#42 Divine Reward System

When Tatsuya, Naruto, and Sasuke arrived at the [Central Tower], they found it eerily quiet. Aside from the examiner standing at the entrance, there wasn’t a single other candidate in sight.

In other words, they were the first to arrive!

The examiner glanced at his watch and blinked in surprise. "One hour and three minutes… That’s… unbelievable."

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow. "What’s the fastest time on record?"

"Four hours," the examiner muttered, still processing the numbers. "You shattered it by more than two hours."

Naruto’s jaw dropped. "Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying we just set a new record?!"

The examiner nodded. "By a landslide."

Sasuke smirked. "Guess we were faster than we thought."

Tatsuya crossed his arms, thinking. They had wasted a lot of time on fights and detours. If they had pushed harder, they could have done it even faster.

Meanwhile, inside the [Central Tower], Anko, the proctor of the [Second Exam], was watching the scene unfold. She leaned back against a railing, arms crossed, eyes narrowing in thought. "That brat’s stronger than I expected."

Before she could dwell on it further, another voice called out from the room. "Jonin Anko, someone else is approaching!"

Anko’s gaze flicked toward the forest. In the distance, three more figures were making their way toward the tower. The one in front carried a large gourd on his back.

"Huh. That’s the Sand trio." She grinned, intrigued. "Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. Looks like this year’s batch of candidates is actually worth watching."

With Gaara on their team, they had nothing to fear. They had probably bulldozed their way through the forest. If not for Gaara’s occasional bloodthirsty distractions, they might have arrived even sooner.

"This is getting interesting."

Back inside the tower, Tatsuya and his team stepped into a special room meant for examinees who passed.

"Naruto, Sasuke," Tatsuya said, turning to them. "Take out the scrolls. We need to open both the [Scroll of Heaven] and [Scroll of Earth] at the same time, just like Anko instructed."

Sasuke held the [Scroll of Heaven], Naruto the [Scroll of Earth]. They exchanged a glance, then slowly unrolled them together.

The moment the scrolls fully opened—

POOF!

A burst of smoke filled the air. When it cleared, a familiar figure stood before them.

Naruto’s eyes widened. "Wait… YOU?!"

Iruka smiled. "Long time no see."

"Iruka-sensei?! What are you doing here?!" Naruto blurted out in shock.

Iruka chuckled. "Chunin serve as the messengers for this exam. My job is to greet those who pass the [Second Exam]." He paused, glancing between the three of them. "But I never expected you guys to be the first ones here."

Naruto beamed with pride. "Tatsuya totally carried us!"

Tatsuya rolled his eyes. "It was teamwork. Don’t downplay your own effort."

Sasuke smirked. "Still, setting a record wasn’t something I expected."

Iruka’s expression softened as he looked at them. "Congratulations. You all passed the [Second Exam]!"

Naruto couldn’t contain himself. He lunged forward, wrapping Iruka in a tight hug. "This is the best!"

Sasuke, meanwhile, let out a relieved sigh and sat down, realizing they were now one step closer to becoming Chunin.

After Naruto finally let go, Sasuke asked, "Iruka-sensei, if we had opened the scrolls early, would we really have been hypnotized?"

Iruka blinked. "How do you know about that?"

Naruto pointed at Tatsuya. "He did some research before the exam."

Iruka turned to Tatsuya, a hint of admiration in his eyes. "Smart. That’s exactly right. Anyone who opens the scrolls before reaching this room is instantly knocked unconscious and stays that way until the exam ends."

Tatsuya nodded. "Figured as much."

Iruka then gave them a serious look. "You’ve passed this stage, but the hardest part is yet to come. The [Third Exam] won’t be easy. Until the last moment, don’t let your guard down."

The trio nodded in unison.

"You have four days before the next stage," Iruka continued. "Use that time to rest and prepare. You’ll need it."

Naruto threw his arms behind his head and grinned. "Well, I know how I’m spending my time. Iruka-sensei, let’s go eat ramen!"

Iruka laughed. "Alright, as a celebration for passing the [Second Exam]."

As soon as Tatsuya and the others left the [Death Forest], news of their record-breaking time spread like wildfire throughout Konoha. The entire village buzzed with shock and excitement. Not only had they broken the previous record, but they had set a new one that seemed nearly impossible to beat.

Kakashi, their sensei, found himself bombarded with congratulations.

"Your students passed with a record time? Amazing!"

"Kakashi, what kind of training did you put them through?!"

"Are they even Genin anymore?!"

Kakashi, for his part, merely chuckled under his mask. "They worked hard for it. That’s all."

However, the excitement wasn’t just about Tatsuya’s team. Gaara’s squad had finished only two minutes behind them.

"Ninety-seven minutes…" Kakashi murmured. "That’s just as terrifying."

Time flew by, and soon, four days had passed. The [Second Exam] officially came to an end, and the results were posted.

Out of all the teams that entered, only seven teams had passed, making a total of twenty-one candidates moving forward.

The ones who barely made it to the tower at the last minute weren’t as lucky. They had no time to rest, as they were immediately thrown into the [Third Exam’s] preliminaries.

Only those who won in the "qualifiers" would earn the right to compete in the [Third Exam]—the final selection for becoming a Chunin.