"Let me judge whether they're qualified to become chunin," Akira said, looking at the candidates waiting in the arena.
Jiraiya: "???"
Aren't you a genin too?
Orochimaru thought for a moment, then nodded.
"That could work."
"Wait—what?!" Jiraiya stared at him, completely confused. "How is that okay?!"
Letting candidates evaluate other candidates—
What kind of twisted logic is that?!
"How do you plan to do it?" Orochimaru asked.
"I'll take them all on by myself," Akira replied matter-of-factly.
That way, he could test who had chunin-level strength—
and earn experience at the same time.
A perfect win-win.
"No!!"
Orochimaru and Jiraiya both rejected the idea at once.
This was the first time Jiraiya had met someone even more reckless than himself.
One person against an entire group?
And judging by Orochimaru's expression, he actually thought it was possible.
"They're too weak for you," Orochimaru said with a frown.
A one-sided fight had no value for evaluation.
They needed to assess each candidate's overall ability.
"Yeah, exactly—wait…" Jiraiya suddenly froze.
"Hold on, you're saying he can take all of them at once?!"
Orochimaru gave him a look that clearly said you're overreacting.
Couldn't the two of them do the same?
For someone on their level, like Akira, it wasn't strange.
"What's with that look?!" Jiraiya stared at Akira in disbelief.
"If I remember right, he's only one year older than Nawaki!"
"Is he really that strong?!"
"How about it, Jiraiya-sama? Want to try me?" Akira grinned, eager.
Orochimaru's body modifications were tricky to deal with—
but Jiraiya, without Sage Mode, might be beatable.
"You serious?" Jiraiya looked stunned.
"I'm a jonin. I trained under the Third Hokage. Even among jonin, there aren't many who can defeat me."
"If it's him," Orochimaru said calmly, "he might actually be able to beat you."
With Jiraiya's careless personality, if he underestimated Akira at the start, he could genuinely lose.
"You've got to be kidding…" Jiraiya searched Orochimaru's face for any sign of a joke.
There was none.
Jiraiya inhaled sharply.
This kid's talent was terrifying.
"Let's focus on the exam," Jiraiya quickly changed the topic.
Whether he won or lost, fighting Akira would be embarrassing either way.
"Jiraiya-bro, let big brother try!" Nawaki chimed in.
"But big brother, go easy on them!"
Jiraiya's face twisted into a grimace.
I'm already getting outranked by a whole generation…
Why did Tsunade let Orochimaru teach Nawaki?!
Orochimaru turned to Akira.
"Can you use Shadow Clones?"
"I can, but I'm not very proficient," Akira replied, glancing at his low-level clone technique.
He didn't rely on it much anyway.
"Then use Shadow Clones. One clone per opponent."
"If you pull this off, you'll be promoted to chunin immediately."
Akira quickly upgraded the technique.
[Shadow Clone Jutsu (Lv.1 → Lv.5)]
Now his clones were more than enough to handle these candidates.
"So you could've just promoted me directly," Akira said dryly.
"Why make me go through all this?"
Orochimaru awkwardly turned his head away.
That was simply Konoha's system—nothing they could do.
"Hahaha…" Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, patting Nawaki's shoulder while giving him a confused look.
What are they even talking about?
Nawaki shrugged.
No idea.
Ignoring the two, Akira stepped onto the platform and looked down at the candidates below.
"Hey, you lot!!"
At his shout, everyone turned to look at him.
"This exam—"
"—is about how long you can last against me!"
Shadow Clone Jutsu!!
Smoke exploded across the platform.
Multiple Akiras appeared instantly.
"…Did he just skip hand seals?" Jiraiya whispered.
Orochimaru nodded, his expression serious.
Now that he thought about it—
Akira never used hand seals in battle.
That completely defied common ninja logic.
Even simplified seals required some motion.
But Akira didn't even bother.
That was outrageous.
Below, the candidates began murmuring.
"He's a candidate too, right? Why is he testing us?"
"And he's only using clones? Is he looking down on us?"
"Did the difficulty just drop or something?"
Akira smirked.
His clones leapt down into the arena.
The battle began.
"Go, big brother!!"
"Go, Akira-sama!!"
Nawaki and Mushi-hime started cheering enthusiastically.
Two Akira clones appeared behind them, veins popping.
"You two get in there as well!!"
He grabbed one in each hand and hurled them into the battlefield.
"Fang Over Fang!!"
Two spinning vortexes rushed toward an Akira clone.
"Rotation!!"
The clone spun into a chakra dome, deflecting both attacks.
Blue flames ignited around him.
"Rotation + Blue Flame."
"Spark!"
The intense heat forced the Inuzuka ninja to retreat.
Akira's clone stopped—
then immediately dashed forward as they hesitated.
Boom!
[Experience +878]
"Disqualified!!"
Elsewhere—
A Nara ninja flipped backward, barely dodging a punch.
The ground shattered into a crater where the clone struck.
He looked like a drifter, a blade of grass hanging from his mouth.
"Even as clones… this is ridiculous."
He quickly analyzed the situation.
Shadow Clones should disperse after a single solid hit.
But these clones were overwhelmingly strong.
He couldn't break through alone.
His eyes scanned the battlefield.
Everyone else was struggling just to survive against the clones.
"I need allies…"
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
His shadow stretched forward—
but the clone easily evaded it with a few jumps.
Another clone tilted his head, looking at the two in front of him.
Nawaki.
Mushi-hime.
"Now it's your turn."
"I won't be as gentle as Orochimaru."
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