Chunin Exam Arc: Mountain Maze

Yuina walked in a loose form, half expecting to be attacked, as they were led through a dark, cool tunnel which led them outside the village. She was only slightly eased that they were led as a group and didn't venture far. The group stopped on a large artificial stone platform.

"Welcome to Mt. Kiken! The location of the second round of the Chunin Exam." Ishira marveled at the peak. Yuina was more interested in looking down. It went incredibly far down before the mountain peak merged with other mountainous stone. Ishira wrapped an arm around Tsuda Tazuka's neck, pulling him closer.

The light feeling of Yuina's heart as she held back a laugh when she learned his name was a pleasant memory among the stress. Names based on nature weren't uncommon, but she found it ironic that the person she worked well with during the first round, a potential future enemy, was named Tsuda as in harbor rice paddy and Tazuku as in tilling a rice field. Iwagakure didn't have rice fields, so maybe it had an origin before Iwa's conception like Hatake was for her. It was an arbitrary thing to be fixated on, yet it brought her joy. If it wasn't for borders, they may have gotten along.

Ah, well. That wasn't the reality of things. Their nations hated each other, and they were competing against each other during the exam.

Ishira pointed to the few participants who arrived before them. "See Tazuka? You should have taken advantage of the situation and gotten more of them disqualified."

Considering the low numbers, they either got rid of the competition while they could or they passed together and now chose to keep their distance. Yuina couldn't say their group was doing the same thing. People were inching away as soon as they could.

Ishira looked over her shoulder back at the rest of them. "No offense!" Offense was taken long ago. Yuina wasn't the only one who felt stifled. Ishira stepped away from Tazuka. "Anyway, that man over there is Dazai. He's the person in charge of round two, so stick around and wait for his instructions."

"Yuina!" A few minutes later the next group arrived through the passage with another four people. Yuina could say that she honestly hadn't expected Masumi to make it through. She was a fresh genin and came along because Kushina tricked her into it. She had been so nervous about participating that Yuina didn't believe she would last long. Masumi hugged her without consent as a few tears fell from her eyes. The action made some participants look their way judgingly. "I'm so happy to see you." Yuina assumed Masumi wasn't happy about seeing her specifically, but more generally as another nin from Konoha. Yuina awkwardly patted the girl's back, unsure of what to do.

Yuina took note of his unnatural skin colour, white eyes, and markings under his eyes that gave off an appearance of a shark. He was tall, but he was still losing baby fat, so there was a good change he would grow to be even taller. He had to be in his early teens, at oldest. Puberty at its finest. It wasn't just him. Many of the people competing were around that age. Aside his appearance, what stood out to her was that the only person with him was a proctor.

Yuina's stomach sank, wondering what happened to everyone else. One person was extreme even if people turned on each other.

Another two groups came. This time with a lot more people, including another familiar face. Yori and Nobu approached them. "Hey." Yori shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Nobu!" Masumi finally released Yuina to jump towards her teammate to hug him. His face lit up with how tightly she held him.

"I'm assuming people turned on each other in your group," said Yori to Masumi.

"Did they not in yours?" Masumi missed seeing the other eight that came in with Yori, having been too enthusiastic about spotting Nobu in the group behind.

"Thankfully, people can be reasoned with. No point turning on each other when there's no one to turn on." Masumi and Yuina looked at Yori incredulously while Nobu nodded in agreement.

"So that's how it was." Yuina bit her thumb's nail. She knew every group couldn't have recognizable faces to infiltrate. There were still transformations to look out for, and there had to be other methods of blending in, but the groups weren't the same from the start. If someone tried to eavesdrop or spy on another group to copy their reasoning or results, it would have failed. "Glad it worked out for you. We had two."

Yori's eyes widened as she realized it hadn't been a ruse for everyone.

"We had one, but…" Masumi released Nobu and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unable to stand still. She looked over to a Suna-nin with blond hair and grey eyes. She didn't elaborate further, but something must have happened with the way Masumi shivered.

"Yori." Mushiro joined in. "Urg." He didn't trust his legs and sat on the floor. "It's worse than last time." He yanked his hair in distress.

"It was always going to be different than last time." Yori rolled her eyes. It was a while since she dealt with Mushiro's antics regularly, but she liked the nostalgia.

"Different, yes. But it didn't have to be worse." He tugged at his hair harder. Yuina was surprised he hadn't ripped it out.

Yuina caught sight of Zabuza strolling in with only a proctor too. She had to wonder what they were teaching over in Kiri. That was two now. It may have been unfair. It was only two out of the ten Kiri-nin who had made it through so far, and there was a

Maybe that was unfair. It was two out of the ten Kiri-nin who had made it through so far. Still, she needed to keep an eye out for them. It was a telling sign of the mind frame they entered the exams with. Yuina didn't blame them. If anything, she thought that it was in the spirit of the exams. No, she needed to keep her eyes on them for intent and abilities. If anyone was going to make it to the final round, it would be genin like them.

The other Konoha-nin kept talking while she inspected everyone who had passed the first round. The first round had certainly slashed the numbers, but there were still a fair number of contestants.

Yuina spotted Noriaki and Koberi talking to each other further away. Ryuu, Hiro, and Takasue were noticeably missing. Seven out of ten of them passing wasn't bad though by any metric.

A few more groups arrived before a proctor leading a group gave a thumbs up.

Dazai took it as the signal to start.

"That did nicely to cut down on numbers," said Dazai. The cloak-like jacket he wore over the standard Iwa-uniform flapped with the wind.

Yuina had a ballpark estimate of how many genin had entered between talking to people, spying, and watching the flood of people line up for the first round, but having everyone together in one group was a surprising realization how many there still were.

The last round was always a tournament to showcase the best talent. She heard sometimes the numbers or rules changed, but the most frequent number was sixteen people due to numbers that worked well for tournaments, and the estimated time required to complete the tournament. Yuina had heard of a few attempts to host larger tournaments. A few attempts of thirty-two in the final round had to be held over multiple days, and it turned into a festival – a failed attempt to bring in more money. Between the organization and the extra security needed, it likely failed to achieve that.

"Those of you here aren't completely incompetent, but there's still much more to prove." His words aggravated some people. It would be a better idea to have them channel their negative energy into motivation rather than blind them hot headedly. "You will all be given a random scroll and be designated an entrance number." That explained why there were so many holes so high up a mountain.

"You must make your way to the victory room. Each scroll will show a section of the mountain layout or offer a piece of advice." An incentive to combat against each other or work together. "You have five days." They'd be dehydrated after three days. There had to be a water source, but she couldn't imagine there being plenty of options. With as many people as there were, that could easily become a bloodbath, especially as more days passed.

"Each scroll is also in either black or red ink. You'll need one of each to enter the victory room." Okay, guaranteed combat rather than cooperation. It would cut the group in half at a minimum. "If you leave the mountain at any point, you will be disqualified. Oh, and one last thing." Dazai paused, creating a dramatic suspense. "Regardless of the time limit. Only the first sixteen to arrive will pass. Use your time wisely."

Konoha Ninja Index

Team Kushina: Uchiha Ryuu, Hayakawa Masumi, Aburame Nobu

Team Inoichi: Kinoko Koberi, Sarutobi Noriaki, Hagane 'Hiro' Hirochika

Team Hizashi: Nara Yori, Mezato Takasue, Kamizuki Mushiro