Red Nara

But after the couple returned to the hotel, it became clear how Kay and Sarutobi's teams had gotten through - both of them had volunteered to go with the dojutsu wielders as unspoken team leaders after the sensei, and quite expectedly, they'd figured out the illusion instantly.

At least, now it's clear why Ishi-kun merged with Meido - the Nara are good at brainstorming in the silence of their offices or behind the front lines, making great plans, but put them under pressure, where you have to rely only on yourself and can't put anyone as a defense and the main strike force, and many simply get lost, especially not the most experienced members of the clan.

From the returnees we also learned about the second stage of the exams - just as it said on the paper, it was a task-based survival. All passed teams were given half of the cylinder, and the other half had to be found in the desert for three full days from the moment of departure, and it was forbidden to return to the hotel and collect supplies. It was only necessary to make do with what they had with them.

And unlike the Konoha exams, you couldn't take the item from another team - each team's cylinders were individualized and assigned to those who had received them. Apparently, the organizers don't think that at least half of the available number will pass, and I'm inclined to agree with them - it's damn hard to find a measly piece of cylinder no more than two palms long on the huge allotted distance, even with fully prepared supplies and no time limit.

Hardly anyone can even make it past this stage unless there are some clues or the very half of the cylinder given out can be used to find the second piece. Unfortunately, no more specific information was given to the past teams before they met with their mentors, so once again, the only thing left to do was to wait.

***

Since the attendants again had to wait for the result of passing the second part in the hotel, I decided to do a useful thing - training. Fortunately, chakra control training didn't require much space or a separate training ground, so a normal room was fine. Despite creating two kage bunshin almost every day, my chakra control left a lot to be desired.

No, compared to the average jonin, I was more than good, and compared to Uzumaki of the same age, it was excellent, but for a second-degree iryo-nin, my chakra control was barely within the minimum limit. I won mainly due to the huge reserve, which could be spent without holding back, unlike my colleagues who had to save every drop, and due to the "multi-armedness" of using clones when I couldn't do it alone.

Yes, I could mend and even re-create keirakukei almost without any problems, but only the intervention in the brain and spinal cord on my abilities alone was not available to me. Unfortunately, the necessary finesse of manipulation without the auxiliary seal that I had used to treat Saya was still a matter of the future.

I envied Tsunade, who had almost perfect control with her small reserves and could fix even minor brain damage in seconds. Kakashi and Sasuke, who were treated by Tsukuyomi and hospitalized until Senju returned, were a very good example of this, as there was nothing the Iryo-nin could do.

That is, Konoha simply didn't have any first-degree iryo-nin other than the sannin who had long since left the village. Strongest village my ass, my ass. Considering the attitude of the top of the village towards medicine nowadays, I shouldn't even be surprised. But I won't be me if I don't get a promotion at least in the next three years.

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