As the bright morning sun illuminated Konoha,
the Joint Chūnin Exams…
had begun.
Held once every few years, it was the grandest festival in the ninja world.
Countless merchants, nobles, traders, and shinobi gathered.
And within the shinobi world, these groups were the ones with the highest spending power.
Now Akira Sato understood why, in the future, the Chūnin Exams would be stretched over a whole month —
it was purely to keep visitors in the village longer.
It was all about money!
The spending power of these visitors was astronomical; no village could afford to miss out.
Take Honda Taka, for example —
lately, he'd raked in a massive profit, making Akira and Yamashiro Koji green with envy.
They risked their lives on missions, yet their earnings were just a fraction of what he made running a stall.
Who could they complain to?
It was clear: when it came to making money, ninjas were total amateurs.
All around, ninja teams were beginning to gather.
On the other side, Akira Sato stepped out from the Uchiha clan compound.
His fiancée had been holed up inside these past few days, not setting foot outside.
Even though rumors spread that her eyesight was recovering, Root (the covert unit) clearly didn't want to see this Uchiha prodigy regain her strength, so she had to stay cautious.
They'd postponed using the regeneration serum until after the Chūnin Exams —
because they didn't want Akira to be too distracted.
"Akira!!"
Not far away, Honda Taka waved, standing next to Yamashiro Koji.
Their team — basically the "slacker squad" from his class — had been running a stall lately, which freed Taka up to come cheer on his two best friends.
"You're here early today!" Akira teased.
Normally, this chubby guy was just as lazy as Akira, so he was surprised to see him up so early.
"Heh heh!" Taka scratched his head awkwardly, then shyly asked,
"Akira, do you… have any more of that healing potion?"
Ah, so that's what this was about.
Healing potions!
By now, they weren't much of a secret.
Sure, their effects weren't as strong as medical ninjutsu,
but the problem was —
you couldn't carry a medic-nin around with you all the time.
Potions, on the other hand, you could carry.
Even though they were a bit pricey, they were in such high demand now that people were fighting over them.
When their class had been split into teams, Akira had gifted Taka some potions,
so Taka naturally assumed Akira had a way to get more —
probably through his fiancée, he thought.
He had no idea that Akira was actually the one producing them.
Because of the seaweed ingredient's growth limits, Akira could only supply about 100 diluted bottles per week.
Of those, the Naga family got 80, the clan gave 50 to the village, and the village only made 20 available for distribution.
Akira had no idea about this messy chain of cuts.
Corruption!
It was real corruption!
Akira had learned one thing for sure:
no matter how good something was, a civilian ninja would never get their hands on it.
It was all divided up before it ever reached them.
If it weren't for Akira's gifts, Taka would never have had access to the potions.
"Use it wisely. This stuff's not going to help you lose weight!"
Akira tossed a potion bottle to Taka.
He figured Taka must really need it if he was asking, so he didn't bother prying further.
It was just a healing potion, after all —
and with his fiancée's status, no one would suspect anything if he handed some out.
Having an Uchiha "princess" as a fiancée definitely came with perks;
if anything went wrong, she'd be the one taking the blame.
"Here!"
Taka handed Akira a scroll.
It listed the prices of various materials.
Akira couldn't rely solely on the Uchiha clan for gathering supplies,
so privately, he also purchased and collected materials himself,
and Taka had been helping him source them.
"Good luck!"
After handing over the scroll, Taka waved and left.
Today was a golden opportunity to make money —
no way was he going to miss it.
He'd even arranged for his three-man team to be officially assigned to stall duty,
so he could earn mission credit and run his business at the same time.
Brilliant!
This kind of thing wasn't uncommon;
plenty of ninja clans pulled tricks like this.
Meanwhile, Akira and Yamashiro Koji headed toward the exam hall.
Kakashi had gone on ahead already.
Written test, elimination rounds, one-on-one matches —
the Chūnin Exams followed more or less the same format as they would in the future.
The first exam was being held at the ninja academy.
Since it was just a written test, they didn't need a huge venue.
"There are way too many people here!"
Akira muttered as he squeezed through the crowd.
If it weren't for the setting and his clothes,
he'd have thought he was back in some bustling shopping district on Earth.
"Of course there are — it's the joint Chūnin Exams, held only once every few years!"
Koji chimed in, his eyes hardening with determination.
This was his chance to restore the Yamashiro clan's reputation.
The Joint Chūnin Exams were like a grand stage, open to the entire shinobi world.
Any ninja with ambition would throw everything they had into it.
Akira didn't look back, but he could easily guess what his friend was thinking.
He didn't say much —
this was Koji's personal goal,
and all Akira could do was help when he had the chance.
As they entered the ninja academy, the chaotic crowds faded away,
replaced by clusters of genin from various villages.
"Those are Konoha's guys!"
"Pfft, their stats are so low!"
"Wait, their teammate is Kakashi?!"
Whispers buzzed through the air.
Many of the exam candidates held intelligence folders,
which included profiles and stats on Akira and Koji.
Because Honda Taka had deliberately underreported their abilities,
the two of them were considered dead weight —
in the eyes of the other candidates, Team 3 was basically "Kakashi and his two sidekicks."
As a transmigrator, Akira didn't care about that reputation.
Only those raised in the ninja world treated their reputation as more important than life,
willing to die just to uphold it.
Like now —
he saw the flicker of frustration in Koji's eyes.
"Let's go."
Akira patted his shoulder lightly and walked toward the classroom building.
The moment they stepped inside,
Akira sensed something was off.
Genjutsu!
The thought flashed through his mind,
and he quickly formed the necessary hand seals.
Release!
A basic genjutsu dispel technique.
Immediately, his vision shifted —
what had seemed like an empty hallway was suddenly filled with genin,
all watching them like they were waiting for a show.
When they saw Akira break the illusion,
many of them looked disappointed.
For a ninja, knowing how to dispel genjutsu wasn't impressive —
the real challenge was detecting it in the first place.
And in that area, Akira was definitely no slouch.
Mental strength!
It was one of the baseline advantages he'd brought from Earth.
The stronger your mind, the higher your resistance to genjutsu.
He also spotted Kakashi leaning casually against the hallway wall,
watching them out of the corner of his eye.
It looked like he'd been waiting there out of concern.
"Hmph!"
With a soft snort, Kakashi arrogantly strode toward the classroom.
The surrounding candidates parted like the sea,
his sheer presence setting the tone.
Akira and Koji followed him inside
and found their assigned seats according to the roster.
Ding ding!
The sound of a bell echoed through the building,
signaling the start of the first round of the Chūnin Exams — the written test.
(End of Chapter)