- Location
- Here
That goes for the specific target. It doesn't go for everyone else who just happened to live nearby.
Tome of the Orange Sky (Naruto/MGLN)
- Thread starter CmptrWz
- Start date
- Crossover
-
- Tags
- mgln naruto naruto uzumaki complete
Except the bonus burglary of all the neighbors, who are innocent bystanders with respect to Konoha business (if potentially not so much in general).
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Hinestly guys, you are talking like ninja are GOOD PEOPLE or something. They are thieves and murders, guards and heroes. They are the ultimate magic mercenary, and there is NOTHING they won't do for the correct price. Offend them, even with lacking security, at your own risk.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
It's a good thing Naruto wasn't with them. He'd not have considered locked doors and windows to be security of any level.
- Location
- Scotland
IIRC from an earlier chapter if you pay for Konoha Security you're generally paying for someone to actually come out and put at least basic seals on your property (presumably the low end anyway). Since none of these idiots actually have even basic seals they're not under Konoha's protection thus they're labelled "Idiots who need to learn that actions have consequences." That this is likely to drum up some extra business for the village due to these people actually shelling out for "proper security" is a bonus for the village and the kids get the bonus of all the loot.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
And of course they internalized many of Naruto and Hinata's thoughts on security and going overboard when on a mission to such an extent that the lie becomes a truth. They could have just completed the mission as stated. Instead they decided "Well, let's cover our tracks by making it look like group of burglars hit the area."
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
"Eh, we only took the easily portable parts. It's not as if we drained their bank accounts as well. They should know better than to keep so much cash in unsecured areas of their house, anyway."
And if the Village soon gets a mission to hunt down and deal with those dastardly thieves? Well that's just job security.
Play is like a ninja and use it as an excuse to handle some nearby bandits.
Or play it straight.
We got those dastardly thieves.
you did? What did you do to them?
Konoha Policy is to not reveal gruesome details to clients and not to reveal sensitive information to those with security holes, but yes we got them
Meanwhile Headpats.
Play is like a ninja and use it as an excuse to handle some nearby bandits.
Or play it straight.
We got those dastardly thieves.
you did? What did you do to them?
Konoha Policy is to not reveal gruesome details to clients and not to reveal sensitive information to those with security holes, but yes we got them
Meanwhile Headpats.
- Location
- Illinois
Better yet, insert the following:
"So, you got robbed and have come to us to find them. We certainly have no problem with that, but we won't take the commission until you pay what you owe. Furthermore, since you've proved to be unreliable employers, we'll want payment up-front for this job."
So…
Chances that Team Yurei Jr leave the area just as the real local thieves turn up to do exactly that?
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Possibly medium to high. Extra points if the thieves then try to hire Leaf ninja to track down who hit the area before them.
Chapter 52 - Exam Eliminations: Tokens
Naruto had handed off fifty humanoid puppets and a dozen copies of his notes on using and building them. Half to the village in general and half to the Aburame specifically. He'd been paid in a combination of money, materials, technique scrolls, and promises to help with the chunin exams. The rest of the setup for the exams had gone through without much trouble as well, and foreign teams were due to start arriving in the next day or two.
"I hate the secrecy around local exams," Neji grumbled over lunch, having been grabbed by Hiashi before he could escape after filling his supply pouches. "We find out little to nothing that isn't in the betting packets until the day of."
"It isn't like that's any different from foreign exams," Naruto pointed out.
"True, but Gai-sensei admitted that Iwa is known to ensure that their genin are informed of some details ahead of time."
"Ah. Can't say anything about how they handle things. I can wish you luck with the weather though."
"...I missed something in the forecast, didn't I?"
Hinata shrugged. "A storm is moving towards the village. If it makes it this far then it's likely to hit the second day of the exams."
Neji flinched at that. "Fun. As if training ground forty-four isn't bad enough without torrential downpours."
"There's a chance you won't be in there."
"We're not going to screw up in the first stage."
Hiashi shook his head. "There's a chance that the training ground won't be involved at all."
"It was reserved for the exams starting over a week ago and there's no other suitable training ground for the team combat portion of things. Learned about checking that from Team Yurei knowing in advance last time."
"Ah. And about the betting packets, presumably."
"Indeed."
"Well, we all wish you luck. Unfortunately, knowing what I do you are going to need it."
"Yes, the betting packets mention that Hokage-sama arranged for significant changes this year. No details, of course."
"It wouldn't be appropriate to spoil the surprise."
Naruto and Hinata shared a look and bit back snickering. Of course, most of the village knew they'd been 'tapped to help'...just not that they were proctors and that Naruto was the primary one behind ninety percent of the plans. Hinata had contributed a couple of details, and Anko-sensei others, but it was going to be an event to remember. And, knowing that some genin would look for reserved training grounds, they'd simply arranged for the rest that would be in use to be reserved for seemingly unrelated items.
Sasuke checked that the dumplings were properly stored, and made a mental note to pass them along to Kiba in the morning. It was a nice additional source of income to go along with the chakra-infused jerky Kiba was now making, though neither of them were crazy enough to make them explosive like Naruto-sensei made the senbei that was also in the line-up. Ino was even considering chakra-infused ramen noodles as something other than a way to draw Naruto-sensei's attention.
"Hello, little brother," Itachi said as he came in, causing Sasuke to look over at him and note the serious expression on his brother's face.
"What's up?" Sasuke asked.
"Shisui...let slip something that concerns me."
"Oh?"
"Specifically, that it was unfortunate that the clan could be considered to be in debt to the Uzumaki, due to not being able to properly repay a bloodline debt."
"Not sure that Naruto-sensei would see it that way."
"Would you like to explain exactly what was being referred to?"
"Presumably all the elemental tricks I can manage now, and the infusing chakra into stuff trick that I use to make the expensive dumplings."
"...I was aware of those, but don't see why that would create a debt for the clan."
"Well, as I said, Naruto-sensei probably doesn't see it that way. On the other hand, I can see why Shisui would think that new bloodlines would create a clan debt."
Itachi blinked a couple of times, visibly considering that. "...they're inheritable?"
"Everything other than the shapeshifting seal, supposedly."
"But...how?"
"Magic books are apparently insane. The rest of the explanation for how it works was beyond my ability to understand it, but is supposed to be the same reason the enhanced medical chakra control is inheritable from the seal in the hospital."
"Oh. That...makes a lot more sense, when put into that context. And it makes me feel stupid for not making the connection before. The 'magic book' probably has a more portable version of seals, and Naruto merely had to ensure that the correct ones were active for you..."
Yeah, no, the book was definitely not based on seals. That was blatantly obvious to anyone who had made any attempt at examining it. But it was a convenient explanation, and Mariko had a 'date' to go on before the chaos of the chunin exams began. Eventually someone was going to confront Naruto-sensei about this though, so hopefully he had a good answer.
Naruto watched with amusement as teams came up to the pair of seemingly-identical buildings. Hoshi had helped place the illusions that made them look identical, but the instructions the genin had been given had a crucial clue. Some teams first entered one or the other building before coming back out confused, most spotted the illusions and realized that something was up, and two-thirds of the latter wandered into the alley between the two buildings.
Miho had helped with the seals that had compressed the space between the two visible building fronts down to make it look like an alley, completely hiding the actual target building. Just thinking about some of the aspects of that made even Naruto's head spin a bit, but it was definitely effective. His clones were getting pictures of every team that entered the building that way, and so far they weren't disappointed.
A rare few teams had decided to enter through other means, gone around back, and found that there was nothing weird going on there. The doors were locked, but that wasn't too much of an obstacle. They hadn't been confident enough that things were safe to apply to the front and rear of the building, but having that 'workaround' was acceptable as well.
Notably, the two teams with Hyuga on them had gone straight for the alley, the byakugan making it a lot more obvious that something was up there, but that was okay. This was just the pre-test.
Eventually three quarters of the teams that were signed up for the exam had made it into the correct building and up to the meeting hall. Their gossip was largely focused on what the hell was up with the building, how that was managed in a general sense, and what it meant for the rest of the exam. Including at least two people noting that the room didn't look like it was suitable for a written exam.
The clock ran down, and those teams that hadn't made it were locked out of the building and meeting hall. Naruto and Hinata were summoned into the room by clones, appearing at the front of the room.
"Everyone find a seat," Naruto called out. "Don't care where. Sit alone, with your teams, whatever."
It didn't take long for everyone to be sitting, and Hinata nodded. "Welcome to this year's chunin exams, and congratulations on finding the meeting hall. We're your proctors for the first exam stage, but don't assume we're going to go easy on you because of our ages."
"Many of you are familiar with the way Konoha traditionally runs chunin exams. A test of information gathering, followed by ensuring that you can be trusted with securing information in a hostile environment. The problem is, the normal ways of testing those can be cheated with ease. We know this, because we did cheat them. In particular, we found the answer key before the information gathering exercise and gained access to the second-stage scrolls ahead of time."
"So we're running things differently, negating most prior experience and reports any of you might have in regards to the exams. All of you, first-time participants to those who have participated in multiple previous exams, are on similar footing now in regards to your expectations."
Two vertical banners dropped down behind them.
Naruto gestured to the second banner. "Unlike prior exams, there are only two real stages to this one, because we've combined the traditional first and second stages into one larger exam period. You will have a week and a half, two hundred and fifty-two hours, to complete the entire thing. To begin with, you will need to visit the village's training grounds to collect tokens. Each token will be of a different kind, and you will need to collect at least three different kinds. Which kinds do not matter, beyond that they must be different."
Hinata produced several tokens to show them. "Each token will be dispensed for completing a challenge. A fire token will generally require a feat involving fire, a water token a feat involving water, a mind token a feat of thought, and so on." She then flipped them around, to show that there were markings on the back as well, all identical in this case. "Earned tokens will be marked as belonging to the team that earned them and will not be able to be used by other teams. But that does not mean that you can't lose them."
"Fighting outside of the training grounds means disqualification, but you are not forbidden from challenging other teams in the training grounds or stealing tokens from other teams if you can do so without being caught at any time. Also be aware that the challenges in each training ground will vary over the testing period. Not all token types are going to be available at all times, and not all training grounds will have challenges available at all hours. Lastly, each challenge can only be completed a fixed number of times before it closes down."
They paused there, mostly for effect. All of this was going to be on the handouts as well, and no questions were going to be taken. Another banner then dropped behind them.
Hinata put the tokens away, and pulled out three sample waiver forms. "Tokens will be turned in at the entrance to training ground forty-four, alongside three completed waivers for entering the training ground due to the danger it poses to those under jounin rank. For those unaware, this training ground is also known as the Forest of Death, and not just because of its number."
Naruto pulled out a map and a scroll, though the map had a pile of question marks on it instead of real information. "Before entering the training ground you will receive a map and at least one scroll. Specifically, you will receive one scroll for three unique tokens, two for six unique tokens, or three for the complete set of nine unique tokens. These 'delivery' scrolls will need to be delivered unopened to locations found throughout the training ground where they will be able to be exchanged for different scrolls. Some delivery points will be easier to reach than others, but each only dispenses a specific number of a single type of scroll. If the location is out of scrolls then you will need to find another one, or another team who already has the scroll type you need."
"Leaving the training ground once you have entered is an automatic disqualification, so ensure that you're ready before entering. You will be able to forage or hunt for food within the forest, but not leave it to resupply or attempt to get more tokens for another 'delivery' scroll." Hinata then put the waivers away and produced three scrolls. "As for the scrolls you need, traditionally Konoha has used 'heaven' and 'earth' scrolls to represent the mind and body. But we've gone a different route here with 'offense', 'defense', and 'stealth' scrolls instead. All three will be needed, one unopened scroll held by each of your team members, to enter the tower in the center of the training ground. Any team who has not entered the tower by the end of the testing period will be disqualified."
A clone holding all the 'extra' scrolls was summoned by Naruto, the clone dispelling as the scrolls landed on the ground. Hinata threw the ones she was holding onto the pile before Naruto continued. "Originally, the delivery points had enough scrolls for half of all entrants to pass, but these were just retrieved from them." Fire streamed out from his mouth, obliterating the pile of scrolls, followed by some water onto the ashes. "Now only enough scrolls exist for just over a third of the teams present here to pass."
Hinata formed clones that started passing out the instructions and a list of training grounds. "The list of training grounds you can obtain tokens in is being distributed now, and the doors and windows of this room will be unlocked when the clock hits noon exactly. From that point you will have your two hundred and fifty-two hours. Good luck, because you're going to need it."
Naruto made a point of pulling out a newspaper and checking a page. "Yeah, especially since the forecast calls for high winds and torrential downpours over the next day or two, plus a near-guarantee of a zombie invasion for the entire first stage."
The crowd of genin blinked a couple of times at that, but Naruto and Hinata vanished from the room, all of Hinata's visible clones dispelling at the same time. They had clones monitoring the group though, even as they snickered.
"I think I misheard that last bit," one Kiri genin said.
"I hope we misheard that last bit," Sachie replied with a shiver. "But it wouldn't be the first zombie invasion we've had."
The genin left the building within seconds of the doors and windows unlocking, only to find that the village was very much not what they were expecting. To start with, zombies were dancing in conga lines through the streets, several of the lines pulling covered carts. Those moved slowly enough that you could hop on and off for a ride if you wanted, and some kids had already jumped onto several.
Once they got over that, they generally all headed straight for the training grounds on their lists. Unfortunately, they found zombies there as well. And unlike those in the streets, these ones fought back when you entered the training grounds.
"The bit with the scrolls was demoralizing," Ibiki said as he watched some of the camera feeds. "But I wouldn't exactly call it a suitable mind game. You need to give them something to truly panic about."
"We've got that covered," Hinata replied.
"...without anything remotely like the tenth question in the traditional exam?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we got it covered. You probably missed what they didn't get."
Ibiki blinked a couple of times, and ticked things off on his fingers, before shaking his head. "Not seeing it, and I never did get a copy of your plans."
Hinata grinned. "What's the procedure for getting waivers for training ground forty-four?"
"A jounin has to...you said they need to have filled-out waivers, but didn't give them any."
"That's correct."
"But you also never said that the waivers would be waiting for them."
Naruto nodded. "We're expecting at least a day of running around in a panic over where to get waivers when they're told that they aren't available at the token turn-in and the six locations set up throughout the village will each only hand out one copy per team."
"One of the six just requires that they provide their paperwork for participating in the exams," Hinata continued. "The other five will be far more obstinate that the genin aren't ready, each requiring different proof before they'll hand over a copy."
"No, remember that one of them just requires a suitable bribe."
"Oh, right. Forgot about that one. But if you get a form via a bribe too soon then two of the others you haven't gotten forms from yet will refuse to hand your team a copy at all."
Ibiki blinked a couple of times, before starting to chuckle. "Okay, that's going to be hilarious."
Naruto pulled out a clipboard and double-checked things. "Those stands are only going to open when at least two teams have enough tokens, which we don't expect to happen until after the rain is supposed to have passed through, but we still have some slots open if you want the chance to do impromptu mind games of your own at one."
The man took a look at the clipboard, blinking. "You've got one stand manned almost exclusively by Futo, planning on making them convince him by getting one of the shrine's 'good travels' arm-markings?"
"They're only supposed to be given to civilians that are preparing to leave the village, which means convincing one of the three shrine maidens that you apply. Disguises are going to need to be a little better than the academy students given the same task need to use."
"Huh. Those things are active seals though, aren't they? Seems like they'd be a liability."
"They generate a 'I have nothing of value to steal' aura of sorts that will influence most bandits...and possibly many genin. You only get at most two weeks out of them before they fade, but they're incredibly popular for a reason. Plus as a bonus here, anyone managing to get them will suddenly find that the zombies are less likely to attack. A modified version is being used by the volunteers in the training grounds."
"...your family runs what may be the least spiritual shrine on the planet. Seals and medic-nin faking it all, and the civilians eat it up. But I'll take slots on stand four. Any rules for what I can and can't have them doing to prove their worthiness to me?"
Hinata produced a scroll for the man. "This is a list of the rules for that stand, and more details on all the current plans of the others taking shifts on it."
"Thank you."
"This is ridiculous," Neji said as he and Lee fought off zombies.
"They're fighting at the same level as most bandits," Kin pointed out. He might complain about her not helping with the zombies, but there weren't enough to have her worry about it. Really, Lee was handling ninety percent of them, leaving a reasonably small number remaining.
"Thus ensuring that all teams can at least handle themselves against bandits. I understand the reasoning, but remain annoyed at the fact that every token is going to require fighting through zombies before even attempting the challenges to get them."
Kin snorted, which was amusingly quiet in its own way, then...leapt up into a tree and body-flickered to the station they were fighting their way towards.
Because of course there was a way to bypass the zombies.
Neji shared a look with Lee, who had obviously noticed as well, and a moment later they'd also moved up into trees and then over to the station that the zombies were largely ignoring.
"About time," the chunin sitting there commented, before gesturing at the lake. "Today I have fire tokens, and you're in luck because it's a simple task. There are sticks at the bottom of the lake, five meters out just after things drop off significantly. Retrieve three, then burn them to ash."
"Burn waterlogged sticks to ash?" Kin questioned, even as Lee dove into the water to retrieve the sticks for them.
"Dry sticks would be too easy."
"I suppose the fact that whatever is keeping the zombies away stops doing so three meters out is part of the challenge," Neji commented as he was using his byakugan to watch Lee fighting off swimming zombies.
"Well, yes, but that shouldn't be a major problem."
It wasn't, and a minute later Lee had returned with three sticks. Neji was the best of them with fire, but used water manipulation to pull most of the moisture from the sticks first. Then he lit them on fire, quickly burning them to ash.
The chunin nodded his approval, produced an already-marked token with their team ID on it, and grinned. "You've got the first token in general, so good on you."
"How could you possibly know that?" Lee asked.
"We have our ways."
...Neji was starting to wonder if all the training ground 'proctors' were actually Naruto or Hinata clones. Not that it would be important if that was the case, as far as completing things went.
Only a few tokens had been successfully claimed the first day, most teams having horrible luck and hitting challenges they didn't know how to manage. Naruto and Hinata were making note of every attempt though, so that the information could be put into evaluations. Team Gai had gotten one fire token, failed to get a lightning token due to not having sufficient skill with the element, and failed to get a seals token despite Neji being able to see more than most. He just didn't have the training needed to understand what he could see. Their three attempts was also more than most teams managed before nightfall and the incoming storm arrived slightly ahead of predictions.
Other successful tokens had included a Kiri team that had managed to successfully hit a water token their first time, a Suna team that had gotten a seals token more by luck than skill, and a Kumo team that proved they had the strength to lift a boulder for a body token. All three had then hit challenges they lacked the skills to overcome for their second attempts. Other failures included two Konoha teams that had gone after the fire token that Team Gai had obtained but hadn't managed to burn the sticks due to not thinking to pull the water from them first, Kiri teams not managing lightning or body challenges, and an Ame team being the worst of the lot by completely failing to notice that all of their choices of training grounds had nobody stationed there today.
Tomorrow morning things would shift, available elements changing and those that would be available being 'counter' instead of 'use'. Seals would be alternating with medical, and body would be alternating with mind. Stations would mostly remain available overnight, despite the obvious lack of anyone caring to try in the dark and rain, but the lack of attempts would probably change as teams started getting desperate.
"How the hell is the compound dry today?" Ino asked after arriving to pick up supplies. She was looking curiously at the storm above...and the sheet of water flowing off to the sides of the compound.
Naruto grinned as he double-checked where she was going. "Umbrella seals. I've got some prepared for each token station, so don't worry too much about ending up soaked today."
"...umbrella seals?"
"And a couple to prevent wind from being a problem where you'll be sitting, yes. You wanted the 'stop water chakra' challenge today, right?"
She nodded, focusing back on him. "Yeah, and I guess the storm is going to make that more difficult for them. Though I don't know why you have some of us helping instead of just leaving it all to your clones."
"Mixing in known faces causes people to assume that perhaps they just don't normally run into the fakes. Kiba already grabbed what he needs for today's wind challenge, which should also be fun in the storm, and it's a good thing that 'countering fire' isn't scheduled for a couple days. Sasuke should be collecting the animals Hana is allowing use of for the medical challenge shortly."
Seal-powered elemental technique throwers ensured that the challenges were free from conscious or unconscious bias from a person performing the elemental techniques to be countered...and ensured that you technically didn't need someone who could safely perform the techniques available for testing. Very obviously too bulky for combat use, but Naruto wasn't admitting that he could shrink the seals down considerably right now. Demonstrating that they could set this kind of thing up for defensive purposes if they wanted to was one thing, but field-usable versions would be a bit much to reveal.
Marks were made on the checklist as Ino collected the storage tag with her equipment and headed out to her assigned training ground for the day. Clones had already packed up the previous day's locations and set up at the earth and mind token locations as well, though so far none of the teams had gotten moving.
The end of the third day had seen four teams having at least three tokens, it having been a good day in a general sense for most of the teams, and the morning of the fourth had the six stands set up for collecting waivers. These were ignored, possibly not even noticed, by the genin. Several of their sensei, on the other hand, had obviously noticed, and a couple had taken notes thinking that such a tactic was a wonderful bonus test.
On the morning of the sixth day, just after dawn, Team Gai and two other teams were waiting for the clone to show up at the desk outside of training ground forty-four. A number of other teams were likely to show up throughout the day as well, but those three teams were the only ones to have successfully managed to get all nine tokens due to a combination of stubbornness and luck.
"I see you all have at least three unique tokens," the clone at the desk said after arriving and confirming that they all had the minimum tokens needed. "But where are your waivers?"
"...we don't sign those here?" Kin asked.
"Nope. You're supposed to show up with them, I confirm that they're properly filled out and have all the security markings of originals, and then I exchange your unique tokens for delivery scrolls."
"But...where do we get blank waivers then?"
"Dunno. Not my job."
The two foreign teams looked even more panicked than Team Gai, because locals were more likely to know where to find paperwork. In this case, this meant that they split up to check the 'most likely locations'...and were followed by members of the other two teams. Which put all of them heading to locations that didn't have stands set up.
By lunchtime the word had spread to basically all the teams that they needed to find the waivers too. As most had enough tokens to get into training ground forty-four and had been aiming for a second or third delivery scroll, focus shifted significantly.
"The sign says one waiver per team," one of the Ame genin said.
"Yep," Ibiki replied.
"...don't we need one per member of our teams?"
"You do."
"So...we need to find at least three different stands?"
"Wow, you might actually have a working brain in your skull. I was starting to wonder."
"Funny. Can I get a waiver then?"
"...I don't know. I'd need to check your exam registration paperwork, but you don't seem like you're ready."
"...ugh. This is just another form of token challenge."
"And you keep surprising me by showing that there is a brain in the stupid-looking skull you've got there."
The Ame genin glared at Ibiki, to zero effect. It was honestly quite cute, in his opinion. "So what do I need to do to get a waiver from you?"
"Hmmm. Today I think I want to know what Kushina Uzumaki's favorite ramen dish was."
That caused the genin to pause. "Kushina Uzumaki? She's been dead for over a decade."
"Huh. You keep surprising me with that functioning pile of fat in your skull, so here's a tip: Chatting with me isn't finding out the information you need. You've got until I leave at sundown."
The genin's eyes went wide, and he ran off. If the kid had a brain he'd ask around for where to get ramen in general and end up at Ichiraku's in the next...hour to hour and a half. Then he'd be subject to needing to buy a bowl if he didn't pay close enough attention to the leaderboard posted in the corner of the shop.
It made for a much better test of impromptu information-gathering than the normal written exam ever provided, and keeping this stand with that kind of thing over the next few days was better than having wildly different expectations from person to person. Ibiki's preference was information on those long-dead and thus in obscure locations. Umino had put down a preference for 'observations about the village' that were generally things he'd set up himself for the occasion. Suzaku was apparently going to have posters to either side of the stand that would combine with a cryptic phrase he'd provide to provide his day's answer.
And of course, any team could just use a method of listening to someone else give the day's answer to bypass the need to gather information directly. Each shift had a single piece of information for all teams at this stand to make that an option at all, unlike stand five where Kosuke the eternal genin was going to be one of several testing teams on 'basic skills'.
Those were likely to be anything but basic, because the Eternal Genin was incredibly demanding of himself and others and he was in many ways the softest of those with slots on that stand.
"You know," Hinata said, looking over the list on the morning of day eight. "I'm honestly impressed."
"That the one stand nobody found until this morning was the one simply asking for their full set of paperwork?" Naruto asked.
"And that every team got two waivers before they basically ran into each other in front of the thing."
"Hoshi has been throwing honestly pathetic illusions up to hide it, but was delayed this morning by having eaten something he shouldn't have last night."
"Oh."
Naruto had made extra clones to handle things at the entrance to training ground forty-four, as it looked like they were about to have every team showing up. Which would at least allow them to dismantle the rest of the stuff outside of the training ground early. Unfortunately, nobody had taken the suggestion to steal from each other before entering training ground forty-four, so they didn't get the fun of 'but we had enough tokens and/or waivers' whining.
On the other hand, there were going to be just over twice as many 'delivery' scrolls entering the training ground than combined 'offense', 'defense', and 'stealth' scrolls to be picked up inside of it...and only three teams even had the option of getting all three scrolls without a fight as nobody else had collected all nine tokens.
"I hate the secrecy around local exams," Neji grumbled over lunch, having been grabbed by Hiashi before he could escape after filling his supply pouches. "We find out little to nothing that isn't in the betting packets until the day of."
"It isn't like that's any different from foreign exams," Naruto pointed out.
"True, but Gai-sensei admitted that Iwa is known to ensure that their genin are informed of some details ahead of time."
"Ah. Can't say anything about how they handle things. I can wish you luck with the weather though."
"...I missed something in the forecast, didn't I?"
Hinata shrugged. "A storm is moving towards the village. If it makes it this far then it's likely to hit the second day of the exams."
Neji flinched at that. "Fun. As if training ground forty-four isn't bad enough without torrential downpours."
"There's a chance you won't be in there."
"We're not going to screw up in the first stage."
Hiashi shook his head. "There's a chance that the training ground won't be involved at all."
"It was reserved for the exams starting over a week ago and there's no other suitable training ground for the team combat portion of things. Learned about checking that from Team Yurei knowing in advance last time."
"Ah. And about the betting packets, presumably."
"Indeed."
"Well, we all wish you luck. Unfortunately, knowing what I do you are going to need it."
"Yes, the betting packets mention that Hokage-sama arranged for significant changes this year. No details, of course."
"It wouldn't be appropriate to spoil the surprise."
Naruto and Hinata shared a look and bit back snickering. Of course, most of the village knew they'd been 'tapped to help'...just not that they were proctors and that Naruto was the primary one behind ninety percent of the plans. Hinata had contributed a couple of details, and Anko-sensei others, but it was going to be an event to remember. And, knowing that some genin would look for reserved training grounds, they'd simply arranged for the rest that would be in use to be reserved for seemingly unrelated items.
Sasuke checked that the dumplings were properly stored, and made a mental note to pass them along to Kiba in the morning. It was a nice additional source of income to go along with the chakra-infused jerky Kiba was now making, though neither of them were crazy enough to make them explosive like Naruto-sensei made the senbei that was also in the line-up. Ino was even considering chakra-infused ramen noodles as something other than a way to draw Naruto-sensei's attention.
"Hello, little brother," Itachi said as he came in, causing Sasuke to look over at him and note the serious expression on his brother's face.
"What's up?" Sasuke asked.
"Shisui...let slip something that concerns me."
"Oh?"
"Specifically, that it was unfortunate that the clan could be considered to be in debt to the Uzumaki, due to not being able to properly repay a bloodline debt."
"Not sure that Naruto-sensei would see it that way."
"Would you like to explain exactly what was being referred to?"
"Presumably all the elemental tricks I can manage now, and the infusing chakra into stuff trick that I use to make the expensive dumplings."
"...I was aware of those, but don't see why that would create a debt for the clan."
"Well, as I said, Naruto-sensei probably doesn't see it that way. On the other hand, I can see why Shisui would think that new bloodlines would create a clan debt."
Itachi blinked a couple of times, visibly considering that. "...they're inheritable?"
"Everything other than the shapeshifting seal, supposedly."
"But...how?"
"Magic books are apparently insane. The rest of the explanation for how it works was beyond my ability to understand it, but is supposed to be the same reason the enhanced medical chakra control is inheritable from the seal in the hospital."
"Oh. That...makes a lot more sense, when put into that context. And it makes me feel stupid for not making the connection before. The 'magic book' probably has a more portable version of seals, and Naruto merely had to ensure that the correct ones were active for you..."
Yeah, no, the book was definitely not based on seals. That was blatantly obvious to anyone who had made any attempt at examining it. But it was a convenient explanation, and Mariko had a 'date' to go on before the chaos of the chunin exams began. Eventually someone was going to confront Naruto-sensei about this though, so hopefully he had a good answer.
Naruto watched with amusement as teams came up to the pair of seemingly-identical buildings. Hoshi had helped place the illusions that made them look identical, but the instructions the genin had been given had a crucial clue. Some teams first entered one or the other building before coming back out confused, most spotted the illusions and realized that something was up, and two-thirds of the latter wandered into the alley between the two buildings.
Miho had helped with the seals that had compressed the space between the two visible building fronts down to make it look like an alley, completely hiding the actual target building. Just thinking about some of the aspects of that made even Naruto's head spin a bit, but it was definitely effective. His clones were getting pictures of every team that entered the building that way, and so far they weren't disappointed.
A rare few teams had decided to enter through other means, gone around back, and found that there was nothing weird going on there. The doors were locked, but that wasn't too much of an obstacle. They hadn't been confident enough that things were safe to apply to the front and rear of the building, but having that 'workaround' was acceptable as well.
Notably, the two teams with Hyuga on them had gone straight for the alley, the byakugan making it a lot more obvious that something was up there, but that was okay. This was just the pre-test.
Eventually three quarters of the teams that were signed up for the exam had made it into the correct building and up to the meeting hall. Their gossip was largely focused on what the hell was up with the building, how that was managed in a general sense, and what it meant for the rest of the exam. Including at least two people noting that the room didn't look like it was suitable for a written exam.
The clock ran down, and those teams that hadn't made it were locked out of the building and meeting hall. Naruto and Hinata were summoned into the room by clones, appearing at the front of the room.
"Everyone find a seat," Naruto called out. "Don't care where. Sit alone, with your teams, whatever."
It didn't take long for everyone to be sitting, and Hinata nodded. "Welcome to this year's chunin exams, and congratulations on finding the meeting hall. We're your proctors for the first exam stage, but don't assume we're going to go easy on you because of our ages."
"Many of you are familiar with the way Konoha traditionally runs chunin exams. A test of information gathering, followed by ensuring that you can be trusted with securing information in a hostile environment. The problem is, the normal ways of testing those can be cheated with ease. We know this, because we did cheat them. In particular, we found the answer key before the information gathering exercise and gained access to the second-stage scrolls ahead of time."
"So we're running things differently, negating most prior experience and reports any of you might have in regards to the exams. All of you, first-time participants to those who have participated in multiple previous exams, are on similar footing now in regards to your expectations."
Two vertical banners dropped down behind them.
All Expectations Void
Stage One: You're Here. Stage Two: Single Combat
Stage One: You're Here. Stage Two: Single Combat
Naruto gestured to the second banner. "Unlike prior exams, there are only two real stages to this one, because we've combined the traditional first and second stages into one larger exam period. You will have a week and a half, two hundred and fifty-two hours, to complete the entire thing. To begin with, you will need to visit the village's training grounds to collect tokens. Each token will be of a different kind, and you will need to collect at least three different kinds. Which kinds do not matter, beyond that they must be different."
Hinata produced several tokens to show them. "Each token will be dispensed for completing a challenge. A fire token will generally require a feat involving fire, a water token a feat involving water, a mind token a feat of thought, and so on." She then flipped them around, to show that there were markings on the back as well, all identical in this case. "Earned tokens will be marked as belonging to the team that earned them and will not be able to be used by other teams. But that does not mean that you can't lose them."
"Fighting outside of the training grounds means disqualification, but you are not forbidden from challenging other teams in the training grounds or stealing tokens from other teams if you can do so without being caught at any time. Also be aware that the challenges in each training ground will vary over the testing period. Not all token types are going to be available at all times, and not all training grounds will have challenges available at all hours. Lastly, each challenge can only be completed a fixed number of times before it closes down."
They paused there, mostly for effect. All of this was going to be on the handouts as well, and no questions were going to be taken. Another banner then dropped behind them.
Special Training Ground: Forty-Four
Hinata put the tokens away, and pulled out three sample waiver forms. "Tokens will be turned in at the entrance to training ground forty-four, alongside three completed waivers for entering the training ground due to the danger it poses to those under jounin rank. For those unaware, this training ground is also known as the Forest of Death, and not just because of its number."
Naruto pulled out a map and a scroll, though the map had a pile of question marks on it instead of real information. "Before entering the training ground you will receive a map and at least one scroll. Specifically, you will receive one scroll for three unique tokens, two for six unique tokens, or three for the complete set of nine unique tokens. These 'delivery' scrolls will need to be delivered unopened to locations found throughout the training ground where they will be able to be exchanged for different scrolls. Some delivery points will be easier to reach than others, but each only dispenses a specific number of a single type of scroll. If the location is out of scrolls then you will need to find another one, or another team who already has the scroll type you need."
"Leaving the training ground once you have entered is an automatic disqualification, so ensure that you're ready before entering. You will be able to forage or hunt for food within the forest, but not leave it to resupply or attempt to get more tokens for another 'delivery' scroll." Hinata then put the waivers away and produced three scrolls. "As for the scrolls you need, traditionally Konoha has used 'heaven' and 'earth' scrolls to represent the mind and body. But we've gone a different route here with 'offense', 'defense', and 'stealth' scrolls instead. All three will be needed, one unopened scroll held by each of your team members, to enter the tower in the center of the training ground. Any team who has not entered the tower by the end of the testing period will be disqualified."
A clone holding all the 'extra' scrolls was summoned by Naruto, the clone dispelling as the scrolls landed on the ground. Hinata threw the ones she was holding onto the pile before Naruto continued. "Originally, the delivery points had enough scrolls for half of all entrants to pass, but these were just retrieved from them." Fire streamed out from his mouth, obliterating the pile of scrolls, followed by some water onto the ashes. "Now only enough scrolls exist for just over a third of the teams present here to pass."
Hinata formed clones that started passing out the instructions and a list of training grounds. "The list of training grounds you can obtain tokens in is being distributed now, and the doors and windows of this room will be unlocked when the clock hits noon exactly. From that point you will have your two hundred and fifty-two hours. Good luck, because you're going to need it."
Naruto made a point of pulling out a newspaper and checking a page. "Yeah, especially since the forecast calls for high winds and torrential downpours over the next day or two, plus a near-guarantee of a zombie invasion for the entire first stage."
The crowd of genin blinked a couple of times at that, but Naruto and Hinata vanished from the room, all of Hinata's visible clones dispelling at the same time. They had clones monitoring the group though, even as they snickered.
"I think I misheard that last bit," one Kiri genin said.
"I hope we misheard that last bit," Sachie replied with a shiver. "But it wouldn't be the first zombie invasion we've had."
The genin left the building within seconds of the doors and windows unlocking, only to find that the village was very much not what they were expecting. To start with, zombies were dancing in conga lines through the streets, several of the lines pulling covered carts. Those moved slowly enough that you could hop on and off for a ride if you wanted, and some kids had already jumped onto several.
Once they got over that, they generally all headed straight for the training grounds on their lists. Unfortunately, they found zombies there as well. And unlike those in the streets, these ones fought back when you entered the training grounds.
"The bit with the scrolls was demoralizing," Ibiki said as he watched some of the camera feeds. "But I wouldn't exactly call it a suitable mind game. You need to give them something to truly panic about."
"We've got that covered," Hinata replied.
"...without anything remotely like the tenth question in the traditional exam?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we got it covered. You probably missed what they didn't get."
Ibiki blinked a couple of times, and ticked things off on his fingers, before shaking his head. "Not seeing it, and I never did get a copy of your plans."
Hinata grinned. "What's the procedure for getting waivers for training ground forty-four?"
"A jounin has to...you said they need to have filled-out waivers, but didn't give them any."
"That's correct."
"But you also never said that the waivers would be waiting for them."
Naruto nodded. "We're expecting at least a day of running around in a panic over where to get waivers when they're told that they aren't available at the token turn-in and the six locations set up throughout the village will each only hand out one copy per team."
"One of the six just requires that they provide their paperwork for participating in the exams," Hinata continued. "The other five will be far more obstinate that the genin aren't ready, each requiring different proof before they'll hand over a copy."
"No, remember that one of them just requires a suitable bribe."
"Oh, right. Forgot about that one. But if you get a form via a bribe too soon then two of the others you haven't gotten forms from yet will refuse to hand your team a copy at all."
Ibiki blinked a couple of times, before starting to chuckle. "Okay, that's going to be hilarious."
Naruto pulled out a clipboard and double-checked things. "Those stands are only going to open when at least two teams have enough tokens, which we don't expect to happen until after the rain is supposed to have passed through, but we still have some slots open if you want the chance to do impromptu mind games of your own at one."
The man took a look at the clipboard, blinking. "You've got one stand manned almost exclusively by Futo, planning on making them convince him by getting one of the shrine's 'good travels' arm-markings?"
"They're only supposed to be given to civilians that are preparing to leave the village, which means convincing one of the three shrine maidens that you apply. Disguises are going to need to be a little better than the academy students given the same task need to use."
"Huh. Those things are active seals though, aren't they? Seems like they'd be a liability."
"They generate a 'I have nothing of value to steal' aura of sorts that will influence most bandits...and possibly many genin. You only get at most two weeks out of them before they fade, but they're incredibly popular for a reason. Plus as a bonus here, anyone managing to get them will suddenly find that the zombies are less likely to attack. A modified version is being used by the volunteers in the training grounds."
"...your family runs what may be the least spiritual shrine on the planet. Seals and medic-nin faking it all, and the civilians eat it up. But I'll take slots on stand four. Any rules for what I can and can't have them doing to prove their worthiness to me?"
Hinata produced a scroll for the man. "This is a list of the rules for that stand, and more details on all the current plans of the others taking shifts on it."
"Thank you."
"This is ridiculous," Neji said as he and Lee fought off zombies.
"They're fighting at the same level as most bandits," Kin pointed out. He might complain about her not helping with the zombies, but there weren't enough to have her worry about it. Really, Lee was handling ninety percent of them, leaving a reasonably small number remaining.
"Thus ensuring that all teams can at least handle themselves against bandits. I understand the reasoning, but remain annoyed at the fact that every token is going to require fighting through zombies before even attempting the challenges to get them."
Kin snorted, which was amusingly quiet in its own way, then...leapt up into a tree and body-flickered to the station they were fighting their way towards.
Because of course there was a way to bypass the zombies.
Neji shared a look with Lee, who had obviously noticed as well, and a moment later they'd also moved up into trees and then over to the station that the zombies were largely ignoring.
"About time," the chunin sitting there commented, before gesturing at the lake. "Today I have fire tokens, and you're in luck because it's a simple task. There are sticks at the bottom of the lake, five meters out just after things drop off significantly. Retrieve three, then burn them to ash."
"Burn waterlogged sticks to ash?" Kin questioned, even as Lee dove into the water to retrieve the sticks for them.
"Dry sticks would be too easy."
"I suppose the fact that whatever is keeping the zombies away stops doing so three meters out is part of the challenge," Neji commented as he was using his byakugan to watch Lee fighting off swimming zombies.
"Well, yes, but that shouldn't be a major problem."
It wasn't, and a minute later Lee had returned with three sticks. Neji was the best of them with fire, but used water manipulation to pull most of the moisture from the sticks first. Then he lit them on fire, quickly burning them to ash.
The chunin nodded his approval, produced an already-marked token with their team ID on it, and grinned. "You've got the first token in general, so good on you."
"How could you possibly know that?" Lee asked.
"We have our ways."
...Neji was starting to wonder if all the training ground 'proctors' were actually Naruto or Hinata clones. Not that it would be important if that was the case, as far as completing things went.
Only a few tokens had been successfully claimed the first day, most teams having horrible luck and hitting challenges they didn't know how to manage. Naruto and Hinata were making note of every attempt though, so that the information could be put into evaluations. Team Gai had gotten one fire token, failed to get a lightning token due to not having sufficient skill with the element, and failed to get a seals token despite Neji being able to see more than most. He just didn't have the training needed to understand what he could see. Their three attempts was also more than most teams managed before nightfall and the incoming storm arrived slightly ahead of predictions.
Other successful tokens had included a Kiri team that had managed to successfully hit a water token their first time, a Suna team that had gotten a seals token more by luck than skill, and a Kumo team that proved they had the strength to lift a boulder for a body token. All three had then hit challenges they lacked the skills to overcome for their second attempts. Other failures included two Konoha teams that had gone after the fire token that Team Gai had obtained but hadn't managed to burn the sticks due to not thinking to pull the water from them first, Kiri teams not managing lightning or body challenges, and an Ame team being the worst of the lot by completely failing to notice that all of their choices of training grounds had nobody stationed there today.
Tomorrow morning things would shift, available elements changing and those that would be available being 'counter' instead of 'use'. Seals would be alternating with medical, and body would be alternating with mind. Stations would mostly remain available overnight, despite the obvious lack of anyone caring to try in the dark and rain, but the lack of attempts would probably change as teams started getting desperate.
"How the hell is the compound dry today?" Ino asked after arriving to pick up supplies. She was looking curiously at the storm above...and the sheet of water flowing off to the sides of the compound.
Naruto grinned as he double-checked where she was going. "Umbrella seals. I've got some prepared for each token station, so don't worry too much about ending up soaked today."
"...umbrella seals?"
"And a couple to prevent wind from being a problem where you'll be sitting, yes. You wanted the 'stop water chakra' challenge today, right?"
She nodded, focusing back on him. "Yeah, and I guess the storm is going to make that more difficult for them. Though I don't know why you have some of us helping instead of just leaving it all to your clones."
"Mixing in known faces causes people to assume that perhaps they just don't normally run into the fakes. Kiba already grabbed what he needs for today's wind challenge, which should also be fun in the storm, and it's a good thing that 'countering fire' isn't scheduled for a couple days. Sasuke should be collecting the animals Hana is allowing use of for the medical challenge shortly."
Seal-powered elemental technique throwers ensured that the challenges were free from conscious or unconscious bias from a person performing the elemental techniques to be countered...and ensured that you technically didn't need someone who could safely perform the techniques available for testing. Very obviously too bulky for combat use, but Naruto wasn't admitting that he could shrink the seals down considerably right now. Demonstrating that they could set this kind of thing up for defensive purposes if they wanted to was one thing, but field-usable versions would be a bit much to reveal.
Marks were made on the checklist as Ino collected the storage tag with her equipment and headed out to her assigned training ground for the day. Clones had already packed up the previous day's locations and set up at the earth and mind token locations as well, though so far none of the teams had gotten moving.
The end of the third day had seen four teams having at least three tokens, it having been a good day in a general sense for most of the teams, and the morning of the fourth had the six stands set up for collecting waivers. These were ignored, possibly not even noticed, by the genin. Several of their sensei, on the other hand, had obviously noticed, and a couple had taken notes thinking that such a tactic was a wonderful bonus test.
On the morning of the sixth day, just after dawn, Team Gai and two other teams were waiting for the clone to show up at the desk outside of training ground forty-four. A number of other teams were likely to show up throughout the day as well, but those three teams were the only ones to have successfully managed to get all nine tokens due to a combination of stubbornness and luck.
"I see you all have at least three unique tokens," the clone at the desk said after arriving and confirming that they all had the minimum tokens needed. "But where are your waivers?"
"...we don't sign those here?" Kin asked.
"Nope. You're supposed to show up with them, I confirm that they're properly filled out and have all the security markings of originals, and then I exchange your unique tokens for delivery scrolls."
"But...where do we get blank waivers then?"
"Dunno. Not my job."
The two foreign teams looked even more panicked than Team Gai, because locals were more likely to know where to find paperwork. In this case, this meant that they split up to check the 'most likely locations'...and were followed by members of the other two teams. Which put all of them heading to locations that didn't have stands set up.
By lunchtime the word had spread to basically all the teams that they needed to find the waivers too. As most had enough tokens to get into training ground forty-four and had been aiming for a second or third delivery scroll, focus shifted significantly.
"The sign says one waiver per team," one of the Ame genin said.
"Yep," Ibiki replied.
"...don't we need one per member of our teams?"
"You do."
"So...we need to find at least three different stands?"
"Wow, you might actually have a working brain in your skull. I was starting to wonder."
"Funny. Can I get a waiver then?"
"...I don't know. I'd need to check your exam registration paperwork, but you don't seem like you're ready."
"...ugh. This is just another form of token challenge."
"And you keep surprising me by showing that there is a brain in the stupid-looking skull you've got there."
The Ame genin glared at Ibiki, to zero effect. It was honestly quite cute, in his opinion. "So what do I need to do to get a waiver from you?"
"Hmmm. Today I think I want to know what Kushina Uzumaki's favorite ramen dish was."
That caused the genin to pause. "Kushina Uzumaki? She's been dead for over a decade."
"Huh. You keep surprising me with that functioning pile of fat in your skull, so here's a tip: Chatting with me isn't finding out the information you need. You've got until I leave at sundown."
The genin's eyes went wide, and he ran off. If the kid had a brain he'd ask around for where to get ramen in general and end up at Ichiraku's in the next...hour to hour and a half. Then he'd be subject to needing to buy a bowl if he didn't pay close enough attention to the leaderboard posted in the corner of the shop.
It made for a much better test of impromptu information-gathering than the normal written exam ever provided, and keeping this stand with that kind of thing over the next few days was better than having wildly different expectations from person to person. Ibiki's preference was information on those long-dead and thus in obscure locations. Umino had put down a preference for 'observations about the village' that were generally things he'd set up himself for the occasion. Suzaku was apparently going to have posters to either side of the stand that would combine with a cryptic phrase he'd provide to provide his day's answer.
And of course, any team could just use a method of listening to someone else give the day's answer to bypass the need to gather information directly. Each shift had a single piece of information for all teams at this stand to make that an option at all, unlike stand five where Kosuke the eternal genin was going to be one of several testing teams on 'basic skills'.
Those were likely to be anything but basic, because the Eternal Genin was incredibly demanding of himself and others and he was in many ways the softest of those with slots on that stand.
"You know," Hinata said, looking over the list on the morning of day eight. "I'm honestly impressed."
"That the one stand nobody found until this morning was the one simply asking for their full set of paperwork?" Naruto asked.
"And that every team got two waivers before they basically ran into each other in front of the thing."
"Hoshi has been throwing honestly pathetic illusions up to hide it, but was delayed this morning by having eaten something he shouldn't have last night."
"Oh."
Naruto had made extra clones to handle things at the entrance to training ground forty-four, as it looked like they were about to have every team showing up. Which would at least allow them to dismantle the rest of the stuff outside of the training ground early. Unfortunately, nobody had taken the suggestion to steal from each other before entering training ground forty-four, so they didn't get the fun of 'but we had enough tokens and/or waivers' whining.
On the other hand, there were going to be just over twice as many 'delivery' scrolls entering the training ground than combined 'offense', 'defense', and 'stealth' scrolls to be picked up inside of it...and only three teams even had the option of getting all three scrolls without a fight as nobody else had collected all nine tokens.
Naruto: "Making the mother of all omelets here, Jack! Can't be worried about every single egg!"
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
That is... a nasty chunin exam. And damn clever. But hey, they are 100% going to eliminate at least half of the hopefuls.
- Location
- Bosnia
4 little words that completely describe the (evils of) birocracy.
Luckily for poor souls of all those chunin wannabes, they didn't go full catch-22 paperwork birocracy no jutsu... at this time.
2/3s, unless they were lying about the supply of scrolls.
(More than that, of course, if the available scrolls aren't distributed efficiently.)
It's worse than that. Only three teams can get the necessary scrolls to enter the tower. That right there is the upper limit of who can advance to the finals (if there are any) already. Even if you take their scrolls, the cut off is at three teams no matter what.
Although Naruto is documenting everything, so the performance of each team can be evaluated properly. Maybe some will rank up even though they didn't make it to the end.
Although Naruto is documenting everything, so the performance of each team can be evaluated properly. Maybe some will rank up even though they didn't make it to the end.
Where do you get that?
Who was it again that was named the God of Paperwork and had a Paperwork Intent that causes Kage level shinobi to go berserk when exposed to?
Hint. He also organized the this Chunin exam
.I'm surprised that filing out the form properly with the form being easy to make mistakes on wasn't part of the test.
- Location
- United States
I don't know where you got that idea... I am pretty sure there were more than 12 teams in the room.
- Location
- United States
Who says it isn't? According to the chapter no teams have enough forms yet to even try having them approved yet.Who was it again that was named the God of Paperwork and had a Paperwork Intent that causes Kage level shinobi to go berserk when exposed to?
Hint. He also organized the this Chunin exam
I'm surprised that filing out the form properly with the form being easy to make mistakes on wasn't part of the test.
What? The chapter ended with all the teams entering the Forest of Death, which requires submitting their forms.