NARUTO 17

After five days of relaxing in the guest quarters of the Divine Dragons, Carl was ushered into an enormous audience hall by a green dragon that made himself scarce immediately after announcing his arrival. As the enormous red double doors closed behind him, he inspected the various designs in red wood and outlined in gold that were engraved on the walls, giving the hall a dignified and royal feeling.

Directly in front of Carl, coiled up on an enormous jade throne at the end of the hall was a dragon; he was at least 100 meters long, reminding Carl once more about the enormous size of the various summons creatures. His scales were a deep azure blue, he had five claw on each foot, long whiskers that floated in the non-existent breeze and majestic antlers raising from his head.

The Azure Dragon's eyes were locked onto Carl, judging him from the moment he entered the hall. Carl strode forward and followed the etiquette as was explained to him, except that instead of bowing down fully or kneeling, he barely nodded his head with a two handed martial artist salute.

No matter what the dragon who escorted Carl here told him about how to act subservient according to etiquette, Carl was himself a ruler of an empire and a dragon to boot. It wouldn't do for him to abase himself to another ruler. And if the Azure Dragon couldn't understand that fact, well then Carl would have to explain it in a manner that they would understand.

Carl also figured that the Azure Dragon wouldn't want a weak minded boot licker for a summoner. And judging by the reaction of the dragon to Carl's greeting, he chose wisely.

"So, Carl Hyuga. Sage summoner for the Snake, Chameleon, and Wyvern clans. Tell me why you deserve the honor of being the summoner for the Divine Dragons." The masculine bass voice of the Azure Dragon echoed in the large hall.

This question was obviously a test of sorts, so Carl thought over his answer. He considered the information he was given in the jump document, he considered what he had learned about the Divine Dragon clan from the Snakes, Chameleons, and Wyvern; and he considered what he had gleaned from the short meeting so far with the Azure Dragon. The proud look in the dragon's eyes, the gleam of interest, and his willingness to accept Carl's deviation from the explained etiquette.

Carl continued looking the Azure Dragon in the eyes, not flinching or showing weakness at all. Since the Azure Dragon didn't beat around the bush, Carl wouldn't either.

"The answer to your question can be short or long, depending on how much detail you desire. The short answer is that I am the strongest ninja in the world and your clan will benefit as much as I do from the contract. I have proved myself over the past few years that I have been interacting with your subordinate clans that I take my obligations seriously, and I will fulfill my side of the contract."

The Azure Dragon closed his eyes in contemplation for a short time. Carl remained steady and patient. The Dragon's eyes snapped open once more, having made a decision.

"Good. You're confident enough, not to mention as powerful as you claim. The long answer will not be needed." A twitch of the claw had the contract scroll float into the room from behind the throne. It floated in front of Carl. "Sign the contract, Carl Hyuga, and we will begin this partnership."

Without further talk, Carl bit his thumb so that he could use his blood to sign his name to the contract and leave a hand print. Once the contract was signed, Carl felt the expected rush of chakra through his chakra coils and body as the contract made a connection with him. He could now reverse summon himself back and forth from the normal world to the Divine Dragon clan's grounds.

"Good. Kayda will be your mentor over the next few years, Carl Hyuga. You will learn our ways and martial arts from her." The Azure Dragon then closed his eyes and indicated that the meeting was over.

Carl turned around to see a light blue dragon standing behind him at the entrance to the throne room of the Azure Dragon. Presumably it was Kayda that the Azure Dragon spoke of.

"Hello, Carl Hyuga, I'm Kayda. Come with me if you wish to learn our martial arts." The pleasant soprano tone of voice from the enormous dragon didn't quite fit her size, but by now Carl was used to it, having talked with many enormous summons creatures.

"Good to meet you, Kayda. I look forward to learning from you." Carl smiled and followed along with the dragon as she floated through the air instead of walking. Carl took a page from her book and floated along next to her.

He was assuming it was a status thing, since the green colored attendant dragon that he met earlier had walked through the halls. And judging by all the other dragons he had seen on his way here, everyone in the Divine Dragon clan could fly through using their chakra. So the decision to not fly must be deliberate.

"The essence of our Divine Dragon martial arts comes from our very nature as dragons. Superior power, swift and decisive action, and tyrannical strikes. We are the rulers of all we see, and our overbearing strength subdues everything below us." They soon arrived at the training ground and Kayda began instructing him in the Divine Dragon Clan's martial arts.

Carl's mouth twitched a bit at this description. Overbearing indeed, but he liked it! He soon immersed himself in what Kayda was teaching him, feeling his dragon blood boiling with excitement as he practiced the moves.

He would find out after their first lesson at the end of the day that he had a permanent room in the palace assigned for him, which made the commute much easier than staying outside the palace.

Over the next three years that Carl stayed with the Divine Dragon clan, he spent a lot of time with Kayda and many of their young dragons. He would leave a few days a month to continue spending time with the snake, chameleon, and wyvern clans to continue fulfilling his contract with them and keep up with the summons animals he had made friends with.

But it took some time for the Divine Dragon clan to allow him to learn their version of Senjutsu. It wasn't until he was nearly 16 that they finally acknowledged that he was steadfast and worthy of their arts, even though he had long mastered them.

Carl knew that he had to remain patient and follow their directives in how quickly he advanced. He would succeed before he turned 18 and left the world, so he never felt desperate and simply enjoyed his time and the tasks that the dragons set him.

XX

Carl was waiting outside the academy building, eager for this day to happen. It was only about six months after he graduated and became a genin, but he was so happy that the day was finally here. The Chuunin Exams was his chance to get off this damned genin team of Kakashi's and get away from his perpetually late teacher. He was fully aware that it was his own fault for picking that particular drawback; he did it to himself, but damned if it wasn't annoying!

He didn't mind Saionji, he was a pretty cool guy that he would continue to hang out with. But Kakashi's perpetual lateness and lameness was annoying the hell out of him. And then there was the idiot that was known as Sasuke Uchiha.

The damned transmigrant was a complete and utter idiot that was so focused on making a harem, he barely functioned otherwise. Even repeated uses of his Celestial Profound Basic Decency Inducement perk never changed him permanently. He always reverted to his original attitude. Carl was beginning to think there was divine intervention somewhere that protected the idiot's mind from being fundamentally changed. Maybe whatever sent him to Sasuke's body kept messing with his mind?

At first Carl had thought the guy had been doing so good during that last year of the academy, but the moment he became a genin it was like he thought he didn't have to try anymore, that he already won at life and that it would be a breeze to get to jonin in a year or two.

And now that Sasuke was considered an adult, he was constantly trying to get any of the females that were Carl's friends to join him for a beer or sake, obviously hoping to get them drunk and take advantage of them.

Carl was sorely tempted to make the kid disappear. As it was, he renewed the curses on the brat to make him incapable of "performing", and he wasn't going to remove them again.

He hadn't cared about the original Sasuke Uchiha in the first place after he proved he didn't care about making friends with his peers. The original Sasuke had been too obsessed by his family name and honor even before the massacre. And after the massacre he had been obsessed with killing Itachi Uchiha.

Carl just hadn't cared enough about the guy to help him out.

And so, when the original Sasuke had been replaced, Carl had zero fucks to give for the fate of the original. Why should he put forth effort for someone who was simply a fellow villager and had proven over and over again that he didn't care about his allies, let alone making friends?

And the new Sasuke/Dewey was even worse of a pest. Why should Carl put forth effort to help him when the brat was so damned annoying, like a fly that just wouldn't go away? The only reason he even gave the brat any consideration in their last year of the Academy was because he seemed sincere in his attempts to become a serious ninja.

Just because Sasuke was so important to the original plot of the show, should he spare no effort to help the dude? Obviously that was a stupid question.

By now he was so done with the little bastard and his perpetual attempts to dominate everything around him in order to make his little harem dream come true. Just one more month for the chuunin exams to be complete, and he would be free.

"Hello, Carl." A voice distracted Carl from his annoyed ramblings in his mind.

"Hey, Saionji." Carl looked up and greeted the black haired boy who had just arrived at the academy entrance. Saionji seemed to be geared up and ready for anything. He had plenty of blank scrolls tucked away in seals, plenty of weapons, and he was full of energy. "Excited for the exams?"

"Yes. I know I've got the skills of a chuunin, so I'm not worried. But it will be interesting to see where I compare to others in the competitions."

"Yeah, you'll pass with flying colors, no doubt. And I'm sure you'll kick ass too." Carl encouraged him. He had gifted a training belt to Saionji pretty quickly after he joined Carl and his friends in training since the guy was pretty cool, so he had been advancing pretty quickly. "Any idea when the Uchiha is getting here? Oh, never mind. He just walked around the corner." Carl had just spotted the Uchiha behind and to his right. The Byakugan's range of sight was just awesome.

Saionji looked over in the direction that Carl said, and saw that Sasuke was sauntering over with an arrogant expression on his face.

"Uchiha." Carl greeted him when he finally arrived. "Let's go on up to room 301, then." Carl began walking without waiting. He didn't want to talk with Sasuke too much, so it was better to get started and stick to business.

On the second floor they saw the genjutsu that the chuunin were putting up on door 201 to fool those who weren't skilled enough to see past the illusion, fooling some into thinking that they were guarding door 301 instead of 201. Carl yanked on Sasuke's arm when it looked like he was going to go confront the two chuunin.

"Come on, idiot." Carl muttered. "I'm not going to let you make a spectacle of us here."

"Let me go, bastard." Sasuke muttered back as he pulled his arm out of Carl's grip. "What's the problem anyway? I wanted to show them that I could see through the illusion like a chuunin would."

"No, a chuunin would stick to the mission." Saionji countered as they climbed the stairs to the third floor. "Our mission is to get to room 301, not to get distracted and confront random people on the second floor in order to show off."

"What he said." Carl agreed as he kept pace with Saionji, ignoring Sasuke's sour face. Despite his complaints, Sasuke still followed them up the stairs.

"Wonderful!" The voice of Kakashi came from a large puff of smoke that appeared in the hallway. Kakashi was giving them the one-eyed smile since his mouth and nose was covered by his mask. "Since all three of you showed up, you may take the chuunin exam. You have to take the exam as a team, so if any of you hadn't shown up, you would all fail. Well, go on in and good luck!"

And the jonin poofed away in another cloud of smoke.

"Strange that he was on time to welcome us. I fully expected Kakashi to welcome us to the exam after we already finished it. Well, let's do our best." Both his teammates chuckled a bit at Carl's joke, agreeing with him that Kakashi was perpetually late. Carl waved his hands and used a bit of wind jutsu to blow away the chakra smoke that Kakashi left behind.

Once they entered the room, Carl saw that it was mostly empty with only a few foreign ninja teams present.

"Gaara! Temari! Kankuro! How are you three doing!?" Carl called out at the team he knew, smiling at them.

The red haired boy with a large three foot tall gourd on his back made out of sand turned around and smiled when he saw Carl. The blonde haired girl with her forehead protector around her neck and a large fan on her back was already looking his way and waved in greeting. Their brother that was in makeup…er, had purple war paint and a cat eared hoodie also called a greeting. His bandage wrapped package that was his battle puppet was resting on the wall next to him, while he kept one hand on it.

"Carl, it's good to see you. This is your team?" Temari asked when he joined the trio.

Saionji followed along behind him, while Sasuke hung back with a freaked out look on his face because Carl already knew the team from Suna, especially Gaara, the psychotic killer jinchuriki. Or at least that was the impression Sasuke had of Gaara from the original show.

Carl saw how Sasuke acted, but internally shook his head in disdain at the boy. Seriously, after this many years he still hasn't figured out that this world is vastly different from the Naruto canon, and he shouldn't let his old expectations determine his reaction? Was he even trying to learn to be a ninja?

"Yeah, this is Saionji, he's pretty cool. Then this is the Uchiha, he's annoying, but we're stuck with him for now." Carl said with a grin.

"He does seem a bit high strung." Gaara observed after eyeing the Uchiha acting weird and hanging back. "Are you sure he's ready for the chuunin exam? He might fall apart before we even begin."

Saionji chuckled a bit before striking up a conversation with Kankuro while Carl chatted with Temari and Gaara.

Sasuke eventually calmed down enough to lean against the wall nearby.

"Carl! You're already here!" Became an often heard phrase over the next half hour as the various teams entered the exam room.

First was Hinata, Naruko, and Sakura's entrance. Many eyes were plastered on the team of all girls. Especially because the various villages had intel that the blonde was the fourth's daughter. The return of the fourth Hokage had freaked everyone out, and they were very wary. So any information their genin teams could send back to them would be high value.

"Wow! I'm glad to finally meet some of the friends from outside the village Carl has been telling us about for years!" Naruko exclaimed happily before she bounced over and started talking with Gaara. Both Gaara and Naruko knew that the other had a tailed demon sealed in their gut, so they felt some kinship with each other and took to chatting with each other.

Hinata and Sakura meanwhile began talking with Temari about the various differences between desert Suna and forested Konoha.

Next to arrive was Karin, Hanako, and Nawaki, who were representing New Uzushio. They had arrived a couple days ago since Nawaki was eager to see what had changed since the time he had lived in Konoha. They had already gotten to know Carl's friends from Konoha, and were happy to join in the group merriment before the exam.

Carl was amused to see the teams from other villages were freaking out a bit at seeing the big gathering of friends. The news that Carl Hyuga and Konoha had great relations with so many other village's ninjas was something that they would definitely pass on to their leaders. It was very concerning news that could spell bad things for their own interests.

Karin, Hanako, and Nawaki's jonin instructor was Shizune. Carl had ended up making Tsunade the Uzukage, though it was mostly for show since Tsunade mostly worked on the medical program. The only reason that Tsunade had accepted the job was that most of the paperwork was done automatically by the AI. She didn't mind the extra duties if she got a say in how things were run, but she would be damned if she would be stuck behind a desk all day reading and signing reports like her own sensei had been.

New Uzushio had kept the genin from participating in any chuunin exam until now because they wanted to wait until the exam was held in an allied village and after they established a certain amount of reputation among the villages.

Kumo and Iwa had tried to make a big deal about Uzushio coming back, but they had shut their mouths after the assassinations that killed off the main movers from Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri that had been behind the attack that destroyed the old Uzushio. After seeing how successful Uzushio's revenge was, a lot of people sat down and shut up, realizing they didn't want to put themselves on the radar.

Especially because no one could get into New Uzushio to spy, and anyone who tried to do anything to any ninja or caravans from New Uzushio would suddenly disappear. It was a hard line stance that New Uzushio took, and open warning to the villages not to cross them, and it worked for the most part. There were always idiots that thought they were the exception to the rule, and Carl's forces made sure to take them out too.

By the time his cousin's team showed up after they had played pig eating tiger a bit on the second floor, the group of friends had made it seem more like they were gathering for a party than an exam.

Carl had watched the little play that Lee, Tenten, and Neji had put on with the chuunin standing in front of door 201. They had acted like they were weak and couldn't see through the genjutsu in order to appear weaker than they were. That way when enemies came sniffing around looking to attack them, their enemies would be overconfident and unprepared for their true strength.

All the time that Carl's friends were coming in and having fun chatting with each other, Sasuke sat in his corner with a scowl on his face. He apparently thought all the attention should have been on him. But Carl didn't care too much for his pouting. He would be rid of the Uchiha in a bit more than a month's time.

Many times over the past several months while he had to work with the Uchiha he wished he was a proper shadow clone and not a blood clone. Cause then he could just stab himself to dispel and never have to deal with him again.

He knew there was something wrong with that solution, namely that he was still Carl and the next shadow clone he made would still be him, with those same memories. But still, the sentiment remained.

Eventually the exam proctor showed up.

"Sit down and shut up, brats!" Ibiki Morino shouted, causing all the chuunin hopefuls to quiet down and take their assigned seats, separate from their teammates.

Carl was amused to find that the written test was exactly like it had been in the show. Ibiki gave them a test paper that had nine questions on it that were far too advanced for a normal genin to figure out. There were proctors around the room to spot anyone cheating and dock them points. If they got caught cheating five times they would be disqualified and the whole team would be kicked out of the exam.

The written exam was a test of a genin's ability to gather information, or in other words, to cheat. Which was why they only docked points for those caught cheating and not disqualify them on the spot. There were some chuunin scattered among the genin who had the correct answers to the problems that they could copy from.

Carl quickly filled out the answers, since he didn't even need to cheat to get the correct answers. He then sat back and watched the various actions of the surrounding ninja as they attempted to cheat their way through the test.

Some of them were incredibly incompetent and got caught five times, getting their team kicked out of the exam.

Some of them were so slick that if Carl didn't have all the advantages he had he would never have caught their actions.

After the 45 minute time limit elapsed, it was time for the tenth question.

The tenth and final question was a psychological ploy to weed out those who weren't mentally steady enough for the rank of chuunin. Ibiki told them that if they chose to take the final question and answered incorrectly, then they would forever be banned from the chuunin exams and would remain a genin forever.

If they gave up before he gave them the tenth question, then they would fail, but their right to take the exams would remain intact and they could try again later.

There were quite a few genin that bowed out under the pressure. They had the ambition to become chuunin, but they weren't willing to gamble their future on one unknown question. They were convinced that playing it safe and retreating now was the smart answer. They could try again in six months.

In the original show, even though Naruto had left his test completely blank and hadn't answered even one question on the written exam, he refused to give up and exploded right before Sakura, who was on his team, would have given up. He declared that something little like that would never stop him. He was tougher and braver than that. He proudly declared that he would become the Hokage even if he remained a genin forever!

It was another little moment in Naruto's life that highlighted the hero's character and never give up attitude, and it helped Sakura firm up her own courage so that she continued on despite her fears for Naruto's path in life.

And it didn't happen at all in this world.

Naruko and Sakura had gone through a lot more training due to Carl having butterflied away any original plot that could have existed. So they were confident in their skills and knowledge. And so Naruko felt no need to explode and defy Ibiki's psychological pressure. Sakura was nowhere near giving up due to a fear of failing causing problems for her teammates. She knew she and her team was more than good enough to succeed, and she was undaunted.

Many teams were dropped from the exam due to one or another of their members quailing in fear and giving up. After they were all escorted out with their heads hanging low, Ibiki took one more look around the room. He saw from everyone's eyes that they were confident and willing to go on.

"For those of you remaining: You all pass." Ibiki simply said.

Many of the genin hopefuls practically had a huge question mark over their head as they almost face faulted. The extreme tension that Ibiki had cultivated in them led them to think that something complicated and brain twisting was coming. But for the proctor to simply pass them just like that? It was inconceivable!

"What!?" More than a few examinees exclaimed. "We passed!? But what about the tenth question!?"

"There wasn't a tenth question in the first place. Or rather, it could be said that your choice to stay or leave, despite the danger, was the tenth question." Ibiki answered.

"Then what were the first nine questions even for?" One genin yelled out angrily. "Were they pointless if everything rode on the tenth question?"

"They were not pointless." Ibiki explained with a cool smile. "They had already served their intended purpose. To test your individual information gathering skills!"

Everyone seemed confused by the change in demeanor of their proctor from icy and murderous to smiling.

"First, as the rules were explained, success on this test was based on the whole team doing well. If any individual was failed, the whole team failed. This puts pressure on each individual. Not only are they responsible for their own success, they don't want to shoulder the blame of messing up the team's chances to succeed."

"The premise of this test was to cheat. As cheating targets, we had a couple chuunin mixed in with you genin to give you the answers you could copy. But those that cheat poorly, fail, of course."

The seeded chuunin among the group stood up and cheekily waved at the group of genin, before standing off to the side with the proctors. Most of the genin were flabbergasted, staring with open mouths.

Ibiki suddenly reached up and pulled down the bandanna that had been covering his head this whole time. Suddenly in front of the genin's eyes, they saw not only the two scars on the proctor's two cheeks, but they saw that his whole head was covered in scars, screw holes, and burn marks, such that he had absolutely no hair on his head. The sight of the thickly corded scar tissue completely covering his head was grotesquely ugly, and spoke of how much he had been tortured at some point in his life.

The fact that he survived that torture and was still standing in front of them, healthy, robust, and full of spirit, told them so much about this proctor's past. This proctor of theirs was dangerous and full of willpower!

"Because sometimes, information is more important than life. And on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

Many of the genin were shocked at the visage presented before them, and the idea that they could be tortured for information like the proctor in front of them. The question of whether they could suffer such torture and remain strong remained in their minds.

"If the enemy or some random third party notices you, there is no guarantee that the information you gather will be accurate. I want you to remember this. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and your village."

Ibiki put his bandana and ninja forehead protector back on his head with a grim smile, satisfied with the impact he placed on the genin's minds.

"So we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

Some of the genin were getting a bit restless. "But, what was the point of the tenth question then?!"

"Yes, the tenth question. It was the true purpose of the whole test." Seeing the questioning faces of the genin, Ibiki smirked once more. "Let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take it' or 'leave it' decision.

"Obviously these were painful choices. Those who chose to 'leave it', failed; along with their teammates.

"Those who chose to 'take it'…could lose the chance to ever take the test again. A true leap of faith."

Ibiki paced back and forth in front of the test hall, piercing eyes stabbing at each of the chuunin hopefuls.

"How about those two choices. Let's say that you guys do become chuunin. And at one point, your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of ninja, their abilities, skills, etc are all known to you. And of course there could be traps set all around. It's a very dangerous mission, with an uncertain chance of success. Now…do you accept the mission or not?"

Without pause, Ibiki continued. "Because you don't want to die. You don't want your comrades to be hurt. Can you avoid the dangerous mission?"

"The answer is NO!!" Ibiki shocked the group of genin with his sudden yell. They seemed to be falling into his tempo, mesmerized by the scenario he was painting.

Carl had a faraway look on his face as he contemplated Ibiki's words. Even though he was much more powerful than Ibiki due to all the perks and training he had gone through over the years, he didn't discount the man's experiences or knowledge.

He thought back to the times when he was a newbie. Even in the first world he had gone to, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. He had gained the magic skills to make a difference in his and his friend's survival, but it was still incredibly dangerous.

Despite being victorious, he had been taking a huge chance every time he employed his ritual to suck up the energies and very being of his demonic enemies. He never knew if his ritual, batteries, and preparations would be enough, or if the enemy would be too powerful for him to conquer.

Would the next time be the time he miscalculated and suffered something worse than death?

Those questions had plagued him incessantly.

But like Ibiki was saying, sometimes you just couldn't avoid a mission. Sometimes you couldn't just let an enemy run around free. You had to try. You had to stake it all on the chance that you would succeed. You had to fight!

The consequences of not even trying were worse than the chance of death or torture. You had to give it your all!

"No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship…that is the ability needed to become a chuunin captain. Those who can't put their destinies on the line. Those who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year', and walk away from their chance.

"Those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices, don't have the right to become chuunin!"

Ibiki's yell at the end, his towering emotions, his sincerity and killing intent, all combined to make a huge impression on the genin sitting in front of him. They had no doubt that the proctor in front of them would use them as pawns to sacrifice if the situation was worth it. More than that, they knew that the proctor in front of them would use himself as a pawn to sacrifice if the situation warranted it.

He was even willing to be cruel to himself to accomplish his goals. That was proved by his horrendous scars.

Such an indomitable will, such a focus on the goal above all considerations. The genin found their hearts pounding. Their eyes burned in excitement.

THIS!

This was what they expected!

This was the feeling they sought after when becoming ninja. They would become the backbone of their family, their village, their country! They would be the heroes that sacrificed for their country, so that it could become Great!

This was the flames that warmed them and propelled them to train day after day. They would not be turned away! They would not cower! They would be indomitable! They would win!

"You have made it through the entrance. The first test of the chuunin selection exam is now finished." Ibiki, the proctor, softened his tone of voice while smiling grimly at them. "I wish you guys luck."

Second later they were introduced to the next proctor, Genma Shiranui. He had a bandanna covering his head, had a calm personality, and he was perpetually sucking on a senbon in his mouth.

"Okay, looks like the numbers are just right for the next test." Genma announced when he walked in the room after Ibiki was done explaining the purpose behind the first test. "Everyone will now follow us to training ground 44 for the next test."

And without another word he walked out of the room. Carl and his team joined back up, having been separated for the written exam, and they walked out after Genma. Carl's friends all stuck to their teams and remained separated this time as they were mentally preparing for the next test. The written test had been surprisingly mentally trying. They were wondering just what would be next.

Once everyone was gathered outside, Genma picked up his pace and began running at a pace a chuunin should be able to handle. All of the test candidates followed along, realizing that if they didn't keep up they would be disqualified.

After a short 15 minute run, they arrived on the outskirts of training ground 44, which was known as the Forest of Death. Carl smiled a bit since it looked like the second test would be the same as in the original story.

Each team would be given a scroll labeled either 'Heaven' or 'Earth'. They couldn't open the scroll until they had grabbed the opposite scroll from a different team and arrived at the tower at the center. They would have five days to complete the test. This would essentially cut the number of teams in half, at least.

In the original story there were 26 teams that made it to the second test. In this world, there were 19 teams at the start of the second exam.

Carl briefly considered various ways to finish this test as quickly as possible. He could easily steal one of the extra scrolls from the chuunin that was handing out the scrolls. After a quick count and seeing that there was an odd number of teams left over, Carl went ahead with that idea and purloined the extra heaven scroll after they were given an earth scroll. With one more heaven scroll in place the number of teams that could pass was evened out.

During this phase of the test, even though he was only a blood clone, he had a ship like the Yamato hovering over the forest to watch out for his friends. He didn't want to hover over them and stunt their growth as ninja or people, but he also didn't want them to die in the forest for a test for promotion. So unless their life was threatened, the ship wouldn't intervene. Even if they ultimately failed the test, then so be it.

"Let's go straight to the tower." Carl muttered to his team as soon as the test started and they were let into the forest. "I've already gotten the scroll we need, so let's get this test over."

"What do you mean, you've already got the scroll?!" Sasuke raised his voice a bit.

"What do you mean, what do I mean? Are you deaf?" Carl asked irritably in a soft voice. "And lower your voice, you're giving our position away. I thought what I said was obvious, I've got the scroll we need, so let's get to the tower in the center of the forest immediately."

"Deception and cheating is a vital part of being a ninja." Saionji agreed with Carl easily. "Let's follow Carl's plan and end the test early."

"Fine." Sasuke's shoulders slumped down, defeated at how unusual his team was. Carl always had the answers and made him feel stupid, and Saionji just accepted it all with a smile on his face as if it was the most normal thing ever. Sasuke really hated them.

The three of them picked up the pace and raced toward the center, keeping an eye out for any teams that may be setting up ambushes. Any other teams would have had to be fast to be able to get ahead of Carl's team and set up ambushes, so they arrived at the building without any issues.

After they opened up both scrolls and tossed them on the ground, one of the chuunin proctors appeared in a puff of smoke. He gave them the hairy eyeball, since they had passed the test in only one hour and twenty three minutes. A new record.

"Congratulations on passing." Despite being suspicious at how they did it, the chuunin followed the script he was given. "There are rooms on the second floor that you can rest in until the end of the test. Not that you really need the rest, fresh as daisies like you look." He finished with a mutter before disappearing in a puff of leafs.

Carl found it amusing that Konoha was known as the village hidden in the leafs, and most of the jonin ninja ran with the theme, using leafs when they used the Shunshin technique. It was a technique that allowed the ninja to move at incredibly high speeds in a straight line, almost disappearing from sight due to the high speed movement.

Carl had dynamic vision good enough to see the whole process, so he was always amused by the sight of a jonin reaching into a pouch at their waist to grab a hand full of leafs, making a one handed sign to activate the technique, and running away really fast as they tossed the leafs up in the air.

Over the next five days Carl's friends trickled in, looking just fine. Since Carl had taken out Orochimaru early, he hadn't expected any issues to crop up in this exam, but it was good to see they were doing just fine.

With all the training with the belts he had created, his friends had graduated from the academy at high chuunin, bordering on jonin, levels of physical strength. So after six months of training with jonin sensei, all of their graduating class except for Sasuke and Saionji were at least low jonin in strength and skill.

Saionji only failed to reach that level because he hadn't joined their class until the last year, limiting the amount of time he had to train with the belt Carl had gifted him. Sasuke never got a belt, so he was only at low chuunin levels. And he was only there because Carl had pushed him so they could take the exams. Carl didn't want to be on his team for another year before the next chuunin exams that they could go to in an allied village.

At the end of the second portion of the exam there were six teams left.

Team 7 with Carl, Sasuke, and Saionji.

Team 8 with Yakumo, Kiba, and Shino.

Team 9 with Neji, Tenten, and Lee.

Team 11 with Hinata, Naruko, and Sakura.

The Uzushio team with Nawaki, Karin, and Hanako.

The Suna team with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

The teams with a Byakugan user or trackers like Kiba and Shino had an advantage over the rest, so it wasn't surprising to Carl which teams had managed to gather a scroll and pass. The Uzushio team was also a bit older and had more time to train with Shizune and Tsunade, so they had more than enough experience to win through. And the Suna team had some nice advantages with how skilled the siblings were, like Temari's skills at reading the wind, so it wasn't too surprising they also managed to pass.

Carl would have to send some encouraging words to Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Nobodon, Junirio, and Yamiko for their failure to find a scroll. It was a tough time in the forest with limited resources to gather in order to pass the test.

Once everyone that passed had gathered at the tower, Carl was given a bit of a surprise that the test deviated from the original story. Instead of immediately having an elimination round to whittle down the numbers, everyone would be given a chance to compete in a month in the arena.

They didn't even draw lots to let them know who they would be fighting in a month. That would lead to them developing specific moves for a specific opponent. They would find out their opponent on the day of the tournament.

Carl and his friends from Konoha, Suna, and Uzushio made their way out of the forest and met back up after a shower to go eat together at one of the Silver Flight Trade Consortium's restaurants. The chefs there were Teuchi and Ayame, the former owners of the Ichiraku ramen stand, now the proud partial owners and chefs of the Silver Ichiraku Restaurant.

Even though in this world Naruko didn't subsist on ramen due to a lack of options, before the age of six when Carl and Hinata had befriended her the only spot of happiness and good food she ever experienced was at the Ichiraku ramen stand. So Carl had made sure that Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were taken care of and given the opportunity to expand. And they were very successful with the backing of the Silver Dragon Flight.

The night successfully ended with death. By chocolate.

Carl laughed at how much Temari was affected by the chocolate dessert. He was a bit concerned that he was making addicts. But overall, seeing her brothers sharing one of the delectable cakes and being fine afterwards made Carl shrug off his concerns.