novel-bin Chapter 129 Chunin Exams
Chapter 129 Chunin Exams
Chapter 129 Chunin Exams
The cicadas' chirping has already filled the leaves in summer. Although it is still morning, the blazing sun is already displaying its full enthusiasm.
Walking towards the 7th training ground, Taiichi was still pondering the mistakes he had made during previous training: how to make the flames more stably contained on the blade; how to further improve the level of sealing techniques; and how to integrate the unsealed fire jutsu into his own combat system.
The more Taiyi thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. He clenched his fist and felt full of anticipation for the future.
Not long after they arrived at the training ground, Yangping and Saori also arrived one after another.
Yangping was still full of energy, grinning as soon as they met, "Taiyi, have you been secretly training again? You seem to have gotten a lot better!"
Saori stood quietly to the side, smiling without saying a word. Recently, the two of them had been discussing sealing techniques together, and she had also contributed to the barrier at Tai's training ground.
Tai smiled at the two of them, about to respond, when familiar footsteps came from afar—Captain Yamaguchi strode over, holding several documents in his hand.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." After Captain Yamaguchi stopped, he glanced at the three of them with a rare serious expression.
He handed the documents to the three of them and said solemnly, "This is the Chunin Exams. As the Jonin leading the team, I have recommended you to participate in this year's Chunin Exams."
"The Chunin Exams?" Yangping grabbed the form, his eyes filled with surprise. "I've finally waited for this day! With my strength, it's such a waste for me to be a genin."
Saori took the form, carefully browsed through its contents, and muttered to herself, "The Chunin Exams are on July 1st, so it's still 7 days."
Taiyi looked down at the table, his heart racing slightly. He had finally made it to this day; he had been thoroughly fed up with the panel's evaluation.
What pride in being a low-ranking ninja?
What kind of eternal genin is this?
To hell with them all, Matsushita Taichi will be a Chunin soon.
As for whether he could pass the exam, Taiyi had never considered it. If he had to worry about that, then all his hard work would have been for nothing!
Captain Yamaguchi looked at the three students with varying performances and felt quite gratified. This was the most worry-free graduating class of genin he had ever led.
They are not only strong, but more importantly, they are all very self-disciplined. They don't need to worry about training or missions at all.
Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if he was still of any use as the leader of the Jonin team.
But while we can appreciate his talent, we still need to give him a good talking-to when necessary. There's also Yanghei in the team; he's too unruly. If we don't put him in a good position, I'm genuinely worried he won't pass the Chunin Exams.
"I know your strength, but the Chunin Exams are not only a contest of strength, but also a test of teamwork and leadership, especially for you, Yanghei—"
Yangping was completely bewildered, not understanding why he was being talked about all of a sudden. He looked at Taichi and Saori on his left and right sides and found that they were also looking at him with the same expression, which made him feel frustrated.
"Okay, I'll be careful!" Yangping lowered his head, feeling as if the whole world had turned gray.
"Alright, for the next 7 days, we won't be carrying out any missions. You can all prepare for the Chunin Exams!"
"Yes!" *3
Time flies, and seven days have passed in the blink of an eye.
October 1, Konoha 45.
Taiichi, Yohei, and Saori met up and entered the examination hall together. There was no illusion test as seen in the original work.
The three of them went to their respective seats and sat down, waiting for the exam to begin.
At 9 o'clock, the exam officially began. There were no fancy cheating methods or cheating techniques; it was just a real exam.
The assessment covered a wide range of topics, from the basics of ninja to the essential knowledge of Chunin, from the Will of Fire to teamwork, with the main focus being on providing a substantial and comprehensive assessment.
Taiyi glanced at the questions and immediately understood that this level of assessment was a piece of cake for the three students in Class 8.
Putting aside Taiyi himself, even Yangping, despite his seemingly unreliable nature, graduated with top marks in his class; he was a model student back then.
Sure enough, after Taiyi focused his mind and concentrated on the exam, about half an hour later, the three of them handed in their papers almost simultaneously. At this point, there was still nearly half the time left before the exam ended.
This left the students still taking the exam below stunned, unsure if it had affected them. Taiyi noticed, however, that one student had unconsciously dropped their pen to the ground.
Outside the classroom, the three looked at each other and smiled, then raised their hands in celebration. They had been together for almost two years, and each knew their own level perfectly well, so naturally they weren't worried about the others.
"The team combat assessment is tomorrow, shall we go for some training this afternoon?" Yangping suggested, seeing that everyone was very enthusiastic.
Taichi and Saori nodded in agreement, and the three of them headed to the training ground together.
Sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled shadows, while the chirping of cicadas in the forest lingers in people's hearts.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Yang Ping eagerly jumped onto a giant rock, put his hands on his hips, and laughed, "How are we going to train this time? Still using Shadow Clone Technique?"
"Of course, it's the same as always. My shadow clones and your shadow clones will team up to fight against you and my shadow clones," Taiyi replied with a smile.
There was no other way. The three Jonin leading the team were often away on missions assigned by the village, and Team 8, without suitable sparring partners, could only come up with this method for training.
You know what, this training method is a bit tiring, but the results are really good.
The three of them each created shadow clones and formed a new formation.
Here, Taiyi's main body is in front, with two shadow clones behind as support.
Over there, Yohei and Saori were in front, with Taichi's shadow clones assisting them.
As the two sides stood facing each other, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.
As a leaf drifted between the two teams, Yangping launched the first attack. With a flick of his right hand, three shuriken flew out, followed by three more with his left. The six shuriken, arranged in a staggered pattern, blocked Taiyi's dodging route.
Saori casually threw out a net of lightning, attempting to further restrict Taiichi's movements, and then lightning balls rained down on Taiichi as if they were free.
Finally, the shadow clone Taiyi lived up to expectations, raising his hand to unleash the Phoenix Flame, with fireballs filling the sky like a map-wide attack covering the entire area.
Faced with an all-encompassing attack, Taiyi did not hesitate and quickly formed hand seals as he ran.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Raging Hurricane blew out from Tai's mouth, the wind mixed with fine wind blades.
The breakthrough sent the sword flying, dispersed the fireball, and shattered the lightning.
Taiichi, sword in hand, finally met Yohei, who had activated his Sharingan, after overcoming numerous obstacles. The two immediately engaged in a fierce battle. One possessed superb swordsmanship, while the other had the insightful power of the Sharingan; for a time, they were evenly matched.
Behind them, Yohei and Saori's shadow clones were not to be outdone. Under Taiichi's cover, "Yohei" activated his Sharingan and circled around to attack the main Yohei. Judging from his excited expression, it seemed that defeating the main body was more gratifying to him than winning the victory.
"Saori" is constantly releasing Lightning Release from a distance, restraining and interfering with "Taiichi" and the real Saori in the distance.
The two sides went back and forth, but overall Taiyi's side still had the advantage. However, Taiyi also controlled the pace and tried to maximize the effect of each training session.
Finally, after both shadow clones on both sides exhausted their chakra, the battle came to a temporary halt.
As the shadow clone disappeared and the memories returned, the doubled training effect and exhaustion immediately overwhelmed Yohei and Saori, who lay on the large rock, panting heavily.
This training method is good, but it's too tiring. With their current physical condition, they can only manage two or three times a day before reaching their limit. Going any further would easily damage their mental health.
On the second day of the Chunin Exams, this was a team exam, and the location was set in the Forest of Death.
Taiichi and his two companions, led by Captain Yamaguchi, arrived at the tower located in the Forest of Death. At this time, 20 teams had already gathered there, all of which had successfully passed the first round of the test.
Apart from Team 8, the rest were all veteran genin squads. Yangping would greet this person and say hello to that person, living up to his reputation as the "most popular Uchiha". He even got to know Taichi and Saori quite a few people.
"Hmph, not at all like an Uchiha." A disdainful snort came, and the three members of Team 8 looked over.
The newborn boy had a cold expression and was only a year or two older than Yangping. He was wearing the same family uniform as Yangping and was a typical Uchiha ninja.
"Xiangtai, it's you. Are you here for the Chunin Exams too?" As if oblivious to the sarcasm in the man's words, Yangping greeted him warmly.
The genin named Uchiha Shōtai was quickly defeated by Yōhei's indiscriminate and enthusiastic offensive. His cold face disappeared, replaced by a helpless bitter smile.
Taiichi and Saori were also standing beside Yohei, chatting casually with Eitai's teammates.
Soon everyone arrived, and the assessment officially began.
As the proctor called their numbers, the first group of people took the stage.
Watching the match on the field, it was really not good enough for Team 8's current level. Not to mention those teams that barely reach the level of Chunin, even those teams with real strength were only good enough to be their sparring partners.
As they watched, and one group of tests concluded, Yangping pulled Taichi and Saori aside and whispered, "Aren't we too amazing? I feel like none of them are a match for us?"
Taiichi looked at Yangping with curiosity, as if he were meeting him for the first time. "Do you have some misunderstanding about your strength, or do you not understand the status of the three-tomoe Sharingan?"
In your clan, who among those with the three-tomoe Sharingan isn't a Jonin? Right now, you're probably the only Genin left!
""
Yangping looked surprised. Usually, he was always surrounded by Taiyi and Saori, and his own strength was always suppressed by Taiyi. Even now, Saori could fight him to a standstill with her sealing technique, which made him feel that he was not very strong yet.
But in reality, every member of Class 8 is a true prodigy.
The 7th match began, and it was finally Taiichi's team's turn to take the stage.
"Taichi Matsushita, Yohei Uchiha, Saori Furukawa."
"Ryoki Hijikata, Yasuhiro Kobayashi, Ryoto Suzuki"
As the proctor called out their names, the two teams faced each other across a distance of more than ten meters. The proctor glanced at the prepared personnel on both sides, then waved his hand and quickly retreated with the command "Start".
The words had barely left their mouths when both sides launched their attacks almost simultaneously. But the difference in their skill levels was immediately apparent.
Taiichi charged forward with his sword, casually deflecting the incoming kunai with his short sword, his momentum undiminished.
With his Sharingan activated, Yohei circled around to attack his opponent, continuously throwing out kunai. The kunai behind him caught up with the ones in front, colliding in complex ways in mid-air, and then changing course to attack new targets.
Saori remained in place, rapidly forming hand seals, and soon large and small lightning balls, mixed with lightning nets, flew towards the opposing team.
Up to this point, apart from the kunai they threw at the beginning, the opposing team had not launched a single decent attack.
Lightning Release: The attack strikes first, even if the numerous lightning balls miss their target, the lightning released upon impact with the ground can still paralyze the enemy.
That unlucky guy named Kobayashi Yasuhiro was caught off guard and struck by the blast wave of lightning, standing there stunned.
Taiyi couldn't miss such a good opportunity. He immediately rushed over, changed the blade to the back of the blade, and slashed, hitting him squarely in the neck.
Kobayashi Yasuhiro collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.
The remaining two opposing team members were horrified, thinking that Tai had killed their teammate with a single, ruthless move.
Ignoring the danger, the two roared and charged at Taiyi.
Unexpectedly, in this moment of losing their minds, the kunai that Yangping had originally intended to use to restrain them suddenly became effective. Although the two tried their best to dodge, they were still injured by the kunai.
At this moment, Yangping and Taiyi also instantly approached, and before they could react, they were both knocked down.
The entire battle lasted less than 30 seconds, eliciting gasps of surprise from the ninjas watching from both sides.
Finally, after the proctor woke up the ninja who had been knocked unconscious by Taiyi, everyone realized that the unconscious ninja was actually the least injured in the fight, while the other two had suffered varying degrees of external injuries.
"Taiichi, you're right, we were really amazing." Offstage, Yangping pulled Taiichi along, his joy barely contained.
Uchiha Shōtai, standing to the side, also wore a look of disbelief, clearly astonished by the performance of Taichi's team.
The previous match was a complete rout; the two sides were simply not on the same level. In the blink of an eye, the battle was over.
Suppressing his surprise and doubt, Uchiha Shoya carefully considered what would happen if he encountered them. Soon, the answer became clear: although the battle had been short and he hadn't witnessed many of their techniques, he would likely lose in the same way!
Soon, the 10 team battles ended, and the 10 winning teams, with 30 people, plus 10 outstanding performers selected from the losing teams, made a total of 40 people to participate in tomorrow's individual competition assessment.
After announcing the competition rules, everyone dispersed, as tomorrow's competition was for individuals, so there was no need for team training. Taichi said goodbye to Yohei and Saori, and then went straight to the hospital.
Since the New Year, Taichi has been working at the hospital, and whenever he has free time, he comes to help out. This allows him to hone his medical ninjutsu and also visit Nonou, killing two birds with one stone.
Inside Konoha Hospital, after several months, Taiichi now has his own office. Although he doesn't belong to any department, he can help wherever manpower is needed, and his superb medical ninjutsu has given him a special status in the hospital.