I was extremely pissed off at that. "What the fuck is this!? We had a deal!" I snapped. Chihiro just laughed at me. "We did have a deal. Don't you think that we should prioritize getting our and passing as many members as possible. You all took your time and then got obliterated by that Onishiri team, right? Why can we assume that we won't run into them again this year for the first round? Or someone stronger?" His logic was sound. I could not say anything back. That in itself was another loss to him. I was just fuming. Akio's boar was placed on the ground and then ran off. My group had to spend 14 minutes chasing it. At the bottom of a pit, there was a light green scroll. There was also a sharp, spiked surface and a 21 foot drop. That was not safe. It was the boar who undeniably found it though. I guessed it was not useless after all. I wondered if anyone could get it. We looked at the flat screen and thought for a long moment. "I think if I got down in the hole, I could get back up." Hatsuka said. "If you think that you can do it, go for it." Akio encouraged her with a large thumbs up gesture.
She scoffed and said "I wouldn't say anything if I didn't think that I could do this. I've been training with my husband for months." Hatsuka then dropped down and stuck the landing. She was a trained ninja. Hatsuka knew how to fall without hurting herself. She got the scroll and crouched. "Come to the edge of the hole! I might need help if I run out of chakra." she called up. They all moved in close. The edges of the pit gave off a mechanical noise and started to move in slowly. If she did not get out in time, she would be skewered to death. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Just as she had done in the garages we trained in, she began to float. It was slow and we could see it took a lot out of her. All of the ninja in the lounge were glued to the screen. She was 2/3rds of the way up before it started to really close in on her. That was when Natsuji and Akita ran on top of the spikes and grabbed her by the arms. They lifted her clear before the trap snapped shut. Hatsuka was still holding the scroll in her hands before she passed out from all the exertion and the very close shave.
Keisuke could only then breathe a sigh of relief. After we pat him on the back and made sure he was okay, he stood up on his own. "That's my wife right there!" he said boldly as he pointed at the screen. Some gave him a jealous look. Others were now respectful. We watched as the made it out. It was a stunning success. Chihiro's group was the 4th team out. The got instantly promoted. Nanaro and Hachiro had successfully emulated their 3 brothers. Kaito, Hiro, Isamu and Sora were also pleased to be through the exams and promoted on their very first try. Ours did not make the cut for instant promotion. We had to fight for it. That was fine with me. The next day we arrived where the area was set up. We just had to get through the first round. After that, promotion was guaranteed. Getting more specific, we only needed to win 4 battles. Everyone on my squad deferred to me to lead the chunin hopefuls. I took that responsibility very seriously. Chihiro was just mocking me. It was clear that he was praying on my downfall. His team passed. If I failed here, he claimed a real win over me.
