Chapter 11

Konoha was only sending one team to Kirigakure for the chunin exams. Minato's reason for that was two fold; To showcase the might of Konoha in the form of Kenji, and if in case things went south, there were no needless losses as Hayama's team was more than capable of escaping adversity.

Kirigakure was notorious for hosting the bloodiest chunin exams. So much so that Kumogakure had outright refused to send a single team to the village after the first chunin exams.

The team left for Kirigakure well before the commencement of the exams. So, they moved at a lesurely pace while training along the way. Hayama wasn't teachijg them anything new and the genin were focusing on things they were good at.

Kohaku had changed his methods after their mission in Hacho village. It was eye opening for him. As soon as he returned, he requested Hayama to be trained in elemental jutsu.

The sensei was reluctant as elemental training was beyond the level of a genin. But, seeing that Kiyomi was a budding arsonist with her katon jutsu and Kenji was a monster, he chose to agree.

Surprisingly, Kohaku's affinity turned out to be futon. It was a welcome surprise as futon complimented his fighting style well. He wasn't a genius, but he was working hard in including futon chakra to his style. So far, they had managed to achieve some success and in conjugation with Shiromaru, Kohaku's ninken, they made a deadly combo.

Kiyomi had settled well with tantojutsu. Taking inspiration from clan genius Uchiha Shisui, she tried to incorporate katon charka with her tantojutsu. She sparred regularly against Hayama and Kenji. What helped her especially was Kenji using suiton charka, making the spars harder for her.

It made any improvements all the more sweet.

Kenji was preparing himself mentally. He knew that the exams would be tough to stomach. Pitting kids to fight to death, it was never going to be acceptable in his eyes. He simply wasn't from the world.

Sadly, he had to conform.

He did physical exercises with weights attached to him. It helped keep his mind calm. The fact that those weights were boulders he'd found lying around wasn't lost on him. The looks on his teammates' faces were priceless.

They traveled for ten days before they reached the gates of Kirigakure via boat. As per its namesake, the village was shouded in mist. Kenji could see various teams from different villages at the port.

'So many children are going to die here. And none it matters to these adults accompanying them. Hell, they're going to make a spectacle out of it. Fight yourselves, you sick motherfuckers.'

Kenji's loathing wasn't going away any time soon.

So, he swallowed it and moved along. The team was stopped by guards and were allowed entry once the papers were reviewed and stamped.

Rooms were pre-booked all across the village in various inns. The team reached theirs and settled in as Hayama went away to get more information about the exam.

"Hey, Kenji? So think we'll clear the exam?"

He looked at Kohaku who had been acting squeamish for quite a while and asked, "What brought this on?"

"W-Well, there's this... smell in the mist. It's metallic, like of blood. I don't feel good about this exam."

Kiyomi was frowning. Kohaku wasn't his usual boisterous self and it was unnerving her.

"I'll be honest with you. The village isn't known for its good treatment of its shinobi. They believe that only the strong deserve to thrive. So, in every stage of chunin exams, we'll be made to take lives of the other genin. There will be danger at every step. So, prepare yourselves to do what's needed for survival. It's going to be kill or be killed. I don't want to kill anyone here. But if it's about survival, it will be us before them. I won't hesitate, and I hope you won't as well. There's no place for hesitations and second guesses in a battle of life and death."

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A chunin was different from a genin in certain aspects. Decision making, information gathering, tracking, and leadership being some of them.

The first exam was divided into two parts. First, the teams were supposed to track down a sea creature which was a summon animal. Then, they were supposed to take an item from the creature, store it in a specifically designed storage scroll, and then bring it to the island marked on the maps that were distributed to the genin.

Aside from that, they had to hunt for the opposing scroll that was carried by an enemy genin team. The scrolls were made to glow when in vacinity of the opposite scroll.

In that way, the exams pittled the genin against each other in two ways. The summons were limited and four to five teams were supposed to contend for one item. This eliminated twenty four genin teams, leaving behind twelve teams which then would further contend for the scrolls, eliminating six more.

The remaining six teams, a total on eighteen genin would then participate in knockout rounds to determine the winner.

There were twelve teams from Kirigakure, ten from Iwagakure, ten from Sunagakure, two from Kusagakure, one from Takigakure, and finally Kenji's team, the only one from Konohagakure.

The Kirigakure teams had home ground advantage. The sea waters around the village was their playground, and having twelve teams from the village ensured that they would get into the knockout rounds.

The most disadvantaged were shinobi from Iwagakure and Takigakure.

The teams were given boats for their voyage. One by one, the genin left the port to track down the summon animal allotted to them.

Back in the village, the Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, was discussing the exams with his council.

"We have twelve teams participating from our village. I have high hopes that our genin will do us proud. Kumo did not send any team, as expected of those cowards. Konoha only sent one team. Now that is surprising."

"Indeed. Konoha isn't cowardly by any means. Perhaps, they want to limit the loss in their numbers, but also wanted to save face and sent only one team for the exams. The team must be pretty expendable. And they even sent two clan children as sacrifices."

"Our main competitors are shinobi from Suna. The wind is as abundant on the seas as the water. Their jutsu will be very effective in these tests."

Yagura sat quetly as his councilmen discussed the exams. Finally, he spoke up, "I do not believe that Namikaze Minato will send his genin to be sacrificed for the village's reputation. Despite being a commander, he was at the frontline in the war. No, I think this team from Konoha will prove to be a great hurdle for our genin. Shirakumo Hayama is a veteran jonin. Any genin taught by him wouldn't be mere pushovers."

Right then, an ANBU appeared in the room and said, "Mizukage-sama, there has been action."

Yagura nodded and immediately used his crystal ball to view the exam. Meanwhile, one of the council members ordered the ANBU, "Tell us what happened."

"Yes. Two teams from Iwagakure chose to target the Konoha team shortly after the commencement of the exam. They are dead, sir."

"Konoha is already out?"

"No, sir. The genin from the two Iwagakure teams are dead. It merely took the Konoha genin a few seconds to counterattack and finish them off. The Iwa genin stood no chance."

The bloody games had begun, and Kenji's sword had drank the blood of six genin.