Aiko met up with the rest of her team just outside the site of the second test shortly after, accompanied by an Examiner.

  —Congratutions on passing the second test. You may rest now. Tomorrow, the third and final chunin exam will take pce —the Examiner said as he collected the scroll and walked away.

  Shortly after, Miyuki appeared.

  —Great work, everyone. You did even better than I expected —she said as she tousled Aiko’s hair. —You, in particur, put yourself in great danger during that part. If anything had gone wrong, you would have been captured and the test lost. Don’t ever do that again —she added in a slightly serious tone.

  Aiko nodded repeatedly, and Miyuki smiled.

  —All right, you may use this time to rest. The nature of the final test is still unknown, although I suppose you already have an idea of what it might involve.

  Everyone nodded. So far, the tests had evaluated various qualities that a ninja should possess: the first assessed their perceptiveness, the second, their tactical intelligence. What remained was a test to demonstrate their strength. The question was: what kind of test would it be?

  If the system were the same as in Konoha, it would be a round-robin battle in which the victor becomes a chunin. However, she doubted that was the case here.

  —For now, rest. Tomorrow awaits a difficult day, so you’ll need to be in top condition —Miyuki said as she walked away.

  —See you tomorrow. Rest well —Aiko bid farewell, exhausted.

  —I’m going to grab something to eat—are you coming? —Hiroshi asked Akihiro.

  —I’ll pass; I need to check on a few things at home. Enjoy your meal —Akihiro replied.

  Hiroshi nodded. —All right, but don’t get too caught up in it. Tomorrow’s test will be very challenging —he warned before saying goodbye.

  Akihiro stood for a moment, gazing at the forest. The second test was still in progress, and many teams had already been disqualified. After a moment of contemption, he turned around and returned home.

  His mother was waiting for him.

  —How was your day? —she asked.

  —Good. We passed the second test. The third will be tomorrow.

  —Was there any trouble? —his mother inquired with a hint of concern in her voice.

  —None of significance —Akihiro replied simply.

  His mother let out a sigh of relief. —I’m gd to hear that. I wish I could have seen it.

  —You wouldn’t have seen anything interesting anyway —Akihiro said as he headed to his room. —I’m going to rest a bit. Let me know when dinner is ready.

  Once in his room, he took out a scroll and unfolded its contents: a pile of wooden figures that slightly resembled birds. He had ordered them from Nao some time ago, and they had just arrived yesterday. However, due to the chunin exams, he had to set them aside for the moment.

  He pced one of the figures on his desk and took his brush, inscribing fuinjutsu runes on its surface.

  Tomorrow would be a combat test, so he needed to have as many tricks at his disposal as possible.

  He spent the rest of the day working on it before going to sleep. Finally, the final test began at dawn the following day.