Chapter 269 265: Karin's Chuunin Exam 3

Karin and her team spent a short three days exploring Konoha, enjoying the lack of rain, a truly rare luxury back home in Ame.

It wasn't long, but it was enough for the two true Ame shinobi to see Konoha in a new light, a dark and negative light, but at least they admitted that the village wasn't without its upsides.

It was wealthy, far more so than Ame, even under Pain, who had already broken the village out of the chains of endless poverty.

But there was a long way from that to what the people of Konoha enjoyed.

In Ame, people were happy as long as they weren't hungry, as long as they could replace old clothes with new, rather than endlessly patching up one or two old sets.

This was already seen as good, but in Konoha? That would be considered unacceptable.

Their entire life had been turned on its head, and it was shocking.

Konoha itself didn't seem all that impressive, certainly not compared to Amegakure, but it was wealthy, and that was not something to take lightly.

Thankfully, both of them had gotten over their initial awe and could face Konoha as it was.

Not that it stopped them from hating the village; if anything, seeing just how rich they were made them all the more spiteful.

Blaming Konoha for their own hardships.

And honestly, Karin knew they weren't entirely wrong.

Her own education allowed her to learn that yes, the Five Great Nations were rich, far more so than any of the small ones, and it was because they were strong, strong enough to exploit the lesser nations.

In some sense, Konoha and the Land of Fire were to blame for Ame's hardship; the last two wars hurt Ame hard, the Second Great War in particular, which had devastated the entire Land of Rain.

And while they had stayed mostly out of the last war, it still devastated the economy, making recovery even more difficult.

War was indeed the original sin.

And Konoha, no matter how hard they might try and argue, weren't innocent in causing those wars.

Karin was very well aware of that.

Even now, she could feel the darkness of Konoha.

Root, a group of shinobi who did the dirty work, were merciless and secretive, operating in the shadows, letting Konoha get away with all manner of evils without staining their reputation.

They did terrible things, all in the name of the village and the Hokage, allowing him to keep his hands clean.

Karin had run into them a few times over the years, and they always tried to kidnap her, her mother, and Kaguya.

So Karin had little love for Konoha.

She suspected that if she went out at night or left the more populated areas, she would have another run-in with them.

And given she was currently inside Konoha, she doubted it would be easy getting rid of them.

But at the very least, she didn't think they would act until the second exam, which was likely to take place inside the so-called Forest of Death, a large training area within the village.

The fact that they had a massive forest like that within the village as a training ground was pretty damn impressive; she felt the forest was probably as big as all of Amegakure on its own.

Truly, Konoha wasn't a small village, though they also failed to build upward.

Honestly, if the entire village was filled with high-rises, it would be far more impressive, and they would be able to house many more people, allowing their population to grow rapidly.

But clearly, they had no time for that; instead, they were busy causing chaos around the world, pushing it toward another great war within a few decades.

Or so Kaguya kept saying, and Karin had no reason not to believe her.

For now, the morning of the first day of the exam had come, and it was time to head to the Academy and start the first exam.

They were there a bit early, to avoid any trouble, but still, there were plenty of others who had the same idea.

Everyone wanted to take the chance to scout out the opposition.

After all, once the exam began, it would be too late to learn about the others, so now was the best time.

"Look at that Konoha Genin there," Karin whispered to the other two. "The one with the grey hair and glasses?"

"You mean that harmless-looking coward?" Naho asked.

"Yeah, him. His chakra is pretty massive, and he is hiding it well, almost as well as an ANBU. Be careful around him; he is dangerous," Karin warned.

"Him?" Tōji asked, clearly doubtful.

"Yeah, I think he is a plant, likely Konoha playing dirty, putting in a Tokubetsu Jōnin to kill geniuses from other villages," Karin reasoned. "So be careful. He's far more dangerous than he looks."

And that was the truth. She wasn't sure if he was a Tokubetsu Jōnin, he felt a bit weak for that, but he was definitely not a Genin.

As a sensor, she could tell that much, and there were a few others like him.

But unlike him, they weren't as good at hiding their power, so they were easier to spot.

But they also weren't nearly as strong, with the exception of Gaara of the Sand, but he was a Jinchūriki, so his chakra levels weren't a perfect indication of his strength.

Just look at that Naruto Uzumaki; he too was a Jinchūriki, but so far, he seemed to be weak, even for a Genin.

After a while, the doors to the Ninja Academy finally opened, allowing the Genin waiting outside to get inside, all eager to find the correct room.

After all, the outsiders didn't know this building's layout, so Konoha's own shinobi had an advantage, and everyone understood that the moment those doors opened, the exam was already on.

Even if the official starting time was still a while away.

Though they hadn't been inside the building for long before a problem appeared at the front of the line, forcing everyone else to stop.

"What now?" Tōji cursed from behind his gas mask.

"No idea. We need to get to the front to find out, but I think we should hang back a little, let the others test the waters first," Karin said. She had already sensed the situation as best she could.

And from what she could tell, a group of Genin was being held up by some Chūnin. As to why, she couldn't tell.

But clearly, it wasn't some accident.

Before long, the news spread through the crowd.

Apparently, someone was blocking the Genin from entering the room, and they were pretty strong, having already beaten up the first few Genin who tried to rush in.

"Damn it, Konoha is already playing dirty, not even letting us enter the room," Naho complained angrily.

Karin furrowed her brow. "Something isn't making sense," she whispered to the other two. "Look at this."

She pulled up the application form, which they were required to hand in before taking the exam.

"What is it?" Tōji asked.

"We are supposed to take the exam on the third floor, but they are being blocked on the first floor, so clearly, it's a trick," Karin explained, knowing that Tōji wasn't going to catch it on his own.

"Oh? But then, where is the real exam going to be held?" Naho realized, looking over the paper in Karin's hand.

"Third floor, just as it says, but to get there, we have to get past this first problem, which I am betting is going to be the real first test," Karin said with certainty.

It was clearly what was going on.

A test to weed out those who couldn't even think for themselves, who blindly believed what they were told.

Karin felt proud that she had caught on so quickly.

"Let's go, I think I know the trick." She told the others, pushing past the crowd and heading toward the front, where she found a large group of people standing around, watching as two Genin were being beaten up by someone at the door.

But that didn't matter; Karin looked around and instantly realized the truth. There was a weak genjutsu set up here to make people think the door behind the Chūnin was the exam location.

"So that's what it is," she whispered, looking at the poor Genin who couldn't even see through something this simple.

Though given that her two teammates hadn't seen through it yet, it made her inwardly sigh at just how far she was from being a mere Genin herself.

Shaking her head, she led the two of them toward the side, and while most people were distracted by the genjutsu and the commotion, she brought the other two up the stairs.

"Isn't this the second floor?" Naho asked as she noticed the number on the wall.

"Yeah, and if we keep going up, we will reach the third floor," Karin told her simply, not bothering to explain.

They didn't need to understand; as long as they followed her, there was no chance that they would fail this.

She would make sure of it.

Following the directions, they made their way toward a classroom, and as they did, Karin noticed that they were the only ones doing so.

In fact, she noticed another team heading toward a different room entirely.

If she wasn't a sensor, she might have been as confused as both Tōji and Naho were.

But she had already felt that inside each of the rooms was a single chakra signature, around the level of a Jōnin or Tokubetsu Jōnin.

And from the one they were going toward, she felt the chakra of Shigure Renga, which made it easy to guess that the others she felt were the Jōnin sensei of the other teams.

"Shigure-sensei," Tōji exclaimed as he opened the door.

"Good, you three found the right place." Shigure nodded at them and stood up from his seat at the front of the class. "It took you long enough."

"Well, some people were playing stupid games downstairs," Naho complained, and Shigure shook his head.

"Indeed, a childish prank, but one that worked to weed out the truly stupid ones," he said. "But I didn't doubt you three would see past it. The real test is up on the next floor, but only those who manage to get to their sensei before the clock runs out can take part," he explained.

"Ah, so that's how it is," Karin nodded, and as she did, she saw that there was a clock hanging on the wall behind Shigure.

They still had more than an hour left, plenty of time.

Which made sense, since they were among the first outside when the doors opened, and hadn't wasted any time downstairs.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"Here," Shigure said, reaching out to get their application, which Karin happily handed over.

"Just need to stamp this," he said, stamping it before handing it back. "And you need this as well," he added, handing over another form. "And with that, you are all good." He said, and Karin quickly put it all away.

"See you after the real exam."

With that, they left the room and headed up the final flight of stairs, finally reaching their destination.

And as they did, they found a handful of other Genin already there, most looking around with uncertainty.

Among them, Karin instantly noticed the Sand trio, and beside them, the creepy grey-haired Konoha Genin.

She gave the latter a warning look, which he returned with a raised eyebrow, as if to say he wasn't impressed.

Karin wasn't bothered; it didn't matter what he thought, as long as he didn't mess with her and hers.

"Alright, everyone, just hand in your papers here, and get inside. Take a seat; the exam is going to start soon," a man in a long blue coat spoke up, his voice rough and commanding, showing that he was a man with experience.

Karin immediately felt she could trust him, as he didn't try to hide his strength, something a man like him didn't need to do, unlike the grey-haired Genin.

She quickly handed in the papers and went inside, quickly picking out a seat for her team to sit at.

More teams continued to trickle in. Some were clearly more experienced than others and wasted no time getting to their seats; others, mostly Konoha ninja, found friends and started to chat.

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