CH_85

"Looks like the written exam results are posted." Natchi had just noticed some commotion at the bulletin board and dashed over on his own.

"Let him go check. We'll wait here." Tōji said to Neru.

"Yeah—barring any surprises, our squad should have scored full marks and passed the first round." Neru sounded fairly confident.

"We passed! We made it through the written exam!" Natchi's voice came from a distance as he pushed his way out of the crowd, waving his hands and shouting.

"Alright—let's head over. They're probably about to announce the second exam." Tōji started walking toward the main entrance of the Academy building, where several proctors were already standing.

After about ten minutes, all the remaining examinees had gathered together. The proctors hadn't said a word to urge or rush anyone.

The eliminated examinees drifted away from the Academy in twos and threes.

When the crowd seemed settled, one of the proctors—dressed in jōnin attire—stepped forward.

"I am your proctor for the first exam, Yūhi Shinku. The results have been posted. Congratulations to all of you here."

Hearing the name Yūhi Shinku, Tōji took a closer look… His eyes were red, but aside from that one feature, he was otherwise quite ordinary.

Yūhi Shinku—Konoha wasn't that big, yet this was Tōji's first time seeing him in person. But unless something changed, Shinku had only about a year and a half left to live…

"Your second Chūnin Exam will also be proctored by me. It will take place in the Forest of Death—but before that, you'll need to sign a consent form." As Shinku spoke, another proctor beside him held up a "waiver of liability."

None of the examinees reacted with surprise—as if they'd known about it in advance, or simply found it normal and reasonable.

"To pass the second exam, all three members of a squad must personally deliver this item to me." As he spoke, yet another proctor produced a white scroll.

The scroll looked completely blank—nothing written or drawn on it.

"There are nine such scrolls hidden in the Forest of Death. After 72 hours, the proctors will retrieve any scrolls that have not been submitted to me. Those who have signed the consent form may now proceed on their own." With that, Shinku vanished using Body Flicker… The remaining proctors didn't bother guiding the examinees on what to do next.

『So efficient…』

Unlike the others, Tōji and his squad didn't rush to grab a consent form. Since they were standing further back anyway, there was no point—they'd be better off stepping aside to discuss.

"The Forest of Death itself is dangerous enough—but the real threat is probably the other examinees." Neru was the first to analyze.

"That's why we have to sign the waiver. Still, this round isn't too bad—13 teams fighting for 9 scrolls." Natchi was relieved that his first exam was easier than previous years.

"Not necessarily all 9 teams will get a scroll. There's still a third exam—some squads might try to eliminate one or two more teams in the second round to thin the competition." Tōji warned Natchi not to get too complacent.

"Do you find it strange? The proctor said to deliver the scroll to him—but he never said where he'd be…" Neru was still the observant one.

"And he didn't explicitly say the second exam ends after 72 hours—he said the proctors would be dispatched…" Tōji pointed out something he'd noticed as well.

"The scrolls themselves look completely featureless—easy to counterfeit. And we don't even know how to verify if a scroll is genuine…" Neru picked up where Tōji left off, adding another detail worth paying attention to.

The two of them went back and forth, while Natchi just stood quietly nodding along.