Inside the academy hall,

"Damn… when would this exam start? I am craving for some blood." ​​

One of the participants from Otogakure stares at the rest of the genins and licks his lips.

Bump…

Another shinobi bumps into him and pushes him aside.

"Oye! You have a death wish or something?"

The angry Otogakure participant clutches the shoulder of the shinobi and questions him.

"Apologize this very instant… or this won't fare well for you."

The genin turns around to reveal his onyx eyes and ash-grey hairs, and he wears black-rimmed circular glasses. He wears a Konoha headband on his forehead.

"I am sorry."

He hurriedly apologizes to the Sound Shinobi.

"Huh! I don't think that's an honest apology. Leaf Village or not, I won't let it slide this easily."

The sound Shinobi grabs the collar of the spectacled guy.

"Grovel and apologize and I might spare you."

The Sound Shinobi has a fierce expression on his face.

Gulp…

A short tufty blue hair and dark eyes boy with a Kiri headband gulps his saliva and approaches the Sound Shinobi.

"Ano… I think you should let him go. He just slightly bumped into you. It's not that big of a deal."

"Huh… who are you?"

The Sound Shinobi turns towards the newcomer.

"It is a matter between us both. Who are you to interfere between us?"

"I am Chojuro from Kiri. Please spare him."

Chojuro weakly demands the Sound Shinobi.

"Cheh… your pathetic expression made me lose my mood. What a killjoy!"

The Sound Shinobi throws away the spectacle guy and walks away.

"Are you ok?"

Chojuro extends a helping hand towards the spectacled guy.

"Cough… cough… I am fine. Cough…"

The spectacled guy coughs and grabs Chojuro's hand. He adjusts his spectacles and introduces himself.

"I am Kabuto Yakushi. One of the genin of Konoha, as you can see from my headband. It is nice to meet you."

Kabuto shakes hands with Chojuro.

"I suppose this is your first time participating in a chunnin exam."

Kabuto questions Chojuro.

"Ah! Yes… yes… apparently the village decided to conduct a joint chunnin exam with Konohagakure." Chojuro replies meekly.

"Man! You need to step up your game. With this attitude, you will get disqualified quite early."

Kabuto pats Chojuro's shoulders.

"Oh… Kabuto-san… you know about the chunnin exam." Chojuro asks Kabuto.

"Yes… I know quite a lot, actually."

Kabuto adjusts his spectacles.

"Oh… then is this your second time in the chunnin exam?"

Chojuro curiously questions him.

"No… it is my fifth time."

Sigh…

Kabuto sighs as he reveals the embarrassing number.

"Huh!?"

Surprise appears on Chojuro's face as he inspects Kabuto.

"There doesn't seem to be any problem with you."

Kabuto ignores Chojuro's gaze as he continues.

"This exam is only held twice a year, so it is my third year. Let me give you a few hints about the purpose of this chunnin exam."

Whoosh… whoosh…

Kabuto takes out multiple cards from his pocket and lays them in front of Chojuro.

"These are…"

"They are Ninja info cards."

Swish…

Kabuto inserts some chakra in the card to demonstrate to Chojuro.

"First, the purpose of this chunnin exam is to deepen the friendly relationship with the other countries.

Next is to heighten the level of shinobi of each country by testing them in different land and circumstances."

Kabuto collects his cards as he explains.

"So… that's all?"

Chojuro asks him in confusion.

"Well… that's what they told to each other."

Kabuto shrugs his shoulder as he closes near Chojuro and whispers in his ear.

"The real purpose of this chunnin exam is to confirm the level of ninja in each nation and determine the scale of power balance. They do so to check and restrain each other's powers; if not, the strong nations will invade the weak nations and plunder all their resources. Well, that's my guess.

But Konoha is in a pretty strong position right now. Konoha has many powerful shinobi protecting it. So, they hold the weight; part of the reason the chunnin exam is held in Konoha."

Kabuto replies to Chojuro.

"Oh… no wonder you know this much. This is your fifth time after all."

Haah…

Kabuto breathes deeply as he hangs his head in depression.

"Don't remind me, alright."

"Well… that wasn't my intention."

Chojuro scratches his head.

"Anyway, forget that… do you want to ask me something?"

Kabuto asks Chojuro.

"Ah… yes… I want to know how many villages are participating in this exam."

"The villages participating this time are Konoha, Kiri, Suna, Kusa, Taki, and Sound. This year many talented genins from other villages have come to participate in the exam." Kabuto explains the details to Chojuro.

"What about the Sound Village? This is my first time hearing about it." Chojuro scratches his head.

"Otogakure is a small hidden village from the Land of Sound and was found recently. I don't have much information about them."

Kabuto shakes his head.

Huh…

The Sound Shinobi turns towards Kabuto as he overhears the conversation.

"So, you Konoha bastard think that we of the Sound Village are small fries and pushovers." The Sound Shinobi angrily snarls at Kabuto.

Whoosh…

He flickers in front of Kabuto and punches him.

Swoosh…

Kabuto jumps back and avoids the attack.

"I dodged it."

Shoom… Crack…

A shockwave travels through the air as Kabuto's glasses crack.

"I thought I dodged it. Guffaw…"

Kabuto vomits out a little amount of blood as keels on his knees.

"Kabuto-san…"

Chojuro jumps in front of Kabuto and draws his blade as he faces the Sound Shinobi.

--------------

Outside the Academy hall,

Izuna is walking alongside a tall, imposing man.

The man is very tall with a rugged head and his face is covered with two diagonals scars running from his forehead to his chin. He is dressed in a long black trench coat with a flak jacket and chain-mail armor beneath the jacket.

The man has a stoic expression as he walks alongside Izuna.

"Man Ibiki… with that ever-present stoic expression you look like a terminator rather than an instructor."

Izuna jokes with Ibiki.

"Here… you should smile like this."

Izuna stretches his lips with his hands to form a smile.

"Hmph… I had my fair share of pain and hardship. I had forgotten what a smile is. These scars carved on my face are proof of the immense torture I endured in the past. Now it has been forever imprinted on my face."

Ibiki calmly walks towards the academy hall.

'When I first met with him, he reminded me of terminator.'

Izuna shakes his head and follows Ibiki.

"Needless to say, you would be the proctor for this round of examination. I especially requested the Hokage-sama to deploy you for the position."

Izuna informs him.

"I am a member of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Squad. Why would you ask me to babysit a bunch of genins during this exam?"

Ibiki questions Izuna.

"Well…"

Izuna scratches his head as he replies.

"I just want to scare a few rude kids, and who would be better than the Terminator himself?"

Hmm…

Ibiki ignores Izuna and enters inside the Academy hall.

"Well, looks like he can't take a joke."

Izuna awkwardly scratches his head and flickers away.

"I will let him play with those genins."

---------------

Inside the Academy hall,

Clang… clang…

Chojuro is engaged in a fight with the Sound Ninja as he deflects his attacks with his sword.

"A swordsman. Huh!"

The Sound Ninja chuckles as he throws multiple kunais at Chojuro.

"Honestly, I thought the shinobi of large nations would be worth a challenge. But from the looks of it, they are a bunch of pussies. Slick…"

Huh!

The rest of the genins angrily stares at the Sound Ninja.

The Sound Ninja disappears and reappears behind Chojuro as he tries to stab him.

'This is bad. I have to use the ability of the sword.'

Chojuro infuses some chakra in his blade as it starts to glow with blue light.

Poof…

A large puff of smoke appears in the center of the academy hall.

Whoosh…

The smoke clears out to reveal Ibiki.

"Silence! Degenerates!"

Ibiki yells at the genins as he stares at them like a predatory hawk.

Gulp…

Chojuro gulps his saliva and stops his attack. The Sound Ninja also stops in his tracks as Ibiki's gaze is focused on him.

'Man… this guy is really scary.'

The Sound Ninja retreats to his teammates.

"I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor of the first test of the Chunnin exam."

Ibiki scrutinizes every genin with his piercing gaze as his eyes rest on the Sound Ninja.

"Any pig that tries to screw with me will be immediately disqualified. Now with this… the first test of the chunnin exam starts."