Chapter 37: The Chūnin Exam
Ishiro and Shouhara followed Kitsuchi to the training field. Once they arrived, Kitsuchi said, "Ishiro, in three days you'll face your Chūnin exam. During these three days, Team Five won't be taking any missions – we'll focus on specialized training for you. We'll prioritize taijutsu, so remove your weights. You must give it your all."
Ishiro's heart leapt. Although Kitsuchi had led Team Five for a year already, he hadn't taught the trio many combat skills. Instead, he'd mostly been molding Ishiro into a capable field leader.
Now, thanks to the upcoming Chūnin challenge, Ishiro finally had the chance to receive actual combat guidance from Kitsuchi.
"First," Kitsuchi added, "let's have you spar with Shouhara. But this time, you can't rely solely on evasion; you must engage him head-on at times."
Ishiro nodded. Shedding his weighted gear, he faced the eager Shouhara.
While the two liked to bicker, they hadn't formally dueled since their days at the Academy. Both were curious to see how far they'd each come.
After forming the Seal of Confrontation, Ishiro and Shouhara dashed forward at each other. Shouhara drew a kunai; Ishiro drew a short sword.
With the weights off, Ishiro moved slightly faster than Shouhara, who still wore some weights on his wrists – plus, Ishiro's blade was a bit longer. But the gap in taijutsu technique was vast; Shouhara far outclassed Ishiro in skill.
So initially, they traded a few moves, but Ishiro was soon pinned under relentless pressure. At close range, he had no chance to form hand seals, and Shouhara defeated him quickly.
Kitsuchi nodded. "Understood. Ishiro, with your current taijutsu foundation, if a chūnin closes in, you'll have no way to resist. You'll need to spend most of our training focusing on coping with a strong taijutsu user who breaches your range. Also, you lack a method to seize the initiative – as a ninjutsu type, you need a tool to buy time for your technique. Otherwise, you'll never cast your jutsu in a live fight. And… you already know quite a few jutsu, so you need to devise a cohesive approach for combining them in combat."
"I'll teach you solutions for the first two problems," Kitsuchi continued. "But for that last one, you'll have to figure it out on your own."
Ishiro agreed. Over the next hours, Kitsuchi explained how to handle close-range threats, then had Shouhara help Ishiro practice.
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While Ishiro was busy training, another person – his schoolmate Ikura – had just gotten back from a mission and received a similar notice to attend a Chūnin exam. Among their graduating class, Ikura was undoubtedly the strongest, likely surpassing even some from prior classes.
Ishiro was valued by the village for two reasons: his formidable potential (huge spiritual power equaling huge long-term growth) and his intellect (both strategic vision and mastery of sealing theory). Ikura's claim to fame was simpler: an outright genius in both ninjutsu and taijutsu.
When an ANBU informed Ikura of the exam, he was more surprised at the timing than the content. He was fully aware that his power already rivaled a typical chūnin's. But, having just finished a standard C-rank assignment, it felt odd that the exam was sprung on him now, rather than after some high-difficulty mission.
His teammate Meikō felt envious but recognized reality. She, too, specialized in ninjutsu, and was in a similar predicament to Ishiro. Without allies to shield the start-up time, her jutsu never landed. Meanwhile, Uzumaki Yumi didn't mind – her sealing abilities already gave her treatment equivalent to a typical chūnin or beyond. Promotion or no promotion didn't much affect her.
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On the second day of Ishiro's special training, while catching his breath, he asked Kitsuchi, "Captain Kitsuchi, who am I fighting for the Chūnin exam? What's the ninja like?"
Tanaka, busy practicing Body Flicker, and Shouhara, who was also taking a break, both shot Ishiro a mocking look. Obviously, he was fishing for inside info.
Kitsuchi chuckled. "I figured you'd ask. I checked. If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have told you. But gather intel is critical for a ninja's success, so I'll fill you in. The village selected two possible chūnin – either Kenmoto or Nagao. Kenmoto was already a chūnin before the Second War. I crossed paths with him once – very cautious, specialized in taijutsu, plus one Earth Release, Earth-Style Wall. As for Nagao, I'm less familiar. I hear he's decent in both ninjutsu and taijutsu, also an older chūnin."
Ishiro nodded thoughtfully and didn't push further.
Seeing this, Kitsuchi said, "Alright, that's enough rest. Back to training."
Ishiro grimaced but didn't argue, springing to his feet and resuming sparring with Shouhara.
Compared to earlier, Ishiro lasted longer this time. First, he managed to endure the flurry of Shouhara's swift attacks. Then he found a moment to strike back. Yet Shouhara, having grown quite used to Ishiro's style, wouldn't allow any jutsu to form. Ishiro's attempted assault revealed an opening, and Shouhara used it to defeat him again.
Switching partners, Ishiro went up against Tanaka. But her entire fighting style was night-and-day from Shouhara's – Tanaka's speed thoroughly outmatched Ishiro's, especially now that she'd begun practicing Body Flicker. Ishiro's projectiles all missed, and while he found an opening to attempt a jutsu, Tanaka's vigilance let her easily evade it. Realizing he still couldn't land a decisive blow, Ishiro conceded.
Three days of such intense training flew by. Unlike a protagonist with special destiny, Ishiro didn't discover a new secret jutsu or sign a summoning contract – he just got better at close-quarters engagement.
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Exam day, at dawn, Team Five showed up at a sealed training hall. They were surprised to see Team Two – meaning Ikura and the others – also waiting there.
Both sides were puzzled. After some conversation, they realized two people were testing for chūnin that day.
The synergy between them was complicated. Meikō felt a twinge of disappointment to see Ishiro also up for promotion, meaning the gap between them had grown again. Over the year, her family's help had plateaued, and her talents were overshadowed by Ishiro's. Yumi, in contrast, was unconcerned – her aims lay in fūinjutsu, and the village gave her special treatment.
Ishiro wasn't that fazed to learn Ikura had also been chosen. If anything, he considered it obvious. He had no illusions; Ikura's raw power was unmatched among their peers.
They chatted a while before Onoki arrived with several advisors and two chūnin. Normally, a chūnin exam needn't involve so many high-level watchers, but these two candidates were the standouts of their generation, which itself had been an advanced-admission year. The senior leadership was strongly invested in their futures. If properly nurtured, both might someday rise to Kage-level.
The testing ground was large. For reasons known only to them, the high command decided Ishiro and Ikura would each fight a chūnin, side by side. Perhaps they wanted to stoke competitive spirit. Ishiro shrugged – he had no illusions of matching Ikura's prowess. He'd just do his best.
When an elder advisor declared the exam open, Ishiro stopped paying attention to Ikura and focused on his own adversary, Kenmoto. At once, Ishiro formed seals for a jutsu. But unlike normal, he concealed his hands inside specially large sleeves.
This tactic he borrowed from Uchiha Itachi's infiltration of Konoha, hiding hand seals from a foe's view.
Kenmoto, who had studied Ishiro's data, wasn't shocked. He knew Ishiro was a ninjutsu type and guessed he'd open with jutsu. Kenmoto instantly flung a flurry of shuriken while sprinting at Ishiro, refusing to let him cast for free.
But Ishiro had also predicted that Kenmoto wouldn't stand idle. As soon as Ishiro began to form seals, he kept an eye on Kenmoto's movements.
Sure enough, the first shuriken wave didn't delay him. Ishiro dodged easily, all the while retreating to maintain distance.
Yet Kenmoto's speed far exceeded Ishiro's – nearly on par with Tanaka, who specialized in agility. Ishiro realized he'd be caught in seconds, so he accelerated his hand seals. Indeed, just as Kenmoto closed in, Ishiro's hands slapped the floor.
Because Ishiro's sealing was hidden, Kenmoto had no clue which jutsu was coming, nor did he expect it so soon. Off-balance, he tried weaving unpredictably to avoid a potential Earth Spear Gun or Earth Dragon Projectile. Meanwhile, he kept up an S-curve approach to close the gap.
But… no bullet or stone spike came. Instead, right as Kenmoto was less than a meter away, an Earth-Style Wall abruptly rose beneath his feet.
Had it been Earth Spear Gun, Kenmoto's lateral jump would've cleared it nicely, but the wall was more than three meters wide, interfering with his next footstep. Forced to adapt midair, Kenmoto shifted his balance to avoid crashing into the wall.
Ishiro had planned exactly that. Without pause, he launched a close-range taijutsu assault. Two shuriken zipped from his left hand, while his right hand slashed forward with a drawn short sword.
Kenmoto, caught off guard, responded quite deftly. His right kunai batted aside Ishiro's thrown shuriken, while his left hand drew another kunai, bracing it to intercept the sword strike. Ishiro's blade clanged on the kunai, dealing no damage, but Kenmoto used the blow's momentum to fling himself backward, widening the distance again.
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