Opponents and training

Hiroto looked for any familiar faces in the genin but he found only Yūgao and her team which consisted of a Hyūga and Inuzuka clan members, he also found another Konoha team consisting of an Uchiha clan member, a Nara clan member, and a normal shinobi without any famous Konoha clan background.

Hiroto counted only four teams qualifying including their team and three teams are from Konoha while the other team is from Kusa. Hiroto also saw Hokage and by his side stood Hyūga Hizashi and a new face who has eyes obscured by dark glasses, very spiky short black hair, and carrying a gourd with hands in his pockets, Hiroto identified the new addition as Aburame Shibi, the Aburame clan's head.

"Congratulations, you are all a step closer to becoming chūnin. You all will have a random opponent and you will have exhibition fights in a month for all of Konoha and its allies to see your battle prowess" Shibi informed the genins of the last stage with a neutral tone.

"It's not fair for only one of us to become chūnin after all this hardwork we put in" Nara clan genin said.

"Who said only the winner will be chūnin? You have to prove your capabilities to us, we will then select which of you will be eligible for chūnin promotion. Sometimes it can be all of you and other times it can be none of you" Shibi answered.

A few minutes passed by and Shibi got no other further questions so he said "Please pull out the numbers" and he called out team after team based on their completion time of the second task.

Hiroto, Itachi, and Anko went first and they pulled out 1,6 and 9 respectively. One by one everyone pulled out a number after that Shibi informed the match format by saying "Every four is divided into a group 1 to 4, 5 to 8, and 9 to 12. 1 and 2 will face off and the winner will face the winner of 3 and 4 similarly with other groups. After the winner of each group is decided they will again pull the numbers and one of you will get a free pass, the other two will fight and the winner of that match will fight two matches".

So matches will be

Group A

Uzumaki Hiroto vs Kusa genin

Uzuki Yūgao vs Inuzuka genin

Group B

Nara genin vs Uchiha Itachi

Kusa genin vs Konoha genin

Group C

Mitarashi Anko vs Kusa genin

Hyūga genin vs Uchiha genin

Soon everyone was excused and a few chūnin guided the genin outside the forest of death through a safe path.

"I think we need to discuss with sensei and figure out our training plans" Itachi said.

...

...

Team 3 exited the forest and met their sensei Nara Shikaku at the exit. Shikaku congratulated his team and said "It's been nearly a week since you met your loved ones, so let's complete it fast and then you can proceed with your training for this month. Come with me to our training ground, we will discuss who will be incharge of your training".

Shikaku and his genin students quickly arrived at their team's training ground. "Before I tell you who will be incharge of your training I want to say something. After the chūnin exams there is a very high chance our team will be disbanded and each of you may be assigned to different departments once you become chūnin". He paused for a moment and continued "I am proud of every one of you. You all came a long way and I'm proud to be called your sensei".

Shikaku got a hug in reply from his students, "And we are proud to be your students' sensei" Hiroto, Itachi, and even Anko said. Hiroto and Itachi's eyes widened in surprise and happiness at their teammate as this is the first time she is calling Shikaku sensei.

A few minutes later everything went back to normal so Shikaku continued "I talked with Hokage-sama and got his permission for Shisui to train you Itachi, he will be responsible for your training" he got "Yes sensei" from Itachi in response, next he looked at Hiroto and said "Hiroto similarly Lord Hokage approved Kakashi to train you in this time" and got the same response as Itachi.

"Anko I will train you and I also asked a few people for help in training you" Shikaku said to his snake-summoning student.

"Yes sensei" Anko responded.

...

...

Next day

Uchiha training ground

"Itachi you need to be better at genjutsu and you haven't completely mastered your sharingan abilities. You also have to spar with me and I won't hold back. Make a hit on me in this one month and I will give you a reward" Shisui said looking at Itachi and making the son of the Uchiha clan head suffer throughout this month.

...

A mountainous area

Kakashi looked at Hiroto who climbed the mountain and said "Hiroto I will teach you ninjutsu and help you get more proficient at it, I will also teach you my clan's kenjutsu and hit me so you will get a reward", he said and started training Hiroto to the point the genin can give a competition to Gai for the strain on his body.

...

Training ground 3

"Anko I am going to be blunt, you are a genius but Itachi and Hiroto are monsters so if you want to beat them you have to train to the point you can't lift your finger" Shikaku said.

"Let's start with building up your stamina, so I asked for a favor" Shikaku told his student and a loud voice saying "YOUTHHH" is heard.

Anko shuddered at the monstrosity standing in front of her she ignored the green color burning her eyes and started training, she saw her sensei sleeping under a tree "You damn lazy guy" she cursed.

Shikaku turned a deaf ear to the curses and slept peacefully.

...

...

A month passed by and Konoha is pretty excited and saw a new influx of many visitors including the Fire Daimyo, and Kusakage along with a few of his council members.