Bracket
Since the matches were finally over, everyone walked down to the arena and lined up. The eight contestants that qualified were Jun, Minato, Nozomi, Ren, Hiyashi, Fuguki, Kushimaru and Rasa.
They all lined up, excluding Ren, who was still getting treated for his shoulder wound. In front of them, The Hokage stood with all of the Jōnin behind him.
Tipping his hat a little, Hiruzen smiled. He could hardly wait for the third round.
"That concludes the second round of this year's Chūnin examination. All of you who made it through… Congratulations!"
"All of you, come here and retrieve a piece of paper from this box. Once you're done, read your number out loud."
Now used to such procedures, all of the Genin did as they were told. Once all of them had confirmed their numbers, Shige started writing on a small sheet of paper. Seeing this, Hiruzen spoke up.
"The third round will consist of a single-elimination tournament. Who you'll fight has been decided by the number you drew... Shigeo, show them the pairings."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Nodding, Shige turned the sheet of paper around and everyone paid close attention. Some of the pairings came as a surprise.
'Uchiha Jun vs Sabaku Rasa'
'Kuriarare Kushimaru vs Uchiha Ren'
'Suikazan Fuguki vs Namikaze Minato'
'Hyūga Nozomi vs Hyūga Hiyashi'
Seeing this, Minato raised his hand once again.
"Hokage-sama, does this mean that the winner becomes Chūnin?"
"Good question, Minato-kun. The tournament may have led you to believe that, but it is actually far from the truth. There will be judges, including myself, that will evaluate your performance throughout the tournament."
"Basically, from your performance, we shall decide whether or not you qualify to ascent in rank. Of course, the decisions will be completely impartial and in no way will they favor a village over the other."
Hearing the Hokage's clear and concise answer, Minato nodded. This was a fair system, that gave them a higher chance to impress the longer they lasted… Thankfully, he wasn't placed in the same bracket as Jun.
Next to Minato, Jun had his arms crossed. Trough the corner of his eyes, he met Rasa's gaze, noticing his slight bit of killing intent. Smiling, Jun rejoiced.
'Finally, a decent opponent. I'll definitely make sure to get as much fun as I can from him.'
Interrupting Jun's thoughts, Hiruzen spoke up once more.
"The third round shall take place two weeks from now. This time should be plenty for all of you to heal up and come up with strategies to counter your opponent."
"Rest well. I'm expecting a great performance from all of you. With that said… You are dismissed!"
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Later that day, near Jun's cabin.
Team Jiraiya was sitting by the lake, having a conversation about what happened. Near them, Akane was giving fishing a try.
"Jun, can you continue teaching me?"
Even though she usually wouldn't ask, Nozomi felt like it was a necessity. In two weeks, she would face a member of the main house, so she had to go all out.
"Sure, I don't mind. Remember, I want to see you here as soon as the sun rises… Minato, will you also participate?"
At this point, Jun had basically become a teacher. All of them, including Aito and Akane, were improving at a tremendous pace thanks to his help.
"Me? I'm sorry… Although I'd love to, Jiraiya-sensei said he'd personally oversee my training for the next two weeks…"
Jiraiya had promised to teach him the summoning technique, and Minato definitely didn't want to miss it. Seeing this, Jun shrugged. It was a shame... Minato was the best sparring partner he had found so far.
"Aniki!"
Interrupting their conversation, Aito ran towards them at full speed.
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