Early morning.
After washing up in front of the mirror, Shigure picked up the Konoha forehead protector from the table.
He slowly tied it around his head, then turned and pulled on his coat. His jet-black hair had grown longer, nearly covering his eyes, adding a colder edge to his features.
A black coat with white patterns. The stark contrast made him appear even more mysterious.
Opening the door, he found Naruto waiting outside, shifting impatiently.
"Finally! You took forever!" Naruto complained.
Swish!
Sasuke appeared beside them, his tone sharp.
"Idiot, ever heard of showing up on time?"
Naruto sighed dramatically. "I wanted to! But I was so excited last night I couldn't sleep at all!"
"I hope it doesn't mess up your exam today," Shigure said.
Naruto yawned so wide it was almost comical. "Too late. I'm already half-asleep."
Looking at him, Shigure doubted Naruto could walk two steps without stumbling, let alone take the Chūnin Exams.
Sasuke snorted. "An idiot's still an idiot. What's there to get so excited about?"
Despite his words, Shigure noticed the faint dark circles under Sasuke's eyes—clearly, he'd stayed up late too.
They were still kids, after all. Even trained shinobi couldn't completely hide their nerves before an important test.
Shigure sighed inwardly. This Chūnin Exam might not be easy for them. But there was a simple fix—if they could just rest a little, they'd be fine.
"You two, follow me and listen carefully…"
At the gathering point, Kakashi explained the location of the Chūnin Exam venue.
"Head there. Someone will give you instructions when you arrive."
The three made their way to a row of buildings not far from Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Division.
Before they could enter, a voice called out.
"Shigure-kun! You're taking the Chūnin Exam too?"
It was Tenten. Shigure didn't even need to turn around to recognize her voice.
"Tenten," he greeted with a nod. "You're here for the exam as well?"
"Yup! And these two are my teammates—Hyūga Neji and Rock Lee."
Neji stood calmly on her left, Lee on her right. Shigure returned their nod.
Lee sized up Sasuke and smiled eagerly.
"I've heard you're the prodigy of this generation's genin! I want to challenge you!"
He was already preparing to move, but Shigure stepped in.
"The exam's about to begin. There'll be plenty of chances to fight later. No need to rush."
Lee paused, then nodded. "You're right. Let's save it for the exams!"
Neji's pale eyes lingered on Shigure. He clearly wanted to test the strength of the so-called 'Three Monsters of Konoha,' but he could wait. In the Chūnin Exams, their paths would cross soon enough.
"Let's go, Lee, Tenten," Neji said, leading his team inside.
Shigure's team entered soon after. The illusion at the door was easily dispelled—it was little more than a trick for rookies.
Naruto looked utterly drained, dragging his feet as if he were on his last breath. Shigure practically had to guide them to the examination room.
They arrived just in time. He didn't even get a chance to glance at Kabuto Yakushi's info cards before Ibiki Morino slammed a hand on the podium.
"Alright! All candidates, find a seat immediately!" Ibiki barked. "The first exam is about to begin. Anyone not seated in three seconds will be eliminated."
The room moved in unison, everyone dropping into chairs instantly.
Satisfied, Ibiki began distributing the test papers. The first stage was, as expected, a test of information-gathering ability.
The moment the papers hit the desks, Naruto and Sasuke promptly fell asleep, their heads resting on folded arms.
Shigure could only shake his head.
Still, the exam began. The only sound in the room was the steady scratch of pens on paper.
Shigure worked quickly—despite the difficulty, none of the questions posed much trouble for him.
While answering his own test, he extended chakra threads to control Naruto and Sasuke's hands, guiding their pens across the page.
From the podium, Ibiki's sharp gaze caught on the strange sight—two genin asleep, yet their pens moving as if on their own.
Sasuke and Naruto both looked utterly exhausted. No one knew exactly what they had done the night before the exam, but in this state, it was obvious they couldn't answer the questions on their own.
Shigure, on the other hand, was writing steadily. The questions—clearly designed to be tricky—posed little challenge for him. Still, Ibiki found it intriguing to watch how Shigure subtly assisted his two teammates.
Then, just as Ibiki was observing with interest, Shigure formed a quick hand seal.
That small action caught Ibiki's attention. He decided to watch more closely, curious to see exactly how Shigure was helping them.
Suddenly, one of the proctoring shinobi stood up abruptly. He strode over to a candidate, snatched up their paper… and froze.
The sheet was completely blank.
Confused, the proctor quickly checked another.
Before he could speak, a startled voice rang out from somewhere in the room.
"How did the answers just appear on their own?"
What?
Ibiki's gaze sharpened. He scanned the room and saw it—white text shimmering faintly on every candidate's paper. Even though the pages themselves were white, the frosty lettering stood out just enough to be read. All the genin had to do was copy the answers down.
Gaara, seated calmly at his desk, brushed a finger over the strange writing. A faint chill ran along his skin.
"It's ice," he murmured. Then, after a pause, "No… frost."
Following the subtle chakra trail, Gaara's eyes landed on Shigure. The boy had already completed his own paper and now sat with eyes closed, as if resting. But Gaara could sense a faint, steady pulse of chakra radiating from him.
Shigure's reasoning was simple: It's an exam. It should be more lively. If there aren't enough candidates left for the next stage, it'll be boring.
So he'd decided to give everyone the answers. And when a proctor picked up a sheet, the frost lettering vanished instantly—complete control, without a trace.
The other proctors looked helplessly toward Ibiki. They could clearly see what was happening, but with no hard evidence and no way to catch him in the act, they couldn't disqualify anyone.
Ibiki's patience finally wore thin. He stalked over to Shigure, his expression dark.
"Kid… why did you do this?"
Shigure opened his eyes and smiled.
"I just thought it'd be more fun if there were more people in the next round."
What surprised Shigure was Ibiki's confidence that it was him.
In truth, Ibiki hadn't known for certain—it was only a hunch. The timing was suspicious: the answers began appearing right after Shigure stopped writing. He'd merely confronted the boy to test his reaction.
He hadn't expected Shigure to admit it outright. And now, Ibiki was left with an even bigger question: How had he done it?
...
TN:
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