When the second phase of the exam was over, twenty-one ninja passed and they all advanced to the preliminary rounds. Naruko was feeling a lot better since she had two days to rest and recover.
The preliminary rounds started. "First of all congratulations on finishing the second exam." 'Huh there were seventy-eight ninjas who took the exam. Frankly, I'm surprised that even twenty-one passed. I knew that less than half would make it but I really thought that the number would be in the single digits' Anko thought.
Shikamaru looked away and said "what a drag. There's so many left. This is such a pain." Ino looked over at sasuke, smiled and said in a cheerful tone "sasuke and his team passed to." "Well of course they did. After all the trouble we went though to keep them safe they better have passed" shikamaru said.
Might guy tried to talk to kakashi saying that his team was lucky to have passed and he was also saying how his team was doomed since the next part of the test was to test their abilities. His team has them far outclassed. After his little speech guy was mad to have found out that the whole time kakashi wasn't listening.
'So that's guy-sensei's old rival huh? Well if I'd had to judge them on looks alone I'd say guy-sensei would loss' tenten thought. Lee looked at might guy and thought 'guy-sensei is just the coolest teacher ever. Just watch guy-sensei, someday I'll make you proud of me.' Lee then thought about his fight with team dosu protecting team seven 'I do not want to see tears from anyone close to me ever again. That is why I am never gonna lose again guy-sensei… never!'
'As expected all the best are here.' Neji looked at sasuke 'sasuke uchiha huh' neji thought. 'I can't believe it, only seven teams out of twenty-six are left' temari thought. 'Naruko passed too thank goodness' hinata thought while playing with her fingers.
"Hey look! All of the leaf village rookies are here too" sakura said. "Whoa everybody is here, old man hokage, Iruka-sensei, and even bushy brow. It looks like absolutely nobody got left out this time" naruko said. Sasuke put his hand over his shoulder and said "I don't have a very good feeling about this."
'It's hard to believe that there are so many left after the second test and so many of them are rookies. That's why they fought so hard to recommend them' Sarutobi thought. "Alright now pay attention. Lord hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully maggots. Lord hokage they're all yours" Anko said.
Sarutobi nodded his head and stepped forward. "First before I tell you what the third exam entails I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, it's something that all of you need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams. Why do you suppose our country holds this exam in conjunction with our allies? To raise the ability levels of the shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations. To be sure but it's important that you understand it's true meaning. The exams are so to speak… there are representations of the battle between allied nations" Sarutobi said shocking a couple people.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tenten said. "Now if we look at our history all the countries that we're currently allied with were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other military strength meaninglessly, those nations picked champions to battle on behalf of their countries in a mutually selected location. That was how the chunin selection exams originally began." Everyone was shocked. "There is no question that part of the point of these exams is to select shinobi worthy of becoming chunin. That's just not the whole story. These exams also allow for a place where shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives" Sarutobi said.
"The pride of their nation?" Sakura said. "Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries are invited to attend this exam as guest and also possibly to seek shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work from here on out and more importantly those rulers will watch your battles and take note of the strengths that each ninja and each nation is developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja and conversely the request to countries that are demanded weak decline. Therefore, the stronger our nation is the better our position when it comes to negotiating with neighboring countries. So it's important to show how much military strength our village has" Sarutobi said.
"Ok but even so why is it necessary for us to risk our lives?" Kiba said. Sarutobi said "the countries strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the shinobi's strength and the true strength of the shinobi is only activated when it's pushed to it's limits such as in a life or death battle. This exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of it's shinobi and hence the strength of the nation it's self. It's because this is an exam where your life is on the line. That it has meaning and it's for this very reason that for the strength of the nation that you're forerunners fought in this exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for."
"Then why did you use the expression friendship before?" Tenten asked concerned. Sarutobi then said "but you've only remembered half of what I said. You also mustn't have the wrong idea of the exams meaning. This is a custom where balance is preserved by fighting and dying. In the world of the shinobi, that is friendship. The third exam is a fight for life with the pride of your village and your own dreams at stake."
While that was happening naruko couldn't help but think back to a time when she still lived in the village of light. She was at the academy in her history class. Her sensei was telling everyone the exact same thing except she was explaining why almost no one outside the village knew that they existed and why they held their own chunin exams.
Flashback
"All the other villages currently allied with one another were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly. Those nations picked champions to battle on behalf of their countries. There is no question that part of the point of their exams is to select shinobi worthy of becoming chunin. That's not the whole story. These exams also allow for a place where shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives. That's part of the reason why almost nobody outside the village knows about us so we can avoid any conflict against other villages. It's also the reason why we hold our own chunin exams instead of going to theirs. Some say that the forerunners that fought in these exams are truly a dream worth striving for but that's up to all of you." The bell rang. "Ok everyone class is over. Go home safely and have a great rest of your day" the teacher said.
Everyone left class to get their backpacks and head home. The whole time naruko couldn't get the topic off her mind. 'I never knew that all of that actually happened' naruko thought. She was having trouble processing everything she just heard.
While naruko was walking down the hallways she heard some of the other kids in her class talking about the topic. "All of that really happened." "There is no way that is truly a dream worth striving for." "I know right." "If that's what the chunin exams are about then there is no way I'm taking those exams. I'll become a chunin another way or I'll just be a genin my whole life."
When naruko got home she saw Riba sitting on the couch reading a book. She walked over to him and said "hey dad." Riba put the book down and said "hey naruko, how was school?" "It was… fine. Dad can I ask you something?" Naruko said. "Sure princess, what is it?" Riba said. Naruko then told him everything her teacher told her.
"Is everything sensei told us true?" Naruko asked. Riba sighed and said "it's true. This world can be cruel, that's why in this world you have to be ready for anything. When you finally become a shinobi you are going to face a lot of challenges and a lot of hardships. Do you understand?" Naruko nodded her head and said "I understand."
Flashback end
After a bit of silence gaara demanded that he finally explain what the details of the exam is. Just as the old man was about to explain, a ninja appeared in front of him and requested to be the proctor for the preliminary rounds. The old man granted the ninja's request to be the proctor for the preliminary rounds. When he explained the rules, Kabuto surprisingly forfeited. I was a bit sad about it but it's his choice not mine.