A Seeker's Journey Of Transmigration

Chapter 20: Entrance Exam

In the morning Mujin and Matsuri took Dandin and Hataye to Kawagakure's ninja academy. Dandin had been here several times before, so he was familiar with the campus, but he wasn't prepared to see the number of children gathered for the entrance exam.

There were thousands of them! Dandin looked around in shock. How could there be this many children?

He'd wondered around Kawagakure many times while he searched for Amy, and it wasn't big enough to hold this many families.

Mujin and Matsuri smiled at their son before they offered a quick word of explanation.

"Kawagakure rules the Land of Rivers. We have no Dimio so we set whichever policies we think will make the country safest, strongest, and the best place to live. One of those policies is that every third-year promising children from the entire country are brought to the academy to be tested and enrolled as ninja. Most of them fail the exam, but this ensures that our military is well staffed because we draw on the talent of the entire nation instead of a limited number of clans."

His mother pointed to a few groups of children, "Many children awaken chakra as they mature. See those kids, they are all between 8 and 10 years old, yet they are taking the entrance exam now. That's because they've awakened chakra this year. There are even a few who are twelve and older. If they pass the entrance exam they will be arranged in their own classes."

Dandin nodded his head. It made sense now. Out of habit he began to inspect everyone he could and he got a lot of data that confirmed what his parents said.

"Dandin, make sure you do your best on the exam," warned Mujin. "You're joining the academy on a third year and competition will be extremely fierce. If you don't make it into an elite class you'll get washed out of the system and won't receive the best education you can, people won't take your side, and you'll have less privileges. Overcoming those challenges is part of a ninja's training. You have our help and support, but it's best for you to become more independent while you're at the academy. Try not to rely heavily on us. We can't bail you out if you faulter on a mission, so you need to learn how to overcome challenges now, while your still able to make inconsequential mistakes."

"Yes father!" Dandin's expression became serious as he thought, "this is like a battleground. I have to prove myself today."

With many other words Mujin and Matsuri encouraged their son. They brought him to the registration table where an academy staff officer took his information and assigned him a testing group. He was given a number, 1,231, and told, "For the rest of the day you will be known by your number. Forget that you have a name today. Do you understand?" Dandin nodded his head and was forced to leave his parents since they couldn't accompany him for the tests. He gave them a big hug and waved goodbye.

"We believe in you Dandin," his mother confidently said. "You've trained so hard. We know you'll succeed!"

Then Dandin was swept away from his parents and brought to a training field. There were over a hundred children there. Many of whom had gathered in small groups and were talking to each other about the test. Some stood by themselves and observed the other kids. Dandin inspected everyone he saw and looked for his friends. He found a few familiar faces, but only one of his friends. It was Haru. Haru was with a small group of boys. They all looked related to each other. Dandin decided to join them.

"High Haru!"

"Hello Dandin! How great that we're in the same group! Have you met my cousins before?" Haru gestured towards the group.

"I haven't..."

The kids all introduced themselves and chatted for a while. Then Dandin left so he could keep inspecting kids.