Chapter 314: The Chunin Exams Conclude

After learning about Rin Nohara’s opponent, Obito then concerned himself with his own opponent; he was number nine, and according to the sequence, his opponent was number ten.

“Eh, it’s Asuma,” Obito finally realized that his first-round opponent was a friend he knew; examinee number ten was Asuma Sarutobi.

As Obito searched for Asuma’s figure, Asuma also happened to look at Obito. Their gazes met, and Asuma walked up to Obito, saying with a serious expression, “Obito, you must go all out then. Although you are strong, I, who carries the hopes of my teammates, will not lose!”

The three of them had together aspired to become Chunin, but only Asuma made it to the third round. At this moment, he was no longer alone but moving forward with the expectations of his teammates.

“Haha, of course I’ll use my full strength, and I’m definitely going to win!” Obito said confidently.

Although his opponent was a friend, Obito would absolutely not hold back in the fight. After all, this would not only be disrespectful to Asuma but also potentially affect Asuma’s promotion.

According to Hiruko, the more exciting the fight and the more it showcased one’s strength, the more likely one was to become a Chunin.

Kakashi looked directly at the bottom of the large screen; his drawn number was sixteen. There were only sixteen examinees in total for the third exam, so his battle would be the very last in the first round, and his first-round opponent was number fifteen.

“Gangi Hyuga,” Kakashi silently repeated the name, recalling Gangi Hyuga’s performance in the preliminaries.

There were no fancy moves; he just activated his Byakugan and used Gentle Fist to take down his opponent.

Kakashi thought for a moment and took out a small notebook, writing down all sixteen examinees’ numbers on one page. He felt confident about the first-round battle and wanted to analyze his opponents after advancing.

“Kakashi Hatake, he’s a formidable opponent,” Gangi Hyuga’s expression turned serious as he saw Kakashi writing notes with his head down.

Although Kakashi didn’t scare his opponent into surrendering on the spot with a single Ninjutsu like Obito, Kakashi also quickly resolved his opponents after simple probing, being among the fastest in the entire preliminaries.

“However, for a speed-type Ninja, perhaps it will work,” Gangi Hyuga’s mind settled as he thought of his Bloodline Limit.

In the preliminaries, Kakashi displayed great speed, but the strength of his Byakugan lay in observation. Kakashi’s speed might not be effective against him.

“That hateful guy, just wait until the second round, I’ll defeat you again.” Mei Terumī glanced at her opponent, saw that it was a Konoha Ninja who had performed averagely in the preliminaries, and didn’t pay any more attention to him. Instead, she focused on the opponent she might face in the second round.

Her number was eleven, and her second-round opponent would be decided between number nine and number ten.

Based on Mei Terumī’s observations in the preliminaries, Asuma Sarutobi, number ten, would not be a match for Obito, so the second round would most likely be her battle against Obito.

Mei Terumī was very satisfied with this draw. Although the battle hadn’t started yet, she felt she had already reached the Four Finals and could get revenge for the stolen scroll in the Four Finals promotion match.

“Might Guy, next time we fight, I won’t let you win so easily.” Unlike Mei Terumī, who was internally calm, Kisame Hoshigaki didn’t care about the ranking. He only focused on when he would be able to encounter Might Guy.

Kisame Hoshigaki himself was number one, and Might Guy was number six. If they both won their first two rounds, they would meet in the Four Finals to contend for a spot in the final match.

As soon as Kisame clearly saw their first-round opponents and potential second-round opponents, he knew they would definitely meet in the Four Finals.

Kisame’s first-round opponent was number two, Aoba Yamashiro. His second-round opponent would be determined between number four, Nara Shiosui, and number three, Rin Nohara. Kisame felt he could easily defeat any of these individuals.

Might Guy’s first-round opponent was number five, Noguchi Nobuhide, a Mist Ninja who was on Mei Terumī’s team. Might Guy’s second-round opponent would be determined between Kurosawa and Inuzuka Midori. In Kisame’s eyes, these three together couldn’t defeat Might Guy, let alone one-on-one.

“Additionally, the third exam’s official start time is one month from now. During this period, you can train to improve your strength, or collect information on your opponents. Do whatever you can to increase your chances of winning, as you will be fighting for your respective Shinobi Villages,” Hiruko reminded them.

“Ah, a month from now? Why so long?” Obito asked, utterly confused.

He couldn’t quite understand it; wasn’t it just sixteen people fighting? Why did they need so much preparation time?

“The third exam will have many spectators. To prevent them from rushing to Konoha, sufficient time must be allowed,” Hiruko replied.

Unlike the first two exams, the main purpose of the third exam was to display military might and showcase the strength of the Shinobi Villages. Therefore, many nobles and officials would be invited, and enough time had to be given for those wealthy merchants and nobles to travel comfortably.

Obito still didn’t quite understand. A month was too much time. Was Konoha inviting people from seven or eight countries away to watch the competition?

However, Obito thought of his failure in the Death Forest and then felt that a one-month interval was quite good. This way, he could ask Muzuki for special training for a month to improve his strength, otherwise, Obito wasn’t entirely confident about getting first place.

Kisame and Mei Terumī both had excellent Water Release techniques, Might Guy’s Three Gates and Rock Breathing gave him formidable strength, and the scene of Kakashi instantly defeating a Jonin as if possessed by a god was deeply etched in Obito’s mind. He wasn’t confident of a solid win against any of these four.

“If there are no more questions, everyone may leave the examination grounds,” Hiruko said finally.

Hiruko had explained everything very clearly, and no one asked any more questions. They all walked out of the Central Tower together, heading outside.

Although Obito wanted to ask Muzuki for special training, he thought Muzuki must have been tired from being the chief examiner these past few days, so he didn’t bother Muzuki excessively. He just greeted Muzuki and then left the Death Forest with Kakashi and the others.

“I envy them so much; they still have infinite possibilities,” Hiruko sighed, watching the examinees’ departing backs.

Among the examinees were many geniuses he envied: Kakashi Hatake, Uchiha Obito, Mei Terumī. They were all under ten years old yet possessed extraordinary strength.

He, on the other hand, would be thirty-two in a little over a month, and was now just an average Jonin, completely incomparable to Orochimaru and his classmates from back then.

“Senior Hiruko, haven’t you only lived through one-third of your life? You also have great potential,” Muzuki said with a gentle smile.

Hiruko shook his head with a bitter smile on his face and said, “A Ninja’s fate is sealed at this age. Look at Jiraiya and Orochimaru; they can already lead wars for the Five Great Ninja Villages, while I, from the same period, can only be an examiner for the Chunin Exams.”

Hiruko was happy when Muzuki said he still had sixty years to live, but he knew in his heart that if he didn’t do something, his life would remain as it was—that of an ordinary person without talent.

“If I can complete that, then perhaps I can catch up to Orochimaru and the others,” Hiruko thought silently to himself.

Being surpassed step by step by his friends from the same period, Hiruko now didn’t know the extent of the gap between them. He only knew that ordinary Jonin would be slaughtered by Orochimaru and Jiraiya, and his strength was not outstanding among Jonin…

Although his strength was average, Hiruko also had his strengths. He excelled in research and could be considered an expert among experts in theoretical knowledge.

To overcome his innate disadvantage in talent, Hiruko read every book related to Ninja that was openly available in Konoha.

Finally, he came up with a solution: fusion. By integrating others’ physical talents into his own body, he too could become a genius.

However, achieving this was extremely difficult. Hiruko spent a vast amount of time researching it, even just in the theoretical stage.

Now that the theoretical stage was entering its later phase, Hiruko began to worry about the upcoming experimental development.

His Ninjutsu was too dangerous and had to be developed through human experimentation. But the problem was that the Ninjutsu he was developing was highly inhumane and belonged to the kind that couldn’t see the light of day, so he could only find a way to do it secretly.

“That’s hard to say. Actually, my strength wasn’t outstanding before either. It was only in the past two years that I suddenly understood some things and made rapid progress. Senior, perhaps you are the type that accumulates more before bursting forth,” Muzuki said to comfort him, and incidentally, continued to refine his own persona in Konoha.

Hiruko nodded with a slight smile and said, “Hmm, I hope so.”

He knew Muzuki was comforting him, but he didn’t think Muzuki could truly understand his feelings, because according to some information he knew, Muzuki was also a genius, able to fight a Jinchuriki alongside Jiraiya at a young age.

Moreover, he had already spent so much time on it; he couldn’t possibly abandon the Chimera Technique he was developing to gamble on suddenly comprehending something and seeing his strength skyrocket one day.

After a brief chat with Hiruko, Muzuki performed some finishing work and returned to his house in the Main urban area.

When Muzuki returned home, it was four in the afternoon, still some time before dinner.

Today, Muzuki didn’t immediately start studying Sealing Technique upon returning home. Instead, he took out a notebook and pondered over the candidate for his fifth disciple slot.

Muzuki first wrote down the name Uchiha Itachi. Although Uchiha Itachi’s actions were highly controversial, Itachi’s talent was undeniable, and his potential would certainly not be low. Early on, he sent Kakashi to the hospital with a single glance, and later, his performance after being reanimated by Edo Tensei was even more outstanding.

However, there was a problem with choosing Uchiha Itachi: Itachi had only recently been born. He had just heard last month that the Uchiha Clan leader had a son, which meant that if he were to give this slot to Uchiha Itachi, he would have to wait several years.

Muzuki then wrote down the next name—Yakushi Kabuto.

As the “Dream Weaver,” Yakushi Kabuto could be said to have caused a lot of trouble in the later stages. Not only did he fight the Allied Shinobi Forces with his Edo Tensei, but he also learned Sage Mode from Ryūchi Cave, which Orochimaru never mastered. Muzuki estimated Kabuto’s potential to be S-rank without any boosts.

Kabuto was a bit older than Itachi, but there was also a significant problem: in Muzuki’s memory, Yakushi Kabuto was adopted by Yakushi Nonou, and currently, Yakushi Nonou had not yet become the director of the Konoha Orphanage and was still working in Root. If Muzuki wanted to find him, it would truly be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Muzuki temporarily didn’t consider Naruto or Sasuke. Although their potential was undoubtedly ridiculously high, the time frame was too long; they were still several years from being born, and even longer until they could be taken as disciples. By then, Muzuki might already be invincible, assuming no enemies came from the heavens.

Muzuki thought for a moment, and in the end, he did not write down Mei Terumī’s name.

Although Mei Terumī was suitable in all aspects, and Muzuki had no objection to teaching people outside Konoha, Mei Terumī was here for the exams and would return afterward. The Hidden Mist was too far from Konoha, making it difficult for Muzuki to manage both Konoha and the Hidden Mist simultaneously, and abandoning Konoha’s base was even less likely.

He couldn’t possibly trick Mei Terumī into defecting from her village within this one month, Muzuki thought it was quite unnecessary.

After further careful consideration, Muzuki also thought of Yamato. Yamato was a little younger than Kakashi, so his age was just right. However, the awkward thing was that Yamato had an even bigger problem: due to his Wood Release, Yamato should currently be secretly trained by Danzo.

After much thought, Muzuki found that, apart from those with problems, Asuma surprisingly became the most outstanding candidate.

But Muzuki was not prepared to use this slot on Asuma.

When teaching non-system disciples, Muzuki would still teach with all his might and not hold back, because those people also called him sensei and respected and liked him, just as he would specially develop Water Breathing for Rin Nohara.

However, the system disciple slot involved very important matters, and Muzuki had to give it to a more suitable candidate to maximize his own strength. Strength was too important in the Naruto world; whether for himself or his disciples, he had to make himself stronger until he could crush all conspiracies.

“Nagato,” Muzuki pondered for a long time and then wrote down these two words.

Nagato had many problems. First, Nagato did not meet Muzuki’s requirement of being under ten years old, as Nagato was only six years younger than Minato, and Muzuki was the same age as Minato. They were more like fellow disciples than master and student, the age gap was a bit too close for the latter.

Secondly, Nagato possessed Uchiha Madara’s Rinnegan, and Uchiha Madara would likely be frequently monitoring Nagato’s situation.

Also, Nagato was not in Konoha. Although the Land of Rain was right next to the Land of Fire, Muzuki would definitely need to spend some time to successfully take Nagato as a disciple, which would waste some time for gaining rewards.

There were also some minor issues, such as Nagato already having Jiraiya as a master. However, Muzuki only needed Nagato to acknowledge Muzuki as a teacher in his heart, so this aspect was not a big problem.

No matter how many problems there were, they could not overshadow Nagato’s advantages. He was a highly talented member of the Uzumaki Clan, and even if the Rinnegan wasn’t his own, he could still use it due to his massive Chakra. This meant that if Muzuki raised Nagato’s trust level, he could gain a huge amount of Chakra.

Moreover, Nagato didn’t require waiting; as soon as Muzuki finalized his plan, he could go directly to the Land of Rain and act.

Looking at the three names on the list and their respective advantages and disadvantages, Muzuki finally closed his notebook and began studying Sealing Technique.

He didn’t need to make a decision within a few days. Uchiha Itachi and Yakushi Kabuto both required a long wait, and Nagato’s situation was still far from any trouble, so there was no need to rush over.

This was, after all, a real Naruto world, and perhaps there were geniuses whose names he didn’t even know. He hadn’t even memorized all the characters from the manga, let alone in a real world.

Maybe one day he would casually use Appraisal Technique on someone and find an S-rank potential genius.

Muzuki made dinner at Tsunade’s house, then packed two portions for his Shadow Clone to deliver to Minato.

…

The next day, Obito woke up at eight, quickly washed up, ate breakfast, and immediately headed towards Muzuki’s house.

To be number one, he wanted to secretly undergo special training and then amaze everyone.

Today, I organized the outline, so the word count is slightly less, only 4.2k. I’ll write more tomorrow.