The atmosphere indoors and outdoors contrasted sharply.
Although there were only a few people outside, the Seventh Class and Team 8 shared a warm camaraderie, like a sunlit corridor on a cold winter day. But inside, it was crowded and noisy. The moment Uzumaki Naruto and Sakura Haruno stepped into the examination room, they were hit by a wave of chilling coldness.
It was as if their arrival triggered a sudden silence. The chaotic noise abruptly died down, and countless needle-like gazes pierced through the room, landing on them. Naruto and Sakura, who hadn't encountered Zabuza Momochi and Haku in the Wave Country arc—where the Demon Brothers had been defeated solely by Uchiha Sasuke—couldn't help but tense up, fear flashing unconsciously in their eyes.
"Loser, are you trembling?"
Uchiha Sasuke's mocking voice cut through the tension.
Looking at Sasuke's disdainful face, Naruto felt the fear in his heart evaporate for reasons he couldn't explain. Instead, he shouted loudly, "I'm not scared at all! I'm trembling with excitement!"
Izanami, ignoring the Seventh Class, turned to Hinata and Shino Aburame. "Go find your seats first."
"Okay," they both nodded, walking off to look for their seat numbers.
Interestingly, Izanami and Hinata's seat numbers were in the third row, center section—right next to each other.
Yes, Izanami had taken Naruto's original seat. As usual, Naruto had received the seat next to Hinata, but then Izanami asked to switch seats. It was a small request, and Naruto didn't refuse.
Coincidentally, Izanami's original seat number matched Uchiha Sasuke's. After the switch, Naruto and Sasuke became desk mates. One could only wonder: would Sasuke help Naruto cheat? Would the scene of boosting morale from the original timeline still play out?
But the butterfly effect had already taken hold.
Shino didn't gather at the podium. Yakushi Kabuto didn't appear to earn favor. And the minor drama involving Kabuto and the Sound Ninja didn't occur.
While the exam hadn't officially started, Izanami and Hinata chatted quietly—just like they used to during regular classes. Given the unfamiliar faces around them, their conversation remained casual.
"Hanabi has already started learning the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms? That's incredible," Izanami said in surprise.
"Yes," Hinata replied with a proud smile. "Father and the Elders even said Hanabi's Gentle Fist talent is greater than mine. When I was her age, I was still practicing basic strikes, and my chakra wasn't as strong."
Izanami simply smiled, not responding.
Hanabi's talent was indeed impressive. But compared to Hinata—especially after Izanami had given her access to Naruto Uzumaki (Purple) at age five, awakening Physical Healing and allowing her to absorb chakra for two years—Hanabi still lagged behind.
Abundant chakra is a hidden form of talent.
Still, Hanabi's growth exceeded Izanami's expectations. It seemed that Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red) + Physical Healing was turning out to be an incredible tonic. Learning the Thirty-Two Palms at age seven—if she kept absorbing chakra until the Boruto timeline, how strong could she become?
Could she evolve the Tenseigan?
Unlikely, Izanami thought.
He had begun to realize something important: even though Hinata's Byakugan had already surpassed the Hyuga Clan's upper limit due to absorbing his chakra, her Otsutsuki Bloodline remained at the blue level.
This suggested that his chakra couldn't upgrade her bloodline.
The Reincarnation Eye—or Tenseigan—relied on a Red-level Otsutsuki Bloodline. Even if the Byakugan only reached gold-level purity, it might still evolve. But if Hinata and Hanabi only refined their Byakugan, their odds of awakening the Reincarnation Eye were low.
However, what would happen if their Bloodline Limit—Byakugan—was upgraded to red?
Would they be able to unleash suppression and Genjutsu like Kaguya?
Or perhaps awaken special abilities unique to pure-blooded Otsutsuki?
Izanami didn't know—but he was looking forward to the future of both girls.
As Izanami and Hinata whispered, examinees continued to arrive.
Bang bang bang—
Suddenly, overlapping sounds of balloons popping interrupted their conversation.
At the podium, several bursts of white smoke appeared.
When the smoke cleared, the first proctor of the Chunin Exams—Ibiki Morino—appeared with several assistants.
"Silence."
Ibiki's calm command brought the room to a complete standstill. You could hear a pin drop.
Even the previously aggressive Genin, who had tried to scare new arrivals, now held their breath.
It couldn't be helped—Ibiki's appearance and presence were terrifying. His face bore numerous knife scars, and his eyes radiated the cold authority of a prison warden. He didn't see examinees—he saw prisoners.
He didn't need to establish dominance through theatrics. His aura alone did it.
After explaining the rules and vaguely introducing the infamous tenth question, Ibiki announced the official start of the first exam.
"Sasuke… save me…"
Seeing the test paper—his nightmare from six years of Ninja School—Naruto turned pale. For the first time ever, he looked to Sasuke for help.
Sasuke couldn't help smirking at this rare moment of submission.
But when the exam paper reached him, his expression stiffened.
What the hell?
Were these even topics taught in Ninja School?
Could it be that he—the top student in academics—had been living a lie?
Almost instinctively, Sasuke glanced at Izanami and Hinata.
They had already started writing.
At that moment, Sasuke felt a deep chasm forming between himself and them. They weren't on the same level.
Fortunately, his seat was in the back row.
The corners of Sasuke's mouth curled into a smile once more. His eyes turned scarlet—two tomoe Sharingan activated. Without even looking at the exam, he began copying Izanami's pen movements.
Upon closer inspection, his handwriting didn't match the name on his paper at all.
While Sasuke copied Izanami, other examinees began revealing their cheating methods: secret techniques, Bloodline Limits, ninja tools, and even old-fashioned peeking. Each method was noted by the proctors, who observed quietly.
Only blatant or clumsy attempts were penalized.
"Number -2," they'd jot down, marking the seat.
The full score was only ten points. Two points were deducted per caught offense. If someone lost all ten points, the whole team would be eliminated.
"Number 35 is eliminated. His teammates are out too."
Barely five minutes in, the first elimination happened.
That Genin protested, but after a stern rebuke and a demonstration of the power gap between Chunin and Genin, everyone else became much more cautious.
The psychological pressure skyrocketed. Most didn't know if they were being watched. One wrong move could doom their teammates.
Those with secret techniques or Bloodline Limits had a clear advantage.
Time ticked on. After forty minutes, the room had many empty seats—numerous teams had been eliminated.
Izanami and Hinata had already finished the paper and were now casually communicating beneath the desk using hand signals learned in Ninja School. This caused several proctors to twitch their mouths in disbelief.
After another five minutes, Ibiki glanced at his watch.
"Everyone, put down your pens. I will now announce the tenth question."
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