Once we got off the train at the new city, we needed to find the secret entrance to the chunin exam venue. That was part of the exam. There were 12 of them in the clan for the exams. The other 7 were supposed to take a back seat and watch them. We were warned that helping them in any way could get them disqualified from the exams. That did not mean we could not bend the rules. We told them all about our time in the exams last year. I made sure to stress teamwork. They had cellphones for the purpose of this mission. They could text us if they found it. They then split up. It was my squad and Chihiro. After an hour, Hiro was the one to find it. He got the info by finding another squad and giving them all assjobs. I could not blame him as that was simply part of the job to use sex and espionage. Accomplishing goals was the only thing that mattered. Apparently it was some independent shinobi from a remote village. It was their first time seeing a male kunoichi. "What happened to the guys you met? Will we have them as allies in the exams?" I asked. Hiro just shook his head no.
I knew how this one went. "Nope. Those indie losers could barely last a minute each. I killed them after I got the location from their leader." he said. He was making a pleased face. I was not going to praise him for that bout of killing. There was one who did. "Great job, Hiro. Let's keep this up and you'll be the champions of the chunin exams." Chihiro said. "Let's hope that the information they had was correct." Keisuke said placatingly. I just rolled my eyes. If they were wrong this would have been a massive waste of time. They did not have the right place. It was just their best guess from the little clues they had managed to gather. Those ninja died for nothing. Rest in Peace to them. We were on the hunt for the real location. Hiro was a bit embarrassed that he let losers of the quality get off using his ass. As a member of the main branch, he had an example to set. Kaito found some kunoichi and threatened to kill them if they did not lead them to the real location. Once he had it, he called us using his phone. He also ended up killing them anyway. Less competition for them in the long run.
Once we entered the venue, they were told what they needed to do. We were told to hang back. If they returned with the scrolls, we would manage them in the final stage. It was similar to the capitol city. This entrance was an alternative exit during the construction phase of the city catacombs. Their first task was to find 1 of 3 scrolls: bright red, light green and dark blue. Then they were to exit any of the entryways of the public crypt. We could not help search for or acquire the hidden scrolls for them whatsoever. There were 40 squads so far and only 21 scrolls. Almost half of those attending would get failed right at the start. The next stage is among the squads that passed. The first 5 teams to finish this stage got to bypass the tournament and automatically became chunin. The other 16 would need to win the first round to get it officially. Therefore, just like last year, only 78 ninja would be made chunin. I still thought that it was pretty brutal. At most because one member could die on a winning team without effecting the results. 2 jounin appeared and led us to a lounge to spectate it.
Due to the strength of numbers, I proposed that they go through the catacombs together before we even got on the train. Keisuke liked the idea and went to Chihiro with it. He was not interested in an alliance if it meant that we could not compete. He still had his mission though. He would be a fool to turn down the help of a whole squad of clanmates for his group. He agreed on the condition that the squad with main branch members got the first scroll that was found, regardless of who found it and did the work to procure it. Searching the catacombs was risky business. Last time, I decided to look in all of the graves of those that were buried. The amount of traps waiting for me was high and I lost a lot of health. Daiki found an independent shinobi that looked really suspicious. After shaking him down out in the open, They found he was holding a dark blue scroll. Since it was found, there was no doubt Chihiro's team should keep it. That is what we agreed. Their group abandoned ours. They wanted to leave first to get the instant promotion. Akio's pet boar smelled the scroll before they left.
