The End of the Chunin Exams

"Kurenai, you are really strong."

"Hehe, you're pretty good too."

The two girls complimented each other, satisfied with the result.

Although a draw meant neither of them could advance, it at least proved that both were equally capable.

Kurenai walked to the second floor, looking at Shintaro with her hands behind her back, as if expecting something.

Shintaro was initially discussing something with Kakashi, but when he saw her, he walked over and hugged Kurenai.

"Well done."

This made Kurenai blush. She had only expected some praise from him, but ended up getting a hug.

Rin was very envious seeing Kurenai and Shintaro like this and turned to Kakashi.

Kakashi felt a sudden pressure. After hesitating for a moment, he stammered a compliment: "That was a good fight."

At this moment, Obito pushed Kakashi aside and rushed towards Rin, asking concernedly: "Rin, you're hurt, are you okay?"

Rin recovering from the joy of being praised by Kakashi, looked at the wound on her leg, then at Obito, and smiled: "Obito, did you forget I'm a medical ninja?"

Obito scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Did I care too much about you?"

Rin gave a gentle smile and then healed her own wound.

On the other side, after hugging Kurenai, Shintaro looked towards Asuma who was standing nearby.

The two of them walked together silently.

"Are you nervous about your father watching you from above?" Asked Shintaro.

Asuma replied, "Why would I care if he watches me from above? He hasn't cared about me since I was little."

"I think he still cares, since he's been watching you constantly." Shintaro said honestly.

Asuma unconsciously looked towards the Hokage on the second floor, and their eyes met.

He then turned back and said, "No matter what you say, I'll do my best whether he watches me or not."

Shintaro nodded.

The two came up to Shikaku.

After looking at the two of them for a while, Shikaku announced, "Begin the battle."

Asuma put on his gloves, got into a boxing stance, and began bouncing slightly on the spot.

He then took a boxer's step, grounded his feet, and quickly rushed towards Shintaro.

"[Fūton: Tatsumaki Genkotsu]"

A strong punch accompanied by a fierce wind.

Shintaro didn't want to reveal his Limitless Technique in front of others, so he dodged.

Asuma utilized the dust on the ground to his advantage. However, the range of a punch was always limited, so he took a further step.

[Chakra Blades: Shinichimonji!]

Asuma injected Wind Chakra into his chakra blades, creating two blue chakra blades sharp enough to cut through iron like mud.

On the second floor, Hiruzen's eyes were always on Asuma.

"Has this child's proficiency in Wind Element reached this level?"

It seemed he hadn't paid enough attention to Asuma's growth.

Conversely, Shintaro realized that Asuma's Wind Element skills were more than that.

Faced with consecutive slashes from the sharp chakra blades, Shintaro remained passive, dodging.

Suddenly, he chose to distance himself, moving out of Asuma's close-range attack range.

However, Asuma immediately threw his chakra blades to attack Shintaro.

"[Fūton: Suiran Reppū]"

Seeing this, Shintaro quickly formed a seal and directly performed [Doton: Doryūheki].

The earth wall was successfully deployed, but it failed to withstand the attack.

The two chakra blades, with their sharp chakra, crossed and directly cut an X-shaped gap in the earth wall.

The chakra blades then spun back into Asuma's hands, and he immediately punched twice, completely destroying the earth wall.

This fierce fighting style suited his straightforward character.

However, right after he broke through the earth wall defense, Shintaro completed the next ninjutsu seals.

"[Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu]"

Asuma had seen the power of this technique, and knowing that fire overcomes wind, he didn't dare face it directly and dodged to the side.

*BOOM*

The Dragon Flame hit the ground beside Asuma, followed by a shocking explosion.

Even the large stone tiles on the ground were easily shattered. Naturally, Asuma standing beside them felt uncomfortable and fell.

He rolled on the ground several times, and the chakra blades in his hands flew away.

Shikaku was about to step forward and announce the end of the fight.

However, Asuma stood up trembling.

"Sensei... it's not over yet..."

His legs were a bit wobbly and trembling constantly, but his eyes were firm.

His hands started forming seals, and then he spat towards Shintaro.

In an instant, he released hot smoke and ash, covering a large area in front of him.

*sBOOM*

The ash ignited, creating a huge explosion.

Asuma was exhausted at this moment, thinking his final move would have an impact.

However, when the explosion cleared, Shintaro was unharmed.

No one knew what method he used to escape the huge explosion from the ash.

In fact, Shintaro was forced to use Infinity.

Finally, he ended the battle.

Asuma, mesmerized, fell to the ground, losing his ability to fight.

Shintaro's attacks weren't ruthless, but those who didn't know might think he had a deep grudge with Asuma. In fact, Shintaro knew that Asuma wouldn't admit defeat if he didn't do this.

Asuma was carried away on a stretcher by the medical team. Shintaro walked over and said, "I believe everyone has seen your strength."

Asuma said, "Compared to you, my strength is nothing."

"Alright, no need to follow me, don't you have another fight? Continue."

After saying that, Asuma closed his eyes.

Shintaro then returned to the exam area.

Kakashi jumped down from the second floor.

Now, the Chunin Exams were about to end.

As expected, the final battle for first and second place was between Shintaro and Kakashi.

These two geniuses, who had been ranked first and second in Konoha since the beginning of ninja school, would fight again today. On the second floor, Hiruzen didn't seem too worried about his son; he simply ordered an ANBU beside him to go to the medical team to check the situation, then continued to watch the final battle of the Chunin Exams.

"Minato, who do you think will win?" Hiruzen asked.

Minato answered honestly, "Although Kakashi is my student, I don't think he can win against Shintaro."

"I see." Hiruzen sighed with slight regret.

After all, although both Shintaro and Kakashi were geniuses, their backgrounds were different.

Kakashi was Minato's student, Minato was Jiraiya's student, and Jiraiya was Hiruzen's student.

Additionally, Kakashi's father was the famous White Fang of Konoha, so Kakashi belonged in Konoha.

On the other hand, Shintaro was born in the Uchiha Clan, and his father was almost classified as a traitor for fleeing the village.

Although Shintaro's relationships with Nara Shikaku and Yuhi Shinku allowed Hiruzen to give Shintaro enough trust, that was it.

As expected, the future Hokage position wouldn't go to Shintaro but would be given to Kakashi.

Although the Will of Fire promoted by Konoha seemed to give many enthusiastic young people hope of becoming Hokage in the future, in reality, most people were destined to lose the Hokage position from the start.

The Hokage position had been passed down till now.

From the First Hokage Senju Hashirama to the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, they were brothers, and from the Second Hokage to the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, they were teacher and student.

Whether the next generation of Hokage was passed on to the three Sannin of Konoha, his students, or to his student's student, Namikaze Minato, or to Minato's student, Hatake Kakashi, or even to Hiruzen's son, that was possible.

But it was impossible to pass it on to outsiders.

Even more so to the Uchiha Clan.

Shintaro understood this since the first day of class when he learned from the textbooks that Uchiha Madara, who founded Konoha Village with the First Hokage, had defected.

Because the seeds of Konoha's high-level distrust towards the Uchiha Clan had been planted.