[center]Hyakune, Kyoko and Jikangai, Kinjiro

The Chūnin Exams - First Day[/center]

The Chūnin exams had their roots in a history of war and strife, Kyoko noted, but with the peace that had tentatively settled over the land it had been a long time since she had seen them as the instruments of war that they previously were. She knew full well the horrors of war, and what the promotion to the next rank had historically entailed; it was a particularly cathartic experience for her to have helped change the exams into the mere formality that they were now. It was still vitally important to maintain the tradition, as the support offered to the Kyūseishu was given only upon the reputation for proven and continued excellence that she had worked to foster. Though part of her wished to simply do away with the unnecessary effort of organising the entire spectacle, it was a remarkably useful opportunity to get the world powers together to discuss matters of importance and ensure that the Bijuu were securely sealed and adequate safeguards maintained. That particular aspect had fallen to the wayside in recent years, but Kyoko remembered the full extent of the recent rampage and had never quite been able to let it completely slip into the sense of complacency that the world fostered.

As she stood in her office, looking down at the arena that had been constructed and the surrounding festivities, Kyoko could not help but sigh in relief. There were no pressing diplomatic issues that she'd been informed of thus far, no threat from the shrines, and the exams themselves had progressed entirely smoothly up to this point. It was set to be an uneventful year; which was, she supposed, eventful in and of itself. After a few more seconds of surveying the area, she turned around to leave her office and motioned off to the side. One of her attendants dutifully walked over and bowed, awaiting their commands.

"Please ask the event staff to bring the festivities into full swing, Midare." Kyoko asked, nodding down at  the young man and patting him on the shoulder gently. He immediately nodded, face flush with a heady red glow, and scurried away to carry out the simple order.

Kyoko herself walked out of the office, and took a practiced route down towards the main staging grounds - she may only use this office once every year, but its walls were just as familiar to her as her office in what used to be Kumogakure, or her home in Kyokujitsu no Tochi, or the underground complex in which she had spent many, many years of her preternaturally long life - she knew the routes like the back of her hand, and the level of loyalty her subordinates showed her ensured that nobody would ever get in her way. It left her plenty of time to think about things to come on the walk.

After a short while she arrived precisely where she meant to, and was promptly joined by another woman. With a slight turn of her head and a nod, she spoke a single word:

"Kinjiro."

"Kyoko." came the reply, the woman's lips turning into a slight smirk before she faced straight ahead.

Picking up a microphone, Kyoko raised it to her lips as the woman beside her flooded it with the Raiton chakra necessary to make the announcement:

"May the Rankage, Sankage, and Tsuchikage please report to the main Kyūseishu building at their earliest convenience. Everyone else is free to enjoy the festivities until the main event takes place in one week's time exactly. Lodgings have been prepared, as usual, and all are welcome to a room free of charge. Please direct any concerns or questions to Jikangai, Kinjiro - who will be serving in a managerial position for the next seven days... And good luck to all of the genin that have come to participate!"

With that finished, Kyoko vacated the stand and made her way to the separate compound specifically for the Kage meetings. The next three days would be going over the old treaties and making amendments as appropriate, and the remaining four days would largely involve a combination of economics and talk on current affairs. In truth, the world was largely in a good enough place that seven days were not really necessary - but having the extra time to interact with the other inhabitants of the world was part of the key to peace, and it was the Kyūseishu's job to maintain peace.