our deaths. I think after this year, I can retire since I've saved a bit of money that would last me a lifetime," he said to his friend.

"Hah, good luck with that. Unless you're a veteran, the village doesn't let you go that easily."

They both laughed but then, suddenly…

BAM!

They both turned to the metal doors, and vividly saw a handprint on the metal door that came from inside of it. Somebody is trying to break the door, and they're succeeding.

BAM!

"Oh shit!" Ichika yelled out.

The door bent due to the force that it is experiencing.

BAM!

"Get away from it!" Nimura said as they both jumped away.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Hit after hit, it endured but when it could no longer withstand it, the doors flew away, and hit the wall meters away from it.

Standing in front of them was a kid, no older than 12. Red hair, violet eyes, and an all-black clothing.

Behind him, they could see 8 other genins, looking a bit shocked.

The kid stared at them but they blinked, and he's suddenly in front of the two of them.

Alarmed, Nimura asked, "You know breaking the exit is against the rules, right?"

"As far as I know, there were no rules mentioning that. But don't worry, I have these," he took out 6 jade coins, "These are enough for two teams, right?"

Seeing this, the two jonins looked at each other for a bit, and nodded.

"Alright, you kids can wait outside. Phase two won't be over until three days from now," The jonin said.

He smiled, and said behind him, "Okay. Let's go."

Team 8 and 7 went out, climbed up the stairs leading to the surface.

Team 10 merely tossed the jade coins towards them before also leaving