Testing the Waters  

(You are the first squad to arrive, you pass.)

In the large arena specially built for the Chunin Exams in Kirigakure, twenty-seven genin were already ready to go, just waiting for the proctor's command to begin the first round of their Chunin Exams.

They stood in squads of three, forming nine teams in a horizontal row. All twenty-seven were silent, staring intently at the proctor in front. They all stood at the far left end of a field slightly larger than a soccer field. Behind them, thick, tall wooden walls divided the entire arena into nine tracks. Even the outermost tracks had wooden walls on both sides. The nine tracks had no ceilings and extended all the way to the other end of the field. The numbers one to nine were written on the ground at the entrance from left to right. The tracks were narrow, barely wide enough for three slender children to walk side by side. Above those wooden walls, three groups of twenty-seven Kirigakure ninja were already in position, with one ninja standing at intervals along each track, three ninjas per track, the same arrangement for all nine tracks, clearly serving a supervisory and protective role.

The genin looked at the field setup and more or less made some guesses about the content of the first round of the exam. They watched as the stern-faced jonin monitored the chunin distributing scrolls to each team. The nine chunin finished dividing the scrolls and immediately stood beside each squad, facing the proctor with feet apart. After this activity was completed, he used a serious and murderous gaze to sweep over the faces of the exam participants one by one. Under such a gaze, everyone subconsciously held their breath and straightened their spines, becoming more or less nervous.

Finally, the jonin spoke in the silence, "Each scroll conceals the number of a track." His eyes flashed with a somewhat ambiguous light as he slowly finished this unspecified declarative sentence.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chitose's eyes narrowed, and something flashed in his deep black eyes. At the same time, buzzing sounds came from the genin teams. The jonin glared, about to say something when a "bang!" sounded from the team at the very edge, followed by a series of exclamations. Kagura, who had been frowning and pondering the proctor's vague words, was startled. He turned his head to look and saw that the Amegakure genin who had received the scroll was already covered in flour-like powder, blinking his eyes in a daze and staring at the opened scroll in his hand.

It was blank.

The jonin paused almost imperceptibly, quickly swept his gaze over the genin present. Seeing that almost everyone was looking in that direction, he furrowed his brows slightly, then sneered coldly, "You and your teammates over there, you've lost the qualification for the first round of the exam. Leave the field immediately!"

As soon as these words came out, the three from Amegakure immediately became unhappy, but the jonin suddenly shouted, "Do you think this exam is child's play? Did I allow you to open the scroll, huh?! Idiots who don't follow orders and are reckless have no right to become chunin!!"

He finished yelling hoarsely, not even glancing at the pale-faced Amegakure genin he had frightened. He looked around at the increasingly silent genin and lowered his voice, but said sinisterly, "Brats, from the moment you signed the death waiver with the Mizukage, the fight for survival has already begun! Those without ability, hurry up and scram, don't wait until you're dead to regret it!!"

A deathly silence swept through the genin ranks. Chitose took in the jonin's performance just now. At this moment, he watched coldly as the genin who had opened the scroll and his teammates walked away under the guidance of the chunin maintaining discipline, then calmly shifted his gaze back to continue watching the jonin in front.

This jonin was very powerful. Judging from his age, he should have participated in the Fourth Shinobi World War. With a few words, he frightened this group of genin. However, with this, it was unknown how many people besides himself had reacted.

He speculated inwardly, looking back at his two teammates. His fingers moved slightly, making a few hand signs. Seeing their eyes light up and them nodding at him, he turned back.

The jonin seemed a bit satisfied with the genin who had finally quieted down. Looking at the remaining people, he curled the corners of his mouth, but that bloodthirsty arc made people involuntarily shudder. He turned sideways and pointed to the field behind him before continuing, "As you can see, the exam will be conducted on these tracks. One track per squad. All three members must reach the opposite end to pass. Any missing person or even one person losing consciousness will be eliminated! There is no time limit, but only the first four squads to reach the end intact will qualify for the second round of the exam!"

He finished speaking at a rapid pace. Seeing that the genin were already a bit eager, he grinned, but the words he spat out made them stiffen their expressions again, "Each track may be slightly different, but the danger level is the same. The further back, the more dangerous. Also, one last piece of advice, brats - don't die!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, without regard for the genins' instantly pale faces, he waved his hand in a straightforward manner and announced, "The first round of the Chunin Exams begins!"

Kagura's heart beat wildly. He had just wanted to turn back and say something to his teammates when he saw three figures dart out from the corner of his eye. He widened his eyes in surprise and saw that the three were the Konoha genin they had encountered in front of the Mizukage building gate before! At this moment, it was as if they had already opened that strange scroll and knew the target track. While everyone else was still processing, they swiftly entered the track right in front of them and disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye!

Kagura heard gasps from all around him. In an instant, the genin who had been silent just a moment ago suddenly erupted into a flurry of discussion, wanting to quickly open their scrolls and become one of those four teams. However, looking at the scrolls in their hands, no one dared to rashly open them. Kagura tightened his grip on the scroll, trying to ignore his two teammates' urgings and the anxious atmosphere around him, attempting to calm himself down and think rapidly. Suddenly, he noticed the chunin who had been standing next to the Konoha squad earlier. The chunin had an approving smile on his face and exchanged a knowing look with the proctor.

In a flash, Kagura understood something. He quickly recalled the proctor's various behaviors just now. Suddenly, his whole body jolted as a hint of realization flashed in his purple-red eyes. He quickly stuffed the scroll into his ninja pouch, and turned to his teammates with a smile. Pointing to the nearest track, they immediately dashed towards it, much to their surprise.

Among his group, Hassaku, also an inheritor of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, couldn't help but ask, "Hey, Kagura, I didn't see you open the scroll? Is this really the track our team drew?" Beside him, Buntan, skilled in Lightning Release and also an inheritor of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, looked at him with equal confusion.

Kagura, observing the Chunin beside his team without any hindrance or sneer, breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to smile at them. "We were all misled by the proctor. He only mentioned a track number in the scroll, not that we could only go to that track. Those Chunin standing beside us seemed to be there just to confuse us, making us subconsciously think they were monitoring whether we opened the scroll."

Buntan raised an eyebrow at this. "So, how do we open the scroll then?"

Kagura instinctively touched the scroll in his ninja pouch. "Well, there's actually a line of text on the scroll. I looked at it, and it seems to be a riddle. We have to solve the riddle, and then a Chunin will unlock the jutsu on the scroll to open it. Opening it recklessly or answering incorrectly won't work."

As he spoke, he suddenly paused, his eyes widening as a flash of realization crossed his purple-red eyes. Hassaku remained clueless, while Buntan frowned. "In that case, what if someone opens the scroll and sees the track number, but that track already has someone inside?"

Kagura smiled and shook his head, "By then, they either react quickly and find a random track to enter, or they can only stand there not knowing what to do, wasting time."

As he said this, they finally entered the track. Kagura, who was leading the other two by a step, suddenly stepped on something. His expression turned grim as he quickly called out a warning, "It's a trap!"

The three of them instantly became solemn, drew their weapons, and blocked the barrage of kunai shooting out from both sides of the walls.

Just as they entered the track, Chitose and his team had already reached the middle section, advancing with unstoppable momentum. The black-haired, black-eyed boy with an impressive aura was clearly the leader of the three.

Before the proctor announced the start, the hand signs Chitose had made to Yosuke and Ruri were something the four members of Team 3 had figured out bit by bit over half a year, originating from an oddly large number of cat-catching missions. Later, as their efficiency gradually increased, they slowly took on many more missions such as expelling wild beasts and capturing prey.

This directly led to the three young members of Team 3 becoming better and better at concealing their presence, even becoming more and more adept at finding downwind locations. Unique hand signs were also gradually developed by them. Of course, Kakashi also provided many ANBU-specific hand signs for reference. Well, just for reference.

What Chitose had just told them was "something's fishy" and "stay close to me". Based on their trust in Chitose, Yosuke and Ruri followed his pace without hesitation, leaving the other examinees behind.

Among the genin of this makeshift Team 3, Chitose was the strongest and smartest. Although he had just become a genin, his combat experience was unexpectedly rich. No matter what happened, he could remain calm, making him the core of the three. Yosuke was pretty smart. His ability to communicate with the dead made him decide his development direction early on. Besides swordsmanship, intelligence gathering was his greatest specialty. He indeed had talent in this area and had worked hard to self-study lip-reading. Now, most of the intelligence work before Team 3's missions was done by him. Ruri was brilliant. Although her strategy formulation and intelligence gathering were not as good as the other two, she could always discover things overlooked by the other team members from a unique perspective. She was skilled in puppetry and had quite some knowledge of poison-making and antidotes at a young age, often able to defeat the enemy invisibly. Plus, with a special ability she obtained by chance, her strength could not be underestimated.

Now, Chitose, whose intelligence was not inferior to Kakashi's and whose insight was even sharper, instantly found the key to passing the exam from the performance of the Amegakure genin's scroll and the proctor just now. His equally smart teammates also reacted after his brief explanation. The three of them said no more and entered the closest long track.

The track width was not enough for the three of them to display their skills side by side when danger came, so Chitose took the lead with Ruri and Yosuke following in order. After just five or six steps, Chitose felt he had stepped on something. While immediately calling out a warning, "It's here!", he swiftly drew the long sword at his waist, clinking as he struck down the dense and frightening rain of kunai. Behind him, Ruri had already opened the scroll she carried with her. The red-haired, red-clothed puppet protected her as she continued forward through the dense kunai, while Yosuke at the very back immediately drew his short sword and blocked the projectiles attacking from behind.

Unknowingly, Chitose had already activated his three-tomoe Sharingan. The traps ahead were all seen through by him early on. He called out warnings to the two behind him time and again. Although his teammates could not leisurely evade all the projectiles like him, they were also able to pass the hurdles unscathed. The two boys in front and back blocked the most traps, while the girl in the middle was able to protect herself and eliminate the remaining dangers.

The coordination of the three was virtually flawless.

Gradually, various sounds also began coming from the other tracks, including many miserable cries and screams that made people's hair stand on end. However, the young boy and girls of Team 3 only paid attention to determine that they were still far ahead, then cast aside those sounds and focused on dealing with each obstacle.

Finally, they arrived at the end of the track. In front of them, axes and swords of all kinds swung down from the wooden walls in staggered intervals, leaving almost no gaps. The ferocious and dense, old and new bloodstains on them looked so terrifying and murderous. Not far ahead, the proctor waiting for them was tense, his eyes glued to them. The three ninja monitoring the arena had also stood atop the wall above their heads. All this confirmed how difficult and dangerous this last obstacle was.

After all, signing a death waiver didn't mean Kirigakure could really watch these examinees die.

However, that black-haired boy just observed for a long time with a pair of blood-red eyes, then turned back and smiled slightly at the other two, "Wait until the third sword and tenth ax hit the ground at the same time before starting. As long as you're careful enough, passing here won't be a problem."

With that, he sheathed his long sword and watched the huge and heavy weapons swinging mightily before him, looking for the entry point he had chosen. That confident and composed appearance made the other two genin calm down and also made the proctors watching and guarding secretly amazed. Watching all along, they had long understood how strong this young Uchiha was. Never mind chunin, with just this level of observation and courage, even ordinary jonin probably couldn't compare.

The Uchiha clan's genius, the other two kids were also promising seedlings. Konoha, how enviable. However, when did the Uchiha clan have another child this old?

Yosuke looked at Chitose's back, slowly calming down. He frowned at the dazzling blades, then looked up at the wall beside him and suddenly spoke, "Why don't we walk across on the wall?"

Before Chitose could speak, Ruri rejected the idea, "No."

She surveyed the surroundings. In her dark red eyes, she saw a different scene than ordinary people, "The walls are all poisoned."

Yosuke was stunned at her words. While feeling fortunate that he only thought of crossing on the wall now, he carefully examined the wall surface that looked no different to him than elsewhere, then looked at the white-haired girl with regret, "Even you can't undo it?"

The little girl silently shook her head, "Without proper materials, I can't do it."

The red-haired boy had no choice but to turn his gaze back to Chitose. At this moment, he had already waited for the opportunity to pass. He jumped up abruptly, directly avoiding the first three weapons, then paused in front of the fourth one, crossing over just as it reached the ground, then nimbly darted forward the instant he landed, barely evading the rising fifth ax blade, then passed under the sixth guillotine blade before it chopped down, landing in front of the seventh serpent-shaped sword...

Ruri watched him intently, not knowing what she was thinking. Yosuke widened his eyes, after all, he would have to pass this way in a moment too. Finally, the black-haired boy reached the other side. After beautifully vaulting off the ground and passing between two chopping blades coming together, he turned to look at the somewhat dumbfounded Yosuke, the corners of his lips curving slightly.

The red-haired, blue-eyed boy pressed his lips together, lowered his head and sighed, then rallied his spirits to look at the swords and axes before him, muttering softly, "Don't underestimate me." His voice, however, contained full eagerness to have a go.

Ruri looked at Chitose's faint smile for a long while, blinked, then raised her hand to kiss the red rose ring on it, and softly whispered as she stretched out her arm, "Shinku, I need your help."

The red gemstone suddenly emitted a brilliant glow. A girl only as tall as the human girl's knee, with sapphire-like eyes and golden spiral twin tails, wearing a classic and luxurious red Lolita princess dress, appeared out of thin air in midair and slowly descended onto the outstretched arm. She wore a red brimless hat with a dark green satin ribbon on the side. Each ear had a small pink rose. Her right hand also held a pink-purple cane.

That girl looked elegant and noble, but her gaze towards the white-haired girl was gentle and friendly, "Did you encounter some trouble, Ruri?" Her voice was as pleasant as silver bells.

Yosuke, who was waiting for the timing to cross, couldn't help getting distracted for a moment. He smiled at the tiny girl, "Long time no see, Miss Doll."

That's right, Shinku was a doll. A doll that could fly, talk, and think, the fifth doll maiden made by Rozen, the legendary doll-making master.

Summoning Miss Doll was Ruri's unique ability. When she encountered situations she couldn't handle, she would summon Shinku to seek help.

Shinku turned to glance at the boy, her expression haughty, "I have a name. Please don't call me Miss Doll, Yosuke."

The next second, she saw the dense array of blades and axes in front of the boy, as well as Chitose already on the other side smiling at him. She froze for a moment. After reacting, she hurriedly bowed to him, a polite smile on her face, then looked at her contractor again, "I understand your difficulty now. Well then, shall we go?"

She lightly stepped on Ruri's arm and flew into midair while reaching out to the girl.

The weakness of a puppeteer was insufficient personal strength. For Ruri, it was indeed too difficult to pass these blades and axes. She nodded, grasped Shinku's hand, then was effortlessly pulled up by the little girl to the same height in midair. When she and Shinku were at the same level, the little girl let go, circled behind the floating girl, and gently pushed her.

Without heeding the proctors' disbelieving expressions, Chitose just watched as usual as Ruri floated past the obstacles in front of her and reached his side. Then, he stretched out his arm and steadily caught the suddenly descending girl, placing her back on the ground.

Almost at the same time, Yosuke also made it to the end after a harrowing journey. The three people looked at each other with a smile, then together turned to face the proctor before them.

"You are the first squad to arrive, you pass." He said this while trying his best to conceal his surprise.