Dignitaries sat in the highest audience seats to watch, while villagers and ninjas were squeezed into the spectator stands on the left and right.
It was a stark reflection of the rigid social hierarchy.
Throughout his matches, Kiyoshi had encountered nothing but cannon fodder, defeating them easily in a few moves.
Some even recognized Kiyoshi and chose to surrender immediately.
"Is that a ninja from the Uchiha clan?" Kiyoshi's impressive performance naturally caught the attention of the Fire Daimyō.
The Daimyō had traveled a great distance to attend the ceremony.
Even he was uneasy about the recently destabilized situation and was eager to learn about the Hidden Leaf's emerging strength.
If the Land of Fire were to lose the war, his interests would also suffer.
The enemy nations would surely greedily carve up the Land of Fire's resources.
"Yes, that is Kiyoshi Uchiha." Hiruzen, who refrained from smoking at such a grand event today, nodded.
"An excellent performance. I hope the other examinees can be similar, let me see the situation of the Hidden Leaf in recent years."
"The Daimyō will not be disappointed." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled.
Most ninjas did not engage in production, and only Genin did odd jobs.
Chūnin and above were almost exclusively involved in dangerous missions such as assassination, escort, and infiltration.
The economic source for ninjas came from the remuneration for mission requests.
However, such income was unstable. To develop the village's economy, funding from the Daimyō was necessary.
In turn, the Daimyō could develop his country more securely with the help of these ninjas. It was a relationship of mutual cooperation.
In other words, the Daimyō was their biggest mission-requesting client.
"Kiyoshi Uchiha…" Mei Terumi watched Kiyoshi from the stands, gnashing her teeth.
Ever since Hōzuki's death, she had been training relentlessly, solely to avenge her comrade.
Mei Terumi deeply cherished the comrades forged in the bloodshed of the Village Hidden Mist, also known as the Bloody Mist.
Because of the policies, everyone was scheming against each other and setting traps.
The ninjas were cold and insincere, like Kisame Hoshigaki—smiling without warmth.
Mei Terumi strongly disliked this.
She had long been determined to change all of this, which was why she was willing to volunteer to come to the Hidden Leaf for the Chunin Exams.
She wanted to showcase her talent and prove herself in front of everyone, thereby earning a better resume upon her return.
She wanted to become the Fifth Mizukage and change everything!
The current Third Mizukage was already aging.
The next successor to the Mizukage was likely to be the village genius Yagura Karatachi.
So Mei Terumi was aiming for the generation after that, the Fifth Mizukage!
Yet, shortly after leaving the village and arriving at the Hidden Leaf, she lost a valued comrade right at the start!
All of this was ruined by that despicable Kiyoshi Uchiha.
The more Mei Terumi thought about it, the angrier she became. She wished she could take Kiyoshi down right now and make him pay for his actions.
"Mei Terumi, be careful to control your emotions. This is not inside the village." Jūzō Biwa, the squad leader Jōnin from the Hidden Mist, spoke up.
He carried a massive Beheading Sword on his back.
"Yes, Lord Jūzō." Mei Terumi nodded, suppressing the emotions in her heart.
This was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and she had no choice but to show him respect.
"I'm really looking forward to fighting him." Kaguya Katsuya felt the bones in his body heating up.
Only a powerhouse like Kiyoshi was worthy of a battle using his Shikotsumyaku.
"Next, Kiyoshi Uchiha from the Hidden Leaf Village versus Mei Terumi from the Hidden Mist Village!"
Since the number of selected ninjas exceeded previous years, they were using a bracket-style tournament.
The winning ninja would receive a set amount of rest time to recover chakra before facing the next opponent.
"Mei Terumi, huh." Kiyoshi, who was in the center of the arena, ate a soldier pill to recover chakra.
He had thought his opponent would be Katsuya Kaguya or one of the ninjas from the Hidden Stone Village.
But facing Mei Terumi didn't change things.
Seeing such a charming woman, Kiyoshi decided to help her increase her strength.
After all, during the Five Kage vs. Madara fight, Mei Terumi's performance was rather underwhelming, and she kept saying discouraging things.
And the best way to help someone increase their strength was to establish a target of hatred.
Conveniently, Kiyoshi could also gain Dōjutsu power from Mei Terumi's reaction.
It was a win-win situation.
"What are you smiling at?" Mei Terumi, who had just leaped down from the nearby spectator waiting area, frowned slightly.
Kiyoshi's smile instinctively gave her an ominous feeling.
"Nothing." Kiyoshi shook his head.
"Kiyoshi Uchiha, do you wish to rest for a while longer?" The proctor looked at Kiyoshi.
"It's fine, let's begin immediately." Kiyoshi declined his suggestion.
The bracket system used in this reform truly put the continuous winners at a disadvantage.
The short rest time was simply not enough to recover to full strength.
Kiyoshi knew this, and he believed the high-ranking officials and dignitaries above knew it too.
In a nice way, this Chunin Exam was a microcosm of nations, where they fought for their respective countries.
But bluntly, they were just a bunch of fighting insects.
It was just as Hiruzen Sarutobi himself had said: a ninja's true talent could only be awakened in a life-and-death struggle, necessitating a fight to the death.
The final question of the first written exam was also a test of a ninja's courage to accept dangerous missions without fear of death.
To put it simply, wasn't this just about being tools and consumables?
"Hmph, I won't hold back." Even Mei Terumi's cold sneer carried a certain seductive charm.
Kiyoshi quietly observed Mei Terumi.
This woman, who radiated a seductive aura from her bones, had her burgeoning figure nicely outlined by her tight ninja combat uniform.
"Begin!" The proctor gave the command.
With the command, Mei Terumi performed the hand signs for Water Release.
"Water Release…" Her cheeks puffed up, looking full and taut.
"Hiding in Mist Technique." Mei Terumi exhaled a large volume of mist, covering the entire arena.
"Heh heh, Kiyoshi Uchiha, now let's see how you die." Mei Terumi smiled slightly, thinking about avenging her comrade.
In this exam, no one would investigate if someone died.
Everyone had signed the documents before the second round began. The Hidden Leaf side couldn't use this to pressure the Hidden Mist.
After all, the Hidden Leaf had already agreed to this rule, and death between ninjas was a common occurrence.
"Is that so? I look forward to it." Kiyoshi returned a smile.
Although he couldn't see Mei Terumi's face, Kiyoshi could sense she was smiling.
The Water Release: Hiding in Mist Jutsu was only a low-rank D-rank Ninjutsu.
Yet, it could achieve something that many S-rank techniques could not: obscuring the sight of the Rinnegan!
Kiyoshi's current Sharingan would naturally also be obscured by this mist.
Only the Byakugan could easily disregard this mist and directly lock onto the caster.
This was why the Hidden Mist would later go to great lengths to seize the Byakugan, and why Aoi, a Jōnin from the Hidden Mist, carried a Talisman: Sealing Tag with him 24 hours a day after stealing a Byakugan from the Hyūga Main Family.
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