Chương 67: Please take your seats

Team Choza moved towards one of the administration buildings of Konoha where the test would be held. Shunsui walked alongside Guy and Genma with his straw hat tilted slightly over his eyes. The building was filled with many shinobi guards standing outside to maintain order. The three genins felt a mix of excitement and seriousness as they stepped inside and followed the signs to the main seating area.

As they reached the seating area where all the participants were seated or standing, everyone's eyes turned to their team despite them being just one of many teams entering the room. The large hall was filled with genin from Konoha and a few from smaller villages. Whispers started spreading quickly as Team Choza found spots to stand.

"Why is everyone looking at us, Guy?" Shunsui asked in a low voice as he adjusted his straw hat. He looked around the room and noticed how some genin pointed in their direction while talking to their teammates.

"They must have sensed our spirit of youth and want to challenge us to see whose flames burn brighter in this test of true shinobi spirit," Guy replied with his usual loud enthusiasm. Guy went on for a while about how their hard work and energetic training made them magnetic to others. Genma could only sigh. He shook his head at his two teammates and spoke,"The reason that they were looking at you is because of what you both are wearing."

Genma pointed out Guy's bright green jumpsuit that stood out in any crowd and Shunsui's unusual straw hat paired with his pink Kimono that did not match typical shinobi gear. The combination made them look different from the standard uniformed genin around them. Guy looked confused at his normal green jumpsuit while Shunsui mumbled, "Ah fashionless people." Shunsui adjusted his hat again and gave a small shrug.

The three of them walked further into the hall and headed towards the corner where they could see their classmates from the academy days. There were also various shinobi from small shinobi villages but none of the large shinobi villages. It seemed like they had not been invited likely because of the war going on. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The smaller groups stayed close together and looked a bit nervous among the stronger Konoha teams.

"If it is not you Shunsui..." Obito walked up to him with a confident grin. The young Uchiha pushed through a small crowd to reach Team Choza.

"Oh... you are.... who are you again?" Shunsui looked at him confused for a moment as if trying to remember. He tilted his head slightly and pretended to search his memory even though he knew exactly who Obito was. Obito though did not seem to easily get angry about this suprising Shunsui.

"I am Obito Uchiha. The one who is going to beat you in this Chunin Exams and take his revenge and then become a chunin and then the Hokage," Obito said as he lifted his goggles. He puffed out his chest and pointed at Shunsui with determination in his eyes.

"Ah you are the one with the weird goggles," Shunsui said in a casual tone. He looked at the goggles with a small smile playing on his lips.

"They are not weird," Obito said defensively. His face turned a bit red as he adjusted them quickly.

"Tell me," Shunsui said seriously while leaning forward a little.

"Tell you what?" Obito asked with confusion spreading across his face.

"Tell me how is Kushina san doing," Shunsui said. The question caught Obito off guard and made him pause his rivalry talk for a moment.

"You are thinking about Kushina san when you should be worried about me?" Obito asked with surprise in his voice. As the two conversed, the other genins also assessed Team Choza. Asuma looked at Shunsui attentively. And thought, 'Father said that if there is someone who has a very high chance of becoming a chunin it is him. He even invited him to the house a few months back.' Asuma remembered the conversation with the Hokage and wondered what made his father pay special attention to this genin.

'He was nothing special in the academy though except for his weird attire. He was pretty average,' he thought while studying Shunsui from a distance. Asuma kept his observations to himself but made a mental note to watch the upcoming tests closely. Shunsui looked at the fellow participants for the Chunin Exams.

'So there is Asuma, Raido Namiashi and Kurenai. Nothing to worry about except for the Hokage's son taking his defeat as an insult which could be pretty bad politically.' He then looked at Team Minato which comprised of Obito, Rin and someone he did not think would be in the team in place of Kakashi who was already a chunin. The guy had brown hair and wore an eye patch on one of his eyes. But Shunsui knew that the man was not blind.

'If I am not wrong that's Mukai Kohinata. The guy whose family had split off Hyuga clan and has a Byakugan in one of his eyes. He was someone who could have killed both Shisui and Itachi Uchiha if not for Shisui's Mangekyou.' Before Shunsui could move to greet others, the atmosphere in the hall changed suddenly. The hall became quiet. A sense of bloodlust and killing intent was directed to everyone in the room as three men walked inside the room. They wore headbands from Kiri as Shunsui turned to see the three men.

They then released their chakra pressure mixed with their killing intent which made it even harder to breathe for many of the weaker genin. Shunsui sighed, 'Such bloodthirsty people. Why did we have to invite Kiri anyway? And they send just one team. One team of monsters that is.' Shunsui looked at the representatives of the Kiri. They were none other than Zabuza Momichi, the demon of the mist, Kisame Hoshigaki, the tailless tailed beast and Hozuki Mangetsu, the genius of Kiri. Shunsui sighed.

"Yare yare and here I told sensei that I would try to keep a low profile. But I can't let Kiri steal the show just like that." He decided it was time to act because the pressure from the visitors was becoming too much for the Konoha genins. And it would be bad for business if Konoha genin looked weak in front of Kiri genins. Shunsui gathered his chakra carefully and released a strong wave of his own pressure across the hall. The power flowed out smoothly and pushed back against the Kiri bloodlust.

Everyone in the room felt another chakra pressure overpowering the chakra pressure of the three Kiri shinobi and making them sweat. The three Kiri ninjas narrowed their eyes and looked toward the source with surprise. The hall grew even quieter as heads turned. They all looked at the originator of this pressure. Shunsui said with a smile, "Please take your seats, guests of Konoha."