Naruto - The Wind Calamity

Chapter 32 : Graduation Exam (2)

For the next test, a few academy teachers brought the kids to a part of the training grounds. On reaching there, the students noticed a long white line drawn on the ground and a bunch of obstacles placed ahead of it. Fujin thought, 'Is this an obstacle race?' However he soon shook his head denying that thought, 'No way, this is too simple.'

All the 64 students were made to stand behind the white line. Genki then appeared and announced, "This will be the next phase of your exam. This is an obstacle race, and you have to run 500 metres straight to the white line that is drawn there."

This announcement excited all the students. They thought, 'Finally an easy exam!' The ones who had taken the graduation exam previously thought, 'Why wasn't this exam there the previous year?'

Fujin was confused by such an easy exam. However, he noticed that there was another man standing behind Genki. And when Genki finished his announcement, he looked at him and nodded.

Kisho looked at the excited kids and chuckled, he thought, 'This should be fun. Sadly the kids don't know that the guy standing there is an experienced Jounin from the Kurama clan. He is Kurama Illumi. In the previous war, hundreds of enemies fell prey to him and his bag of tricks.'

Genki then announced, 'On your mark, Get set, GO!' However, while he was announcing, Kurama Illumi was making some hand signs. And when he heard 'GO', he casted his jutsu, 'Demonic Illusion : Heaven and Earth Reversal'.

As soon as he launched his jutsu, all the 64 students were shaken! It was as if someone grabbed the ground and the sky and reversed them! The gravity felt upside down! Most of the students were incredibly frightened and tightly hugged the ground underneath them.

There were only 4 exceptions. A young girl from the 3rd year, who was from the Uchiha clan. She activated her Sharingan as soon as she felt the changes. 2 students from the 5th year, who were from the Kurama clan and aware of this jutsu. And Fujin, who kept an eye on Illumi and saw him performing the hand signs. He also felt someone trying to influence his nervous system, which let him know that it was a Genjutsu. He was planning to disrupt the Genjutsu, however when he noticed that others were being affected too, he didn't disrupt it so as to not attract any attention. Even though Fujin noticed the Genjutsu, he was extremely impressed at the guy's ability to cast a Genjutsu on 64 students at the same time!

Kurama Illumi, smirked looking at the reactions of all the students. He had used rank B Genjutsu on them. He had used this Genjutsu many times to disrupt his enemies enough for his allies to kill them in the 3rd Great Ninja War. Kisho observed the students attentively. He thought, 'This test will test the willpower of the students. If they don't complete the race, then there's no way I'll pass them.'

While all the students were struggling, Fujin was trying to find his balance. He thought quickly about what this test is about. He quickly figured out that there were 3 possibilities which were, 'Either they are testing our ability to break the Genjutsu, or test our willpower or perhaps our capability to react in an unexpected situation. Either way, this is just a Genjutsu. I should just look downwards and try to move along. If others break the Genjutsu, I'll do so too.'

With those thoughts, he took his first step. Apart from him, only the 2 students from the Kurama clan were moving. Soon a few others took their first step. The girl from the Uchiha clan resisted the Genjutsu, and after 15 seconds, was able to break through it. She then ran the obstacle race with absolute ease.

Fujin sensed someone moving along at a very rapid speed and observed the girl. He was incredibly surprised, 'Sharingan? At this young age?'

He continued his race. After the first few steps, he tried jogging along the race. The other students too slowly managed to get a hang of the conditions and increased their speed. Fujin ranked 4th in the test. In all, only 41 students passed. Of the remaining 23, a few fell unconscious, and many didn't dare to take even a single step! Kisho dismissed them and asked them to leave.