"Record the name," a quiet voice drifted from the judges' stands. The man sitting in the Chief Examiner's seat watched intently as the medics hurried to carry Kotetsu Hagane off the arena floor.
"Understood," replied the assistant, scribbling quickly onto a scroll with his pen.
The examiner followed the stretcher with his gaze before closing his eyes, mentally dissecting what he had just witnessed. "Kotetsu Hagane... Let's see what you do next. To nearly win through sheer intellect when the body has already failed is a rare gift. But it is nothing compared to true genius."
"I still need to test the son of the White Fang," he mused. "We shall see if Kakashi Hatake is as good as the rumors suggest."
Konoha Hospital: Chief Physician's Office
The hallways were uncharacteristically loud. The Chunin Exams always turned the peaceful hospital into something resembling a frontline medical camp.
"What are the exam results?" a stern, authoritative voice demanded.
"No tendon ruptures," a young medical ninja began, reading the report in a monotone voice while flipping through pages. "But the total physical strain is colossal. The left arm was dislocated; we reset it on-site. He has first and second-degree burns on his arms and chest—the result of standing in the epicenter technique."
The medic paused, looking at a specific chart. "But the worst part is the chakra depletion. His body suffered a massive shock; the reserves are drained bone-dry. We've treated the primary injuries, but the organism needs time. The body should recover on its own within a couple of days."
The medic closed the folder and tapped the table wearily. "Promotion exams are a constant headache... We are already short-staffed, and now that Tsuna has stepped down as Chief Physician and left the village, I'm stuck here sorting through this mess alone."
"Biwako-san, you actually enjoy this, so why are you complaining?" a bright, slightly mocking voice rang out.
Biwako Sarutobi sat at the desk. She looked up from her documents to see Kushina Uzumaki. Her vibrant red hair was pulled back, and her usual lively smile played on her face, though her eyes betrayed her exhaustion.
"Kushina, Kushina... you don't understand," Biwako rubbed her temples, where streaks of grey were becoming prominent. "Sometimes I just want to rest. And now the Hidden Mist Village has become more active at the borders. The hospital's workload has spiked, the wounded are arriving daily, and then these boys at the exam push themselves as if they have ten lives to spare."
The young medic standing by the desk coughed hesitantly to regain their attention.
"Biwako-san, there is something else... In some strange way, his chakra is recovering significantly faster than his body should be able to generate right now. We received the report confirming he took military rations pills before the fight, but even with the most optimistic projections, he shouldn't have recovered even five percent by now. He's already over twenty, and the numbers are rising."
Biwako snatched Kotetsu's chart from her assistant's hands, frowning as she read the latest data.
"Look at this Hagane boy," she said, turning the chart toward Kushina. "Judging by the depth of the exhaustion in his chakra pathways, he should have been in a coma for a week after a discharge like that. But look here... his vitals are recovering with frightening speed. It's as if there is some powerful stimulant inside him that isn't just replenishing energy, but literally burning away the fatigue."
Kushina leaned in closer. As a master of Fuenjutsu and a member of the Uzumaki clan, she had a sharpened sense for anomalies. She hovered her palm over the chart and closed her eyes.
"Hmm... strange indeed," she murmured, her expression momentarily turning uncharacteristically serious. "The chakra is regenerating aggressively, as if forcing the fatigue out by strength. This doesn't look like natural regeneration, Biwako-san."
Kushina knew nothing of the pill Kotetsu had received from Orochimaru, but her instincts screamed that something in this boy had either "broken" or, conversely, "awakened."
"Fine," Biwako said, sliding the chart to the edge of the desk. "Let him sleep it off under observation. If he's back on his feet in two days, he's either a genius of regeneration or simply too stubborn to lose even to death. In any case, we should keep an eye on him... after the exams, talents like this often catch the eye of the wrong people."
Two Days Later: Room 304
I snapped my eyes open. The hospital ceiling seemed too white, the light from the window too bright. I could feel chakra flowing through my veins, but it was no longer the quiet stream I was used to. It was a turbulent current that made my fingertips tingle unpleasantly.
I sat up in bed. My body responded with a dull, pulling ache, but my arm was already in a cast and the burns on my chest had tightened into pink, new skin.
On the nightstand, next to my cleaned tanto, sat a half-eaten basket of fruit and a note from Genma: "Meeting regarding results: Oct 20th at 11:00 AM, Main Building."
I lowered my feet onto the cold floor.