Classroom 1.

[Examiner 1.]

[/u]
The first classroom is a 30 x 30 meter room filled with other participants alongside yourself. The floor is red tile while the ceiling remains a white chalky cardboard. There are ten chairs lined up two by two in three sections so that the three proctors may walk in and out of the aisles as they please. Only one light hangs within the center of the ceiling giving little light to the shaded corners of the classroom but just enough light for you to see your, as well as others’, test papers.

Seating Arrangement

X1 X2 X3 X4
X5 X6 X7 X8
X9 X10 X11 X12
X13 X14 X15 X16

X17 X18 X19 X20
X21 X22 X23 X24

SPOILER: Click to show

Rules:

• If a shinobi is attempting to answer the questions along their sheet they must submit the answer to their proctor(s).
  
• You will be given two chances to cheat. After you are caught the second time you will be disqualified.
  
• If a shinobi is attempting to cheat or pass along the answers to their teammates they must RP their story out.
  

• Front and Center - Proctor 1
  
• Left Flank - Proctor 2
  
• Right Flank - Proctor 3
  

[/ul]
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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

♪ It's not chipped,
We're not cracked,
Oh we're shattered ♫

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❥ enter thread; HayliNe

Casually, the beautifully dressed woman wearing a light-blue spring time kimono made her entrance into the decent sized classroom. It was indefinitely smaller than the lecture halls she would have in the academy, but it was a very moderate size for recitation. Slim and slender, her small figure would shift through the rows as she surveyed the entire room. Mentally noting of course, the analytical girl would immediately notice the number of seats and the positions of them. She was not intending to cheat, or even help someone cheat at this moment, but it was almost important for a ninja to fully be aware of their surroundings before making any decisions. That was the basic lesson she learned from her first sensei.

There would be but three proctors over-seeing this classroom, and their position was very well coordinated. Even so, from the mischievous vixen’s view, it would be best if she picked seat 22 as her testing spot. Walking towards the desk, she would pull the chair out slightly and sit down quietly. It was a little odd to her that there would only be but one light to illuminate the entire room, but quite frankly, she did not mind being closer to the shadows. There was just enough light radiating in her directions for her to be able to see her desk, and that was all she really needed.

Bored eyes would wander aimlessly around the room as she patiently waited for the rest of the participants to enter the classroom. ’Eh, sturdy?’ The floor apparently seemed to be a sort of dark-ivory color to her, but because of the lack of a strong source of light, it was hard to tell. However, with each step that she had taken to her seat, she noticed how smooth and flat the surface was. It may not be an important detail for her to pick up on, but nonetheless she still took note of it. There were no windows in the room at all, and that made her feel a bit confined. Maybe that was the point of the test to make them feel imprisoned and extremely pressured?

Regardless, the Kumogakure kunoichi knew that she had to remain focused. It was a bit strange to her that she had chosen the furthest seat in the back, considering in the academy she would always choose to sit in the direct front. The circumstances were different now, and there would be no time for her to doubt simple decisions that she made such as wear to sit. She had hoped that no one had sat next to her, not even her partner. It would be stupid if anyone tried to blatantly sit next to someone else and cheat off of them, and she wanted to have no part of it. At the same time, she had to figure out a way to help her partner out if needed, and it would be tough, but she would attempt to formulate a plan to sneakily help him out.

Although she came fully equipped with her full arsenal of shinobi weaponry, even her hidden needle launcher, it all would be useless to her in this particular situation. Sighing to herself, she figured that if she had passed the first exam, then the next stage would probably be more combat orientated. But she digressed, hoping that she and her partner would both do just fine with answering the exam questions. Her specialty was analytical and sound-reasoning, so answering the questions should not prove to be much of a problem to her…however, what about her partner? ’I have to help him anyway that I can…otherwise, I might end up feeling guilty.

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[vegapunk]

With arms spread to the sides the young white-haired genin confidently made his way through the frame of the door, into classroom two. He had edged his way to the near front of the swarms of participants cramming themselves through the door, though not with direct pace and rudeness, many secretly tried to ushered themselves forward. The idea, Satomi presumed, was to get the best seats. But in an exam were all were equal and trailed fairly the arrangement didn't matter to him as much, he knew he had the knowledge to succeed in this first round. Passing through the main entrance he would scope the room with his vision trying to find his partner. Neatly and content, she was already seated in what seemed to be the back row. Walking briskly to acquire the seat to her right Satomi moved with intent.

The room itself wasn't overly large and perhaps this was due to the somewhat prestigious nature of these examinations, it wasn't everyday that one is able to participate in something like this, not everyday that someone can become a chuunin. However, apart from the size of the room everything was orderly and proper. The floor itself was a marble green, smooth under foot, making even the most clumsiest of movements show some kind of grace. The ceiling seemed to made out of some kind of stone, something the Earth Country had in abundance. Walking his way deeper into the room he could notice that there was only a single light positioned in the center of the room. Sure, its ability to illuminate was not in question, but the corners of the room were directly darker than the center. This made Satomi think to himself, he had heard about the opportunity to cheat in these exams and that in someways it was expected, to test a fundamental shinobi traits such as stealth and discreetness.

However, this wasn't exactly Satomi's style. He had put in the hard work to study for this exam, for the mental aspect as well as the physical. He wasn't against cheating especially in this situation, but he wouldn't rely on it. Walking to the back of the room he moved around to the right pushing past the desk before the one he wanted, seat 23. Casually brushing his hand across the side of the desk he swiveled his body around landing softly in the seat. The desk and chair themselves were simple, made of a simple wood, for a simple comfort. Turning to his left he he smiled at the blonde kunoichi who would be his partner for these exams. HayliNe Lia, was her name and although they had not participated closely in the village together of late, he knew her well from the academy as they were in the same classes and generation together. Her skills were noted as being particularly well versed and he was excited to be working with her.

As all the participants trickled through the door all the seats and desk started to fill with bodies, his rivals. On the edge of what he had been training for Satomi focused his mind on the task at hand. He could sense that the exams were about to begin soon as the proctors began to ready themselves, talking lightly amongst themselves whilst moving into their designated positions. Where the two Kumogakure ninja were seated they had the best opportunity to do well from an environmental point of view. Partially hidden in the shadows while furthest from the proctors view Satomi chuckled to himself slightly. She was a smart girl and had positioned them well to do their best. Either way, he would help her as much as he could, with any means necessary. Their fates were tied together in this exam as well as the the fate of Kumogakure's standings on the world stage. This wasn't just some event, it would show the respective Kage's from the great nations who had the most promising youth.

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[Katsumaru]

[Messatsu!]

Today was the day of all days. . .

Ue marched forth into the class room, each step superseding the other, seamlessly carrying him into a classroom near empty, well, except for the prying eyes lodged within the heads of the watchful proctors. His own eyes flitted about, jumping from proctor to proctor until he finally met gaze with them all while giving them a respectful nod. After having properly acknowledged his proctor’s, his attention momentarily shifted to the assortment of desk that idly sat before him, waiting to be occupied. His options for a seat were limited, however, some were advantageous – namely the ones that laid within the dead center of the classroom itself. During his calculative analysis of the classrooms layout, it was impossible for him to not notice the presence of his ally and friend, Bit Uchiha, a man who came across as determined in all things that require effort. Truly a great asset to leafs forces. Not only him but Isshin was present as well, along with another leaf shinobi that Ue had not yet come to know.

("Though I feel unobligated to cheat, it will be advantageous for my to seat myself in close proximity with my comrades, we'll surely have a better chance for success should we do so.")

With his mind now set in place, he trekked across the classroom floor, seamlessly making his way over to seat 14, seating himself to Bit's left and Isshin's leftward flank. The chair was rather uncomfortable, surely liable to induce some sort of back pain should one remain within it for extensive amounts of time. Nevertheless for the next hour(s) or so, his place would be within this chair, well, until the true action begins with round 2. Brimming with excitement Ue wanted his test right then and there, carrying a healthy desire to complete it without the need to cheat.

[Examiner 2]

classroom ONE. .

---

[/i]" He leaned in closer while giving each of them a shifting glare.

"If you don't pass this, you're going to be fetching cats out of trees and carrying boxes across town until you do.. so try not to screw this up!"

From there he began down the aisles, distributing the papers to anyone who took up a space while continuing on. "On here you'll find 10 questions regarding team tactics, mechanical comprehension, geographical information, and every other basic thing you'll need to know as an aspiring protector of your respective villages."

He paused while passing the papers out. "If you are caught cheating, more than once, you will be disqualified from participating in the next round of the exams. I would ask if you had any questions but the time for questions has already passed." From there he continued finishing his distribution before making his way toward the exit, facing about to give one final word of advice.

"All of you may not pass, but never give up. Otherwise you'll be 70 years old handing out test papers to youngsters looking to make a name for themselves," he chuckled while turning and taking his leave.

SPOILER: Click to show

[/i] 10 post by the end of the test (Yummmm EXP!!). That doesn't necessarily mean you have to drop 10 gorgeous posts, 7 paragraphs each, but give us something that you'd like to be representative of your ability as a writer and a shinobi.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE -- If it is evident that you've answered your question (as a writer) by simply looking at another person's post and mimicking them, you will be tried as a cheater for that question. Two strikes, you're out.

When you're finished, raise your hand and inform a proctor and they'll take up your test for you. Once all the tests are taken you will be told what to do. And remember, if you're cheating, don't get caught![/ul][/spoiler]

SPOILER: Click to show

1. Name every attainable Kage Seat from 1 to 10. (ex. 1 = Shodaime)

2. What two nations initiated the Great Shinobi World War?

3. What are the five known Advanced Elements and their derivatives?
4. Name every country your native country shares a border with and the techniques their shinobi are most notorious for.

5. How many shinobi comprise a standard "team" and what are their ranks?

6. You are surrounded by formidable enemies of an enemy village, your commander has been injured and your team is looking to you for answers. What do you do?

7. You are walking and you hear a child crying in an alley. You decide that you should inspect this. How do you go about carrying on the inspection?

8. Your Kage has entrusted you with an invaluable scroll containing a hidden village technique. He has requested that you do not open it but you are eager to learn a new technique. You know you can get away with it. What do you do?

9. You have reached the bottom of your chakra reserves and are caught in a scuffle alongside your team. What do you do to ensure you are still of aid to your comrades?

10. You are trapped behind enemy lines as a prisoner of war. They have agreed to set you free so long as you reveal your Village's location and relinquish your headband. Furthermore, a jutsu has been cast to shock you everytime you lie. What do you do?

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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

♪ You know,
that I'm not,
the same ♫

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❥ sitting in disbelief; HayliNe

’Whoa, this sudden turn-of-events is totally unexpected.’ In her disbelief, the exams were finally beginning! Just a few moments ago, all she could remember was standing awkwardly in the conference room, waiting for further instructions to finally begin the exams, and now? Now, she was listening to a rather overly-experienced man presenting the ramifications to the first round. It was strange for her to study a man’s every moment so precisely. She felt almost as if she was violating him with her eyes. His casual stride to the right of the room was all too calm for her liking. There she was, sitting in her seat all of the way in the back of the classroom, mentally killing herself due to anticipation of getting her test—and he was just utterly relaxed presenting the rules. How dare him.

’Fledgling’s?’ It was probably not a good time to start laughing, but silently the blond kunoichi would giggle. She had never heard of someone using that word since, well, never—and yet, she knew exactly what it meant. Despite enjoying the man’s odd choice of words, she began to focus more on the bigger picture. That man was right, although he appeared to be a bit dramatic for her tasting. The sweet, beautiful lassie absolutely despised completing basic village missions. They were always so boring and mundane, that she felt like they were literally chores instead of teaching them how to become successful shinobi! She remembered her very first mission that she had ever taken, the bathroom mission—yuck. The prissy child made a note to herself to never stoop so low in her life, no matter how bad things got.

If she screwed this part of the exam up, there would be no forgiving herself. It would have been a great disappointment to return back to the village as a genin, having to complete those same strings of tedious missions that lead to no real purpose. That man was on to something when he was speaking, and her head nodded in agreement with her words. This was all of their chance to prove their self-worth and apply all that they had learned from their previous experiences in this multi-part exam. She would do her best, and hope that it would be good enough for her to pass the test. Gulping her saliva from within her throat, she would heed his warning oh-too-well. ’If I am caught cheating more than once…I’m disqualified.’ Mentally, she would repeat what the man had told the group of shinobi.

He had told them that all of the questions are basic information that all shinobi should know, and luckily for this studious shinobi, she should be very well prepared to take the written portion of the exams. In fact, she was not a very talented shinobi in the academy. Granted, she had a special ability that no one else around her seemed to have—she only had about two techniques in that specialized field. So, she was not that useful when it came to using her shinobi arts. However, she was probably one of the most talented ninja when it came to analytical approaches. She could process high amounts of information quickly, and discern from it what it is actually relevant and feed back an intelligent response. This was her exam.

After having received her test, she closed her eyes to pray for blessings before taking the test. It was a weird thing for her to do, but she just wanted to be at ease when she was testing. Her blood was rushing far too high for her to be relaxed enough to write a coherent sentence. Attempting to relax herself, she would think of nothing but pleasant thoughts of her gaining her promotion from Atlas. A smirk appeared on her face when she thought of returning back to her village and telling them all on how she had passed the exams. Who would have thought that a local bartender could become a chuunin? Finally reopening her eyes, she would peer down at the test that remained still on her desk. With her pencil in her right hand, she would write her name on the exam (if t was not already on it, you did not say).

Then, the careful woman would read over question number one. She would read over number one to herself over and over again, trying to ensure that she can fully answer the question. ’Okay, so I need to supply ten answers for this one question, basically.’ She was already annoyed at what seems like it should be an easy question. ’Well, It does not seem to be a trick question, so here I go.’ The young sweetheart was lucky that she was well-informed about the Kages, being that earlier that month she was hanging out with two of the Raikages at the local bar. She actually felt pretty special because she was actually just relaxing with them both as if they were all casual friends. No genin ever gets the chance to do that. Once she felt comfortable enough with her answers, she would proof-read them to make sure that they were accurate. It was very much possible that she could have made an error something.

’Okay, one down. Nine more to go, I can do this no doubt.’

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[Messatsu!]

Finally, it begins. . .

Seated rather comfortably in his seat within the classrooms center, his eye continued to flit about, jumping from one body to another, including the ever so watchful proctors that seemed to have been virulently itching to catch a participant cheating. Ue was quite nervous, yet, someone managed to fill his very soul to the brim with sublime emotion, excited to finally take the next steps into 'ninja-hood' so to speak. For years he remained behind the scenes of Konohagakure just to receive special training from the villages veterans and his most notable teacher, Genryu Uchiha. This had primarily been his reasons for missing the exams a great many of times, but once he finally had done so, his efforts would be minuscule.

("Where is the test? This constant waiting is getting tediously long. Hope they can spe-")

His velvet dance of the tongue came to an abrupt end as the room seemed to become even more silent than it had already been. Before long a man, one who was obviously aged - but that only entailed experience and wisdom- stepped forth to the forefronts of the classroom itself. Without even cutting so much as a quick-second glance at who he was, Ue's eyes bolted for the assortment of papers that rested within the grip of his veiny old hand.

("Looks like the test have finally arrived, now we can get some things moving.")

"Listen up. This here is the test that'll decide whether or not you fledgling's move on to the next around. This is the portion people don't like to take seriously but let me be perfectly clear..If you don't pass this, you're going to be fetching cats out of trees and carrying boxes across town until you do.. so try not to screw this up!"

The moment the mans words swung forth onto Ue's ears had his head snapped back to the man himself, finally finding the interest to take his fill of his appearance and age old temperament. Nevertheless after his short lecture completed itself, he commenced to hand out the test papers, and with a writing utensil at the ready, the first question would be his ice-breaking obstacle.

("Ten titles of kage? This is too easy, but, its just the first question.")

With his mind focused, his pencil glided across the the paper, filling in the appropriate areas to answer question number one for the exams. After a minute or so, his answer was complete; relatively confident that his answers were correct.

("Now, on to the next one.")

[vegapunk]

It was time for the proceedings to begin! Sitting neatly in his chair behind his desk he couldn't help but reminisce slightly about how he came to be in this situation. Through everything in his life so far it had lead to this moment. It would be the beginning of his professional life as a true shinobi, to do what he loved, and protect the people he loved. It had only been a short while ago that he was in the conference room waiting to be told the outcome of the classroom he would be in. Now, in disbelief, he sat waiting to hear from the examiner with a cool resolve. Looking directly forward he could see the main examiner walk to the front of the room. In elegantly put way it could be said the man was withered with experience, or simple old and short. However the way he produced himself and his body showed that he was here and meant business.

Speaking to the room he laid the foundation of what this stage of the exams meant, how important they were, and that many did not give it the respect it deserved. Satomi would not make this mistake. He knew the consequences mainly that if he, or his partner, didn't make it through this stage then they would not be able to progress. He couldn't disagree with the words coming out of the mans mouth as he found his head nodding instinctively ever so slightly. It was unusual for his, was he really this nervous? he couldn't live with himself if he had to return back to the village not even passing the first round. He knew that he was better than that and as a representative of Kumogakure that the proud nation was also better. As the man proceeded to talk he spoke of the ramifications of cheating and that if anyone was caught more than once then they would be automatically disqualified. Looking cautiously around the room he wondered who from this room would try and cheat and get caught. Was anyone that stupid to do so, or would there be a select few that had what it took.

From then on the exam papers started to be handed out. 10 questions regarding team tactics, mechanical comprehension, geographical information, and every other basic thing needed to know by a chuunin at a basic level. Hmmph as the test paper was flickered on top of the wooden desk in front of him he looked at the paper tentatively, this was it lets rockin' roll. After giving his final piece of advice, well not necessarily the most encouraging, it gave a chance for the students to take one final moment before they began. As he left the room they were to begin. Taking a deep breath the young white-haired genin turned his paper over to read over the questions in front of him. One to the the other his eye's scanned over every question pulling out the key words as the mechanic's of his brain toiled over what they wanted from him. He always read every question before answering one as it gave him a feel over the whole exam.

It seemed as though questions one to five were pretty straight forward. They were questions that only needed a specific answer, an answer were everyone would be pretty similar or the same. Whereas question six to ten were different. These questions seemed to be situational, unique to the user and how they would react. Satomi felt that this would be were the true marks would be made. Grabbing his fine-inked pen he tracked his eye's back upward to question one reading it over in his mind. "Name every attainable Kage Seat from 1 to 10. (ex. 1 = Shodaime)". This was pretty straight forward. Putting pen to paper Satomi instinctively wrote what he had to listing each of the Kage Seats attainable. shodaime, nidaime, sandaime, yodaime, godaime, rokudaime, shichidaime, hachidaime, kyuudaime, juudaime. Taking his pen off slightly he looked back at the paper. Happy with what he wrote he moved onto the next question. He wanted to move forward from the first section as soon as possible.

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[Katsumaru]

[/i] the Airontoku thought to himself as he exhaled sharply, yet the mantra was of no use as his mind shifted further towards that juvenile terror, attention so distant that Touketsu missed the first part of the man’s speech. Several moments passed until he regained focus.

Grabbing cat and transporting boxes, such a macabre future for those who fail. To worsen matters, Touketu’s anxiety only continued to grow. During the war, he faced many a threat, but during that time, men had only two alternatives, to live or to die, neither extreme as frightening as failure in the exams. A life of pettiness, true dread for a soldier and a shinobi. The elderly man seemed less cynical, with his mention of until you do; it appeared as if he held a grandiose hope, a mighty faith in these shinobi. Touketsu carried himself with confidence, but occasionally, at times of pressure and uncertainty, the façade crumbles as frustration taints the senses. Today was such a moment. His left leg began to shake more vigorously. The Airontoku feared failure, the mere thought, despite the possibility of the future, perhaps, forging the path for further opportunities.

’Cheating more than once?’ Touketsu considered, uncertain whether the man implied that it is expected of them to cheat. Deceitfulness in a situation as this was deplorable to the Airontoku in a situation as this, where his ability to lead other men is to be determined. Or was exactly that amorality required of a leader? Nay, not amorality; rather, it seemed to be simply a challenge to determine whether these genin willing to take risks. Unfortunately, for Touketsu, he did not understand, and simply frowned upon the thought of cheating. He was a soldier, not a scoundrel, traits likely unfitting for a shinobi, but that was for the examiners to determine. Touketsu was a man of honor, and it was foolish for him to adhere to that strict code when opportunities allowed him otherwise, but so proud he was of that certainty, that perceived high morality, that he was incapable of noticing the inanity.

With one last statement, the elderly instructor made his departure, Touketsu uncertain whether he heard bitterness in the man’s voice. With a nod he turned to the parchment, pencil in hand, but with that quick shift in posture, a throbbing pain began to manifest in his head, the bodies punishment for the excessive alcohol he had consumed earlier. Touketsu, earlier, was certain that he had overcome the repercussion of intoxication, but the body enjoys to play such cruel tricks. Gritting his teeth he leaned forward further to read the questions, vision slightly blurry. What a wretched choice he had made. ’ Name every attainable Kage Seat from 1 to 10.’ the first question read.

Leaning back yet again he sighed heavily, the tone rather audible, likely difficult to disregard, and quite insensitive. Sandaime he wrote. Touketsu knew no more, for he had never given much note to his leaders beyond their names and the simple title of Hokage. The first question, and already the Airontoku was uncertain of how to answer. The temptation to attempt to glance to one of the other genin’s paper rose, and almost his eyes shifted, but Touketsu refused; he will not allow himself to cheat, even if he will fail here. To Touketsu, it seemed, as if all hope was lost.
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[Jae]

24 HOUR IIC

[¤ Tenkai ¤]

♪ I'm telling you,
to be ready,
my dear. ♫

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❥ trip down memory lane; HayliNe

It felt like time was stalling just for the exams. Something that should be so simple ended up being so mentally draining for the young blonde shinobi. She could feel her palms getting sweaty as her heart began to pulsate faster. Even if she knew the answer, she was always one to get nervous. It would be embarrassing to her if she had failed. Her pencil rested in between her index and middle finger. Occasional, she would twist her fingers back and forth in order to tap the pencil against her thumb and ring finger. It was a relaxing motion to her that would normally settle her nerves a bit. ’Focus, girl—you got this exam. It’s just the first part.’ Her eyes did not leave her test, nor did she even bother to observe how the other players were doing. It would have been a mistake for her to lose her concentration so early in the game. Only if she needed to cheat, would she even dare think about analyzing the room once more.

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, her eyes just barely aligned themselves to view the floor in front of her. She noticed that the green marble floor had now turned into red tile. ’How the hell?’ Her nerves began to rattle even more as she began to mentally panic. ’Am I trapped in some sort of genjutsu?’ she was utterly afraid that, somehow between the time she entered the exams and the proctor had handed out their test papers, somehow had used a genjutsu on her. It was hard to tell if she was actually in a genjutsu or not, considering the fact that she did not even notice the use of hand-signs being used by anyone, but she had to make sure.

Small petite hands would casually place themselves near her mouth. She placed her thumb just barely into her mouth, as if she were just chewing on her nail whilst thinking on a proper way to respond to the question in front of her. Her golden locks peacefully rested over her shoulder. Even when she was deep in thought, her appearance still remained quite the beauty. Biting on her thumb, her teeth would clamp on the skin and rip the particles apart. Although her thumb was now bleeding, it was a small cut, and one to snap her back into reality if she were trapped in a genjutsu. Almost as if she looked like she was kissing her thumb, she would quickly suck up the little blood that would be there before placing her hand gently back on the desk. Her eyes shimmered towards the floor once more, this time again noticing the crimson color of the hard surface.

It was undoubtedly strange, but it could not be helped she supposed. At least she now knew that she was not in fact trapped in a genjutsu, so therefore she had nothing else to worry about. Looking back at her test paper in front of her, she would read the second question to herself silently. ’Hrm, first shinobi war?’ Luckily for her, again, she was very well versed with the current happenings in the shinobi world. Her parents were both shinobi, and they had made it a great deal to reinforce the learning that she received from the Academy. All of the students should have known the two major countries that created the first shinobi war, even if it was unintentional. In fact, the kunoichi was actually happy that she had not been born during that time. One of the major things that she remembered about the war was the amount of causalities that occurred because of it.

Kumogakure had made it a priority to make sure that all of their shinobi, including their genin—would be fully prepared in case they were to be dragged into another war. Although Kumogakure was relatively away from the geographic areas of the first shinobi war, many of their resources were given to them from Hi no Kuni. They were an important trading partner when it came to supplies, equipments, and other products. When Konohagakure went to war with Sunagakure, both of their economic statures affected all of the other villages connected to them indirectly. It was pretty bad for the devious woman to desire this, but she actually wanted to go to war with another country. Of course, she did not want there to be a ton of deaths from Kumogakure’s side, but she just wanted to finally be more involved in protecting her nation. She did not feel as though she was really helping out her beloved land, but this exam would be the very first step to this. With her pencil firmly gripped in her hand, she would answer number two with Konohagakure and Sunagakure.

’Oh, my old friend. I swear I never meant for this. Never.’

[/font]

[Messatsu!]

("Well now, with the first ten seated ranks of the Kages listed, its time to continue!")

After having checked his answers for question number one several times over, his eyes scudded across the white fabrics of paper, sifting through the assembly line of printed words that came to be question number two. What two nations initiated the Great Shinobi World War? His mind instantly wrapped itself around the answer, so much so it seemed as if it was a mere subconscious trigger within his mind. With the answer flitting about within the safety of his own mind, his hands and pencil began to sweep across the ivory parchment, marking down the answer with brisk pace.

("Well now, that should do it.")

[vegapunk]

As soon as the first question came, it had gone. His full attention would now be diverted to the second question out of ten in this preliminary stage of the exams. Heart pounding with an increasing rate, the exams had commenced and he was in the midst of it. The first question was down but he still had a long way to go, especially when he was still on what he considered the easy question. But, he would take no question lightly as all gave him equal measure of nervousness. He didn't want to get complacent and screw up a question he would normally could answer simply. In exam conditions things that seem easy in hindsight be disrupted by the situation. He had to keep his cool. The black pen in his hand slowly rolled over each knuckle on his hand, until it stopped only to be repeated again in the opposite direction. Looking back over the question he just answered to check nothing was wrong he eagerly moved onto the next.

Not only did he have to pay full attention to the paper in front of him, but he had to keep a keen eye out for so many other factors in the room. Raising his head slightly his gaze was captured by a number of things around the room. Darting across he made sure to keep an eye out for the proctors and their position at all times. As detailed, they were still station in their original positions around the room. Each with stern looks on their face scanning for any and all genin who would be trying to cheat. No one had been caught yet in classroom one at this early stage but he had been told there was always at least one. Next, he would scan for the other students in the room. This was merely to check if he himself was trying to be tampered with in anyway not to check if anyone was cheating. He only cared what he and his partner did, if others chose to cheat then so be it, that was their choice to make. Finally, looking over towards his partner her head was down, pen scribbling on the paper below.

With that glace Satomi himself cracked into full throttle. His attention was draw to the second question as it read "What two nations initiated the Great Shinobi World War?". Once again it was another straight forward question, a question that everyone in the room would surely know. This was mainly due to the fact of the impact that the Great Shinobi War had on people, especially shinobi. It would be hard to find anyone in the room that wouldn't know someone who was effected by the war. Even though Kumogakure geographical location meant that it was excluded from the main battlefields but the village was still prepared to be dropped into the thick of it, like it was in the end. The interconnectedness between the two villages through sharing resources, intel and also alliances meant the names of the countries involved were connected and written in Kumogakure's history. But, also the fact that is shaped the shinobi world as we know it made the answer resonate even more in his mind. As he put pen to paper only two countries would come to his mind scribbling down the words Kumogakure no Sato & Sunagakure no Sato.

[/justify][/font]

[King]

The city of Bakudan Gai was bustling with life.

An already lively city was even more out and about with the legendary Chuunin Exams being held within their walls. Even though it was just the first round of several, the populace was beyond ecstatic. It wasn’t every day that they had such a heavy presence of Shinobi in their humble city. But beyond that, the prospect that the Exam’s later rounds would be even more grueling and competitive than last year’s was the perfect catalyst; it was like adding gasoline to a wildfire.

Outside of the conference and subsequent buildings in which the young genin from varying villages took their tests, people carried on with their typical day to day life. Children played; teenagers discussed music and plans for the day; adults talked and shopped. The sky was bluer that usual, brightened – almost to the point of highlights – by the sun that sat at the center of its infinite expanse, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight.

It was exactly how Kouketsu expected it to be.

Situated along a cleft protruding from the rocky, disheveled terrain that defined all of Tsuchi no Kuni, the armored Uchiha casted his all-encompassing gaze down upon the city below. Behind him, the legions of Kirigakure had silently assembled, biding their time until the signal to begin had been given. Several scouts had been sent out since their arrival to Tsuchi, aiming to gather the others. It wouldn’t have been long before they arrived.

“Let them know that we’re here.” Kouketsu didn’t even bother looking over his shoulder at the ebon-clad ninja just shy of his western flank. It was only several seconds later, after a very brief set of hand seals, that a pillar of flame erupted from the man's lips. Fashioned into the shape of a massive dragon’s head, the flaming projectile (which would’ve easily been seen by anyone had they even glanced in the general direction) soared high above the city until it eclipsed the sun itself, casting a foreboding shadow down upon Bakudon Gai. And then—

Boom! The explosion would’ve been heard by all those below, signaling those that knew what the call meant. Several ninja had been situated within the Exams for particularly this reason, and no doubt would understand that operation TSUNAMI was underway.

"War has come to you!" A chakra-infused voice boomed out.

The Chuunin Exams were over.

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