Konoha
While Ishikawa was being forced into intense training, the Chunin Exam battles raged on in Rin's parallel time-space."
Forest of Death · Chūnin Exam Combat Zone
"I didn't expect you guys to be my opponents—Guy, Genma, Ebisu." Obito scoffed as he faced the well-organized trio before him, a piece of candy dangling in his mouth.
Hmph. Today I'll make sure Kakashi finally sees how powerful Master Obito is—and Rin will admire me too!
"Second-round team battle of the preliminaries begins now!" Just as Obito finished speaking, the Chūnin examiner gave the order and swiftly retreated.
Obito, eager to show off, quickly formed hand seals with both hands and impatiently opened his mouth to shout: "Fire Style: Great—uhh, ack??"
But just as the words were about to erupt, the candy in his mouth slid unexpectedly down his throat, choking him and cutting off the jutsu.
"AHHHH!!" In that instant, Obito froze—and saw a massive 40-foot flying straight at his face.
WHAM!
With a thunderous kick, the mighty Obito rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground—completely unconscious.
"Huh? What was that guy trying to do just now?" Might Guy scratched his head, confused as he stared at the candy now rolling on the ground.
"This idiot…" Across the field, Kakashi sighed as he watched his teammate self-destruct the moment the match started. Without hesitation, he stepped forward to engage the enemy.
"Kakashi, leave this one to me!" Nohara Rin suddenly shouted, raising her small fist. Without warning, she struck the ground lightly with it—and then lunged at Might Guy with force.
"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!" Guy reacted instinctively, launching a powerful side kick to counter her.
"Rin!" Kakashi's eyes changed in an instant. He had clashed with Might Guy's taijutsu multiple times—he knew Rin couldn't possibly hold her own. Even Genma and Ebisu, Guy's own teammates, were convinced of that.
'Now's our chance!' Genma and Ebisu exchanged glances and darted toward Kakashi from both sides, aiming to stop him from intervening. If Guy could just take down Rin, they'd have the upper hand—even Kakashi couldn't turn the tide alone.
"Bang—!" At that exact moment, just as Kakashi was about to intervene, a deafening crash echoed across the field. All eyes widened in shock—Might Guy had been blown back by Rin's punch, his face pale.
Though he was only knocked back a few meters, the sheer surprise of the moment left everyone slack-jawed.
"What… How is that possible?!"
"You've got to be kidding!"
Genma and Ebisu froze in place, stunned.
"You lose." Taking advantage of the brief pause, Kakashi reacted instantly and pressed a kunai to Genma's chest.
Ebisu looked between Guy, Genma, and the still-composed Kakashi and Rin. Pretending to adjust his sunglasses to wipe the sweat from his brow, he sighed and turned around.
"Examiner… I forfeit!"
There was no point continuing. He couldn't even beat Kakashi one-on-one, and now there was a terrifyingly strong Nohara Rin too.
Who would've guessed—gentle Nohara Rin had a hidden beast mode.
---
Meanwhile, in the Tower Surveillance Post…
"Is that your student, Minato? I think I see a shadow of Tsunade in that girl." The youthful Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the monitor with intrigue, his voice laced with admiration.
"Chakra concentrated in the fist and released in a burst to amplify power…" Minato smiled humbly. "Though Rin's technique surprised even me, it's still a long way off from the raw power of Lady Tsunade—one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha."
Still, behind that modest expression, Minato's eyes gleamed with light. Was it because of the Rasengan that Rin was able to come up with that technique? Smart girl...
"Hahaha… You're still as humble as ever, Minato." Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled in satisfaction. After all, the Three Legendary Ninjas of Konoha were their proudest disciples—true pillars of the village.
Although they remained the backbone of Konoha, it was a pity that Tsunade had already... Ahem.
"Originally, I thought Kakashi would be the only one to pass the Chunin Exams this time," Hiruzen said, clearing his throat to shift the topic. "But now it seems that girl is quite promising as well. Minato, I want to arrange for her to fight Kakashi in the third round of the individual battles. Let's see if she's truly qualified to become a Chunin."
This suggestion made Minato widen his eyes in surprise.
Rin... fighting Kakashi? Even thinking about it made it clear how the match would end—Nohara Rin would almost certainly lose.
That was Kakashi, after all—the prodigious genius of their generation!
---
Night – Super Time-Space Room
Ding-ling-ling…
Awakened by a piercing alarm, Ishikawa smiled bitterly as he recognized the familiar ceiling of his room. He hadn't expected to actually complete three full laps around Konoha before collapsing.
As for how he got back after collapsing? No need to guess—Kakashi had definitely carried him back.
Thankfully it was already evening when I passed out... If Kakashi had sent me home in the middle of the night, things could've gone terribly wrong.
With the room's super-time-space connection, Ishikawa wasn't sure whether anyone from the outside could open the door.
If it could be opened—that would risk the secret being exposed. If it couldn't be opened, then why would an elite jonin be unable to open a door?
That alone would raise too many questions.
"No... I need to run some tests to prevent a future crisis." Looking at the overlapping super-time-space room, Ishikawa's legs went a little weak as he nervously reached for the handle.
Click—
The familiar electric shock coursed through him again. Ishikawa felt every cell in his body buzzing, rapidly absorbing energy. This time, the sensation was even stronger than before.
"The refined chakra… It's increased by nearly 50%! Is this the reward of extreme training?" Five minutes later, Ishikawa was shocked and delighted by what he felt.
He couldn't claim his chakra was especially strong before—but now, he was certain that he had about 20% of Kakashi's chakra capacity. That meant 0.2 chakra.
It still sounded a bit pitiful—but for Ishikawa, it was a big step forward! At this point, he was nearly at the threshold of learning the Rasengan.
With 0.3 chakra, he could begin Rasengan practice. And with 0.5 chakra, he'd finally be confident enough to activate the Spirit Transformation Technique.
But before that, I should focus on the Mystical Palm Technique!
"Speaking of which, hasn't Rin just finished the second round of the Chunin Exams? Without her help, my Mystical Palm Technique progress bar is dead slow…" Muttering to himself, Ishikawa prepared to resume practice.
Creak—
Just as he placed the fish on the table, the door on the inner wall suddenly opened—and Nohara Rin stepped in.
"Whew! I almost didn't make it in time. That was close!" Seeing Ishikawa's stunned face, Rin quickly shut the door, stuck out her tongue, and flashed a playful grin.
Thinking of the afternoon's team battle, Rin smiled as she walked up proudly. "Ishikawa! Today, I knocked Might Guy flying with a single punch using my Chakra Enhanced Punch. Minato-sensei said even the Third Hokage praised me!"
Ishikawa: ???