Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 428 The Second Exam (Fifth update, please vote!)

After all the eliminated candidates have left the room.

A figure appeared silently beside Toshio Utsumi and gently patted his shoulder.

The person who came was none other than Kono, his former comrade from the Air Force.

Just now, when Utsumi Toshio was explaining the importance of intelligence, the examiner of the second exam, who had arrived early, heard everything from outside the door. That's why he came out to comfort his former teammate.

However, Utsumi Toshio was, after all, a Jonin from Kirigakure, and he didn't need Kono's comforting words for such a small matter. Instead, he slapped Kono's hand away with a look of disgust.

Kono didn't seem to care at all, and just joked about it.

"72 people? Not bad!"

Utsumi Toshio rolled his eyes at this and walked away on his own.

Kono shook his head and chuckled upon seeing this. He then tapped the blackboard lightly with his knuckles, signaling all the examinees to look at him before speaking.

"My name is Kono, and I am the chief examiner for the second round of the Joint Chunin Exams."

"Now, those of you who have passed the first exam, please follow me."

After saying that, he walked directly out of the examination room.

Upon seeing this, the candidates first looked at each other in bewilderment, then quickly got up and hurried after them.

On the shore, a row of Chunin invigilators responsible for proctoring the second exam had been waiting for a long time.

However, the candidates who had just arrived were all somewhat bewildered by the empty beach and the boundless sea before them.

"Is this second exam going to be another free-for-all?"

Just as the examinees were wondering what was going on, Kono, who was leading the group, stopped and took a large stack of documents from a Chunin.

Kono turned to look at all the examinees, shaking the stack of documents in his hand and saying with a smile.

"Before announcing the rules for the second exam, there's one small matter I need to ask you all."

"Given the danger of the second exam, you all need to sign this waiver of liability first."

After he finished speaking, the entire beach fell silent.

Kono's seemingly gentle smile now appeared like a devil to the examinees.

It should be noted that due to the previous Shinobi World War, the various ninja villages had not held a joint Chunin Exam for a long time.

Most of the genin present were taking this kind of exam for the first time.

Most people didn't expect that a mere exam to be promoted to Chunin would actually pose a life-threatening risk.

Fortunately, because of the previous years of war, not all of these genin had been on the battlefield.

But compared to ninjas in peacetime, they are always more courageous.

So even though these people all looked somber, none of them were foolish enough to jump out and oppose the rule.

However, Kono, holding a large stack of death warrants, still looked at the examinees with a half-smile and said in a seductive tone.

"If you have any concerns, you can apply to withdraw from this exam at any time before signing."

However, his words immediately stirred up a rebellious attitude among the still somewhat silent candidates.

One of the purple-haired girls, who was associated with Konoha, strode straight out of the group.

"red beans."

The girl's two teammates were about to speak up to stop her, but she had already stood in front of Kono, extended her right hand, and said in a cold tone.

"Give it to me."

Kono looked into the girl's stagnant eyes, a strange look in his own eyes.

"He's heartbroken, yet unexpectedly impulsive and passionate? What a strange kid."

However, since the other party was a Konoha ninja, Kono didn't have the time to care about the psychological problems of a genin.

He simply handed over three death warrants and then ignored them.

With Mitarashi Anko taking the lead, the other genin followed suit and signed their death warrants one after another.

After all the documents were collected, Kono spoke again and explained the rules of the second exam.

"The second test was very simple: capture the flag!"

"Fifty kilometers away from the beach, there is a small island that has been arranged in advance."

As he spoke, Kono pointed to the empty sea in the distance.

"Three different colored flags had already been set up on that island."

"What you need to do is to quickly go to that island after the exam starts, collect the three different colored flags, and successfully return here within five days to pass the exam."

Upon hearing this, all the candidates were somewhat stunned.

Unexpectedly, the content of the second exam was surprisingly simple.

Some candidates from the Hidden Mist Village were even starting to think about whether they should just take out all the other opponents on the sea.

However, it is obvious that even though Kirigakure is the organizer, it would not be so blatant as to favor its own candidates.

Just as these people were deep in thought, Kono continued to speak with a smile.

"By the way, combat is prohibited on the way to the island; attacks can only be launched after landing. And once on the island, you are not allowed to leave the island's territory until you have collected all three different flags."

Upon hearing this, the examinees who were not from the Mist Shadow faction all breathed a sigh of relief.

However, in private, the three of them exchanged glances and each revealed a meaningful smile.

"How could these guys, who don't often operate at sea, possibly understand that traveling on the sea is quite different from traveling on ordinary water?"

"Furthermore, although combat is prohibited during the journey, arriving on the island first allows for an earlier search for the flag and the prior setting of traps, giving us a significant advantage."

"Besides, although fighting can't happen at sea, if we land on the island first, those guys on the surface will..."

"No, the examiner said there can't be any fighting on the way to the island. What about on the return trip?"

His mind raced, considering the advantages he could gain within each of the rules.

However, this time, he did not ask questions directly as he did in the first exam.

Asking certain questions aloud is like reminding your competitors.

Just as Kabuto was pondering, Kono's narration was finally drawing to a close.

"Furthermore, if any teammate loses the ability to move during this test, the team will be deemed to have failed."

"Please keep all the above rules in mind. There will be dedicated proctors monitoring the entire exam process. Please do not attempt to break the rules."

After speaking, Kono looked around at all the examinees, and a smile appeared on his face as he saw their serious expressions.

"Just a friendly reminder: there might not be enough tricolor flags for every team on the island!"

"Alright, the second round of the Joint Chunin Exams shall officially begin!"

(End of this chapter)