Outside of training, Mikami Yuu found time to make several trips to Konoha Hospital.
First, he wanted to find Tsunade, confirm the progress of the Scorch Release research, and discuss with her the promotion of Raw Cola throughout the Land of Fire.
Second, he wanted to grind the Healing Technique mission and raise its affection to max as quickly as possible.
Both things were done for selfish reasons.
But his appearance did indeed relieve a lot of pressure from Konoha Hospital. Since the other medical ninja didn't know about the galgame system, they simply assumed Yuu was driven by the Will of Fire and was actively contributing to Konoha. For a while, they praised him highly.
Even Sarutobi Biwako, the honorary hospital director, praised Yuu in person and personally taught him a new technique:
[Ding! Giftable limited skin detected — Healing Technique: Delicate Illness Extraction Technique!]
Delicate Illness Extraction.
This was a B-rank ninjutsu. Its purpose was to extract toxins or pathogens from a patient's body, thereby curing them. It was a fairly practical technique.
And since it was a "skin," there was basically no entry barrier. As long as he gifted it to Healing Technique, he could use it. At most, the proficiency wouldn't be maxed out immediately, and he would need to treat a few patients for practice.
Yuu accepted it gladly.
Mm… this had also been one of his goals.
After all, when you were out in the world, you had to talk about influence and background. At this point in time, no one's background was tougher than the current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Whether for the commercial map of his family's Raw Cola or for the ninjutsu resources Hiruzen possessed, Yuu had every reason to maintain good relations with the Sarutobi clan. Things like the Scroll of Seals would still require Hiruzen's permission to view.
As time passed,
more and more unfamiliar ninja wearing forehead protectors from other villages began appearing on Konoha's streets, hurrying about.
In addition, some civilians from other places also appeared here. Most of them were wealthy and idle nobles who wanted to watch the excitement, or merchants preparing to do some business. As for commoners, most were from towns around Konoha.
Worth mentioning was that
Tachibana Masamune, whom Yuu had once escorted, along with his two children, also appeared in Konoha.
The two sides ran into each other once in the village. The Tachibana twins clearly still remembered Yuu and Rin, calling them "big brother" and "Sister Rin." Tachibana Masamune also stopped and exchanged a few polite words with the two before they parted ways.
Yuu remembered that this man seemed to be a close relative of the Fire Daimyo, so he probably had some status in noble circles.
If he could ask him to help promote Raw Cola, it should greatly accelerate the expansion of the cola map. But how exactly to do it required careful planning. After all, they were only acquaintances who had nodded to each other a few times, and there was a generational gap in age. They didn't have much personal connection.
Finally,
when the second week after returning to the village arrived,
two more techniques in Yuu's "harem group" reached 50 affection and entered the corresponding Intimate stage: Dragon Fire Technique and Water Formation Wall.
Their traits also rose by one level as a result.
[Dragon Fire Technique — Trait · Piercing Flame: Your Dragon Fire Technique is exceptionally stable. It is less affected by external environmental interference when released. The flame's range is increased by 15% over its original base. If you spend time charging, each second of charge further increases range by 1 → 3%, stacking up to 5 times.]
[Water Formation Wall — Trait · Merging Body Water: Your Water Formation Wall has strong self-management awareness. It will actively observe your battle habits and predict openings you are likely to expose. When released, defensive strength is additionally increased by 25 → 40%. It also has a 25% chance of triggering on its own to block a difficult-to-defend surprise attack for you.]
Dragon Fire Technique's charging effect had been strengthened. In theory, its range could increase by up to 30%, though in actual combat, charging for five seconds was basically unrealistic. So it could only be considered a small improvement.
Water Formation Wall had strengthened its defensive power. 40% was decent.
Together with the newly added 2 points of constitution, the overall gains were acceptable.
At the same time…
it was also during this week that Konoha's long-planned Chūnin Exam finally began.
…
Early that morning,
the morning sunlight had only just dispersed the thin mist when Yuu was already ready. As he came out of his room, he saw Mikami Tajima and Mikami Aoi placing steaming rice balls and miso soup on the table.
"Yuu, you're up? Hurry and eat. Today is exam day, so perform well!"
"Mm."
Yuu nodded and sat down at the dining table, casually asking about Raw Cola.
Thanks to Yuu's efforts… no, more accurately, under the stimulation of the "thirty percent profit share," Tsunade had already agreed to become Konoha Raw Cola's technical consultant and promotional ambassador, responsible for helping them connect with nobles and wealthy merchants in the Land of Fire for cooperation talks.
Of course, Tsunade wouldn't handle the actual negotiations for them. She would only act as an introducer. The concrete business dealings still had to be run by Mikami Tajima.
Tajima was a little nervous about this.
After all, it was his first time doing business. In the past, he had only been a small chūnin and hadn't had much contact with those big figures, so it was inevitable for him to feel uneasy.
However, when Yuu suggested leaving a shadow clone to accompany Tajima, Tajima decisively refused.
"Yuu, your Chūnin Exam is more important. Leave these things to me! Although it's my first time doing it… I still have to try!"
"That's right. Go for it boldly. Mom and I will support you from behind."
Yuu nodded.
Tajima was left a little speechless by his words.
"No, why does this child speak so strangely… as if you're the father. Alright, eat, eat. Later, I'll walk you part of the way before going to find Lady Tsunade."
After breakfast,
the father and son came out of the house. They saw Rin next door crouching in her yard, saying goodbye to the little white dog. Shiro seemed anxious because its owner was going out and was whining softly, while Rin gently stroked its fur and promised she would return soon.
"Huh, Yuu, you're ready?"
Rin immediately stood up. The ninja pouch at her waist was bulging, clearly already packed.
Yuu nodded. "Mm. Ready to go?"
"I'm coming!"
Rin patted Shiro's head one last time, quickly caught up with Yuu and Tajima, and the three walked together for a while before separating. Tajima went to discuss business, while Yuu and Rin headed side by side toward the exam venue.
Halfway there, the two ran into Might Guy's team, who were also rushing in that direction.
"Yuu! Rin! It's you! Long time no see!"
Might Guy was still wearing his iconic green jumpsuit and walking on his hands. Beside him were a helpless-looking Ebisu and Genma Shiranui.
As soon as Guy saw Yuu and Rin, he shouted loudly, freeing one thumb and flashing his shining white teeth.
"Burning youth does not allow laziness! Let us collide with all our strength in the Chūnin Exam! Hmm… why are there only two of you? Where are Obito and Kakashi?"
"Obito should still be on his way."
"As for Kakashi… he's part of the examiner team."
Yuu said it casually.
But Might Guy's face immediately showed shock.
"Nani?! That Kakashi… has already started serving as an examiner? Damn it! It was like this back at the Ninja Academy, and it's still like this now… No, I must burn my youthful blood twice as hard and become even faster and stronger!"
"…Save some strength, Guy. Use it during the exam."
Genma Shiranui said, a senbon between his teeth.
Ebisu pushed up his glasses and quietly assessed Yuu and Rin.
All three members of Guy's team came from civilian backgrounds. Unlike Asuma and Kurenai, they weren't very well-informed, so they didn't know how Yuu and the others had performed on the southwestern battlefield. However, the restrained aura of strength around Yuu was faintly noticed by Ebisu.
After that,
the group continued forward and arrived at the small building where the exam was being held.
Many people had already gathered here, including quite a few familiar faces. For example, Kurenai and Asuma, whom they had seen a few days earlier. Both were wearing crisp, practical ninja outfits. Kurenai's hands were already wrapped in bandages, and when she saw Yuu, she immediately waved to him.
There were also people like Hyūga Homon, who had graduated with them before.
And some genin from smaller villages like Takigakure, Kusagakure, and Amegakure.
It was said that Iwagakure had ultimately sent a team to participate in the exam too, though whether they hadn't arrived yet or were somewhere else, Yuu couldn't find any Iwa forehead protectors after looking around.
Rin looked a little worried.
"Why isn't Obito here yet… Did he oversleep? Yuu, should we go to the Uchiha compound and check?"
"No need. There's still time."
Yuu glanced at the sky. "If it really comes down to it, I'll use a shadow clone to transform into him and enter the exam room first."
"Huh? Wouldn't that count as breaking the rules?"
"I don't know."
In theory, Yuu could perfectly transform into Obito. After all, they had been teammates for so long that he knew practically everything about Obito. Aside from being unable to reproduce the Sharingan, he could replicate nearly all other abilities close to perfectly.
But there should be no need to do that in this situation.
Soon,
just as the deadline was about to arrive,
a figure charged over from the distance with wind and dust, running as if in a hundred-meter sprint. He barely stopped before the gathering time ended. It was Uchiha Obito, panting hard with his hair sticking up in all directions.
"Huff… huff… finally made it!"
"Your timing is perfect."
Yuu lifted his chin. "Let's go. Time to enter."
…
The first two parts of this Chūnin Exam were similar to Naruto's year.
First came a small genjutsu test, using a fake exam entrance to attract attention, while the real exam entrance was located elsewhere. Some candidates who failed to notice the genjutsu were eliminated directly.
Then came the first written exam.
The written test content wasn't too far beyond the syllabus, but for most semi-literate genin, it was still enough to cause trouble. It involved ninjutsu theory, intelligence analysis, tactical deduction, and so on. Yuu and Rin were both honor students, so they had no fear at all and wrote quickly and fluently.
This kind of test would normally have left Obito completely lost. But now he had awakened the Sharingan, and after Fugaku's special training, he had already mastered the eyes' basic use. So he directly activated his two tomoe and copied Yuu's wrist movements, "cheating" at high speed.
"Haha, the Sharingan is so useful! Before these eyes, no secret can hide!"
Obito had barely laughed aloud before the proctor in charge of monitoring glared fiercely at him.
"Hey! That goggles-wearing brat! If I catch you talking one more time, your entire team will be disqualified!"
"…"
Team Minato passed smoothly.
But Guy's side had it rough.
Guy, Genma Shiranui, and Ebisu were all ordinary ninja with no high-tech cheating methods. They could only rely on top student Ebisu to answer the questions, then secretly pass slips of paper to the other two. During this, Ebisu's hand trembled once, and the paper almost got intercepted by the proctor. Fortunately, in the end, it was a scare but no danger.
After the written exam ended, the proctors graded the papers on the spot. Another batch of unqualified candidates was eliminated, and the remaining number dropped sharply.
When it came to the second exam…
things finally became a little different.
"…Hostage rescue?"
On the notice board downstairs from the written exam room, the rules for the second exam were posted.
The location was still the Forest of Death. The examiner team had set up four different "enemy strongholds" there. Each stronghold held three "hostages," twelve in total.
Participating squads needed to find and successfully rescue at least one hostage, then safely escort them to the tower at the center of the forest.
More importantly…
Six hours after the exam began, a pursuit squad made up of examiners would enter the forest, chase down all rescued hostages, and had a chance to launch indiscriminate attacks against any candidate squad they encountered along the way.
Those who were defeated, as well as those who failed to successfully rescue a hostage, would all be considered eliminated.
"…Huh? Seriously? The examiners personally enter the field and beat people up?"
Obito immediately became noisy.
"Twelve hostages. In other words, only twelve teams can pass this round?"
Ebisu rubbed his chin and pondered.
"Not necessarily. Twelve is the upper limit."
Asuma calmly analyzed. "There are two conditions for passing. First, find a hostage. Second, escort them to the designated location. Both are necessary. And the examiner squad enters the battlefield after six hours, which means completing both objectives within six hours will be quite difficult."
"With teams inevitably being chased by the examiner squad, I'd estimate that if six to eight teams pass in the end, that would already be good."
"By the way… are these 'hostages' real people or dummies? If they're real people, do we have to take care of their food and drink too?"
The participating genin discussed animatedly.
Yuu, however, narrowed his eyes slightly and remembered someone: Yūhi Shinku.
During dinner last week, Shinku had said he would serve as one of the examiners for this Chūnin Exam. And he had also said, with implied meaning, that he wanted to "exchange" with Yuu during the exam.
So…
These rules weren't aimed at him, were they?