Elsewhere, Aburame Toji dashed toward the finish line as soon as he secured the scroll.
However...
He hadn’t run far when his is reyed some arming news—
Kanda Kyoichi was closing in!
"That fast?"
Toji was shocked.
Even Orochimaru and Hyuga Natsu couldn’t stop him?
Impossible!
But there was no time to dwell on his disbelief. Kyoichi was catg up quickly, and Toji had no choice but to stop him while trying to reach the finish lih the scroll.
Parasitisects swarmed out.
A dense bck cloud of is surged toward Kyoichi like an unstoppable wave. But to Toji’s astonishment, the man ighe oning swarm, shielded by a yer of earth-style chakra as he barreled forward.
"Such speed!"
Toji increased his pace, but he couldn’t match Kyoichi.
Without even activating the First Gate or the Eight Gates, Kyoichi’s Body Flicker Jutsu was enough to overwhelm Aburame Toji.
Moments ter, Toji’s newly dispersed is detected—
He was already there.
Boom!
A Leaf Whirlwind.
Toji’s body dissolved into a swarm of is.
A substitution.
Predictable.
In the instant, Kyoichi’s hands fshed through a sequence of seals, and a water dragon roared ience, crashing to the ground with a deafening explosion that left a massive crater.
Toji staggered out from the edge, coughing violently.
He had taken internal damage.
Damn it...
That Water Dragon Bullet was ridiculously powerful!
But before he could recover, Kyoichi was already upon him again.
Toji didn’t give up, but Kyoichi showed no mercy. He swiftly incapacitated Toji with a single kick.
They weren’t friends—why would he hold back?
Toji coughed up blood, uo tinue. Kyoichi fiscated his tools, took the scroll, a behind a shadow e.
"The e will patch you up a bit," Kyoichi said curtly.
As he sprioward the finish line, he began to piece things together.
Orochimaru’s mention of being the "chief examiner" hihat this was no ordinary exam.
This was an additional challenge.
A challeailored specifically for him.
Kyoichi uood that defeating Aburame Toji and Hyuga Natsu had removed his most immediate obstacles. Orochimaru’s decision to stop pursuing him sigacit approval of his capabilities.
The additional test was plete, and promotion to jōnin ractically assured.
The so-called third round?
It didn’t even matter.
When he reached the tral area, Kyoichi bihe scrolls.
Before long—
"Kyoichi-kun, we meet again," Orochimaru appeared.
It was a shadow e, but it was clear he wao chat rather than cel the teique immediately.
"Kyoichi-kun, do you know why I was the only one chasing you?" Orochimaru asked with a sly smile.
"Tekuno and the other Aburame senior were promoted based on battlefield merits," Kyoichi replied. "As for Shirakumo-senpai... if I’m not mistaken, he has ties to the Hokage. That leaves only me, whose battlefield achievements fall short."
"Ha! Brilliant. Truly brilliant!" Orochimaru chuckled.
As expected, clever people needed no further expnation.
"Thank you for holding back, Orochimaru-sama. Without your restraint, there’s no way I could have caught Aburame Kei," Kyoichi said humbly.
He wasn’t naive enough to think Orochimaru was truly this weak. The man had barely used any ninjutsu during their enter, relying primarily on taijutsu.
For a master of ninjutsu like Orochimaru, holding back that much ractically charity.
"Hahaha. Go on to the Hokage's office for the third round," Orochimaru said before his e dissipated.
Kyoichi bowed slightly and headed toward the Hokage's office.
As he had suspected, the third round was irrelevant. The sed round had been the real test, filled with traps, ambushes, and tasks. While the others went through the motions, only he had truly been examined.
---
At the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was already waiting.
Aside from Kyoichi, all three others—Shirakumo, Tekuno, and Aburame Toji—had successfully passed.
"Lord Hokage!"
"Good, good!" Hiruzen Sarutobi beamed. "You all performed excellently in the sed round, especially Kanda Kyoichi. You exceeded all expectations! Holy, I never imagined you would perform so outstandingly."
Sarutobi was full of praise. Initially, he had been fident Kyoichi could pass but hadn’t expected him to shine shtly. Not only was his strength impressive, but his overall aptitude—essential for a jōnin—was exceptional, surpassing many current jōnin in the vilge.
Moreover, Kyoichi had indepely studied mediinjutsu.
He was shaping up to be a well-rounded and ideal team leader!
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Kyoichi bowed respectfully.
Tekuno scratched his head in fusion. "Lord Hokage, what about the third round of the exam?"
"Heh, there’s no third round." Sarutobi smiled warmly. "As of today, you are all jōnin of the vilge."
Kyoichi wasn’t surprised, nor were Shirakumo and Aburame Toji.
Uekuno, they had already known this exam was rgely a formality, and only Kyoichi had faced any genuine challenges.
The reason was obvious:
The Senju bloodline.
---
"Did you get it?"
"No. He’s strong—hehehe. The Senju ... even after geions of intermarriage and dilution, their power remains truly formidable."
Orochimaru marveled as he worked on his research, eyes alight with excitement.
The Senju stitution.
After all these years, he had wits greatness again!
"You failed to get it, even after engaging him yourself?" Danzo frowned, clearly displeased.
You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this the level of the fabled Sannin?
"As chief examiner, it was my duty to oversee the exam. Since he demonstrated suffit strength, I couldn’t unfairly hinder him."
"And if you’re so desperate, Danzo, why not ha yourself?" Orochimaru sneered, casting a sidelong gnce.
Did he look like someone who could be maniputed so easily?
Danzo scowled, clearly irritated.
"You’d best not make any reckless moves against him," Orochimaru said as he tinued his research. "If you stir up trouble, the old man will e after you. Sarutobi may not be in his prime anymore, but he’s far from senile. He won’t let y him into the fallout of targeting a Senju desdant."
Gcell
