𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟐𝟖 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐬: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

"First of all, congratulations on finishing the second exam!"

My chest feels heavy as I look around the room at the other examinees. Our team had been the very last to arrive, and just in time, too, as Iruka-sensei had said. We ended the first exam with twenty-six teams, and now, the second with only twenty-five Genin. The other rookie teams and Lee's team made it through, the same with those three Sand Shinobi we'd run into, the team of Sound Shinobi we'd met during the first exam, and that Snow Shinobi team I'd seen the day before the first exam.

Looking closer at them, I realize there's a fourth member belonging to Lee's team, standing at the back of their group. I guess we aren't the only odd group around, then, I think, carefully eyeing the girl to see if I'd recognized her from anywhere. Nope.

"All right, listen up!" Ms. Anko shouts. "Lord Hokage will explain the third exam!" She turns to him. "They're all yours, Lord Hokage."

With a nod, he steps forward to address us.

"First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test, itself," he says. "Listen closely, now. This is something that all of you need to understand, because I'm going to tell you the true purpose of the exams.

"Why, do you suppose, our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?" After a moment, I shrug. "To raise the ability levels of our Shinobi, and increase friendship between allied nations, to be sure, but it is important that you understand its true meaning.

"The exams are... so to speak... the representation of battle between allied nations."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Tenten asks.

"Well, if we look at our history, all of the countries that we are currently allied with were once neighbouring nations that continuously fought with each other for power," Lord Hokage says. "In order to avoid destroying the others' military strength meaninglessly, those nations picked champions to do battle in a selected location. That was how the Chūnin Selection Exams originally began."

"That's great and all, but why do we have to go through those exams, then?" Naruto asks. "It's not like we're doing this to pick Chūnin to go fight."

"Now, there is no question that part of these exams selects Shinobi that are worthy of becoming Chūnin," Lord Hokage says. "That's just not the whole story. These exams are to prove that Shinobi can carry the pride of their nations on their backs, and fight against other Ninja for their very lives.

"The pride of... their nations?" I repeat.

"Many leaders and people from prominent countries are invited to attend this exam as guests, and also, possibly, seek Shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your Ninja work from here on out. Most importantly, these rooters will watch your battles and take note of the strength that each nation and each Ninja is developing. If there is a gap in power between countries, the strong nation is enunciated with job requests for their Ninja, and conversely, for countries that are deemed weak, decline.