"Wow, so this is the venue for the Chunin Exams?"
Outside the first exam venue, the three members of Team 7 gazed at the noisy crowd inside, each experiencing different emotions.
First was Sakura. While Naruto had been training with Sasuke and gathering material with Lord Jiraiya these past two days, she had encountered a staged ninja attack orchestrated by Iruka in disguise.
Although it was merely a small test and Sakura had ultimately declared she would definitely pass the exam, she still felt somewhat uncertain inside.
As for Naruto, no need to worry about him. He was treating this like a casual stroll.
But Sasuke was practically vibrating with excitement.
The reason was simple.
Just dozens of minutes ago, when they had finished registering for the exam, a thick-browed guy had inexplicably approached to provoke him.
This person was none other than Rock Lee, whom Naruto had encountered during training.
He was a year ahead of Team 7, having graduated over a year ago.
For some unknown reason, this usually good-natured, honest person had come up wanting to fight Sasuke, to see how many moves he could last against this "top of the class."
But the current Sasuke was no longer the same as in his original fate.
After being trained by Naruto for such a long time, he no longer got heated immediately over such provocations.
However, while Sasuke was unwilling to engage, Lee was very persistent and chose to attack anyway.
Honestly, when Lee suddenly burst out with amazing speed, Sasuke had to admit he had indeed underestimated his opponent.
But if this was all there was to it, it wasn't enough to impress him.
Then, under Lee's surprised gaze, Sasuke not only easily kept up with his speed but could even counterattack precisely while moving leisurely.
Throughout the entire encounter, Sasuke hadn't even activated his Sharingan.
Moreover, even when Sasuke's speed wasn't faster than his own, he could still strike first despite moving second, as if he had eyes in the back of his head to dodge attacks.
Seeing this, Lee didn't hesitate and directly unwrapped his bandages, wanting to show a bit of his true power.
Sasuke, on the other side, also assumed the starting stance of Hasshoken, invisible waves mixing with chakra, slowly wrapping around his fists.
Just as the two were about to clash, Lee's Sensei Might Guy, appeared and, together with Naruto, stopped the two kids who didn't know how to hold back.
Guy was first surprised by Naruto's strength, then engaged in various antics with Lee amid the chaos.
This little episode ended with both "parents" intervening.
But Sasuke was still eager to try, waiting for someone to appreciate his "Hasshoken: Chakra Enhanced Version."
After entering the exam venue, Team 7 also saw the other members of the "Konoha 12."
But after entering this classroom, Naruto's gaze began wandering back and forth among several figures, giving only perfunctory responses to greetings from Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and others.
During this time, a seven-time veteran senior named "Kabuto" came over to make friendly conversation, but after Naruto looked at him twice, he uncharacteristically said nothing at all.
Seeing Naruto's attitude, Kabuto wasn't embarrassed and turned to chat with other genin instead.
In the process, he kept revealing which village had which ninja with special abilities, and who needed to be watched out for.
This behavior of revealing information quickly drew dissatisfaction from certain people, and several Sound Village guys immediately attacked Kabuto.
Seeing this, Sakura and Sasuke instinctively wanted to intervene, but were stopped by Naruto.
Out of trust in him, the two genin ultimately just watched as the "kind senior" was bullied by the Sound Village outsiders, until the chief examiner spoke up to stop it.
Sakura was completely confused and had questions, but still chose to trust Naruto.
Sasuke was more perceptive and quickly wondered if there might be some conspiracy at play.
Naruto's reason for stopping them was simple.
This guy called Kabuto clearly had a stronger aura than those third-rate Sound nninjas even comparable to the examiners.
Combined with the malice he carried, subtle but still impossible to completely hide, even an idiot could realize something was wrong with him.
Not just "Kabuto," Naruto had also discovered many other problematic individuals in the exam venue crowd.
Either they were too strong, or their auras were strange. In any case, they clearly weren't good news.
Looks like this exam is destined to be anything but peaceful.
Thinking this to himself, he then heard the chief examiner, Morino Ibiki, explain the exam rules.
"This exam has four rules total. First: lose one point for each wrong answer. Second: scores are calculated based on the total of the three-person team. Third: lose two points each time you're caught cheating. Finally: if anyone gets zero points, the entire team is eliminated."
As soon as these rules were announced, several genin who usually had poor theoretical grades let out wails.
All three members of Team 7 detected the true purpose hidden within these so-called "exam rules."
It was probably meant to test the candidates' methods of gathering intelligence.
When the test paper reached Naruto's hands, he looked at the questions.
Well, questions of this level would indeed be difficult for ordinary genin to answer.
Fortunately, Naruto wasn't ordinary.
He could at least solve one code-breaking question.
Forget it, let's just copy.
Invisible Haki extended from his body, and he could "see" the movements of everyone in the entire exam venue clearly.
Tsk, as expected, they had planted people to deliberately serve as targets for the candidates.
In the crowd, several individuals with obviously wrong auras weren't even looking at the questions, just scribbling away at derivation processes.
Naruto wasn't greedy and directly copied their answers.
Around him, other candidates had also begun showing their various abilities.
Some used transformation jutsu to look directly, others summoned insects to peek... all sorts of methods.
But what did any of this have to do with Naruto?
After finishing the paper, he simply threw down his pen and fell asleep on his desk.
He didn't even wake up when Ibiki later modified the exam rules and Sakura secretly nudged him several times.
It wasn't until the exam bell rang and Ibiki's scarred face showed a smile as he congratulated all present candidates for passing the first exam that Naruto leisurely woke up.
If Naruto had accomplished anything during this exam, it was that he had deeply memorized those several individuals with strange auras.
Excluding the chunin who had been planted to pose as candidates and that gourd kid from Sand Village, what made Naruto most uneasy was a female ninja from Sound Village and two other guys who weren't even wearing headbands.
From the perception transmitted by his Observation Haki, these three clearly had stronger auras than everyone present, including the chief examiner.
Obviously, they came with ill intentions.
"You two, stay away from me later, as far as possible."
Naruto suddenly said to Sasuke and Sakura beside him.
Sakura wanted to ask something, but Sasuke grabbed her first and used his eyes to signal her not to say anything.
Although he didn't understand Naruto's deeper meaning, Sasuke knew he wouldn't suddenly make this kind of joke.
In silence, the candidates who passed were led to the venue for the second exam: the Forest of Death.
But before the second exam's proctor, Anko Mitarashi, could announce the rules, Naruto's figure instantly split into three, simultaneously appearing in front of the three suspicious individuals from before.
Iron fists wrapped in Haki instantly struck out.
What a joke. Knowing the other side had problems, how could Naruto foolishly wait for them to make the first move?
Did they think he was still a rookie who had just set sail?
Naruto's speed far exceeded others' imagination. By the time the proctors reacted, his fists were already at these three people's faces.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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