"Wait for me," said a child with a ponytail while running toward a friend.
"Come here, son, we are going home," a father warmly said to his child while patting him affectionately on the head.
"Daddd," the child said with emotion, his cheeks red.
"Sister," another boy cried.
"You are such a sinister kid."
"Hehe."
They laughed,
watching the kids' parents come to pick them up.
Tetsu had a sad expression in his eyes, although he was trying to mask it. He truly would have loved to have a mom or dad coming to get him home too.
"Hey, hey, Tetsu," someone shouted.
It was a child named Haruki. He had blue hair and wore glasses.
Finally catching up to him.
"Thank you for the help, haha. Without you, the teacher would have caught me sleeping," he said genuinely.
Haruki was indeed impressed by Tetsu. The boy wasn't that impressive in hand exams, but when it came to practice, he was one of the best in class.
"No need to thank me," said Tetsu. Indeed, Haruki had always been polite to him, so he continued.
"You aren't bad. If you don't mind, I want to be your friend, but of course, if you don't want to, we can act as if I didn't ask."
"You idiot, we have always been friends. Don't tell me you didn't consider me as such until now."
At that, Tetsu blinked.
While they were talking, Shintoki was watching them from afar with a smile. It seemed like Tetsu finally made a friend in the school. It was a scenery that truly warmed his heart.
Noticing that they were done and had split, he finally approached.
Moving toward Tetsu, whose eyes were cast toward the path Haruki walked.
"Hey, Tetsu, I see that you had a wonderful day. Let's go home."
Hearing the voice, it reminded Tetsu of the kids he saw running toward their parents earlier.
The friend he just made, coupled with Tetsu's surprising appearance at school to walk him home, had awakened strong emotions in him.
While they walked, his face was full of joy, no longer the sadness he had a few moments ago.
And so many days passed.
Shin and his friends trained more rigorously together.
With the next Chunin exam approaching, they were determined to rise in rank this time.
Shintoki might not truly care about the glory, but for his ambition in the future, it was necessary to rise in rank. How would he be able to protect his friends or even himself if he didn't possess enough authority?
When they are sent to war, to not end up as cannon fodder, the ninja need to have value, and rising in rank is one way to make the higher-ups view them as an important part of the force and be willing to invest in them for the future.
As time was closing in, they did other missions, mostly C-ranks, and thankfully none of them turned into a disaster.
The day of the Chunin exam had come.
Many teams of participating countries like Yugakure, Amegakure, Takigakure, and Kusagakure. As for Kiri, they were banned due to their audacity in the previous exam. Likewise, no one from Iwa, Kumo, or Suna participated either because of the 3rd Shinobi War that had ignited anew with tension.
Team 14, Team Anko, and four other Konoha teams decided to participate.
Now we see Team 14 walk toward the center of the exam with Kotetsu, Izumo, and Team Anko.
Having run into them on their way toward the exam center.
The first part of the exam is a written test. Shintoki's team, having already tried the exam once, didn't blink; they swiftly responded to the questions. Anko's team also finished quickly, although they struggled more.
The other teams, on the other hand, were very irritated by the questions, their faces twisting in annoyance.
"Like hell."
"Who brings a written test in an exam?"
Most of them were only expecting to fight in the exam, but a written test—they didn't give a fuck. But they didn't have a choice, so despite their displeasure, they did their best to respond to the questions.
Some teams were found cheating and expelled from the exam. From its massive number, it had gone down by at least half.
"Finally, it's done. I wouldn't be able to keep this up any further," said Anko.
Her teammates nodded. None of them liked written tests. If this exam was made of more stuff like this, then they might lose it, because written tests suck. The questions are always boring; they prefer action.
Meanwhile, Shintoki's team's mood was different. Having barely made it out alive in the last Chunin exam, they were now feeling some kind of tension. While there was excitement, there was also caution. Despite their progress in the last months, they couldn't afford to make mistakes. Last exam, it was that powerful Kiri team led by Hatarume. This exam is no different, despite the lack of participation of the great villages.
On the side of the Amegakure team, a black-haired young man in a standard uniform but without the vest gazed toward the Konoha team. He was sixteen.
"Hum! So that is the Konoha team that survived the last exam and managed to injure that vermin Hatarume and cause her team to be disqualified since they lost their three members. They must be strong."
His eyes glinted with knowledge. He was personally aware of how strong Hatarume was, having run into her a year ago, so when news of the Chunin exam got out and he learned that one Konoha team survived—but not without dragging that Kiri team into disqualification—he was intrigued.
And with that, the first part of the Chunin exam had ended, and now among 46 teams, only 22 were left.
In his office, Hiruzen got the news and was pleased. Still, the most dangerous part of the exam would begin tomorrow. He just hoped things wouldn't turn out like in the previous exam.
After remembering the progress Team 14 made, his mind eased for a bit. After all, that team already possessed Chunin strength. Seriously speaking, one of them should have become a Chunin in the last exam if things had gone smoothly.
Having survived and left shaken by the exam, they pushed their training and took on more missions of higher rank than any other team, honing their skills in the latent missions. Shintoki even fought Chunin and always came out on top.
This time around, they were ready. If they made it to the final, the whole team might even be promoted.
Taking his tobacco, he took a long sip before releasing a puff of smoke, his gaze directed from the window toward the Forest of Death.
Before refocusing on his duties.
…
Morning came.
Shintoki and his teammates were before the Forest of Death.
Just like last time, the participating teams were told to sign, discarding the village from any accident and from responsibility if any of them died.
Team Shintoki was given the Earth Scroll, while Team Anko was given the Heaven Scroll.
"Go."
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
With the shout,
Team Shintoki launched themselves into the forest for the second time after their last life-and-death crisis against Kiri's Hatarume team.
Subtly, Shintoki activated his system's map function to know the position of everyone within the forest. This way, he could keep an eye on his friends and assist if needed.
As for him, he had to leave his teammates. He trusted them to find the scroll. After the hellish training they had gone through, as long as they didn't face a true monster, they could handle themselves.
Still, Shintoki formed two shadow clones to remain close by if they needed assistance, while three other shadow clones took charge toward other parts of the forest.
While the original charged toward another part of the forest, having sensed some powerful presence.