Naruto: From Novice to Grave

As soon as Koharu Tsurugi finished speaking, her three old partners all turned their gazes toward her, as if she were an idiot.

Today, they met with Higashino Makoto alone simply to see firsthand the unique ninjutsu created by the village's genius and to rule out some minor conjectures; they were not there to accuse him of being a spy.

If they truly suspected something, they would have already sent the secret service to arrest people and interrogate them to extract information; there would have been no need for higher-ups to intervene.

The advisor realized his words were inappropriate: "I misspoke. Seeing the similarities between the two ninjutsu, I couldn't help but overthink it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly, "There are countless ninjutsu in the ninja world, so it's normal for them to be similar. Our Sarutobi clan is good at fire-style techniques, and some of our techniques are similar to the fire-style techniques of the Uchiha clan."

Furthermore, if I were to devise a chakra defense ninjutsu, my ideas would likely be similar to this child's. So, what would I say then? "I also have ties to Sunagakure?"

Furthermore, Chiyo's "Mechanical Shield Sealing Technique" is primarily a sealing technique, while true techniques are the opposite; sealing is merely a simple auxiliary method, and they primarily rely on chakra nature transformation.

As Danzo Nagakage grew older, he increasingly looked down on his two childhood friends. Not only did they disagree with his ideas, but they also frequently got in his way.

Not only that, but now it seems that even their basic judgment is starting to cause concern.

He retorted, "Xiaochun, you're getting senile. Would you give the secret ninjutsu of your own village to a spy you dug up in another village?"

The fact that the kid from the Higashino family could develop similar defensive ninjutsu on his own not only proves that he is indeed a genius, but also proves that he could not have had any contact with Sunagakure.

If it were me, upon discovering such promising young ninjas in other ninja villages, I would simply abduct them immediately. If I couldn't take them with me, I would kill them to prevent future trouble. There would be absolutely no possibility of nurturing their abilities.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane all turned their gazes toward Danzo.

Surprised? Not at all. This is exactly the kind of thing Danzo would do.

Or rather, those of them who gather intelligence in other ninja villages all have similar approaches.

At this moment, Mitokado Homura, who had been silent until now, said, "This child has indeed shown unparalleled talent in creating ninjutsu. Whether it is the defensive ninjutsu he just demonstrated, or the [Wind Release: Shadowless Sword], [Wind Release: Wind Finger Spear], or sensory ninjutsu listed in the data, they are all amazing."

Most importantly, this child has a deep love for the village; he's completely selfless and willing to share these precious ninjutsu techniques to make the village stronger.

Danzo looked at him disdainfully after hearing this: "Yan, after all, you haven't participated in battle for many years, and your eyesight has deteriorated significantly."

Haven't you noticed that, besides their pursuit of efficiency, what's the most powerful aspect of these ninjutsu techniques?

That's an extreme and demanding control over chakra deformation and nature transformation. I ask you, even if these ninjutsu were made public, how many people could actually learn them? Could you?

Mitokado Yan: "???"

He didn't want to talk, so he silently sat down at the same table with Xiaochun from the next dormitory.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a few deep drags on his cigarette, feeling somewhat helpless. Since his two partners had taken up government jobs, their abilities and intuition as ninjas had indeed deteriorated excessively.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

Finally, he set the tone for today's meeting: "Alright, let's leave it at that. This child is a rare genius in Konoha, and another outstanding achievement of Konoha's education after Minato and Kakashi."

Keep your suspicions to yourself. I don't want to hear anything like that again, understand?

The three of them didn't say anything more, which was considered an acceptance of the Hokage's conclusion.

At the same time, Shimura Danzo, who was squinting his one eye, felt a little uneasy. What a great genius! It's a shame that the monkey got such a good deal.

Unfortunately, that brat Higashino Mana wasn't his type, because the other guy had no darkness in his heart and was full of that monkey's Will of Fire, which was impossible to control.

Otherwise, he would have insisted on taking it for himself no matter what.

Relatively speaking, Kakashi Hatake is quite to his liking. His own experiences are also dragging him into darkness. It seems it's time to wield the hoe and dig a little to see if there are any surprises.

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The following morning, Higashino Makoto arrived at the Chunin Exams venue with a sense of curiosity.

This was a completely new experience for him, giving him a sense of what it was like to take the college entrance exam in his previous life—it was quite novel.

The candidates for the exam were almost all present in the examination hall. They were all Konoha genin, and there were quite a few of them. At a glance, there were 25 teams plus two individual teams, for a total of 77 people.

The number of students is almost comparable to the number of students in the multinational joint examination that followed. This is all due to the expansion of ninja school enrollment in recent years because of the war.

Higashino only knew a small number of team members, all of whom were genin who graduated from the same year as him but did not gain any merit on the battlefield to be promoted.

Those he knew, such as Hayate Gekko, Yugao Uzuki, Muta Aburame, and Meiko Inuzuka, had all automatically been promoted to Chunin and didn't need to take the exam, except for him and Shisui, who were specially arranged to take it.

In times of war, as long as one has the strength, it is easier for a ninja to be promoted than in times of peace, but it is something that is earned by risking one's life.

The newbies who knew Higashino from the same year were very surprised and didn't understand why this veteran would come to participate in the Chunin Exams. Wasn't this just making things harder for them?

Uchiha Shisui was the most surprised, but he quickly recalled what had happened in the camp after the victory on the eastern front and began to have some guesses.

Higashino waved a simple greeting to Shisui, then began to admire the unique composition of the people in the examination room.

Simply put, the age range is polarized: either children around 10 years old who have recently graduated, or genin who are already adults. There are very few in between.

Some of the candidates even had graying beards and hair. At this age, they were still fighting desperately for the title of Chunin. I wonder how deep their obsession was.

At the same time, they were the most nervous, while the younger candidates were eager to try and looked very confident.

This is the reality for many low-ranking genin in Konoha. Their talent is extremely limited, and what seems like a mere chunin to a master is the goal they strive for their entire lives.

Many of them have even given up on the Chunin Exams and are content to stay in the promising Genin rank, making a living by completing low-level missions assigned by Konoha and the surrounding villages and towns. Rather than calling them ninjas, they are more like strong and capable hired laborers in Konoha who have chakra.

Konoha offers them various jobs to keep them alive, and their only requirement is that they get married and have children as soon as possible, so that perhaps a few more geniuses will emerge.

Soon, just a few minutes after Higashino Makoto took his seat according to his number, the first written exam of the Chunin Exams officially began, with proctors distributing the papers to each examinee.

Unlike the classic exam that would follow, this one had very few proctors, two on each side, and two more on the platform, including the bishop.

They just stared at the test takers without taking any notes.

The requirements for this exam are also different. The conditions for passing the exam are clearly written on the blackboard: all three members of the team must answer all eight questions correctly to pass. In other words, if even one person in the team fails to meet the standard, the entire team will be eliminated.

Higashino glanced at the test paper. There were 10 questions in total, covering several categories of knowledge that a ninja must master. Half of them were not difficult, and anyone who had studied diligently could answer them.

However, the other five questions were somewhat beyond the scope of the curriculum. If one had not been exposed to or had the intention to learn about them beforehand during the genin stage, they definitely would not have been able to answer them.

Want to answer the questions correctly and pass the exam? Then you'll have to find a way yourself.

It seems that no matter when the Chunin Exam is held, it tests everyone's ability to gather information. Being able to copy is your skill, as long as the methods are not too malicious.

Gathering intelligence isn't plagiarism; it's the work of ninjas, how can that be called plagiarism?