Chapter 295: Overseeing The Chunin Exam

"It's strange that Minato-sensei is actually late today. Did he oversleep?" Obito, who had rushed to the training ground at the last minute, asked in confusion after only seeing Rin and Kakashi.

"Do you think Minato-sensei is like you?" Kakashi said with a look of exasperation, glancing at Obito, who had just barely made it on time, and was now criticizing the sensei despite almost being late himself.

"It's like you've never been late, Kakashi." Obito retorted with a clenched fist.

"I have been late before, but not as often as you." Kakashi responded calmly.

He would sometimes be late due to insomnia and irregular sleep patterns, but such instances were rare, while Obito's lateness had reached the point where it was considered normal if it was him.

"How can you arbitrarily tarnish someone's reputation?" Obito said with wide eyes, then continued to argue, "Being late? I was just helping others; how can helping people be called being late?"

"Being late is simply not arriving at the agreed-upon time," Kakashi responded succinctly, ending the debate.

"Alright, alright," Rin said with a resigned smile, starting to change the subject. "Minato-sensei must have had something important to delay him, and with his speed, he might arrive soon."

Given Minato's usual reliability, Rin naturally did not think he had overslept.

Whoosh!

As if to confirm Rin's words, Minato appeared in front of the three in the next moment.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late," Minato said with some apology on his face, but it quickly turned into a gentle smile.

"If you want to participate in the Chunin Exams, I recommended you. If you want to join, you can fill out these application forms," Minato said, taking out three forms.

Rin's guess was correct. The reason he was a bit late was that he had just been handling the Chunin Exam qualifications at the Hokage Building.

"Chunin Exams? Doesn't that mean we can be promoted to Chunin? I want to, I want to, I want to!" Obito's eyes lit up, emphasizing the importance by repeating it three times.

Although Kakashi had already been defeated, the fact that Kakashi's Ninja rank was higher than his made Obito unhappy, causing him to feel inferior during missions.

"It's just a qualification; you must pass the exam to become a Chunin," Minato quickly explained, worried that Obito might think merely participating would make him a Chunin.

However, after saying this, Minato felt it wasn't necessary, as he knew Obito and the others' abilities and was confident they could pass the Chunin Exams.

"Hehe, we'll definitely pass," Obito said confidently, having defeated several enemy Ninja Village Chunins during missions.

Kakashi looked at the three forms in Minato's hand with some confusion, thinking that two forms should be enough, and asked, "Sensei, am I participating too?"

"Kakashi, you're already a Chunin. How come you can still participate in the exam? Can passing the Chunin Exams three times make you a Jonin?" Obito complained as he took a form with his photo from Minato.

Kakashi:...

Even if asked, he wouldn't know the answer.

"Kakashi, you can participate in this Chunin Exam, but passing the Chunin Exams three times won't make you a Jonin. Jonin can only be promoted by the Hokage," Minato answered the two's questions seriously.

"The reason Kakashi can participate in this Chunin Exam is mainly because your team is quite special, in various senses," Minato continued to explain.

The Chunin Exams officially start on July 1st, while Obito and Rin graduated in mid-March, meaning they are fresh Genin who graduated recently.

Generally, Genin who participate in the Chunin Exams have usually graduated over a year prior, with the majority having graduated for three years before participating.

Some people don't participate later because they don't want to, but because they can't. The Chunin Exams have specific requirements regarding the length of time since becoming a Ninja and the team's mission record.

The reason Obito and the others can participate in this Chunin Exam is closely related to Obito's completion of high-rank missions during his internship. After all, S-Rank missions have significant value, and there's also Minato Namikaze's recommendation. The recommendation from a guiding Jonin can overlook the issue of a short Ninja career.

However, this Chunin Exam requires team participation. Considering Obito's team's short graduation time and other issues, Hiruzen ultimately approved for Kakashi, a Chunin, to join Obito and Rin in the Chunin Exam.

After hearing Minato's words, Kakashi nodded in understanding and took his form.

Kakashi looked at the somewhat familiar application form with a subtle expression. It felt odd to be participating in the Chunin Exams as a Chunin.

Kakashi realized that since leaving his previous formal team, his experiences had become increasingly strange—first forming a team with Academy students, then encountering accidents in consecutive missions, and now participating in the Chunin Exams as a Chunin.

"Kakashi, don't you dare hold us back just because you're already a Chunin," Obito said after filling out his form.

He suddenly realized that if Kakashi slacked off during the exam, he wouldn't suffer any losses since he was already a Chunin. However, they would face significant setbacks if they couldn't advance.

"Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. The first exam of the Chunin Exams is a written test. Those who fail will be directly eliminated," Kakashi said, glancing at Obito with a hint of disdain in his eyes. His confidence came from acing the theoretical part; he could easily outperform Obito in that regard.

"Huh? The first one is a written test?" Obito looked alarmed, no longer caring about Kakashi's disdain. He quickly asked, "What exactly is considered passing?"

He was now hoping that Kakashi, an old-timer who had already participated in the Chunin Exams, would spill some useful information.

"Check the specific requirements. The requirements for the Chunin Exams aren't always the same," Kakashi replied, shaking his head.

The Chunin Exams are held twice a year, and even within the same year, the requirements can differ, not to mention the changes over the past few years.

"But the minimum requirement, in terms of a hundred-point scale, is usually around sixty points," Kakashi added.

Obito's expression grew more serious; sixty points was a huge challenge for him.

"Just go back and review thoroughly; you'll definitely be fine," Minato encouraged with a smile, confident in his students.

"That's because you haven't seen me at my peak," Obito silently complained in his mind.

He wasn't as confident as Minato; back in the Academy, he had even scored single digits at times. His grades only improved slightly with Mutsuki's tutoring in the fourth grade.

Of course, Obito had another solution. While he didn't trust his own theoretical knowledge, he had faith in the omnipotent Sage Mutsuki—when in doubt, seek out Sage Mutsuki.

...

Perhaps Hiruzen wanted to make Mutsuki's resume look better, so Mutsuki took on several roles in this Chunin Exam.

He was responsible for setting the questions for the written test and was also the chief examiner for the second round, among other honorary but non-functional positions.

Although there seemed to be many roles, the actual workload was minimal, and some tasks could be handled by Shadow Clones. Overall, it was within Mutsuki's acceptable range.

If Mutsuki were too busy, he would simply decline. After all, he could spend that time studying Sealing Jutsu and Medical Ninjutsu instead of working for Hiruzen.

"This is such a hassle. We're even inviting other Ninja villages at a time like this. We could just handle it ourselves. And why do I have to be the one to welcome them?" Jiraiya complained to Mutsuki on the way to the Konoha gate.

Mutsuki smiled but didn't respond. Complaining about such matters in public was not appropriate.

"Hosting a Chunin Exam even during wartime demonstrates our strength to the Daimyo and clients. Even among the Five Great Shinobi Countries, we are the strongest," Mitokado Homura explained, pausing his steps.

The Elders had also discussed the issue of holding the Chunin Exam, and because the war was going smoothly, they ultimately decided to invite other Ninja villages as they had in the past. This allowed the visiting Ninja villages and clients to experience Konoha's strength.

The first decision was to list the smaller Ninja villages and invite all the neighboring minor Ninja villages to help ensure their steadfast support for Konoha during the war.

For the major Ninja villages, they chose the Hidden Mist Village. Although Konoha Elders were confident in their own village's strength, they weren't arrogant enough to invite their rivals to participate in the exams during wartime.

Although Sand Village hadn't waged war on Konoha, their own Kage had disappeared, and with their ongoing fierce battles with the Hidden Cloud, Konoha decided not to disturb Sand. Instead, they chose the Hidden Mist Village, which was currently not involved in the war.

Inviting only small Ninja villages would have seemed like bullying the weak, and even if they performed well, it wouldn't truly demonstrate their strength.

"You're here because Hiruzen values you, so don't let his efforts go to waste," Utatane Koharu said with a serious expression, turning to Jiraiya.

As a former classmate of Hiruzen, she could guess from Hiruzen's actions who he most wanted to groom as the next Hokage.

"The wind is quite noisy today," Jiraiya began speaking about unrelated matters.

He could see through Hiruzen's intentions but had no desire to become Hokage himself. He just wanted the war to end quickly so he could continue traveling the Ninja world.

The two advisors looked at Jiraiya with expressions of frustration, as if he was a disappointment.

As they approached the gate, the two advisors adjusted their expressions to smiles and greeted the incoming team of Hidden Mist Ninjas.

Of course, they couldn't welcome all the Ninja villages; only the Hidden Mist Village, as one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, received this treatment. The smaller Ninja villages were required to present their own credentials to gain entry.

Mutsuki calmly observed the Hidden Mist team from within the group with his Identification Jutsu.

[Name: Genji]

[Chakra: 74,000]

[Skills: Water Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery), Hiding in Mist Jutsu (Mastery), Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu (Mastery)...]

Genji was an elderly man holding a serpent-shaped wooden staff, appearing to be between sixty-five and seventy years old. His profile looked quite impressive, and Mutsuki estimated that he was an Elder-level figure from the Hidden Mist Village.

Although his profile was impressive, Mutsuki felt that in a real battle, Genji would probably not be able to defeat the current Danzo. At this age, a Ninja's strength tends to be significantly impacted.

Mutsuki also spotted some familiar faces from the plot in the crowd, though they were still quite young.

[Name: Terumi Mei]

[Chakra: 4,000]

[Potential: S]

[Skills: Water Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 2,200/3,000), Lava Release (Proficient: 1,000/3,000), Boil Release (Proficient)...]

The future Fifth Mizukage with an excellent physique was now just a flat-chested red-haired child. She appeared to be about the same age as Kakashi and the others. However, Terumi Mei, who could use Water Release to block Madara's Fire Release, indeed had impressive talent, with all her stats looking quite good.

[Name: Momochi Zabuza]

[Chakra: 3,600]

[Skills: Water Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 900/3,000), Hiding in Mist Jutsu (Proficient)...]

Due to his early appearance, Zabuza had an extremely impressive track record. He once single-handedly pushed the Sixth Hokage and the reincarnations of Indra and Asura to the brink.

Now, Zabuza looked about the same age as Kakashi. Although he was in child form, his expression was very similar to Mutsuki's memory of Zabuza. With his lower face wrapped in bandages and his eyes extremely cold, he seemed displeased with everyone he looked at.

[Name: Hoshigaki Kisame]

[Chakra: 7,000]

[Skills: Water Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 2,400/3,000), Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu (Proficient), Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu (Proficient)...]

Kisame looked to be at least two or three years older than Kakashi. Given Kisame's distinctive appearance, Mutsuki estimated him to be younger than he looked.

"However, this profile doesn't resemble that of a Genin at all," Mutsuki thought as he looked at Kisame's profile.

His chakra level was comparable to that of some ordinary Jonin, and his skill proficiency was nearly on par, though slightly less.

"Is the Mist Village trying to stir up trouble? Is there a plotline about this in the original story?" Mutsuki kept pondering.

There were few plotlines related to the Third Great Ninja War. He only knew that later, the Mist Village fought with Konoha. He wasn't sure if the Mist Village's participation in this Chunin Exam was part of the original story or a result of the butterfly effect.

While he couldn't figure out the exact plot, Mutsuki inferred the Mist Village's objective based on the overall strength of their team. They likely aimed to put pressure on Konoha during the Chunin Exams.

With the overall strength of this Mist Village team, they aren't in a position to cause trouble within Konoha. Hiruzen wouldn't need to take action himself; Jiraiya alone could annihilate the team.

Mutsuki could only say it was a coincidence. Perhaps in another Chunin Exam, the Mist Village might use younger individuals like Terumi Mei to pressure Konoha. However, in this Chunin Exam, his own disciples happened to be participating as well, and he was present when the Jonin recommended their students.

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