The next morning, Fujin woke up early. He ate a few Ration bars and did some light exercises before heading to the stadium where the tournament would be held.
When he neared the stadium, he could hear multiple announcements being made over the loudspeaker. There were a lot of stalls outside the stadium. The area was very crowded. Fujin thought, 'It's almost like a fair. This world barely has any good means of entertainment. So I suppose the Chunin exams are the biggest entertainment for normal people. No wonder it's so crowded and noisy."
On entering the stadium, a guard informed him where the participants had to gather. Fujin went there and saw that all the remaining genins were already there. He walked towards Mieko and Hoka, "Hey."
Both greeted him while smirking. Hoka asked, "So, how was your training?" Fujin sighed and was about to answer, but Mieko spoke first, "No need to tell. We already know. Everyone was talking about a certain someone being carried to the hospital daily." Both Hoka and Mieko began laughing.
Fujin gave them a deadpan look. He muttered lightly but loud enough for them both to hear, "At least I was defeated by a Jounin instead of a fellow genin teammate." This interrupted their laugh.
Hoka replied, "Last time you caught me by surprise. That will never happen again!" Mieko snorted and said, "Hmph, I was injured by Hoka and you took advantage. This time you will have to fight more opponents first. I'll send you back to the hospital on sensei's shoulder!"
Fujin smirked and was about to reply when Inoichi called them and asked them to assemble at the center of the ground. Announcements were made to introduce all 9 genins to the audience.
While the announcements were made, Fujin noticed where Hiruzen was sitting. There were a few Anbu around him. But there wasn't any other Kage. Fujin analyzed, 'Hmm, no genin from Suna qualified. So no wonder their Kage didn't show up. And while Kiri genins did qualify, they don't represent the 4th Mizukage. I thought Mei might come, but it looks like either she's busy, or Hiruzen refused to host her publicly before she wins.'
Next, he checked out the important officials who were sitting with a few Daimyos. He didn't notice anyone interesting there. Lastly, he looked at a spot where a lot of familiar faces were. He noticed Ibiki, Genma, and Raido sitting next to each other, with some papers in front of them, and wondered, 'Are they the judges for the tournament?'
He recalled his discussion with Renjiro earlier.
A week ago, in the training ground :
Fujin was resting having just fought Renjiro. Renjiro was sitting nearby as well. Fujin asked, "Who decides the chunin promotions sensei? Will it be just the proctor for the 3rd round, or do others also have a say?"
Renjiro answered, "There will be a panel of judges who will evaluate your performances during the tournament. Their decision is the most critical for getting promoted. The proctors of the 3 phases will also submit reports of their evaluation. Promotions will be based on these evaluations.
Their evaluations are sent to the Chunin Exam Supervisor, who makes the decision and sends it to the Hokage for approval."
Fujin asked, "Chunin Exam Supervisor? Who is that?"
Renjiro nodded, "He is the one who makes decisions regarding the Chunin exams. The current Chunin Exam Supervisor is a retired Elite Jounin. He is a few years older than the Sannins."
Fujin thought and said, "Okay. But don't the Jounin instructors or anyone else get a say?"
Renjiro answered, "The Jounin instructors can make recommendations. But it is very rare as the genins are their own students and it could be seen as favoritism. As for others, there are a few who can make recommendations such as the Jounin commander, Anbu commander, Village elders, and Clan heads. But again, it's very rare. They get more involved during the Jounin promotions."
Fujin nodded, "That makes sense. But Sensei, you said that we have thousands of chunins. But don't only a few genins get promoted every year?" While asking Fujin wondered, 'It makes no sense for Chunin exams to be the only form of promotion. I wonder what other ways are to be promoted.'
Renjiro looked deeply at Fujin before answering, "As the Hokage said, the chunin exams are more about showing your skills, talent, and potential to the daimyos and other important people. Promoting the genins isn't the main focus. If you observed, you would have noticed that all Konoha genins participating were 15 years or younger."
Fujin thought for a bit and said, "Yeah, I don't remember seeing any older genin from our village."
Renjiro continued, "Genins above the age of 15 are promoted when they are deemed capable enough to be promoted without any exam. So there are around a hundred genins promoted every year. Even more during the war. But, genins who get promoted outside the chunin exams have a harder time becoming jounin. Very few manage to become jounin."
Fujin digested the information and nodded while wondering, 'Wasn't Kabuto much older during the Chunin exams? Did Konoha relax the restrictions later?'
His thoughts were interrupted by Renjiro who said, "Enough rest, let's continue." Fujin got up and prepared himself for another round of beating.
Back to the present :
Fujin noticed that Renjiro, Genki, and a few dozen more jounins and chunins were sitting behind the judges.
Mieko and Hoka looked for their parents in the crowd. Apparently, some of their classmates also came to watch the tournament.
None of the genins were paying much attention to the announcements. However, one announcement suddenly attracted their attention.
The announcer said, "To make this tournament more exciting, the Gato Company has set up a gambling center for the tournament. The odds are :
Satsuma Rentaro - 1.4
Those who are still left to place your bets, you can do so within the next 15 minutes before the matches begin!"
Fujin was surprised, 'Seriously? Gambling so openly? And Gato Company?' His eyes wandered towards Hiruzen and the place where the Daimyos were sitting, 'How much of a cut do these guys get for letting someone like Gato do this?'
He analyzed the odds, 'Mieko and Hoka come from strong clans. So this ain't a surprise. As for Kiri, it looks like they want to advertise their strength. Rentaro and Yuki Shin I can understand, but why are the odds for Yumi so high?
Anyways, I have around 800 thousand Ryo with me. Should I bet all on myself? I'm confident that I am the strongest, but my fights are the toughest too. I'll have to face Yuki and Rentaro who would be fresh. Then Mieko, who would only have had 1 easy fight. For the last, I thought it'd be Hoka, but looks like he may have 1 tough fight against Yumi.'
While Fujin was analyzing, Mieko couldn't hide her smirk due to having the highest odds. The other genins looked at her and realized that she would be the strongest opponent. Inoichi said, "All announcements are over. Go wait in the waiting room. Fujin, Shin, your matches will begin in 15 minutes.
The genins begin walking towards the waiting room. Fujin after thinking for a bit concluded, 'While 800 thousand Ryo is a decent amount of money, it is nowhere enough for me to buy some of the stuff that I want. So better to just gamble. I'll gamble 600 thousand Ryo. 200 thousand Ryo is sufficient for my normal needs. And even if I lose, earning that 600 thousand back shouldn't be a big deal.
That said, the gambling is held by Gato. So he should be very rich. Killing him won't be a good decision, but I should plunder him in the future. Since he operates illegally, I might get some good stuff from him. Not to mention a lot of Ryo as well.'
After deciding, he said softly, "I'll meet you guys in the Waiting room." He flickered. The genins wondered where he went.
Fujin flickered in the place where the bets were being taken. Surprisingly, the crowd here was very low, 'So few people? Wait, the announcements implied that many already placed their bets. So only the ones who didn't know yet are placing their bets now.'
Fujin withdrew 600 thousand Ryo from his scroll and went ahead. The bookie was surprised at seeing a participant here. He greeted Fujin, "Hello Fujin-kun. How may I help you?"
Fujin replied, "I want to place bets." He put 600 thousand Ryo in front of him and said, "Six hundred thousand Ryo on myself."
The bookie sneered internally on hearing that Fujin wanted to bet on himself, 'This orphan civilian ninja wants to bet on himself? The only reason why his odds weren't the lowest is that he broke the record in the 2nd round thanks to his two teammates.'
However, he was shocked when he saw 600 thousand Ryo being placed in front of him! He thought, 'Are the genins so rich in Konoha?'
He immediately took the cash and handed Fujin 6 silver tickets with his name on them. Every silver ticket denoted a hundred thousand Ryo. Fujin checked it and left.
After he left, that Bookie began laughing, 'He just d 600 thousand Ryo to us! Haha'
Fujin entered and waited in the Waiting room. This room gave the best view of the ground below. It will help the genins observe others properly.
After a few minutes, an announcement was made calling Fujin and Shin down. Hoka and Mieko said "Good Luck" to Fujin, while the Kiri genins wished Shin good luck. Fujin and Shin jumped down to the ground and walked towards Inoichi. Inoichi asked them both to take positions. Fujin and Shin stood face-to-face 5 meters apart.
Fujin thought, 'Ice release. This will be a tough fight.'
Shin thought, 'This guy is very fast. And his sword is very strong. I shouldn't give him a chance to use his sword at all!'
Inoichi announced loudly, "Now the first fight starts. BEGIN!"