Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

As soon as Jiraiya announced that astonishing figure, expressions of shock appeared across the faces of everyone present.

“A ninety-nine percent elimination rate? Jiraiya-sama, that—”

Before the man could finish, Jiraiya waved his hand and put on a mysterious, profound expression.

“I know what you’re going to say.”

“You probably think I’ve been away from the village for too long and don’t understand the current rules, so I’m setting the standards far too high for the genin candidates, right?”

“No.”

“This is actually something I’ve learned from traveling throughout the shinobi world.”

“The path of a shinobi is far too arduous. Only one person in a hundred possesses the talent necessary to go far.”

“As examiners, our job isn’t to watch these youngsters go out and throw their lives away.”

“Rather, we need to make those who aren’t qualified yet recognize the difficulty of this path and retreat before it’s too late.”

Perhaps thinking about several of his own disciples who had died far too young, Jiraiya genuinely touched upon a painful memory.

He let out a long sigh.

Then, composing himself, he put on an expression of profound loneliness.

“These young genin who have come to participate in this exam…”

“They are about to embark upon a path where life and death are decided.”

“Bloodshed is inevitable on the road to becoming stronger.”

“At the same time, determination, endurance, strength, and luck are all indispensable.”

“Only by setting an extremely high standard can we make the majority of them recognize their own limitations and retreat.”

“A high elimination rate is also meant to prevent unnecessary deaths.”

“That’s what I’ve been considering…”

“No, Jiraiya-sama, that’s not what I meant.”

The examiner who had spoken earlier coughed lightly and adjusted his sunglasses.

Then, in a completely serious tone, he reminded him,

“Although the number of candidates this time is far greater than in previous Chūnin Exams…”

“The total number of registered candidates is still less than three hundred.”

“With a ninety-nine percent elimination rate, by the final stage we’d have so few candidates left that they wouldn’t even be able to hold two matches.”

The entire meeting hall fell into deathly silence.

The Third Hokage covered his face with one hand.

He looked at his foolish disciple and shook his head.

How did I ever consider handing the position of Hokage over to this guy?

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Jiraiya suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ahahaha! Hahahaha!”

The examiners remaining in the room were no fools.

Several immediately understood and joined in with Jiraiya’s laughter.

Everyone tacitly agreed to skip over the subject.

Naruto, standing among the proctors, was utterly confused.

Dad, what are they doing?

“…This is the adult world, Naruto.”

Minato’s voice was filled with helplessness.

The adult world?

Listening to their completely humorless laughter, Naruto scratched his head.

I don’t get it.

I’m still a kid. Am I supposed to laugh too?

Jiraiya continued laughing for a while before finally running out of steam.

He looked somewhat awkwardly at the examiner.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Ebisu, Jiraiya-sama.”

Ebisu remained completely serious.

In fact, Jiraiya could even sense a trace of genuine respect behind those sunglasses.

That confirmed that Ebisu hadn’t deliberately tried to embarrass him.

This made Jiraiya somewhat depressed.

He clearly looks up to me.

How did he manage to make me fall this hard?

“That Ebisu…”

“What I said about ninety-nine percent just now was a figure of speech.”

“I meant that we should raise the standards and increase the difficulty.”

“It doesn’t mean we should literally design the exam around a ninety-nine percent elimination rate.”

Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, giving himself an escape route.

Then he patted Ebisu on the shoulder.

“You’re pretty good, kid.”

“Which part of the exam are you responsible for?”

“Jiraiya-sama, I was responsible for writing the questions for the first examination.”

As a theoretical specialist and elite shinobi, Ebisu pushed up his glasses with obvious pride.

However, his shoulder hurt a little from Jiraiya’s patting.

Is Jiraiya-sama trying to reprimand me?

Did I do something wrong?

Nah.

Impossible.

Jiraiya-sama must simply possess tremendous natural strength!

Upon hearing that Ebisu had written the exam questions, Jiraiya’s eyes lit up.

“Are they difficult enough?”

“Following Examiner Ibiki’s instructions, I used everything I’ve learned throughout my life.”

“Even the most elite shinobi…”

Ebisu straightened his back.

His heartbeat quickened slightly.

Then he firmly finished,

“…wouldn’t be able to solve them.”

“Good.”

“Good!”

“Excellent!”

This time, Jiraiya looked genuinely impressed.

He patted Ebisu’s shoulder several more times.

“Then let’s start by discussing the first examination.”

“The chief examiner for the first round is…”

“Ibiki.”

“Come out and explain what kind of assistance you’ll need from everyone.”

Morio Ibiki, the head of Konoha’s Interrogation Department, stepped forward with his hands in his pockets.

“All right.”

He then explained the rules and arrangements for the first examination.

“It’s still a little too easy.”

“We need to make it harder.”

After listening to Ibiki’s explanation, Jiraiya immediately proposed several adjustments.

Naturally, every single one was designed to increase the difficulty.

“Also, the assistant examiners need to put in some effort.”

“Find ways to throw a few unexpected problems at the candidates…”

Jiraiya looked toward the assistant examiners.

They would be involved in coordinating every examination field throughout the entire process.

His gaze happened to pass over Naruto.

And something stirred within him.

He really does look like him.

Jiraiya recognized Naruto at a glance.

Whether it was his age or his physical features, the boy was simply too easy to identify.

However, the Chūnin Exam was the priority.

He couldn’t allow personal matters to interfere with official business.

So Jiraiya merely looked at Naruto for a few more seconds before continuing.

“I’ll also make a few adjustments to the assistant examiners’ arrangements for the remaining examinations…”

Jiraiya added several modifications to the system Ibiki had established.

Naturally…

All of them were aimed at making things harder.

Several of the additional requirements were so brutal that even some of the assistant examiners couldn’t help but click their tongues.

If we hadn’t known about these changes beforehand, even we might not have been able to pass under these conditions.

With nearly three hundred candidates participating, only ten would ultimately remain.

Therefore, the standards for the earlier examinations had to be pushed far beyond the limits of what an ordinary genin could reach.

This didn’t mean that only ten people would be promoted to Chūnin.

The reason the Chūnin Exams consisted of so many examinations and different stages was to comprehensively assess the abilities of the genin.

In reality, whether a shinobi qualified for promotion wasn’t determined solely by the final battles.

Their overall performance throughout the examinations mattered far more.

The final battle between the ten remaining candidates was, in many ways, simply a demonstration.

It would showcase the village’s new generation of combat power to the representatives and leaders of the three great nations.

At the same time, it would help the villages attract future partners and secure resources and cooperation.

The pre-exam planning overseen by Jiraiya didn’t take particularly long.

Everything was quickly arranged.

Aside from the initial misunderstanding and his various attempts to increase the difficulty, Jiraiya still demonstrated the extremely high level of a veteran shinobi, carefully considering every aspect of the examination.

To avoid any suspicion, none of the team leaders were allowed to participate in planning the examinations.

Even assistant examiners like Naruto weren’t informed of the specific examination contents until today’s meeting had officially finalized them.

This was also meant to prevent anyone from obtaining the examination rules through them.

“…All right.”

Jiraiya clapped his hands.

“Everything will proceed according to these arrangements.”

“From this point onward, only the chief examiners for each stage need to remain.”

“Everyone else can head back.”

The assistant examiners gradually left.

Soon, only the three chief examiners and the Third Hokage remained in the meeting room.

“The matters that can be discussed openly are settled.”

Jiraiya’s expression suddenly became serious.

“Now…”

“Anko.”

“Your second examination is the most important part of the entire process.”

“Have you made all the necessary arrangements?”

Mitarashi Anko smiled confidently.

“I’ll find a way to eliminate all these little cuties in my examination.”

“Instead, what we need to worry about are the people infiltrating among them.”

“Don’t let some random cat or dog with insufficient strength get eliminated before they even reach the end.”

“Otherwise, all our preparations will have been wasted.”

Jiraiya’s expression grew solemn.

“We have to prepare for the worst.”

“We already know that Uchiha Shisui once manipulated so many ANBU members into infiltrating the village.”

“And now he’s fled Konoha.”

“It’s reasonable to assume that the Akatsuki is probably planning something against the village.”

“If they were only interested in collecting the Tailed Beasts, Shisui’s actions wouldn’t make much sense.”

“Regardless…”

“If the Akatsuki intends to make a move against Konoha in the near future, the Chūnin Exams will be their best opportunity.”

Jiraiya’s voice sank.

“Don’t underestimate them.”

“I’ve investigated the organization for some time myself.”

“They recruit famous missing-nin from various villages.”

“And their members are all far stronger than ordinary jōnin.”

“If we notice anything suspicious…”

“We have to prevent them from making a desperate move.”