That's interesting. I didn't know that, I thought the Jiongu replicated it along with everything else.
~There was no need. I can regulate and direct the flow myself. It was inferior.~
...
"He's right. I didn't look at him with the Byakugan until now. I've only seen one person that has a network like his. I don't even know if I can call it a network, it's not there." Hinata speaks up and confirms her cousin's observations. Her stutter is gone, good for her. I wonder who brought her out of her shell? "But he didn't have anywhere near this amount of chakra. This Green is like a beacon, he easily has the chakra of two jonin, maybe even three."
"Who has the same chakra condition?" Asks Lee. "Things like this aren't common. I know that firsthand."
"Alvarcus." Neji and Hinata say at the same time.
"There's something they aren't telling us. He has to know Alvarcus if they have the same condition! If he knows Alvarcus you can bet he knows Sasuke, those two always stick together." Ino's voice is filled with hope. "We need to talk to them again. We have to. This is the best lead we've had since... ever!"
"I agree. They were too quick to leave. It's like they have something to hide. I have the red one bugged so we can find him later. My insects won't go near the green one. They say he's a predator." Shino speaks for the first time. When did he manage to tag Sasuke? I'm impressed, Tsunade was right. I wasn't the only one who has improved.
"Good thinking. Akamaru and I can track the green one by scent if we need to. The red one is hiding his somehow." Kiba offers.
Crap! Do I still smell like I did before? I can't, there's no way. If I did Kiba would have told everyone by now. I wonder if my hearts caused my scent to change? And Shino has a bug on Sasuke somewhere? I'll have to fix that.
"Perfect! We have a way to track each of them. Now we just need to corner them again and get them to talk." Ino smacks her hands together. "We'll have to wait and see what the second exam is. Any ideas?"
I quit listening in now that they're talking about the next exam. That was a very informative conversation and an extremely alarming one.
"Red, there's a beetle on you somewhere. Make sure you get rid of it soon."
We'll have to be very cautious during the next exam. I might have to insist that we work together, I don't want them to corner Sasuke alone.
...
"Alright gennin! Everyone here has passed the first exam. Congratulations." The unnamed proctor lazily informs us.
A few cheers sound throughout the less seasoned gennin. Any gennin here worth anything wouldn't react for something so meager. Who knows how many exams are left?
"Quiet down. Since you all passed I should properly introduce myself. I am Eito." Eito takes a quick half-assed bow. "It is time for the second exam. Will the first six who passed come to the front?"
Sasuke and I instantly turn to each other.
"Something feels off." Sasuke seriously says.
"Agreed. Why the first six? Fair warning, if we have to face each other you're going down." I idly jest at him as we walk forwards.
"Whatever."
We are joined by Neji, Gaara and a Kusa and Konoha shinobi and then we all stop before Eito.
"Congratulations, you six are the impromptu leaders for the next portion of these Exams. We have around 60 gennin that passed the first test, we need to cut the number in half at the least so we came up with a team game you're all going to play. It's our take on a shinobi version of Capture the Flag. Each team will be given a colored flag to protect, to pass you need to have two flags. It doesn't matter which two, but you must have two. Now come and pull out a flag from this box to figure out who has which team." Eito pulls out a scroll and unseals a box.
I boldly walk up to the box first. I reach my hand and spawn an eye on the palm of my hand. I know what color I want.
"Green." It's a perfect fit.
"Red." Sasuke dully says while looking in my direction. The jerk rigged it too, he totally copied me!
"Yellow." Gaara went third.
"Blue." Neji drew fourth.
"Black." The Kusa shinobi is fifth.
"White." The Konoha shinobi says. Holy crap is that Sai? Ridiculously pale, brushes and paper strapped to his belt, dark blank eyes. Yep, that's Sai.
"Glad that's over." Eito tosses the now empty box over his shoulder. " Alright, now we form up the teams." He unseals a much larger box this time. "Alright gennin! Come up one at a time and draw a cloth. There's an even amount of all colors in here, the color you draw is the team you're on. Also we're recording who draws what so there is no trading!"
They're leaving the teams up to chance? Interesting, I hope I get a stacked team. Too bad Sasuke is one of the leaders, we would have dominated this exam.
Hold up a moment, they aren't leaving it up to chance. They're seeing if any of the gennin here have the skill to manipulate what team they're on, exactly like how I chose what color I wanted. We're shinobi, we don't leave things up to chance if we have the means to control the outcome. That's sneaky, they're already testing us.
What's the point of this exam? We already showcased our skills in the first one so I doubt it's entirely combat based. I'm going to guess that this is to see how we work in teams with people we don't know. In the life of a shinobi you'll never know who you'll end up working beside and this is quite the example of that. How ironic, in a single entrant Chunin Exams they're testing us on teamwork.
After a ridiculously long time the teams are finally determined. On my team is me, two Kusa shinobi, a Konoha kunoichi I've never met, Temari, Hinata, a Kiri shinobi, an Ame shinobi, a Taki shinobi and an Iwa shinobi. We've got a little of everyone.
"Alright everyone, you're going to be escorted to your 'base.' You will have one hour to get a plan together and four hours to get another flag. Good luck. Oh, also anything goes for this Exam. That includes lethal force, though it is strongly discouraged." Eito blandly tells us.
They should really pick a better proctor next time, this guy is just weird. Who casually mentions that lethal force is allowed?
A Kusa shinobi approaches each group. He must be our escort.
"Let's go." Immediately he starts running away. Definitely our escort.
We all follow him into a young forest. This is perfect for me, a forest is where I'm best a fighting, it's where I learned how to fight. Not only that, the majority of our shinobi are from Konoha (if you count me as from Konoha) so we will have a home field advantage.
He stops in front of a flagpole in the middle of a generously sized clearing.
"Hang the flag on that, then wait for the bell to start. Have fun." He shunshins away in a swirl of grass.
Silence reigns supreme in the clearing. Well, I'm supposed to be the leader here. It's time to step up and lead.
"Alright, we know next to nothing about each other. Has anyone here worked together before?" I break the awkward silence.
No one answers. Great, I'm working with a lot of unknowns.
"Okay, so much for that. Split into three groups, those who are better at defense with me and those who are better at offense over by the pole. Those who are in the middle or can't make up their minds stand by that rock."
I'm joined by the Iwa shinobi and the Taki shinobi. The offensive group has Temari, the Kiri shinobi, the Ame shinobi, the two Kusa shinobi and the Konoha kunoichi. Only Hinata goes to the middle ground.
"Hyuuga-san, why pick the middle?" I ask. I'm surprised no one has stepped up and tried to usurp my leadership yet.
"The Byakugan can be used either offensively to scout what's ahead or defensively to survey our defenses and surroundings. I will go where you decide." Hinata submissively tells me.
What the hell? Why is she submissive to me? I haven't earned her respect yet, she shouldn't bend to my will. Actually this whole thing is progressing too smoothly. Why is everyone doing exactly what I tell them to without complaining?
...
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