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***
Itachi's room.
"Oh, it's already been three days. It's so suffocating."
A purple-haired boy leaned against the open window, gazing at the misty village before him and complained.
The boy's name was Yafu, and he had graduated from the Ninja Academy a year before Itachi and the others.
The contestants from Konoha, Suna, Kumo, and Iwa had been staying in this building for three days.
During this time, Shikaku, Baki, and the others had restricted them from leaving the building or entering Kirigakure.
Kirigakure was unlike Konoha.
Free movement within the village was forbidden, especially for ninjas from other nations like Yafu.
Itachi and Shinichi Hattori, both sitting behind Yafu and to his left, exchanged a glance upon hearing his complaints.
They both understood that the delay in the Five Nations Chunin Exams was due to the rules being applied, which must be different from the ones they were familiar with.
Shinichi Hattori had been feeling nervous.
His skills weren't considered exceptional even among Konoha's Genin, let alone when facing the best Genin from the other four great nations.
His insight and thinking were undoubtedly exceptional, but in such an elite competition, there were certainly those with greater abilities and more experience in missions.
With this in mind, Shinichi glanced at Itachi beside him.
He understood that the reason he and Daisuke Kido were qualified to take part in this exam was largely due to Itachi's exceptional ability to read minds, and he certainly knew Shinichi's thoughts.
While Daisuke Kido and Shinichi Hattori were both promising prospects, they had only graduated from the Ninja Academy a little over six months ago, and certainly had a gap compared to the carefully selected competitors from various nations.
Even so, Itachi was confident that he could lead them to victory in the Chunin Exams.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten the most important thing: to execute the plan he had previously laid out with the Fourth Hokage.
Ever since leaving Konoha, Itachi had always been cautious.
As a former member of Akatsuki, he was well aware of the abilities of Zetsu, the organization's intelligence officer.
With Zetsu's abilities, even with Itachi's experience and insight, he might not be able to detect him lurking in the shadows.
Shisui had previously used the power of his left eye against Pain, and while he failed, it might have put the enemy on guard.
Knock, knock!
Just as Itachi was contemplating something, there was a sudden knock on the door.
He snapped to his senses, only to find the boy closest to the door had already flung it wide open.
It was Shikaku.
Shikaku stepped forward, entered the room, and, glancing around at everyone, said, "Go tell everyone to pack your belongings and gather at the front of the building immediately."
"Yes!"
The boys, including Yafu, responded and sprang into action.
Itachi and Shinichi Hattori's faces trembled slightly at this.
From Shikaku's words, it seemed the customary first written exam of the Chunin Exams had been canceled.
Furthermore, the leaders of the five nations had spent three days preparing together, so the upcoming exams were definitely not going to be easy.
A few minutes later, in front of the five-story building, the participating Genin from Konoha and the other four nations stood at a distance, in groups of three.
Besides them, at the very edge of the building, six people wearing Kirigakure forehead protectors stood in two groups.
Surprisingly, there were only two groups of participating Genin from Kirigakure.
Furthermore, among those six stood a white-haired boy, half a head shorter than his companions.
He looked only six or seven years old, so his presence among the twelve or thirteen-year-old competitors immediately attracted considerable attention.
The boy met these glances with a cold indifference, his dark grey eyes expressionless.
"That kid looks so young, and yet he's taking the Chunin Exams?"
Mitsumi, a kunoichi from Izumi's team, exclaimed in surprise at the white-haired boy.
"Don't underestimate your opponent just because he's young. Don't forget, he's a contestant sent by Kirigakure,"
Shinichi Hattori reminded in a deep voice.
It was rare to be able to take part in the Chunin Exams at such a young age, but the ninja world itself is not short of people with talent.
Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi were all such people.
Itachi then turned his eyes and paused on the boy who looked very young.
"Mangetsu Hozuki."
Although the boy was young, even Itachi had heard of his name.
Because Mangetsu Hozuki was the only genius in the history of Kirigakure who could skillfully manipulate seven ninja swords with different abilities at the same time.
The Hozuki clan itself was a major clan in Kirigakure.
The Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, came from this clan.
Itachi remembered that before his rebirth, Sasuke had formed a team called Snake, and there was a young man named Suigetsu Hozuki.
Suigetsu Hozuki was Mangetsu's younger brother.
When Itachi looked at Mangetsu, Mangetsu noticed and glanced back.
Mangetsu looked at Itachi, and a smile gradually appeared on his once stern face.
However, that smile didn't reveal any kindness, but rather a deeply sinister feeling.
A cold glint of murderous intent flashed in the boy's dark greyeyes.
Although Mangetsu Hozuki was young, he had clearly experienced many deaths.
However, his gaze naturally had no effect on Itachi.
Since even the Cloud and Sand ninja had shown special care for Itachi, Kirigakure was no exception.
Few people noticed Mangetsu's gaze, but within Iwa, Deidara had been watching Itachi.
So, following Itachi's gaze, he happened to see the murderous intent in Mangetsu Hozuki's eyes.
He raised his golden eyebrows slightly, and then an unhappy expression emerged on his face.
So, Deidara also stared at Mangetsu Hozuki, with a gloomy look in his eyes.
Deidara certainly didn't want to really help Itachi, but since the last mission, he had already decided that Itachi's life could only be taken by him.
Mangetsu Hozuki would not be scared by the threat of Deidara's eyes.
He turned his eyes away from Itachi and looked at Deidara, also looking at him with murderous eyes.
Swish!
In front of the team of the five countries' Genin, the squad leaders of the five countries appeared.
Mei Terumi moved and instantly appeared in the center, then looked at the dozens of contestants in front of her and said:
"I believe everyone has been waiting impatiently for the past few days."
"So, I declare that the first exam of the Chunin Exam, hosted by Kirigakure and jointly organized by the five nations, will begin immediately!"
...
"Now, I will explain the rules of this first exam."
Mei Terumi glanced at the Genin from the five nations, then pulled a red scroll from the ninja tool bag behind her.
"The purpose of the Chunin Exam is to assess your ability to truly carry out missions as ninja. Therefore, the rules for this exam have been revised.
And this exam will not be held within Kirigakure. In other words, your exam will be held within the entire Land of Water."
At these words, all the examinees looked surprised.
Even Itachi's expression changed slightly when he heard these rules.
This kind of exam was completely unheard of.
No major nation would allow a large number of ninja from other nations to operate freely within its borders.
But at this thought, Itachi's heart sank slightly, and his eyes narrowed as he glanced towards the Mizukage Building, the tallest building in Kirigakure.
He immediately sensed that the Fourth Mizukage, the masked man, would exploit this rule to target him, and so he agreed to the rules of the exam.
At this point, Mei Terumi held up a red scroll and continued, "I will give each ninja team participating in this exam a scroll like this."
"This scroll contains half of the mission information.
Each team will hold the same scroll and leave Kirigakure in a different time sequence. You must find the scroll containing the other half of the mission information. After completing the mission on the scroll, you must return to the village to complete the mission."
"This..."
After Mei Terumi announced the rules of the exam, the expressions of most of the dozens of candidates immediately grew solemn.
As specially selected candidates from various countries, they were no fools.
Each red scroll contained only half of the mission information, meaning that only half of the candidates present could complete the mission.
And this was based solely on the number of missions.
In reality, no one knew which team's red scroll contained the mission information that matched their own.
Piecing together the mission information itself was an extremely difficult task.
Therefore, finding a way to piece it together was the most crucial step in this exam.
This level of difficulty was so great that even a team of average Chunin, let alone Genin, might not be able to accomplish it in such a competitive and adversarial environment.
The key to the exam lay in intelligence gathering, not sheer reliance on force.
Even the strongest teams couldn't simply snatch scrolls from each other and then verify the information.
"Next, I'll shuffle the scrolls in front of you," said Mei Terumi.
Behind her, a Kirigakure ninja carried a table.
On the table lay dozens of red scrolls, the same red as the one in Terumi's hand.
The Kirigakure ninja placed the table in front of Terumi and then placed an open black box in front of it, roughly the same size as the table itself.
All the contestants' eyes fell on the table.
"Chi!"
Beside Itachi, Izumi's eyes suddenly shuddered, turning blood red.
Seeing this, Itachi chuckled inwardly and similarly activated his Sharingan, then gazed at the scrolls on the table.
The rules of this first exam were indeed quite difficult, so since Mei Terumi had deliberately shuffled the scrolls in front of the participating candidates, there must have been a hidden meaning behind this.
By observing the positions of the scrolls on the table, some information could be gleaned.
At this moment, Mei Terumi flicked her hand gently, throwing the red scroll in her hand.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of red scrolls shot out, impacting the edge of the tabletop, tilting it slightly before swiftly landing in the open black box directly in front.
Even the scroll Terumi had thrown was no exception.
As the last scroll was about to land in the black box, the two Kirigakure ninjas from earlier appeared on either side of the box, grasping it from either side and lifting it up.
Then, with a powerful swish, they swung it towards Itachi and the others.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The red scrolls that had just landed in the black box continued to fly towards the group.
Mei Terumi's voice followed.
"Each team will take a scroll. The order in which they receive the scrolls will determine their departure order from Kirigakure."
"However, no action is allowed in Kirigakure."
Swish!
Before she could finish her words, figures emerged from the various national camps.
These people had already guessed something, even before Mei Terumi had fully announced the rules.
Among them were Atsui from Kumogakure, Shinobu from Sunagakure, Deidara, Mangetsu Hozuki, and Izumi.
But Itachi didn't act immediately.
He believed that the order of departure wasn't a good thing.
They each locked onto their target scrolls and seized them with speed far exceeding anyone else's.
After receiving the scrolls, several people immediately stopped, their gazes fixed on the others rushing behind them to grab them.
Meanwhile, Itachi, slightly behind them, also took a scroll and exited the throng.
Itachi, too, was observing.
Soon, each team received a scroll.
Mei Terumi and the Kirigakure ninjas, observing from the sidelines, had already memorized the order in which the teams received the scrolls.
"Let's go, in the order in which we received the scrolls," Mei Terumi said, her gaze fixed on Atsui of Kumogakure.
"Sister, we're leaving!"
Atsu said to Samui, the voluptuous female Jonin from Kumogakure, and then, with her team, quickly rushed out of Kirigakure.
"You can't let anyone else kill you. You're mine!"
Deidara glanced at Itachi, smiled, and left with Akatsuchi and another Iwa ninja.
"Itachi, let's go."
The third person to receive the scroll was Izumi.
She nodded at Itachi, a look of determination on her pretty face.
"I will definitely pass the exam with my companions!"
Izumi spent most of her time with Itachi, and now she was considered to be among the best among the candidates.
"Yeah!"
Itachi responded.
He was not worried that she would fail.
Mangetsu Hozuki, with a cold look in his dark grey eyes, lingered on Itachi for a moment, grinned, and then left as well.
"Hattori, Kido, let's go too," Itachi said to his two companions beside him, turned his eyes, and nodded slightly to Shikaku.
Swish!
Then, the three of them rushed off in the same direction as the previous teams.
....
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