Chapter 227: The New Year's Chunin Exams
After receiving the introductory guide to Medical Ninjutsu from "the First Hokage," and practicing for nearly half a year without any direct supervision, Sakura had now acquired basic medical abilities. She could understand much of the dialogue between Ino and Kabuto recorded in those medical records. The more she read, the more knowledgeable she felt.
Kabuto's methods for treating mental illness were relatively traditional: mainly focusing on aromatherapy, meditation, medication, and training that pushed physical limits. Ino's methods, on the other hand, were incredibly varied, ranging from electroshock and lobotomies to cryotherapy and blunt force treatments. In total, she listed over forty different approaches. Sakura felt as if she had struck gold. If left to her own devices, she couldn't think of a single method, but now it was easy; she could just start with the simplest and try them one by one.
Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke were all born in Konoha Year 51. If you disregarded Shino Aburame, who was born in January, then Sakura, born in March, was the oldest. Hinata was born at the end of December, making her the youngest, while Ino and Shikamaru's birthdays were only one day apart. Coincidentally, Madara Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Biwako Sarutobi, and others all died in that same year.
Their class graduated in Konoha Year 63 and passed the Chunin Exams that same year. The following year, Konoha Year 64, the first stage of the Chunin Exams, a written test, was held on January 1st. Genin from the Sand Village, Grass Village, and Waterfall Village arrived at the Leaf Village to participate.
Homura Mitokado had once proposed that the village host a self-contained exam without inviting foreign ninja. Jiraiya refused. With him, the Old Man, holding down the fort in the village, core strengths like Kakashi present, and the younger generation like Ino having grown up, what was there to be afraid of? Were they so scared they lost their nerve after just one encounter with Orochimaru? He proceeded to hold the exams as usual and even expanded the scale.
Jiraiya sent Shikaku Nara with a personal letter to the Mist Village, using the argument that the Mist Village needed to prove its strength to the ninja world to persuade Marshal Gengetsu. Marshal Gengetsu agreed to dispatch a small team to the Leaf Village to observe the Chunin Exams, learn from the experience, and deepen bilateral relations. The ninja leading the team was someone Ino knew well: Haku.
The Sand Village team was also led by a familiar face, none other than the 'strongman' Temari. Seeing the serene and beautiful-faced Haku, many young Leaf genin wore expressions of eager-to-please lechers. When Naruto went around spreading the word that "Brother Haku" was actually a man, the hearts of the Leaf genin shattered. That ninja wearing backless sandals with such pretty feet is actually a man?
"He's really a man?" The tomboy Temari still had a deep impression of her Uncle Yashamaru, who had passed away years ago, so seeing another man with a gentle, watery demeanor didn't surprise her much. Her tone was relatively normal as she spoke. After receiving a positive answer, she nodded. The Mist Village is terrifying, too...
The two 'stat points' Ino was holding onto still didn't last.
Haku had a very kind personality and also liked the environment of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. The two had fought before and could be considered grudgingly appreciative of each other. Ino asked Haku about the technique of one-handed hand seals. This was an ability Haku had developed himself through practice and had nothing to do with the Mist Village. The gentle Haku didn't hide anything, explaining in detail his experience and training methods for one-handed seals. He hadn't intentionally practiced this skill, nor had anyone taught him; it was a technique that emerged to complement his Ice Style Kekkei Genkai.
Ino felt that learning this technique was difficult with her "Seals" stat at 7 points. She reluctantly had to spend two 'stat points,' increasing her "Seals" from 7 to 8. Even with her "Seals" at 8 points, releasing large-scale ninjutsu like Water Style: Bursting Water Collision with one-handed seals was still impossible; she simply couldn't gather the chakra. After practicing hard for several days, she found that if she used one-handed seals, she could only release C-rank ninjutsu.
Although it was only C-rank ninjutsu, this technique was still extremely valuable. Next time she encountered a high-speed ninja like Yugito, she could widen the combat distance using taijutsu while simultaneously casting ninjutsu with one hand!
Ino and her peers were already Chunin, so they couldn't participate in the Chunin Exams based on their old teams. Their original teams were broken up. Choji and Hinata knew the contents of the exam in advance; the others didn't.
Just before the exam, when the consent forms were being signed, Iruka vetoed Naruto's participation in the Chunin Exams. According to him, Naruto had just started his catch-up lessons; going straight into the exam? What the heck would he test for?! Although he was very unwilling, Iruka currently held the highest position in Naruto's heart. Jiraiya hadn't had those three years of being together day and night with him, and even being tied to Kakashi now didn't make him as important as Iruka in Naruto's heart. It was like Iruka was his father. Naruto knew Iruka had his best interests at heart, so no matter how unwilling he was, he could only give up participating in the exam and remain a Genin.
Choji teamed up with Kiba Inuzuka and Rock Lee to form the 'Bro Squad.' Hinata teamed up with Sakura and Tenten to form the 'Girl Squad.' Both teams successfully passed the first stage, the written test.
The next day, they arrived at the training ground for the second stage of the exam. Ino, wearing a standard Chunin vest, was there as an examiner. This greasy-green vest completely clashed with her style; wearing it felt incredibly awkward. But there was no helping it; she had to wear it for this occasion.
Ino mimicked Tsunade's posture, hands on her hips, took a deep breath, and projected her voice, saying, "You have a total of ten teams, thirty genin, who have reached this stage. I am required to eliminate half of you. Step forward now to receive your scrolls."
Heaven Scrolls and Earth Scrolls were distributed, just like before. Ino instructed those who received Heaven Scrolls to stand to her left and those with Earth Scrolls to stand to her right. "Soon, you will form teams according to this order. Remember, regardless of which village you belonged to before, at this moment, those holding the same scroll are your teammates."
Aside from Choji and Hinata, who already knew the exam content, the rest of the genin were quite nervous. The nature of this exam was entirely up to the examiner's whims, making it highly unpredictable and uncertain. Often, being strong wasn't enough to pass.
Ino waved her hand, and a giant map appeared before her. She pointed to the map and explained, "You will enter from ten entrances on the outer edge of this canyon. The canyon has an approximate radius of twenty kilometers. Inside are five resource points: animal pens, a mine, a lumber mill, a blacksmith shop, and a farm. Use your Heaven and Earth Scrolls to change the flags within these resource points to your color, and you can accumulate resource points. The side that reaches 2000 resource points first wins. Alternatively, if you can gather more teammates in the starting phase and eliminate the opposing side's ninjas, you can also win after accumulating enough resource points. If anyone has questions, ask now."
The many genin thought carefully. The rules for this stage weren't difficult, which was good news. They were afraid the examiner would have overly eccentric ideas and create complex, trap-filled rules.
All the genin seemed to understand, nodding in unison.
"Since you all understand, enter the area. The competition begins in thirty minutes."
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