Kumogakure Chuunin Exam Part 1

[Kiri]

It was the beginning of a new day. Cliche as it may sound, Kiri had been looking forward to this day. Partly because he knew well the candidates that would be undertaking the Chuunin Examination and so he wanted to see how much they’ve grown since their last meeting in Tea Country. And partly because he was part of the committee. He gave a childish grin as he fixed his shirt. A month and a half had gone by, surely time and having gone to a different country would have given them a fresh perspective of things. Of course, he was also a bit worried about the temperaments, unexpectedness, and downright craziness that some of these kids could display. Nonetheless, he would have to step back from being a teacher, and enter his other role as a proctor. There would be no favoritisms, and no leniency. After all, this was the actual exam and they needed to prove that they were ready for the real world. “No more babysitting,” said Kiri as he finished putting on his coat. He would then take the files that were on his table. In it were the profiles of each of the candidates for the exam.

He left the Tsuyoshi Estate before dawn. He caught up with Rin along the way who was training diligently and shared an onigiri before proceeding. It was still cold, even without the snow, the climate was still winter in Kumogakure and so it seemed like a good day to work one’s brain. He wondered if the candidates prepared properly. He hoped so.

The walk to the academy grounds was a silent one, but not a long one, he sighed as he adjusted his rucksack. He had gotten used to it by now, especially as he would often come here for the last few weeks or so, finalising the last part of the Chuunin Exam preparations. There were others involved, but for now, it was just the beginning, so only him was required to be there to greet them all. Of course, the entire room– a special classroom that was found at the very end of the second floor to the east hall– was properly equipped with cameras for observation and recording purposes. Once inside, he got to preparing the last few items. He would set down the profiles on the teacher’s desk before approaching the strangely arranged classroom. It was almost like a circular formation of student desks, with one particular table at the very centre. He went over and emptied the contents of his rucksack, revealing a number of scrolls that he stacked, just the right number with one scroll for each candidate.

He would then take out pieces of paper from the side pocket of his bag and began placing the labels on each of the desks that formed the circle around the central one. With that done, Kiri would walk back to the teacher’s desk and wait for the students to come.

As they would enter, one by one, he greeted them briefly and gave the same instruction. “Good morning. Please leave whatever possessions you have lined up at the wall to the left and then proceed to take one scroll from the centre and wait at the desk with your name. Do not open the scroll yet.” It was a simple instruction and so he hoped that the candidates would not deviate from it. “And avoid unnecessary talking.”

He would wait until the very last of the students would arrive before he gathered his chakra around him and then blasted it at all sides. The door to the room shut and there was a translucent color streaming outside the windows. “This is just a perimeter barrier. This is to make you all aware that whatever happens in the exam may only be done inside. There is no excuse to want to go to the washroom for you should have already done so before coming here. In any case, welcome to the first part of your Chuunin Exam.” Kiri would walk to the front of the teacher’s desk and draw out his sword before striking it down to the floor, embedding it to make a point. “We are already quite familiar with one another, most are, at the very least, and so you all should know by now that I do not condone unnecessary chatter and cheating. This room is being observed by higher rank shinobis, your would-be branch leaders, and possibly, even by the Sennins and the Raikage, himself. So please bare in mind that whatever you display here is what image you will be carrying over. As of this moment, you are all no longer Genins. You are candidates of becoming Chuunin, and what that entails means more responsibility. This is merely the first part of the Chuunin Exam, but be aware that if you fail this, you cannot proceed. I wish you all luck.”

Kiri then leaned against the desk as he pulled out a pocket watch and flipped open the front case. “To begin with, each scroll you took has numerous questions. Simply PICK ONE and answer. You will be given an hour to plan for your response. Beneath the desk is a drawer with a few empty papers and a pencil. You can create outlines, write down your speech, or whatever it is that can help you in formulating your response. However, you are not allowed to interact with anyone else in this room. You will be given ample time for your response, but no more than half an hour-long speech. Let’s be real, the longer you want to explain, the less likely your listeners will indulge you. However, if you answer vaguely, it will also be judged quite poorly. So make sure you know how to balance it well. When the preparation time is up, I will call on you, one by one, to give your response, and it must follow this pattern: First, give your name, your aspired branch, and then simply give the number of which question you chose to respond to before you begin with your speech. Is that clear?”

And when there would be no questions asked, Kiri would press the lever on the pocket watch, “Then, the one-hour preparation begins now.”

By the time one full hour would be over, Kiri would begin to call on them one by one.

[WC: 1,069]
[Post: 1/6]

---

Instructions:

• Each will be sent the contents of the scroll via PM. Simply choose 1 and then answer. When answering, do not read out the question. Example: “I chose question 3… (answer)”
• There is no posting but just narratively say that Kiri called you all one by one to answer.
• 4-Day posting time starts. All responses for the first round must be in by Thursday (Jan 25) 9:20PM (UTC+09:00)
• Next Moderator Post will be at Thursday (Jan 25) 9:20~10:00PM (UTC+09:00)
• No discussion OOC about your selection. Let’s make this interesting and act as if we’re doing this individually, okay?
• General questions can be asked at the group DM. Personal questions, especially regarding your character’s decision and all, can be DM’d to me personally.
• PS: Still analysing if Hon is eligible, but in the case he’s not eligible, just imagine his desk is not there.
• Have fun!

EDITS:
- Arata has been added. Still waiting on reviewing Hon's eligibility.
- New seating arrangement and inclusion of Hon and Yuu

 

[Eishi]

It seems as per usual, I was the first person to arrive. I took note of the desks all facing the center pile of scrolls, assuming it was a part of the test and we would all get our instructions sooner or later. Shrugging it off, I took a seat, placing my coffee cup at the corner of the desk next to my name card. I could only sigh as I leaned on my arm and waited for the others to arrive. I didn’t think right now I was expected to be too vigilant. It was always a shit move to start the test without giving participants a warning and Kumo didn’t seem the type to pull that stuff in their officially sanctioned exams.

Once again Kiri was going to be leading this class like he had seemingly led my life for the last year of education. I had to wonder if he was proud or worried that I had been invited to be tested for chuunin-hood in less than a year after becoming a genin. I suspected he had a hand in the prospect hunting so I could only hope it was the former. I saw both of my other teammates had already been invited themselves if the surrounding names on the desks were any indication. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised, though. Both of them were capable. When I saw Ikko had also been invited, I felt somewhat conflicted. I was both happy that my friend had gotten in, while also feeling sickened that they had let him in.

“Just early I’m guessing?” I commented to Kiri in idle chit chat. Regardless if he had answered, once the other participants had entered, Kiri finally gave us all the rundown on what to expect. When it was my turn to pick, I drew my scroll and went down the list of different choices. After studying it for a good two or three minutes, I came to my decision of which article I wanted to choose.

With a deft hand and nimble fingers, I began to work on my essay like I was back in the academy all over again. It’s almost felt like I never left now that I was back in this classroom again and I absolutely hated it. If it wasn’t for the fact that Kiri already constantly made me write when doing reports, I’d have found this exercise annoying and frustrating. Especially

Question Five

Strongly Disagree I figure.

The spirit of the question can be answered in a number of different ways. I'll go over the first by answering the question of balancing between personal aggression and knowing when to hold yourself back. I can see the point in that respect. If someone is all too happy to pull their blade they can be just as useless as a dandy who only holds a weapon to act the part. That much is fairly obvious, but it doesn’t really fit well with me. I always have to wonder what is so wrong about appearing feeble in the eyes of others? Is that not just a way for them to underestimate you? Why must the blade be seen for it to convey power? Is it not smarter to be wary of any man carrying a weapon, be it a greatsword or a simple dagger?

I’ve studied enough and experienced enough to realize that showing your hand too early can be one the greatest sins going into a fight, but sometimes it's inevitable. If you ever get famous enough to be a named fighter, you better be able to fight all contenders who come after you. Your enemies will easily be able to get a baseline understanding of how you fight, along with having an edge over you. While they'll at least know your strengths, you won't know any of theirs. Everything about you will be as good as public knowledge. Every secret revealed in public would become a well-known fact to dig up. Suddenly you get a giant target on your back and a whole lot of enemies hoping to gain some fame or infamy for your head. Vicous cycle, but not an undeserved one. Old dogs get put to rest.

Leading from that I’m of the personal opinion that fame from your aggression and tenacity brings about better fights. Sure, you’ll get the occasional scrub wanted to take your head to make a name for himself. In those cases, though, you’ll just instantly merc them, anyway. What’s special, are the times you do get into a fight with a real opponent wanting to test their mettle and that’s what makes it truly worthwhile. It is never a bad thing to have many enemies, especially if you do have friends to fight with.

Another way to read the question I realized is the assumption that you can’t have allies when you're prone to drawing your weapon. I guess I could see the logic in that, but you’d already probably been an unlikable asshole if you couldn’t control your own emotions to the point of drawing on any slight provocation. Especially if it came from a friend. Hell, I think half my time spent with my friends is fighting with one another as it is and I rarely ever see any of us pulling our weapons on each other.

The fact of the matter is, I disagree with this question. I don't think the world is so cut and dry. A sharp blade doesn't equate to a hardened heart. We're all just emotional meat puppets on a floating rock, anyway. Too varied to live by structured definitions and tropes.

Once I had completed my short essay along with a couple bullet points on another piece of paper, I waited for our time to conclude before it seemed I was the first to be called up to present my essay. I felt like this was something we probably should’ve done back in the academy even more so than I had before the whole test started as I stood up from my seat and spoke.

“Isobe, Eishi. Medical branch. I answered question five," I said in my most monotone voice before noticing and correcting myself. I could already feel myself getting bored after doing this for an hour.

"Along with and whether or not, I agreed. In most of the standard ways you’d expect, I thought the question was nonsensical because it had no real bearing on our profession. Most of us are used to using hidden weapons. Still, I understood the point of the question was asking my opinion between being a quickdraw or maintaining abstinence longer than I should. I then went on to argue the merits of whether being well known for drawing your sword was more worthwhile than staying unknown and obscure. I concluded by arguing that being overly aggressive is not conclusive of being a loner or unapproachable. I’ve seen plenty of battle maniacs still maintain friendships and it's stupid to assume a blade is enough to discourage people from approaching,” I went down my note card, listing off the different points of my essay before taking my seat once more. I very much doubted this part of the exam was going to be heavily monitored. It seemed like some calm exercise before the storm.

Either way, I was just going to have to sit here and listen to what the others had come up with for their questions. It was going to be a boring couple of minutes as we went through everyone, at least it would give me time to flick paper footballs at Ikko's head after his turn was done. Now that we were no longer under pressure to finish our essays, it was just a waiting game before something more serious came our way.

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko was, for a change, nervous today. It wasn't necessarily that he lacked confidence in himself or was not interested in the trouble that would come from that whole "ascension to responsibility" thing that Kiri kept spouting every time someone needed to be kicked into a broom closet, but Ikko was concerned and anxious about one singular thing...one singular word even. It was the Chuunin Exam, EXAM. That meant having to use paper, which had words, words that Ikko would have to read! How could fate impart such a heinous punishment upon him? Then even further, what if he had to write!? The shinobi world was desperately in need of reform even if it was solely to outlaw such barbaric and cruel practices. If Ikko's dreams were ever fully realized, that would be one of the first things he would do, right after eradicating every bear off the face of Lightning Country. The filthy monsters.

Walking while anxious however would seem to be a rather risky venture. Ikko had spent the entire trip to the testing grounds being nervous and anxious that he didn't realize he had already arrived, without anything in his mind prepared whatsoever. Panic was setting in as Ikko scurried in to the testing room, surprisingly not late this time around and took his seat where it was designated. Ikko's anxiety did not improve when henoticed the thing he dreaded most on the table...a pencil. Ikko had begun to pull it and the papers out of the trap before dropping the pencil onto the desk with a start. Ikko's legs curled up slowly to rest on his seat under the desk, as if he were curling up to make himself a smaller target as the others filed into the room behind him. Anyone who knew Ikko, which surprisingly turned out to be a good majority of the group, would notice just how wildly out of character this behavior was for the typically rambunctious and energetic child who seemed to perpetually brim with obnoxious confidence. This timid curled up boy who was looking at the pencil as if it had just eaten his family and then insulted his mother, maybe not in that order, was nearly unrecognizable.

Ikko barely even reacted when Kiri entered the room and began issuing instructions. Ikko had not brought anything with him and as a result did not have anything to put up against the wall, which left the boy simply walking up to the table in the middle grabbing a scroll without really looking, and making his way back to his desk, his line of sight still fixed on that wretched pencil. Ikko took his seat and adopted the position he had held thus far, once again looking like an awkward turtle trying to fit into a clam shell. The boy's anxiety was so fixated that he barely tracked anything Kiri said, he didn't notice the translucent flowing energy encircling the building, he didn't notice that Kiri was especially anti-bathroom today, he didn't notice the man skewer the floor like it had an opinion, and he barely noted the speech that followed. He didn't even point out how "Chuunin Candidate" wasn't an actual rank and how they were still definitely genin, to further put an exclamation point on how dread inducing that little ink receptacle was for him.

Ikko's eyes turned up just in time to absorb some of the instructions that Kiri was doling out. List of questions on the scroll, answer, hour to prepare, half that to present...penciiiiiiiiiiiil...write the speech, no talking, not interacting, people are bad guys made of lava, don't talk too much, don't talk too little, eat your vegetables, name, branch, question, talk, clear. It was clear, pretty simple really, but that didn't improve Ikko's sense of anxiety much. They were already confronting what was far and away Ikko's biggest weakness. Even in his lessons with Hoshi, where he had made surprising progress, Ikko's reading and writing skills were well below what would be expected of a boy his age and while his reading abilities had gotten much better, he was even able to read and understand a few of the questions, his ability to write was definitely not strong enough to phrase a complicated philosophy and put it on paper, it was barely good enough to string a few sentences together.

So as the scribbling of pencils on paper echoed throughout the whole room, Ikko found himself staring at the empty sheets before him, the pencil lying untouched. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes passed, sweat began trickling past his brow as his conscious mind knew he had frozen and he needed to move, but his limbs weren't cooperating. He couldn't do this, this was too much for him. This was not a skill he had, he had quite a few, but this was the one facet of being a functional person that he had never grasped. How on earth was he going to write this down. Then he realized Kiri never said he had to. Kiri never said he had to write anything, he just said he could, that was what he "could" use the paper for. Kiri expected him to write out a response then read it out loud, that was the expectation, but that wasn't what the challenge was. His only goal was to be able to answer a question in a presentation, to speak it. He could do that. Ikko's eyes trailed up from his paper to look at Kiri, thirty minutes past. It wasn't what Kiri probably wanted, he probably wanted Ikko to write out and read his paper, but that wasn't Ikko. Ikko had weaknesses, but he knew how to play to his strengths, he knew how to magnify those strengths to push past and shroud those weaknesses. Ikko also had a nasty penchant for doing things his way regardless of what Kiri wanted, of pushing forward with his own plans, his own strategies and trying to conform now would do everything he'd accomplished this far a disservice. Ikko never did what Kiri wanted him to and, with a defiant glare, he wasn't going to ruddy well start now. Ikko was not going to write a single word. He was, however, going to use that stupid pencil.

Ikko's eyes lit up and snapped back to his scratch paper, turning it side ways and went to work. Feverishly scratching lines and shadows across the parchment. It took him longer for this one, spending nearly twenty minutes on it before he was finally satisfied before flipping over to the second piece of paper. This one, thankfully would be pretty easy comparatively and Ikko spent the remaining ten minutes of his allotted hour. Ikko put the finishing touches on his paper as Eishi was called up, apparently Kiri wanted to throw him into the fire first. A lot of emotions flashed through Ikko at once. The first was that Eishi did what he expected everyone to do in some form and what he assumed Kiri was really looking for. Which...was not at all what Ikko had done. The second point of concern was that he said question 5. Oh no...that meant both he and Ikko were answering the same question, he was going to be compared directly to Eishi...especially when he didn't do the assignment in the way he necessarily was supposed to. Ikko's nerves were creeping back to him...but then Eishi spoke his answer and Ikko's nerves were replaced with utter bewilderment. His eyes flared wide as he glared at him...what the hell did he just say? Ikko looked back at his scroll. Did he count wrong? Was his question a different number? No...no it wasn't, did Eishi miscount? No, Eishi was smarter than he was, he wouldn't have done that. What was going on? After Eishi finished his speech, probably passing with flying colors, a familiar name was croaked out by Kiri and Ikko stood with a jolt. Stuttering slightly as he spoke.

"I'm Funai Ikko, Main Branch...and...I...I answered question...five"

Should he try to change his answer to match what Eishi said? That wasn't his question five...that answer made no sense for his question five...what the hell was going on? Did he make a mistake? Did he mess up? No, no no no no no no no no no. Ikko slapped himself, each palm to each cheek with a loud "smack" that reverberated through the room. It did the trick, Ikko's nerves steeled, his resolve solidified and a familiar grin crept to his face. No point in second guessing now, he'd just have to go for it, he'd just have to do what he had planned and hoped he didn't mess everything up. No point in trying to rework everything at the last minute in a situation he didn't fully understand. Ikko held up the first paper in front of him. The paper was kind of small for a "presentation" but they were all shinobi, they should have better eye sight than the average person...probably, hopefully. Before them was a picture of a brilliant tapestry, wonderfully shadowed and popping out to almost look like a three dimensional image, as if the small drawings and figures on the drawing were alive and real. Spending time with Shiro and Honnou seemed to have rubbed off a little on his artistic talents. Ikko, holding the pencil in one hand, pointed to a small line on the side of the image, a loose thread.

"A single thread in the tapestry,
though it's color brightly shine
will never see its purpose
in the pattern of the grand design."

These words were said with a small tune, as if he were speaking the lyrics to a song as his pencil trailed from the single thread in the tapestry to tracing an invisible circle around the "grand design." After he finished the pantomimed outline, Ikko flipped the paper, revealing the scratch sheet beneath it and letting the tapestry nestle behind it. On this page was drawn what looked like a mountain of small ovals, layered atop one another in ascending rows, stretching up to the very top of the paper as Ikko continued speaking.

"And the stone that sits on the very top
of the mountain's mighty face
Shouldn't think itself more important
than the stones that form the base."

Ikko moved his pencil from the top of the page, pointing at the stone at the very top before trailing it down the page, hitting stone after stone on the way down before resting on the row of ovals comprising the bottom of the drawing. Ikko set the papers down on his desk, a small grin on his face now. He had momentum now, he could just speak, let his brain speak the words instinct and emotion told it to. This was something he could do, something he was good at.

"Shinobi, especially powerful ones, often lose sight of the fact that things that matter, things that have purpose, things that merit worth are not always the loudest, nor always the one that stands strongest, nor is it always the one who shines most brilliantly. The person who is the most useful in a situation is not always the most powerful, or the cleverest, or the most attractive, and the victor is not always the one who climbs over the corpse of his enemies. Everything has worth, everything has purpose, and true strength, true power, lies in our ability to see the merit in everything, to see the power in something as tiny as a moth to as massive as a bear and to use it for the betterment of ourselves and our village. Whether that thing is "weak" or "strong," it has merit, it has worth. We deprive ourselves of a whole form of strength if we focus solely on the powerful, the prominent, and the brilliant. I personally would not choose to adopt a weakness I do not have to. I disagree with the statement presented."

Ikko sat back down with a quickness, that momentum seeming to die out as soon as he spoke, the boy still clearly uncomfortable with the concept of a classroom, but he flashed an uneasy grin at the floor, hoping that worked out better than he was expecting it to. At least until he'd start getting hit in the temple by projectile paper triangles.

[WC: 2059]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo had intended to take his time getting ready this morning, meditating with his father quietly in the family’s courtyard, clearing his mind of any obstacles that would cause a problem. So he had awoken before dawn and prepared himself. Today was going to be an interesting day, one that he should be nervous or anxious about, but he wasn’t, whether it was due to the meditation or his general stoic personality he did not know, either way he was thankful for it. He had prepared his gear as if he was heading on mission, stocking food, weapons and various other equipment that had in the past proven necessary on one mission or another. He packed his weapons, small things that they were, a set of signal flares, a headset, his ninja wire, silver bells, several micro chakra bombs, emp grenades, and three soldier pills. He had cleaned his attire, replacing the pants with a newer pair that didn’t have the worn down look that the others did. When he finally left the Hotaka estate, he made sure he stopped by a shop he frequented on his way to the academy, ordered and ate a quick meal and finally arrived on the academy grounds and thanked the owner who had wished him luck. He enjoyed the brisk air, it always made him feel more alive and in the moment, he wasn’t sure why, it just did.

The scarred boy arrived on the academy grounds and took a moment to watch others arriving before he headed for the east hall, it was on the second floor and all the way at the end as well. He hadn’t been in that specific room before, which meant it was for something other than normal activities. As he neared the doorway he paused a moment in it, taking in the area, they had set up the desks in a circular formation, with each student apparently assigned on of them. His was center on the back of the room, directly across from the instructor’s desk, which was larger than the students desk or the one sitting in the center of the room with the scrolls piled on it. When the instructor had greeted him and told him to leave his possessions by the left wall he bowed to them and did so, he also grabbed one of the scrolls as directed before finally seating himself at the table and watched in the others. There were two others already in the room, he didn’t recognize either of them, but that wasn’t a surprise, as he tended to work on his own or in groups as assigned and didn’t tend to seek out company outside of those he kept on the missions. He doubted he would know any of those present, which while wasn’t surprising did put him at a disadvantage, which was why he took his time watching the others and their actions rather than focusing solely on the scroll in front of him or which of the questions he was to answer. When the door slammed shut with the burst of chakra from the instructor Kyo looked him over a moment, listening to the explanation of what had just happened, and that the entire Chuunin Exam would be taking place indoors, mainly apparently in this room, which wasn’t as large as one might expect for as many students as there appeared to be. Still, he doubted it would be as simple as it seemed. The man continued stating that most of them were familiar with one another, which wasn’t a surprise to him, which seemed to be the way of things these days. He went on to tell them not to cheat, nor to speak without need, which Kyo actually appreciated, most of the time people rattled on for no reason speaking about things not related to what was happening and generally detracting from the lessons that others were attempting to teach them, either through their actions, words or both. The man went on to mention the room being observed by higher ranking shinobi, and possible the Sennins and the Raikage. He had meet the Main branch Sennin, as well as the Raikage previously, when he had to deal with working alongside Komora. That had been an interesting event, with a possibly bad ending for Komroa due to the poisoning she had endured. He never had followed up on what had happened to the strange girl who had been fascinated with blades and behaved oddly at all times. While he hoped she made it, as she had been capable in fighting which had shown during the battle with the spiders, he felt no attachment to her or any of the others he had worked beside. Attachment always lead to problems, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in hopes of saving someone instead of accomplishing the mission, and as such he was glad he didn’t have any outside of his direct family, at least any that were still alive in any case.

When the man ordered them to pick a single topic from the scroll and answer it, Kyo finally paid more attention to it, he had an hour to plan his answer, and they had provided paper and pencil to help facilitate their speech or answer to the question they chose to answer. They would each apparently be provided with up to thirty minutes to explain their answer, which seemed excessive, though he hadn’t pursued all of the questions as of yet. They were told not to take too take that long as their listeners would not be as likely to agree with what they had to say, and that if they answered vaguely that it would not reflect well on the judgment of their answers. This made sense, after all why would a vague answer be best? Still, he pondered on how specific one should get in answering the proposed questions. They were to after being called; give their name, aspired branch, and then which question they were responding to with their speech, it seemed simple enough, though he doubted it would be. Nothing that happened in Kumo ever was really simple, there was always layers to everything, which was something that he had begun to understand only recently. He preferred his own families politicking to anyone else’s, it was straight-forward with an easily definable win and goal, whereas everything else had other things going on behind it, like this test was going to.

Looking through the questions he read them all, only pausing and considering two of them to answer, the fourth question and the ninth, both had drawn his attention, and he considered a moment deliberating with himself on which of the two he would answer. After considering it, he decided on the latter to answer, the ninth question. Rather than taking the pencil and beginning to write on the paper they had so kindly provided, Kyo took a moment to gather his thoughts, and then utilized his jutsu, Drawout, to put the information down on the paper in front of him. He then spent the rest of the time rewording some of what he had put down on the paper, so that it would be easier to present to the others. The paper really held nothing more than the first draft of what he intended to say when it was his turn to present. As the time came, he waited patiently for the others to finish before standing and giving a bow, keeping his eyes on those around him, “I am Hotaka Kyo, Main Branch, Nine.” The boy paused a moment before continuing on with his prepared speech, “I agree with what was stated in the question. The reasoning behind this is simple, of what worth is a warrior if they do not have the discipline or intestinal fortitude to rise above others or the trials they experience in their lives? Of what use are they if they cower in the storm, regardless if the storm is physical attack or an issue of honor? One must have the intestinal fortitude to stand strong in that storm, they must rise above the challenges they face, rise above the others who allow the storm to break them and continue on. I do not refer to thinking that one is better than others, not pride, no, I’m referring to purposefully living a life that allows you to rise above others simply by the way you live it. A life that has true purpose is one that has honor and integrity, your purpose in life is then superior to those who do not live with honor, and this will show in the way you respond to the things that happen in one’s life.“ The scarred boy paused a moment before continuing, “If you cannot be strong when it matters, when the chips are down, then pray tell what makes you different from anybody else? One cannot be a true warrior if they do that, warriors stand up and stand strong in their life’s storms. It is how they rise up to the level of the superior man. Of course the only way to rise up and be strong in the midst of a storm is to be prepared before the storm comes, you must prepare yourself to meet your life’s trails before they arrive. If you wait until they are upon you, the storm is rolling in and the winds are blowing, then you will be ill-prepared to stand strong. It basically boils down to preparing in the good times for the bad ones that are going to come, prepare now for the worst that you believe is coming. Never sit and rest on your laurels, believing your accomplishments are enough to take you ever forward. If you cannot stand against the storm, you failed to prepare yourself for them, you fail to rise against them and over them, and there is none that you can blame but yourself for when you fail.” The boy fell silent, gave another bow to those present, still ensuring to keep his eyes on those around him and sat down, this was more speaking than he normally did with others in an entire week, preferring to be less verbose by a large margin and instead let his actions speak for him. He returned to his seat, sitting and listened to the other’s answers to the various questions.

[WC = 1740]
[MFT]

 

[Siu]

Today was the day.

It had a been a very long time since Siu could recall ever feeling this excited and motivated to wake up in the morning. Today seemed almost unreal, like a dream. Her, qualified to participate in an actual Chuunin exam? Was such a thing even possible? And yet here it was happening.
Others had commented concerning her exponential growth as a shinobi in such a short timeframe, and even told her that she had the potential to become Chuunin. However, to hear such words as praise, and to actually experience them were two entirely different things. While she was well aware that failure was still completely possible, this realization did not hinder her enthusiasm for the day at all. The walk from her home to the academy was one filled with a rapidly beating heart of insuppressible suspense concerning what was to come. She'd waken up unnecessarily early this morning, in order to eat a healthy yet small breakfast, not wanting to throw up in case there would be much unexpected movement required for the day, and afterwards meditated in preparation for the incoming challenges awaiting ahead.

Siu had no idea what to expect from the exams, or whether she should even pass them. Yet, pass or fail, the experience from this event would very most likely become one of the most memorable moments of her life. For the longest, she considered herself to hate shinobihood. In fact, she still did in a way. Yet, her experiences in Tea Country proved a lot more fruitful than anyone could have expected. Spectating the best shinobi from around the world participate in combat against one another, she'd witnessed the things of legends and fairy tales. Additionally, witnessing the participation of familiar shinobi from her own homeland, such as Hoshi, whom she'd also done training under in the past, the entire event was something that had drastically changed her outlook of the shinobi world.
The amount of crowds whom had traveled to watch such a spectacular event was almost unbelievable. Had shinobi seriously had that much of an influence upon the people of the world? What she'd learned about shinobi in the classroom, and experienced through her trainings and missions from Kumogakure, she'd previously always assumed to be the entirety of the shinobi world. Yet, travelling to Tea had greatly broadened her horizons, revealing to her that the shinobi world was far larger and influential than what she'd experienced through her own village alone; Far more larger and influential than she could imagine.

Entering the room, her heart continued to race. Everything was rather peculiarly setup, far different from all of the other classrooms she'd remembered spending her time in during her academy student days. The place looked more like a gathering room for a council of some sort, rather than an actual classroom. Eyeing about the room, Siu's eyes brightened as she recognized a familiar face already there before her own arrival. It was wonderful to see Eishi had also qualified to take the Chuunin exams with her. Yet, while she had no ill will against Ikko, despite it may have appearing so due to her past aggression against him during one of their task together, she 'did' raise a curious eyebrow upon realizing his presence. Did he really qualify for Chuunin? "Siu, that's rude!" She mentally corrected herself, as she shook her head to rid herself of her negative judgements of the boy. What did she truly know about him? Everyone was undoubtedly chosen for a reason, including the blue-haired youth.
Switching her attention in order to view the third figure who'd made it into the room before her, the first thing the kunoichi made mental notice of was the noticeable scar across his face. That alone gave her the impression that the youth was very likely well familiar with combat. Being completely unfamiliar with the boy, she began to become greatly curious concerning his origins.

Grabbing her scroll from the desk, and making her way to her assigned seat, Siu patiently waited for the others to also arrive. Eventually, once all the shinobi were in their rightful place, Kiri would cast the perimeter barrier for the room, and begin giving the group their lecture and instructions. The kunoichi gulped in anxiety, were they really being monitored by all the higher ups? That knowledge made things kind of uncomfortable.
Upon opening the scroll and skimming through a few questions after proctor's permission to begin the activity, the young Genin's eyes widened and sparkled. An uninhibited smile suddenly became visible upon her face. Was this real? In all her days as a shinobi, never would Siu have predicted something like this becoming the prerequisite for qualifying as a shinobi. She would have an actual opportunity to openly express herself, and others would actually listen to her opinion? She wouldn't be required to repeat preformulated responses from others like some sort of robot, or be limited to only bubbling in some multiple choice questions? Was this a dream?

"One.." The youth whispered to herself under her breath. "No three.." She suddenly corrected, "But two is also good too.." She bit her fingernails; not in nervousness, but in great enthusiasm. Which one to choose?
Long before she become a shinobi, writing creative works were both her passion, and aspiring profession. Who would've guessed that she'd finally have such an opportunity to exercise this passion during a Chuunin exam of all things? At once, the sound of rapid pencil movements against paper went to work. It was over; Siu had become completely absorbed in the activity. In the midst of her writing, she would lean her face forward every now and then, in order to more closely examine over the contents of her paper, further displaying her absorbed interest in the activity.
The young kunoichi listened to each participant with sparkling eyes of great interest. Though, at the choosing of each participant's answers, Siu did find herself looking down at her own scroll in confusion. Everyone's answers sounded very different from the questions on her own scroll. Even more peculiar, was that even though Eishi and Ikko chose the same exact question number, their answers seemed to address two entirely different subjects. Scratching her head in bewilderment, Siu overlooked the odd occurrence, and still made a continued effort to follow to the contents of everyone's answers. Different subjects or not, everyone's answers were still very intriguing for her to listen to. Siu had unexpectedly found herself most surprised by Ikko's answer. His presentation had proven him to be far more more wise than first impressions of him communicated. He'd began with a sort of lyrical poetry and artwork display, which created a highly intrigued smile upon the young girl's face. The unfamiliar boy with the scar across his face had been called upon to give his speech as well. His speech seemed to agree with her previous impression of him very likely being rather combat familiar.
Next was Siu, whom quickly stood up with great enthusiasm upon being called. To her, this part of the exam was far more exciting than any combat training or mission she'd ever done.

"Siu!" The Genin began, "Hikari, Siu; Main Branch, question number 3." She introduced, before slightly raising the paper up in her hand, in order to better view it's contents. The contents written upon it, was in fact not an actual speech at all. If one inspected the paper, they'd see a number of different phrases under one another, organized in an almost grocery-list like fashion, with a small dash before each written phrase. What these were, were actually different points and ideas she would address during her speech. The sheet worked more like a reminder or reference, rather than the placeholder for an entire speech.

"I agree with this statement." The young girl began, her expression suddenly taking on an unusually serious and determined demeanor. "In the world of shinobi, planning is as an essential skill to survival as one's prowess in the three arts of Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. Those who participate in unprepared aggression, whether intentionally or unintentionally, may quickly find themselves meeting a swift end against the more well prepared opponent. This swift end does not occur solely through the power of the opposing opponent alone, but additionally through careful strategy and preparation on his part.
Not every opponent is solely defeated through power and brute force alone, yet additionally through strategy. Furthermore, many shinobi travel in teams, making up for one another's weaknesses. Therefore power alone does not always guarantee victory.

On a large scale, strategy becomes even more essential. A country aware that there will be an entire shinobi invasion upon their village two weeks from now at midnight, will certainly make preparations for either a safe retreat for the people and shinobi of their village, or even worse for the assaulting enemy, a devastating counterstrategy attack against their assailants.
With everyone in the targeted village evacuated, an attack on this village would prove rather fruitless aside from a few gained resources. Yet, in comparison to a complete and total annihilation of the targeted village's people and shinobi, such gains are rather negligible.
On the other hand, should this targeted village choose to form a counterstrategy attack, the effect upon the opposing force could prove utterly devastating; Whether this involve the setting up of a massive array of explosive tags, awaiting for the opposing force to invade the village, only to meet a devastating demise through a massive series of unpredicted explosions against their forces, or strategically setting up of a number of ANBU operatives around the targeted village, using the veil of the night in addition to the enemy's great bewilderment of a suddenly fruitless assault to their advantage, in order to stealthily pick off and assassinate shinobi of the opposing force.
As the darkness of the night, in which the ANBU operatives used as an advantage to strike their opponents down, so also must one's plans be dark and impenetrable. The purpose of strategy is to gain an effective advantage against the enemy. Yet, if the enemy is fully aware of your plans, your advantage is lost, which can lead to devastating defeat; or in the worse case scenario, total annihilation.

Change the scenario, however, and have a spy or defector warn the oppressing shinobi army of this targeted village's awareness of their attack plans, and even their formulation of a counterstrategy against them. Everything completely changes, does it not? Shall the opposing army still invade the expecting village at the previously planned time and day, greatly risking a substantial loss to their forces? Surely not. Even moreso, the opposing shinobi army may even form a new strategy to find any retreating villagers and shinobi, in order to ambush and slaughter them unawares. Or they may even simply reschedule their attack earlier than planned, in order to still succeed in their purpose. These changes of plans, completely render all previous conterstrategies utterly useless, regardless of the wisdom and time invested into them.
This is why spies and rogue ninja are the most dangerous enemies, not due of their outward strength, but due to the valuable information they hold. Thus, this is very likely why there is death upon abandonment of one's village. Those who abandon their village hold more than just the secrets of their village's jutsus and techniques, yet additionally valuable information regarding the abandoned village itself, which if revealed to opposing nations, can become the very key for that abandoned village's utter downfall and complete destruction. A betraying Genin in combat may be of little threat to the Raikage and Sennin, yet a Genin who exploits and reveals valuable information of Kumogakeru to opposing shinobi factions, is of far greater threat and than any high ranked shinobi could ever aspire to be.
Plans are meant to be subtle, yet at the same strike like the thunderbolts of Lightening Country. As the ANBU in the previous example kept their plans hidden, awaiting for the opportune moment to strike and assassinate the opposing army, or as a shinobi in a duel who reveals a tide-turning trap or jutsu just at the perfect moment, when the enemy has finally grown too overconfident and dropped their guard, believing that an inevitable victory is at hand, so are the thunderbolts of the skies which strike upon their unsuspecting victims. No man pre-predicts to be struck be lightening; it is sudden, swift, and yet fatal. So should all of a shinobi's plans be upon execution from their darkness; sudden, swift, and fatal. This concludes my answer. Thank you very much for your time."

And with a formal bow, the young Chuunin examinee took her seat.

[WC=2129]

 

[Honnou]

It was… wow. He was quite on the move, wasn’t he? It felt as if he was turned a Genin yesterday, having gone through all the shenanigans and adventures that awaited any Genin in this era. However, during the missions, the spaz, the fun and the finale and all the tutors and lectures passing through his memory, he never thought that he was ready to take this exam. It had only been, like, a little while since their trip to Tea Country for the tournament, so obviously, he never paid it any thought. It was also due to his age… you wouldn’t see many Chuunins around the age of 11, would you? He could already imagine someone wearing some imaginary, stylish and authority-emitting clothes with their headband and symbol imprinted as well as their height shown to be below 4 feet. It would look rather ridiculous, wouldn’t it..? No? Just me?

“I… I-I-“ his father stammered during the meeting back at his home where other elders from the Saito Clan had gathered to hear the news of one of them attending to the Chuunin Exam, “To be honest… it’s, it’s to be expected, isn’t it? I mean, being a Genin should be enough to guarantee such a chance…” They threw glances at each other, some nodding and others humming a ‘mhm’ sound. “Truly. The boy looks like Hoshi in many ways…” an elder spoke, “But don’t get so excited. As early as it may be for him, he must’ve deserved the chance… and the exam hasn’t begun yet. There’s still a lot more to see unfold.” One of the other elders had laid a hand on Honnou’s papa’s knee to try and make him calm down as his face clearly said all the excitement that was boiling in him. “This young era… he’s not the only one to beware of.”

Honnou was to be found in his room. Once he gave his parents the news, they were overjoyed, anxious, excited and many other things. He, on the other hand, was more… confused. Now, he had never given his small age any extra thought on any other occasion, but was he truly ready to rank up? Who knew if he would even rank up at all… but then again, if he didn’t do well, what would his parents think of him? A few quarters of minutes in his room thinking, and the longer he thought, the more courage he built up from inside. “… What would any wise man say to this?” he mumbled in deep thought, pretending to be some sage or hermit in the distance, scratching his long-ass beard and saying with loud echoes to be heard from miles away:

”And you’ll surely find a way out of any troublesome feeling that will pass your way…”​

… His heart began finding peace, at last. All he had to do was his best, and he would hope that things would work out somehow. Hey, this would do for a learning experience, wouldn’t it? His input to the event along with his knowledge, skill and choices to every issue would weight lots, but… it would also weld him. That was a good reason for the exam to exist, wasn’t it? Other that that, he didn’t know what exact thoughts that he should have about this event, but he readied his gear and stuff. Deciding to wear his best outfit, the green jacket plus sand-colored leggings, brown boots and cloth in orange sticking out from underneath the jacket, he did his calculations and duties reasonable before he exited his house with the intent to become a Hidden Cloud Chuunin..!

“I wonder if my father is watching me…” he mumbled on his way through the cold climate towards the academy grounds. He was aiming for the specific location being a classroom on the second floor, and he pulled up his notes to remind himself of the exact location. At the very end of the second floor to the east hall… that was the promised location that he was supposed to meet up at. He would take his steps in a hurry, reaching the entrance and walking up the stairs to the second floor, eyeing a few other figures reaching the same door that was his objective. It faintly worried him even more than already, so as he watched a little light shine out from the room in contrast to the dark atmosphere that the winter had thrown over Kumo, his steps increased in velocity and began speeding him forward. There was no turning back now that he was only a few darn feet away from the beginning of the Chuunin Exam…

He had, at first, cast a glance at the middle of the room where a table with a bunch of scrolls was located. It was most likely a prop for the exam’s first part, so he entered the room and heard Kiri greet him in a brief instance. After having greeted back just as briefly, he was then told to leave his possessions lined up at the left wall; after that, he was instructed to take a scroll from the table from earlier and then wait at his desk. There were a good amount of desks placed around the table with scrolls, and he concluded that one of them must have had his name on it. Unnecessary talking wasn’t suggested, either. Honnou did as told; he put his possessions up on the left wall, then proceeded to take a scroll from the middle of the room. In that moment, he noticed the other Genins present in the room, including Eishi, Ikko, Siu and a nose-scarred boy whom he didn’t recognize. Apparently, they were going to be attending this exam as well, and it did feel relieving to have a mix of familiar, reckless faces and unfamiliar, interesting faces to accompany him. However, as Kiri-sensei had mentioned earlier, no unnecessary talking. And Honnou knew all about exams, so he should be good for now… that was what he thought of as he took a seat at his desk, even though he also kept thinking in-between previous thoughts that such an exam as this would be a flipped table compared to what he generalized an ‘exam’. In the end, there was also this mystic atmosphere round the room; not to be confused with the wave of chakra that their proctor unleashed in a brief moment…

During the completion of his chosen question, he decided to only listen minimally as he was busy trying to ready his answer. Strangely enough, he found ease in answering, and as Kiri called upon his name right after Siu, he was more ready than ever. Adjusting the headband on his forehead, the Hyuuga decided to state the info that Kiri must have missed from the last lessons:

“Hyuuga Honnou, Main Branch,” he informed the proctor, “And I have chosen question number 6…” He would clear his throat a little before going in with his answer:

“This statement makes sense when comparing it to the experience that I have with battle… this feeling might be different from shinobi to shinobi, but it doesn’t take long until you can read each other’s minds in the battlefield.” He took a brief breath and continued, “It’s the matter of ensuring victory over the opponent that this statement gets its legitimation from. If I imagine myself before an enemy - a rather hostile, bloodthirsty enemy - then every action of mine will contribute to the outcome of our clash. Reading the opponent’s movements and countering in accordance to them is a huge attribute to possess in combat. You have to take in account that everything you do, from breathing to drawing a weapon, can be turned against you if the opponent gets the smallest hint to a way into your flesh. It is, if you ask me for instance, a very *small cough* neat ability to have… however, one can never know what the future has in store for you. You can never be sure what will happen tomorrow, especially if you weren’t sure of what would happen this morning. To be able to predict one’s fate through this… is most likely difficult.

Then again, these requirements are difficult to obtain themselves… but I believe that if you can become almost unpredictable, then yes, you will have control over the battle… that is, if you’re the only one to rely on this idea. Therefore, yes, I do agree on this.”

A quick nod added after the last words before he took his seat again.

WC: 1430

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

If… Minako was going to be honest… she was quite nervous, she was one of the chosen people that were ready for a Chuunin exam and she was not going to lie, she was ready for this… she was ready for this moment. Even her family seemed to be ready for the female to transcend from a genin to a Chuunin.

“Father, what was your exam for Chuunin like??” Minako asked softly as she bit into her toast, her breakfast for the morning. If she was going to be honest, she quite enjoyed having toast for breakfast as she didn’t really eat all that much… Well, she would if she could, but sometimes she just didn’t feel like it, or she would feel sickly afterwards.

“Now now, Minako. I am not sure if I should tell you out of the blue, it might be the same type of exam you have, and that just wouldn’t be good for you at all. Got to leave it for the surprises.”

“But father!”

“Minako… I know you are curious, but it’s best if you discover everything about Chuunin exams yourself, you’re what?? Twenty?? You’re past the age where you should be told everything, instead, all I can give to you is advice. I can’t keep telling you answers, I am an old man now after all, can’t be here forever.”

“Daddy! You can be young! Just… on the inside…”

Minako’s father, known as Daisuke, shook his head and smiled softly before reaching his hand out and ruffled her hair. “Ah, Minako, always calling me daddy as if you’re five years old again, it pleases me… Please don’t change who you are, okay??”

Minako sighed softly while her father was attacking her blonde hair with his ruffles, he really did care for her, just like he cared for the rest of the family, or what they had left.

“You’re gonna make the Fujiwara’s so proud, Minako. You are gonna kick butt at the exam, and I believe you will be able to handle it just fine. You have grown and grown, improved to who you are today, hell, partially the reason why you’re stuck as a genin currently is because of the incident where you ended up in hospital.”

Minako merely nodded as he said that, agreeing with the fact that she kinda stayed genin because of the incident with the bullies. Because of them, she had to learn to do certain stuff again, she was also very insecure at that time, which didn’t help things at all. Now though, she was a much more confident person, she may still be a tad graceless and kinda lazy, she was still willing to work her arse off for her achievements, getting Chuunin… was one of them,

After the father and daughter had their conversation together, Minako decided to get a move on, she didn’t want to be late for the examinations, and the walk would help settle her mind, if… she was going to be honest, she was nervous… she was rather old for genin status, it would be nice to be slapped on with a Chuunin status, all the benefits would reap and she would even be able to so much more for her home country.

After some time, she finally got to the examination room, Minako couldn’t help but tap her own cheeks with both of her hands as she entered… Kiri, her… urm… well… politely and professionally told her to leave her possessions, while this upsetted Minako, she abided to it in the end and parted with her weapons: Titania and Oberon, Cinderella and Rapunzel. Her beloved weapons that she can rely on whenever she is in trouble.

Walking over to her desk, Minako bit her lower lip and looked over to the others that seemed to be there… She… wasn’t sure what to make of it…

“Who's the older one now??” Minako questioned in her mind. She shook her head as she glanced around once more. Even when instructions were given, her worries didn’t ease one bit, just what could she do?? “Familiar my arse… I don’t even know some of these people…”

Sighing softly, it was her time to pick the scroll, so standing up, she walked over and picked the scroll before returning her seat and immediately opened up the scroll when she felt she was ready to…

“Holy shit.” She said in her mind. “What do I even pick?? This is completely and utterly mad… holy shit, shit shit shit...” After some time later, she finally got ready and got her answer prepared.

The moment her time arrived. She stood up and coughed lightly. She wasn’t sure what the others are thinking of her right now. What if her answer was crap?? Okay, now she knew she was overthinking things.

“Fujiwara Minako, Main branch. I have answered question four.” She admitted before coughing more and getting to her speech.

“I disagree with this personally, but only slightly, if I am going to be honest. Of course, that may be stupid, me disagreeing, but I do have my reasons and experiences as to why I think this. I know it might not make sense to you, or anyone else in the room because you guys probably don’t even know the question!” She chuckled slightly before getting on with her speech, she felt like an absolute robot right now, someone that could only answer mediocrely.

“Basically, even if you know what is going on, taking appropriate measures can still mess you up regardless, reckless or careful, you can’t be too much of either, sometimes even having a nice balance AND understanding what's going on, can wreck you and mess you up completely.”

“The reason why I think this, is because of the situations I have been in as of late. I went on a mission involving a kidnapping, I wasn’t prepared for what I seen, I prepared for as much as I could with the information that was relied onto me, yet I didn’t expect them to be so low on guards or whatever. They messed up because they didn’t expect me in the end. This is compared to another situation, where the person who murdered their family expected me completely and even wanted a fight with me. Of course, I expected this, but I didn’t expect a few other things. This is why it is different for different situations. You can’t go through the same damn thing every time. You can go through the same protocol, but there will be something that's done that isn’t necessary nor will keep you safe.”

Why the hell was she answering with this… it… probably didn’t make sense.

“Wow… watch. I fucked up hard.” She said in her head as she sat back down. Wondering what type of effery she pulled off.

Words: 1,139
Training: Marked​

<i></i>

 

[Suika]

On top of a lone peak stood the ghostly girl on one hand as sweat dripped quietly from her brow. Elements of shadow and light danced around her in a showy display as her magenta eyes glowed with a furious spirituality. Satisfied with the end result of her training, she hopped on the tip of one foot as she summoned a bursting ethereal blade. As shadows of herself then formed themselves to her likeness, she sliced through them one-by-one as they entered an offensive assault. Her last solo training as Genin, hopefully, was finally complete. The former gypsy trailed down the mountain expertly and made her way home as dawn approached. Entering into her apartment, she went straight for the shower to rid herself of any evidence of her morning's escapade. After she was finished, the girl dried herself off and dressed in traditional earth-toned kunoichi attire. She wrapped her Cloud headband around her collar as she slipped on a few gold accessories. She was now prepared for today's events. Suika calmly made her way toward the door. As she left, she shifted her attention back and grinned. “Bye, Blackberr-.” She bit her lip. With a hurt expression, she shook her head. Today was symbolism of moving forward. This is what she had to do.

Her pilgrimage to the Academy held a peaceful silence. With a few nods of acknowledgment here, and a wave there, she greeted villagers that she grew acquainted with the last year. All of them spouted words of cheery exhortation. “Good luck, Suika-chan.” sang softly an aspiring academy student. “You got this, girl.” stated a random shop owner with a grin. After passing rows of wishes and smiles, she arrived at Kumogakure's esteemed academy. Looking back, she wasn't too fond with her initial arrival here, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat fond of this place. It was here that she encountered her first lesson with the lazy genjutsu master, Shieo, and first met her teammates and, now, friends. It was in this facility that she learned the ways of the shinobi, the ins-and-outs of chakra, and developed her natural, prodigal abilities. This place released from her literal blood, sweat, and tears. The girl entered a mindset recently that such an institution should be banished from this world. A village that trained children for battle and murder? Despicable. Although a few of her views remained met with conflict, her experiences as of late shifted the paradigm within her. She now knew what she fought for... who she fought for. If it wasn't for Kumogakure, Suika would have never broken out of that self-serving, narcissistic spell. Her soul now rested in a redemptive path.

The kunoichi coolly strolled down the complex's hallways. It wasn't long until she found the classroom she was assigned to. Upon entering, she noticed familiar faces; they belonged to instructors, friends, acquaintances, and strangers that probably boasted various titles and achievements. The atmosphere was dense with each Genin's impassioned determination and subtle anxieties. This was met with quiet, expectant eyes from the superiors that were responsible for molding them to the shinobi they were today. Suika felt like she should have been more nervous than she was, but her nerves were calmed as she was guided by Kiri's immediate instructions. From her perspective, everything she had undergone the past year would manifest itself in this exam. If that wasn't up to par with what was required of a Chuunin, then she was to accept that with no hard feelings. She left room for not a single regret.

The girl did as instructed and placed her possessions along the left wall, picked out a scroll, and sat herself at her assigned desk. As Kiri continued his spiel about the watchful observations of higher-ups, Suika was still unaffected. She did wonder, however, if any of the chosen proctors would be an instructor she worked with. “Or maybe Pao. He may be blind, but nothing gets passed him.” Regardless, she took heed of her previous instructor's words and prepared herself for the task that lied ahead. This first portion of the exam appeared simple enough. On top of being called to follow basic instructions, which she noted was easy enough to forsake, the group was to pick one question from the scroll, utilize an hour's length of time to think up their response and write it down, then, when time was up, Kiri was to call each Genin out one-by-one to present their name, aspired name, and the question number they chose with a brief explanation of what they answered. Spending her whole life performing, the latter didn't freak her out by any means, but she was definitely curious what she was type of questions were in that scroll. When Kiri finally gave them their go-ahead, Suika opened the scroll with some emitted determination. Her eyes shined as they quickly scanned the info before her. After reading the last question, she knew instantly which resonated with her. It was risky, but it pretty much summed up her shinobi experience in Kumogakure and exemplified what she had learned. She was ready.

Within that hour, she jotted down all her thoughts and ideas about the question and phrase given. It almost felt the clock didn't tick forward at all for a bit, but Kiri finally met them at their deadline. He called out each shinobi one-by-one. First, it was Eishi, unsurprisingly. The boy was usually the first to speak and assert himself, so it was pretty humorous that fate chose him to present his question first. He handled his question expertly. Suika grinned. It was nice to see that her teammate had a successful start. Following Eishi was Ikko. Every time she saw the boy, a flurry of emotions swept her. That day changed everything. More so for him, she recognized, but that day was one of both gains and losses. Luckily, both Genin were present to participate considering the events that took place. Ikko also did well with his presentation. Next was a scar-faced boy who identified himself as Kyo. She never saw him a day in her life, but she definitely leaned in a bit as he shared a familiar question. Interesting. She nodded as Siu soon entered the stage.

“Siu-chan.”

Although she withheld any noticeable emotion, Suika sent the girl all her good vibes. Siu was her friend and a person she admired. Had she made that clear already? Someone as kind and thoughtful as her, she made the past presumption, shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the shinobi realm. A heart of gold didn't belong with a gang of killers. Though, time-and-time again was this disproved. Siu was not limited to warmheartedness; no, inside that girl was the heart of a lion. She possessed a strength seldom displayed, but one that she always carried. This was the true backbone of Suika's deeprooted respect for the girl. After the girl shared her wise words, a girl by the name of Minako was called next. She looked older than most of the group, but her vibe was youthful. She also had a nice presentation. Next was Honnou! Suika grinned. She first met the Hyuuga boy during her time at Tea as they took care of that god-awful child and retrieved the key. He was passed out for half of it, but his enthusiasm and drive really pulled the team through at the end. The girl also mentally cheered him on.

Finally, Suika's name was called. Appearing unshaken, she approached her stage with a fine confidence.

“My name is Suika, I aim to become a Main Branch Chuunin, and I chose question number 3.” The girl clenched her paper. She didn't need it at this point. “This may sound familiar to you, and, in theory, sounds spot on. I, however, disagree.” It was quiet around her. Usually when she was in front of a crowd, people cheered and laughed. It was definitely different. Clearing her throat, she readied herself to share further. “Before coming to Kumogakure over a year ago, my life's motto was to rise over others and be the most durable. A true survivalist, if you will. I felt useless unless I felt the strongest. If I couldn't stand in the most harsh of storms, what meaning did my life have? As a shinobi, it's easy to fall into this trap of self-thinking. Our strength, often, determines the outcome of all sorts of situations. We are typically graded by the power and endurance we present. I mean, it makes sense, right?” The young kunoichi met glances with a few of her peers. She continued. “I learned that we are not called to rise above others, but instead rise with our comrades. We are not deemed worthy by how we stand in the perils of a storm, but by our choice to press forward, even if you're crawling. Don't get me wrong, both traits are honorable and all should strive beyond their limits, but I now know that it is the power of the collective, the strength we all are as a unit...” she shot an assured nod at the group, “...our ability to rise in power together and lift each other up over our threats and shortcomings. This is what has made Kumogakure the village it is today, and this is the foundation and spirit that will remain firm, unbroken, and will move our people forward, regardless of what storm hits. We are the warriors of lightning, after all, and storm clouds never act alone. This, I know, is our true strength and value.” She bowed her head respectfully. Her speech was complete. “Thank you for listening.” The kunoichi slipped back onto her designated seat. Part of her wondered if she was able to accurately convey what she knew to be true, but another part of her remained secure. Regardless how it was taken, her words held the conviction of her shinobi way.

Suika awaited to hear the responses from the rest of the Genin. She was sure others would enlighten the group with brilliant points. Meanwhile, she hid a sliver of a guard. The Ghostwalker wasn't paranoid by any means, but this was an exam. It was wise to exercise caution and preparedness.

[WC: 1726]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

"You know, I would say no when you try to convince me to join, but in this case, I am completely against your plans."

Yuri frowned as he and Yuu arrived at the latter's destination. It wasn't because he felt like an obstacle to his objective today, but because of what he asked him to do while he's busy. "Do I really have to keep an eye on your brother's next class? I doubt he can do any harm there. And I could just wait here until you're done with your exam. I won't do anything than to make some calculations with your next body."

"Yeah, that's what his last Academy teacher said before he almost exploded the classroom just by sneaking into a box of exploding tags." Well, that actually didn't happen, but he did sneak into a box of weapons one day and thankfully the teachers caught him on time. "Just keep an eye on Yasu while I'm gone. The teachers just got a serious talk to my parents and they asked you to do it. Besides, I can't miss this day no matter what."

It was true. Due to his recent missions having complete successes, Yuu has been qualified to take the coveted Chuunin Exams and wanting to pass it fair and square, he wanted to take the exam alone to avoid using Yuri's abilities as well limiting to only his skills and jutsu during the exam. Which meant that he has to let him take over on guarding Yasu for his next class for a while or else, he will have some repercussions. This allowed Yuri to smile at what his former host's plans for today. "Good idea. Just be careful in there. I heard some of the Chuunin Exams can be... dangerous. Just in case, I may try to connect with your mind in case of emergencies. Don't worry, it won't read your minds or vice versa."</B><i></i>

Well, he can't get mad about that comment. After what happened to him during his Genin Exams, he can't take most of them as just safe written exams. He has to be vigilant while studying more about what he learned as a Genin. "Well, I'm going in. Take care of Yasu for me until then, okay?"

Yuri nodded as his reply before he walked off to the other direction. In Yuu's mind, he hoped that he may stay here to watch his progress, but all he wanted was to pass this test fair and square. No Kinjutsu or anything that may tip the scales in his favor a little too much. Taking a big breath, he entered the classroom and under the teacher's instructions, he left his backpack on the rack before he took a scroll from the table. But just as he took his seat next to Minako and Ikko, he was quickly startled by the blast of chakra shut the door close as he saw strange colors outside the windows. Guess they were serious about how this exam will try everything to show how hard will it take to pass it. Regardless, all Yuu knew was that there was no turning back now. As of this moment, he was now a candidate to become a Chuunin and as he might have guessed, this may be different than the Genin exam he took years ago.

Once he listened to the instructions for the first part, Yuu became a little nervous. He was not the type to give a speech, yet after he read through the scroll that he obtained, he knew what he will try to answer. Though the problem was the execution and the length of it. He didn't want to be too long nor short, but he didn't want to pepper with random words to lengthen it. Thankfully, he used an hour to think carefully about not only the answer but also the words he may give to this situation.

With the preparation finished, he waited for the others to complete their speech until he heard the teacher called out to him as he stood up and cleared his throat before starting his prepared speech. "Kashino Yuu, Main Branch." Yuu started as he remained calm while sharing his speech. "And I choose question 3."

"I actually agree with this statement. Fighting as shinobi doesn't mean we can use mostly brawn and jutsu to help us win the bout. But there is more than using a strategy to turn the tides to my favor. The best defense, in my opinion, is to know about your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. We may not know what they are thinking or what kind of jutsu they favored most, but I personally speculate their fighting styles based on information I had on them or the jutsus and Taijutsu moves they used more often."

Yuu then pauses himself to take a deep breath before continuing. <B>"However, I also try to speculate what other jutsu and moves that I didn't expect them to use. And there is the point of little information that I may deem unimportant to the battle. Whether it's a fear or a seemingly useless weapon, I can't count them out of possibilities of the battle. So in a way, I personally feel that not only we have to not only think like our enemies, but we have to make many possibilities we can use of our advantage to turn the tides to our favor. In my opinion, I think that's the best way to plan ahead and focus your mind no matter what. Most battles we been through don't have to rely on our fists and blades all the time."

Once he was done with his speech, he took a bow before he sat back down. In his honesty, he's not much of a thinker until Yuri came into his life. Then again, maybe his long experience as a Genin gave him more lessons than just attending some classes.

[MFT/WC: 991]

[Total WC: 991]

(OOC: Just a note, his split personality, Yuri, will not join Yuu due to IC reasons and the fairness of the Chuunin Exams.)

 

[Uchiha Arata]

The sound of his fork tapping against his plate almost became like a rhythm for him. Arata slouched over the table in his chair, his elbow on the table bent up with a fist made and his cheek resting on the upraised fist while he watched himself miss stabbing some of his eggs with his fork again and again. Arata would seem to be lost in thought yet that was somehow that opposite, his head was completely blank. He almost even tuned out the voice of his mother speaking to him while she walked into the room. "So do you have everything you need?" She grabbed a plate from the counter and began to wash it off, beginning to do this dishes with her back turned to him.

"Yes, mom."

"Headband?"

"Yes."

"Tools?"

"Yes, mom."

"Clean underwear?"

"Geez mom, alright I got everything. Thanks for breakfast, I need to go." Arata stood from the table and left his half eaten plate of eggs on the table before walking out the front door of his house and entering the crowded streets. On this rather eventful day Arata wore a black T-shirt with a small collar that rose just up to his chin. On the back of the shirt was the Uchiha crest at a small point near the top of his back which made it obvious enough what family he was from. Under the T-shirt he wore a black long sleeve undershirt with white wrist bands loosely around his wrists. The shirt itself was long enough to go down a bit past his waist, yet at his waist was a white strap that was used as a belt. All that was left were the black pants, black sandals, and Kumogakure headband tied over his forehead.

As the Uchiha strolled through the streets at a leisurely pace with his monochromatic clothing he noticed he was getting a few more looks than he usually did. He ignored it and continued to stare at the sky as he made his way towards the Academy. Was this nostalgia he was feeling? From everything he has been through, this was the next step here. The goals he gave his sensei Junko all required him to pass today. He finally had the chance to move forward in his life. Arata's thoughts were broken though as he heard others calling out for him.

"Good luck Arata!"

"Way to go, kid!"

"Keep up the good work as a chuunin!"

Upon further inspection of the people he noticed that these were all people that he has helped before. The familiar faces flashed by as Arata unconsciously picked up the pace again. He wasn't sure what he was feeling down about previously however he needed to keep looking forward, this exam was important and he couldn't, no he wouldn't fail. Everything he worked for was on the line, his training wouldn't betray him. He could remember all the way back to with his time with the anbu, the first time he experienced actual combat, and from there the rest of the missions he had completed since then. It felt so long ago yet just like yesterday at the same time.

Before he knew it he had finally reached the academy. Arata made his way to the second floor before stepping towards the instructed room. At the entrance he was told to leave any belonging he had so he did so. He hadn't packed too much in the first place, some ninja tools, a couple Demon Wind Shuriken, his gauntlets, ninja wire, and a few other items. He left them all at the door before stepping in the room. He noticed everybody had their own designated seats that were all in a circle. He took his seat where he was supposed to be seated and looked at the others that had shown up. Some he knew such as Ikko and Minako and others were rather unfamiliar with him, however they were all here for the same purpose. Their proctor, Kiri, stated that many high ranking shinobi would be seeing this such as Sennin and the Raikage himself. The first thought that came to mind for Arata was that his sensei Junko would be seeing this then.

Not much later they were instructed to answer a question from the scrolls that were given to them. Arata opened his and scanned through it. After only a few moments he already made a decision on question 3. Whether it was because it was the shortest question or was it something else, he wasn't necessarily too sure. As everybody else began writing on their paper that they found inside the drawer in their desk Arata did as well, however he only wrote down a few words.

"Am I walking now, Sensei?"

The words were large and filled up the entire paper. From that point he set the writing utensil down and closed his eyes before folding his arms across his chest. He spent his time thinking up his response within his head. One by one named were called. Everybody gave their responses before the next name was called. Eventually he heard his name. That was when Arata opened his eyes and casually stood up on his feet.

"I am Uchiha Arata. Main Branch, and I'll be answering question three for you." He only paused to take a breath and scan around the room before continuing. "Chaos can refer to many things, even the shinobi world we live in itself, and I think there is always opportunity to be found within it, no matter how crazy or hectic things seem I think there's always a way. That means I do agree with the question. At some point in a ninja's life they will get into a chaotic situation, those that'll even make them freeze up on the spot, cry, even piss their pants in fear. No matter how chaotic something is it is possible to to reach out and grasp Control. There is an opportunity for anything to happen." Arata paused for a moment before continuing on once more. "My sensei told me that before you can run you need to learn how to walk and before that you need to know how to crawl. With the proper training and guidance one should be able to grasp hold of that opportunity once it presents itself, however not everybody is able to do so. Though that doesn't mean there isn't an opportunity. A shinobi needs to be able to respond to any situation and make the best out of whatever they are given. Even if every choice they can make is a bad one, they have the pick the best one for the situation, capitalizing on any chance they get. However a shinobi isn't alone, they always have their teammates with them who all have each other's backs. "

"Am I walking now, sensei?"

With that the Uchiha seated himself once more. He wasn't necessarily confident about what results his little speech would get however all he could do was believe in himself and his peers that he would succeed.

[WC: 1,181]
[WC TOTAL: 1,181]
[MFT]

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

Years had passed since the Academy entrance and the day that she decided that she would do what neither her parents nor those who came before in the branch of her family had done: Make Chuunin. And now, it was the day. The chuunin exam. To say that the young girl and jinchuuriki of the powerful creature known to mankind as the Lion Volt was unafraid and confident would be untrue, for it was indeed quite the opposite. The girl was petrified at the thought of having to take an exam, something that she only wished was left behind in the days of the Academy. It was a fact that she had awakened the legendary Santaru bloodline of weather control on her own, long before gaining the power of the Lion Volt, but since then, her strength grew at an exponential rate that many would consider unnatural.

Perhaps that was the mere reason that she was even given the chance to participate in this exam in the first place, or perhaps it was the fact that the person who sat in charge of the exam was rather fond of the young kunoichi. Sayomi held her breath that this fondness would allow her some leway in terms of harsh treatment, but deep down suspected that Kiri might be even tougher on the girl who suffered from extreme social anxiety.

The room was already filled with people of various ages, some younger and some older than herself and she fidgeted rather nervous in this moment about what was to happen, biting nervously on her lip as she took a seat that had been assigned to her, just a chair away from Kiri. She spotted Hon, but other than that, most everyone was a mystery to the girl and she found herself rather disappointed at the mysterious absence of her teammate under Kaji-sensei. If it were allowed, she would summon Kichirou right here and now, if only to hold the warm and cuddly fox cub, or perhaps the younger cub who was to be her partner under Kichirou's guidance, though she still was skittish of Sayomi, a feeling the girl was all too familiar with herself.

Kiri entered and immediately her nerves shot up as he sealed them inside with no hope of escape, feeling much like a dungeon rather than a testing arena, but it'd be unlikely the final boss would be yet to show up...she hoped. The girl listened closely, trying to quell the pounding thump of her heart as it beat within her chest while the instructor laid out the explanation nodding every now and then to show that she understood what he was saying, making sure to keep deathly quiet so not even a peep or even her breath could be heard from her. And thus the wait until her execution began.

The scroll in front of her, filled with ten questions, did not frighten her. Not nearly as much as public speaking, so she wrote out her question with such fear that her own writing was nearly illegible in the long run, dreading the greatest trial yet to come. However, she would not let any slip-up come to pass and wrote down everything that she wished to say, including the introduction lest the kunoichi forget to give that proper as was required by the proctor. Even now, the smell of the parchment and ink could be distinguished clearly as she made sure that her eyes were all but glued to the paper, fearful of any acquisition that she commit wrong doing. And eventually, time passed.

Genin after genin stood up and presented their explanation to the question of their choice, but only Hon seemed to have picked the same question as herself, something that made her smile internally that they would be similar in their choices as such. Each person was different and differed not only in appearance, but talent and thought processes as even those who picked similar questions had differing view points from one another, but such was life. Sayomi knew this fact and furthermore, she knew it was only a question of elimination before she would have to present her own case to the class.

As the last person rose and was seated, the girl looked around, feeling as if every eye was on her for this moment. She raised her hand and bit down lightly the fingernail of her right thumb, wondering what people would think of her and knowing that failure, at this point, was inevitable. Still, she had to try. The young Santaru knew this and even if she did not pass this time, she would not give up and perhaps this would be experience for the future. That was the hope, at least. Tomorrow was always easier to dream about than today.

Nonetheless, trying to control the nervous tremble, the girl stood up and raised the paper in front of her face, blocking the judging eyes and looks of the people around her. "S-Santaru, Sayomi...Main B-Branch...I...I picked question #6..." she started already bumbling right off the bat, taking a deep breath in some hope to maintain composure while she tried her best to not listen to the thoughts and words that were contrary to her own answer. "I a-agree with this answer...to a-an extent. In s-something like...a battle. It's n-not easy to decide what to do about mercy w-with an enemy...but not in a battle, mercy should a-always be extended, I think. B-But only to a p-person who r-really seemed like they w-want it. Want to r-repent, that is. D-Depending on what happened, they s-should work to a-atone for their actions...I think. Mercy shouldn't be complete a-....a...absolution of their s-sins but a step to l-let someone make r-right their wrongs. I...I guess I b-believe in people who w-want them...to be allowed s-second chances if t-they're truly s-sincere...T-Thank you..." she said with a deep bow and didn't even rise from it before immediately sitting down, shoving her face into her palms in order to cover it from everyone. In the end it was the idealistic ramblings of a girl who still viewed the world as black and white.

How she wished to be able to burst into tears and a thought, brief and fleeting as a bolt of lightning, of striking the barrier to break free crossed her mind, possibly planted by the Raiju for its own amusement. It had been all meticulously planned out and on the sheet of paper, written word for word how she wished to explain the answer. There was such confidence in those scratched out words scribbling clumsily on the sheet and yet, it was all for naught as the young teen, characteristically, felt the need to explain things early on and went off on a tangent that she could not find a proper place to recover and it ended up worse than she could have imagined, in her own mind, at least. Now all that was left was for whatever judgement to be passed.

wc: 1,170

 

[Kiri]

​

It was quite a different pace to behold. Normally, the kids would instantly get into a chaotic frenzy by now, trying to outdo the other, or simply to go against the instruction. That was the typical scenario, at the very least, which goes to show that Kiri knew most of them. There were a few who were quite the surprise, and probably the dark horses. Indeed, having minimal knowledge of a particular thing or someone makes them all the more interesting to uncover.

Now, the weird thing that may have probably happened was that while he called them one by one to give their answers, he also walked behind them, seemingly like a looming figure. He did not mean to scare them in any way, he merely wanted to see how others observed the speaker. Would they be looking directly at the one who was making a speech? Or would they be too busy with their own thoughts? In any case, he held a passive expression as each spoke, and surprisingly, after each of the students, when they were back seated in place, he would give them a brief two pats on their heads with a “Yosh, yosh,” mumble before moving on.

It was very uncharacteristic of how they must have known him, probably sending a cold chill down their spines thinking that Kiri was secretly brewing some horrible fate for them. But then, some might have appreciated the effort… he supposed.

“That was good wok,” he then said as he returned to stand in front of his desk, coughing and regaining composure before he reached down to take a clip file from on top of his desk and then flipped the first few pages. “Now then, let’s get deeper into the examination. I want you all to now properly state what was the question you chose from the scroll and discuss briefly how you came to choosing the question. It may sound trivial to you, but know this… when confronted with different information, how does one choose which is true and which is not? When making decisions, especially when the options are mostly neutral, what factors do you consider in deciding? And there’s no real answer to this. You simply tell us what it was and why you chose it. It could be as mundane as shooting for the shortest question-statement pair, or as complex as having spent days on studying philosophy and tactical warfare that you decided to create an essay. This is not to say that we’re persecuting those who have simple taste; this is merely to get a sense of what goes on in your decision-making process. You may be young… well, most of you….” Kiri smiled at Minako’s direction, before he continued, “But that doesn’t mean you’re expected to think like a child. Already, some of you display good reasoning for your chosen statements. Now, you just have to defend why you chose it over the rest.”

Procuring a pen from his pant pocket, Kiri would then twirl it around his fingers as he scanned along the students. “I know that some may be frightened about public speaking, but as you progress higher and you may end up having to deal with important missions, you may be required reporting to people of high and important ranks. You wouldn’t want to appear mediocre to them, right? As such, best to learn that from this point on, your words are expected to be equivalent to one that represents Kumogakure. Saying such, please find your own pace in this next task. Don’t rush or drawl out. Just give the essential and remember, you need to show conviction.”

After a moment, Kiri paused before he suddenly spoke in a louder voice, “I choose question 1 blah blah blah blah because I swore that I would be number 1!!!! Something like that is also acceptable if you want. So it’s really up to you. Of course, I must make the usual reminder that I’m not the one to be judging any of your exam.” Kiri points to the large clock at the back of the classroom, where a sense was placed, “They, who are watching, hold your pass or failure. But that said, don’t try and fake your answer. It’s best to be truthful, because they’ll be able to detect your lies anyway.”

Kiri places a pin to hold the flipped pages intact and then spins the pen on his fingers once more, only to stop and point to each of them, one by one, to begin their task of answering, leaving no room, whatsoever to think. “Let’s begin. Please stand up….” And so the first of the candidates would be put to the spotlight.

[WC: 787 + 1,069 = 1,856]
[Post: 2]

---

Instructions:

• Your Characters are required to answer on the spot. Give the question you answered and why you chose it. Remember, your characters aren’t given time to think for an long answer here, as it like a spontaneous pointing to who can post their reply.
• There is no posting but just narratively say that Kiri pointed the pen at you all one by one to cue your turn to answer.
• 4-Day posting time starts. All responses for the first round must be in by Monday (Jan 29) 10:40PM (UTC+09:00)
• Next Moderator Post will be at Monday (Jan 29) 10:40~11:40PM (UTC+09:00)
• Have fun!

 

[Eishi]

I listened as one after another went and explained the answer to their question. Obviously, none of it made any sense as we weren't allowed to say what the question we were answer were. After the third person, it became clear that the scrolls were all random. I could not tell for the life of me what the point of this was, but I guess sooner or later we would find out, anyway. I was, definitely dipping my head every now and again in drowsiness, however. For some reason, this whole thing had felt like four days had passed already, but I knew only minutes had passed since we had started. Despite this anomaly, it seemed that I had caught the notice of Kiri as he gave me a few sidelong glances, most likely expecting better from his apprentice. I didn't care.

Once everyone was done giving their own report, Kiri decided to lead us into our next part of the exam. I was seriously hoping this wasn't going to drag on for much longer, it had already been such a boring hour, just dedicated to writing second-rate philosophy. When Kiri told us we had to explain our reasoning for choosing our question, I could only roll my eyes back into my skull. This was not what I expected these exams to be like. Where was the action and danger, I had been prepping myself for that aspect of the examination. I didn't give a shit about this morality or ethics of it all. It was during my lamination that moment that Kiri told us he was going to choose us one by one. I knew what that meant and before I could even have a chance to become surprised, Kiri had chosen me, his signature red pen pointed in my direction.

I had to take a seriously long look at Kiiri and his damn pen. I swear, if it had been in the range of my reach, I would've tried to snatch it and snap it. I could only growl slightly as I looked at him.

"What is this Kiri? I may be your personal student, but that doesn't mean I need to be the trendsetter here." I scuffed at Kiri being immature and picking me first once again. I had the distinct feeling his order was completely random, except for picking me to start us all off. I simply grumbled as I looked over my cards once more before coming up with something suitable.

"The Question I chose was 'If you keep your sword drawn and wield it about then no one will dare approach you and you will have no allies. But if you never draw it, it will dull and rust and people will assume that you are feeble'," I stated, giving a moment of pause and before starting again,

"I chose this question because I felt I could write a page about the subject in roughly an hour". I commented, shrugging my shoulders, know the answer was a bit too on the nose. It wasn't until I began to get looks that I continued on.

"Truth is I'm a second-rate human being at best. I have no grandiose ideals or strong morals, I can pretty easily be bought to turn a blind eye, and I exist mostly for myself and, by some small extension, my friends. The questioned suited me because I am an overly aggressive, brash, and offensive asshole, who, despite my flaws, am friends with about half the people in this room today. I feel the question was written by an idealist that doesn't know his elbow from his asscrack. Someone who thinks that humans are anything but the hypocritical creatures that they are is deluding themselves. It's ridiculous to think being quick to the draw is enough to scare away a bunch of spies and killers. I simply don't agree with this logic," I concluded taking my seat once again. I rested my face on my elbow as I waited for others to take their turn. Mine was at least done for now.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Yuu was quickly startled when the proctor quickly pointed the pen at him after the boy on the front left. Being pointed by a blade was enough, but just a pen was enough to make him unnerved by Kiri's strictness. Despite this, he calmed down a bit. This proctor might be strict than his Genin Exam, but at least he has no worries of being called by ridiculous nicknames again. As for his instructions, he didn't panic as he already knew why he chose that question. At first, he didn't choose it because he felt he's not much of a thinker. Yet after remembering his enhanced knowledge thanks to Yuri, he did start making plans and strategies during his training and even after the events in the lab, he still able to plan and strategize without being distracted. Guess Yuri's parasitic possession did have some upsides after all. Now as for the next question, he decided to do it quickly or else, that Proctor may do more than giving him nicknames or a real punishment.

"Well... For my question, it's 'What a Shinobi Should Keep in Mind to Know the Enemy: It is essential for a shinobi to speculate deeply about the way the enemy is. This is critical to defense; whether the information is reliable or not is of vital importance.' I chose this not only it's easier for me to answer without a delay." Yuu said while trying not to stutter. Unlike before, he has no time to prepare a speech, so he has to make sure he didn't fumble. "I know most of us use our jutsu and our fists to get a mission or battle done, but as I learned after my graduation, I realized that the mind is stronger than a fist and a jutsu. When I read that question, I feel like if it's asking me if learned enough from making strategies and speculate weaknesses rather than using Chidori and my sword to stop the bandits and other enemies. I know we still make errors in our analysis and strategies, but I think this question helps me open up the possibilities of knowing the enemy and open more paths to a mission success or a victory in battle."

Guess that was a good answer about his reasons behind it. In all honesty, Yuri did help him open his eyes and mind to many possibilities in combat. And with the lessons he learned from his Academy classes, he slowly allowed him to learn more about speculations and the thoughts of thinking on a fly.

[WC: 429]

[Total WC: 991 + 429 = 1420]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo had taken everything in stride, except for the head patting, he had seen the proctor doing it to the others, but as they had said everyone was familiar, he assumed it was due to that. He had not expected to be touched, and when he was he tensed up, body readying for something more that did not arrive. While he relaxed a bit as the proctor moved on, he was still tensed and ready for something that didn't appear to be arriving. He watched and listened to the others as they were called out after him, answering different questions for the most part, one seemed to be the same question he had chosen, but he was unsure if it meant anything that they were the same question numbered differently. The fact that she disagreed with what had been stated didn't surprise the boy, she seemed to have lead down a path that said one must be drug down by others before they could rise, something he did not agree with. While yes you could drag someone else up with you, help them to your level, you didn't do that by falling to their level. The scarred boy watched the rest of them silently, always ensuring to keep an eye on what the proctor was doing, as well as about the room, though the latter was more with his tremor sense than his actually eyes.

It wasn't long as their proctor told them the next portion of the exam would be state the question that they had chosen, and the reasoning in choosing it above the other ones given. They would be given little time to prepare, simply the amount it took for those he selected before the others to decide upon what they were to say, though Kyo himself didn’t particularly need the time to prepare his answer, it was straightforward enough. Of course he also talked about the issue with public speaking some of their number seemed to have, and put in the fact that one might appear to be a lesser version of themselves should they have similar issues in front of the higher ranking members of Kumo, such as the Sennin or even the raikage, perhaps even simply jounin. He felt that this had no real bearing on him, but he supposed it was good advice to those that were having issues and in general.

The proctor began by pointing a pen at them one by one. He listened to the answers coming from the other nin, attaching what they said before to the question they stated they had answered, storing it away for latter to see what he could learn of them from it when he had more time to sit down and think on the matter. It seemed the third of them to go would be Kyo as the man pointed his pen at him, the scarred boy stood, once again giving a small bow before speaking, “The question that I choose to answer was, ‘A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.’, the reasoning behind the choice is simple. The others may have ringed true to some degree or another, but this one I have found in my short life to be the truest of them, in what I’ve experienced and seen it holds the most truth to it. Those that do not stand tall and rise above the storm, will let themselves fall, and possibly drag down those who could stand tall through it.” There was more the boy could have added to it, and perhaps should have, but the fact that he generally didn’t talk this much in his normal day to day life meant that he felt he was rambling at this point, this was no report or briefing where every detail needed to be provided in an accurate manner, it was an answer to a question that didn’t need as many words as he had provided. He would provide another small bow before seating himself once more to watch the others as they provided their answers and explanation, still keeping an eye on the proctor as he did so.

[WC = 1740 + 696 = 2436]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko sat in his chair, waiting patiently for it to progress right along to his "turn." Normally he'd have answered Eishi's paper football-related transgressions upon Ikko's forehead with a little more animated vigor, but the person who gave their answer right after him had promptly given an answer that was in direct challenge to Ikko's. The blue haired boy was not especially amused. His opponent now, identifying himself as Kyo, was very much the embodiment of what Ikko was talking about. Normally, that kind of affection from Kiri would be something Ikko would accept with welcomed confusion, Ikko had swatted Kiri's arm away as he fixed his eyes on Kyo as he spoke, almost reflexively as his body seemed to tense with every word spoken. Ikko was not, typically, the sort to hold a grudge. He just wasn't, though the boy he had not yet met sparked a sort of cold determination in him that might have made it appear to the contrary.

Ikko, glaring, stood up when Kiri once again motioned to him. He was no longer looking at Kyo, but instead to the center of the room, any semblance of the nervousness or indecisiveness that had haunted him previously was now entirely gone. Ikko now had a target, something to "beat." A concrete enemy was always easier to combat than an abstract notion of passing or failing. Ikko wasn't worried about if he became a Chuunin anymore, or if he embarrassed himself, or if he didn't deserve it because he couldn't properly write anything down, no. Ikko just had to beat Kyo now, that was an easier to process task. Now it wasn't about meeting criteria he was ignorant to or winning over some faceless and voiceless onlooker, it was about being better than that judgmental little prick

"I picked the question: A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm. I picked it because the definition of "Stands strong in the midst of a storm" and the "rises above others" are not always and often aren't synonymous. True strength is not always being elevated above another and often times definitely is not. The sense of "strength" that the shinobi world and equally closed minded people value is only one facet of what being truly strong is and being too fixated on it is a weakness. Which is the opposite of strength. Standing strong in the storm doesn't matter if everyone and everything around you drowned."

Ikko did not look at Kyo during this little speech...but given the question at hand and the general biting tone of Ikko's words, it wasn't exactly subtle. Ikko set himself back down in his seat, still determinedly not looking in Kyo's direction as he instead turned his eyes toward Suika. If anyone was going to understand the fierce look in his eye, it was probably her, with Eishi coming in at a close second. All the same though, Ikko was very ready for this part of the proceedings to come to a close. He did not like having to sit still in a classroom again and there were a billion other things he'd rather be doing at the moment.

[536]

 

[Honnou]

After the respective presentations have been given out by the Genins, Honnou gave a relieved sigh. His little explanation was decent in his eyes, but it felt as if anything could happen in the blink of an eye. And given that they weren’t allowed to mention the exact question at first, their outputs sounded rather lacking in his end… but he could see a pattern, somewhat. Perhaps their proctor, Kiri, had something planned out for this, so the Hyuuga kid would simply wait patiently for everyone to finish their turns. Kiri would then compliment their work and go straight to the next step of the first part of this Exam…

Now, he wanted them to state their question, the exact question and its number from the scroll and everything. He then elaborated by giving them the task to discuss quickly their reason for having chosen this and that question, and… he wouldn’t wait for preparations this time. Already, he began pointing out Eishi as the first, and Honnou was left in a space of mind-storming… just why exactly did he choose that- oh, yeah, that was it! When having taken a look at the question, he felt a strong resemblance to his fighting style - a way of not leaving any openings, even though he lacked in the battle section. This could have been a reason… but then again, time passed, and he got to hear Eishi’s answer, which was oddly critical towards whoever wrote that specific question.

The next guy up was Yuu, and it turned out that he shared a little with Eishi when it came to why he chose the question - that was the shorter amount of time that he could provide finishing the answer. That wasn’t something that Honnou had got in mind, but then again, his answer wasn’t as long in general, so perhaps it was an unconscious decision? It could have been the case, but he really needed to gain control over his mind if that kept happening. It just wouldn’t befit a shinobi to act without thinking, unless in some cases.

After Kyo’s and Ikko’s outputs, he was pointed out. Sighing in relief, the Hyuuga stood up and spoke: “I picked this question-” He would suddenly hold two fingers up against his chin to think about the exact containment of this question in a second, “Be extremely subtle even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate…. I felt that it was almost mandatory for a shinobi to have the characteristic ‘mysterious’ given what I have experienced… it caught my eyes the most when I read the questions up for myself, and it got my mind working the most. That’s why.”

He would then find his seat again and look at the others. Something odd about Ikko’s eyes… nah, the focus on this exam didn’t let Honnou realize…

WC: 492 + 1430 = 1922

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

Being patted on the head twice by Kiri after she spoke was… weird and strange, to say the least. Kiri has done it to every other examinee, yet she also felt very comforted when he performed the patting motions to her. Did it make her more confident?? No… it didn’t. Did it help her realise that she needed to keep her head screwed on regardless of what was going to happen?? Yes, yes it did.

Minako continued to listen to the others who spoke after her, and even observed them. She felt like she had to out of respect. She also felt like she had to though because they made her really curious. Just what questions did they pick?! She felt like she was the odd one out with what she chose, but at the same time, she felt like she was being true to herself, and that was the whole point, right?? To be true to yourself and screw the haters who try to bring you down??

When it came to her turn… she… decided to semi tell the truth, nobody else will probably know because of the rules Kiri has implemented, and because it is connected to her reasoning somewhat. She was going to tell them about… that thing… not her wanting to kill her mother, she had to go through… certain stuff for that. No, the other thing, the very other important thing that she was realised as of late.

Standing up, she gulped slowly, it was time for her to spill the beans and not care about anything anymore, she wanted to pass this exam, she might as well do it in the best way possible.

“My question:

Do you agree or not? Explain. “The Secret Teachings on Covert Activity: Even after you infiltrate someone's house, if you cannot know clearly what is going on inside, you should take appropriate measures to understand the situation.

Seeing this question made me giggle a little, to be honest. Sorry, I probably shouldn’t, but it isn’t really a bad thing why. It is just extremely relatable to me since I have done this a lot, in this life and in my past life… what I am saying is that I am a reincarnation, someone who has lived ages ago, I was a warrior of sorts, who done plenty of this stuff, and in this life, I have also done plenty of this stuff, and I want to continue doing so. I also want to protect others, which… is another reason why, as cheesy as it bloody sounds, I enjoy it, maybe a little too much.”

With this, she sat down, satisfied with her answer. She told everything she possibly could while leaving one detail out. She would like she think that she managed, because what she done was splurt out a major secret, and to give out her trust among everyone around her about being a reincarnation in the first place was risky enough.

Minako looked down on the table as she pinched the top of her nose, she was already starting to doubt if anyone would enjoy what she said or not. Of course, she was happy with what she said, but what about the others?? She probably sounded like someone who was making total malarky with no sense of direction. On the bright side, she still hoped it would be enough to pass. There was one problem though… just who was it that was holding her pass or failure?? Were they nice?? Nasty?? Strict?? Kind?? She dreaded to know that person was. Why was she worrying about it now though?? She didn’t know…

Nonetheless Minako waited, and waited patiently for the others to say their bit, while also anxiously waiting for the next bit of the exam. She was wondering what it could be exactly?? This exam already seemed a tad unpredictable. She should probably expect the unexpected… that way, she would be less surprised and be more ready for the task at hand.

Words: 667​

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[Suika]

Following her answer to the question given, Suika quietly made her way to her seat. As she moved, Kiri gave her a small affirming pat as he did with each other exam participant. She didn't really blink an eye to this. She wasn't sure of her feelings of the man at first, but she grew more of a respect for him as time pressed forward. In the beginning of her shinobi career, Shieo was the main sensei she was assigned to. After her time in the academy, Kiri pretty much took over the role as her primary instructor. His lessons, at times, proved chaotic and unorthodox, but she learned quite the many lessons from him. After a few more speeches, it was now time for the next portion of their exam.

“Summarize why I chose what I did? I kind of explained that, but sounds easy enough.” Suika was confident with what she picked. After all, it pretty much summed up her new formed viewpoint in life. She was a soul once drawn to a survivalist's self-interested lifestyle, but her experiences in Kumogakure has since shifted that paradigm. Aspects of chaos and peace that resided within her still clashed, but she felt more secure in her realm of gray. She was also influenced more by the side of light, but that was a whole other story. Her experience with creatures of darkness haven't been too great as of late.

Mirroring the last round, Eishi was picked to answer first again. His response was fitting of him. The one-armed boy was straightforward and honest, but his words were also a reflection of his progress thus far. He was one of the first people she met in Kumogakure, so it was neat to see his growth. She knew this was only the start of it. “And I will beat him in arm wrestling someday. I swear this.” Eishi always stirred her competitive side. The next Genin chosen, Yuu, was pragmatic with his approach, so she had nothing to note with his reasoning. Kyo, the scar-faced boy, followed shortly after. He had chosen the same question as Suika. Although their prompts were identical, they had contrasted worldviews. A year ago, the kunoichi would have been nodding her head right next to him, but she didn't find that type of mindset befitting of her new desired path. It was one she sometimes wrestled with, but has let go of for the most part. She didn't pity him nor was she upset with his answer. She was a firm believer that everyone had their own journey and, from that, their own entitled beliefs. Suika found no need to impede on that. Not yet, anyway.

Kiri pointed his pen to Ikko next. Suika's eyes focused on the blue-haired boy intently. He locked gaze with Kyo and, thanks to her previous experience with him, knew he was quite perturbed. The fierce look in his eyes was only a sliver of the hell he had been through lately. Suika underwent a loss herself in that fiasco, so she grasped, if even slightly, the toll it had on her now friend. Her expression remained non-judging as her focus remained firm. As soon as he switched his stare at her, she shot him an affirmed nod. He did a good job, her demeanor revealed, but he should relax a bit. Hopefully he understood her non-verbal cue. Before she felt the atmosphere grow dense, Honnou entered the scene and lightened it up a bit. Her peer had the knack for that, for sure. Suika grinned as he answered. He was doing awesome so far. The older blonde girl, Minako, revealed a factor about herself that seemed very personal in her answer. It wasn't that far-fetched to the girl that someone was aware of their reincarnation, but it was possibly apt that she spoke so openly about it. It was a risk, too, because not everyone was spiritually aware or possessed understanding. Nonetheless, maybe that would prove a benefit to her? Suika didn't care much regardless. She very much so had a “you do you, girl” mentality.

Kiri's pen then pointed in her direction. It was now her turn to answer. Suika stood and kept her word flow relaxed, yet meaningful. Answering honestly, in this situation, was the best she could do. “I chose the prompt: Agree or Disagree? A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.” Despite this query being mentioned twice before, she spoke as if it was the group's first time hearing it. “I picked this question from the rest because it resonated most with my shinobi way. As mentioned earlier, I first came into this village with a mindset that aligned perfectly to that particular prompt. A year ago, I would have agreed, but my experiences as a shinobi, my successes and failures, and the bonds I formed shifted my way of thinking. It felt worth pointing that out.” She nodded firmly as she exuded an aura of sureness. “I also thought it was important to highlight the strength of the collective in opposition to a mindset that strives only for self. In a village's system, I think the latter has more potential for toxicity and failure within the extreme that mindset presents. That is all.” She sat down. Suika could have gone more in depth, but she stated her main case earlier. The point of this exercise, she gathered, was only to explain why she selected what she did. Her brief point and explanation felt sufficient enough.

She remained silent and awaited the remaining responses left. She'd make mental notes throughout and inwardly cheer on her peers, such as Siu. Suika also fought the urge to let her mind wander to this exam's next stages. “One step at a time...” she reminded herself, “...yet, I must also keep to my senses. I must be attentive of what's in front of me, but also for what's in store. This is the least someone worthy of potential Chuunin rank can do.” And she'd try her best.

[WC: 1014 | Post 2
TWC: 2740]

 

[Uchiha Arata]

Once he finished his little speech and seated himself he received his complimentary head pat from the proctor, Kiri, before Kiri moved on to the next person. Soon enough everybody finished and they were left with silence until their proctor spoke once more. This time instructing them to tell why they chose their answer. It was yet another simple task that probably decided if they failed or passed and there was likely a thin line between the two. This was again 'random' in a sense. Even though technically this wasn't even random at all as there would always be some slight bias to who kiri picks as trying to be random isn't necessarily random still. That was however beside the point.

Eventually the almighty pen was aimed in his direction. Once again the Uchiha would stand tall, shoulders straight, feet flat. "The question I decided to answer asked me if I agreed that there was opportunity within the midsts of chaos. As you know I agreed. The reasoning behind this would have to be... it was a rather easy question to answer for me however that isn't all. I also picked this question because I feel it ties into the qualities of a chuunin, though I suspect all these questions apply to that. Let me ask you something, just think about it in your head, all of you. This even includes you, the ones participating in this exam with me, and even the proctor. What is it that separates a genin from a chuunin? What makes a chuunin different?" Arata paused for a moment to let them think. "In my opinion, I see leadership as one of the main qualities that separates them. The ability to lead is something a genin doesn't necessarily require. However a for a chuunin I feel that is something that is necessary to have. Taking initiative is something a Chuunin needs to know how to do, and that ties into being able to analyze a situation and capitalize on any opportunities. That leads me back to my question of me agreeing if there is opportunity in the midst of chaos. While a Genin may simply jump into the chaos and be absorbed in it, I think a Chuunin should be able to take a step back, breathe, and analyze the situation. If they do that then they'll be able to grasp the opportunities that present themselves. Anybody can grow powerful through hard work and dedication, however the training of the mind is just as important. While a Genin grows in physical ability and works on mastering the basics, a Chuunin must be able to be tactically aware of a situation. I think this is what separates a chuunin and a genin and this question was important for realizing what abilities are required to be a Chuunin."

Arata shifted his gaze amongst his peers confidently before seating himself as he felt that just about wrapped things up. He wasn't necessarily sure how he was able to just string all that along. A lot of it was on the spot, however it was one of those things that just ran through his head even when picking his question. The question he chose was the most 'attractive' to him and so he chose it based loosely on the reasoning he just explained. With that he would merely listen to the rest of his peers answer before hearing what they would be asked of to do next.

[WC: 578]
[Total: 1,759]