After witnessing Chōji pull out snack after snack like a magician performing a trick, stuffing his cheeks until they bulged, his once tear-streaked face now squinting with delight as he chewed happily—Naruto couldn't help but mutter under his breath in shock.
"My goodness... You really can't judge a book by its cover. The ancients didn't lie..."
The sheer amount of snacks, once totaled up by weight, far exceeded the training gear Naruto had originally assigned. It made him genuinely wonder... if you stripped Chōji of all his snacks and significantly reduced his weight, would he become so light that even a gentle breeze could lift his round body up into the sky?
"You see? I wasn't lying, was I? Chōji's really not as weak as he looks, huh?"
As for the jaw-dropping amount of snacks hidden on Chōji's body, Shikamaru clearly wasn't surprised in the slightest. Still wearing his lazy, indifferent expression, he gave a strained shrug as he clutched a mountain of potato chips, and teased the stunned Naruto and Hinata word by word.
"Besides, I told you before... Chōji's actually a total powerhouse."
"A powerhouse, huh... If I say I believe it now, is it too late?"
Naruto's mouth twitched weakly as he responded, still reeling from the discovery. After seeing firsthand just how bottomless Chōji's snack stash seemed to be—and confirming that he wasn't nearly as physically fragile as he looked—Naruto began to drift into a daze.
After all, the shocking reality Chōji revealed by accident made Naruto truly realize... the reason Chōji and the others were selected as part of the Konoha 12 wasn't simply because they were in the same class as him! They were all the real deal! It's just that Naruto—and Sasuke from Team Seven—shone so brightly that everyone else looked like background characters in comparison, right? Right!?
Although Naruto's stunned expression filled Shikamaru with a subtle sense of satisfaction, reminding him of the moment he too had been left speechless after learning the truth about Chōji, he didn't dare tease Naruto too much—especially now that he knew Naruto was their chief examiner, and that he had no intention of failing them. Still, Shikamaru feared Naruto might be as moody as Tenzo and disqualify them if pushed too far.
So after a quiet chuckle to himself, Shikamaru cleared his throat, trying to suppress his laughter as he spoke up to calm the distracted Naruto.
"Ahem... Hey, don't worry about it. It's totally normal to have a hard time believing something like this at first. Honestly, it's just too weird. No one believes it until they see it with their own eyes... it's not a big deal. Besides... uh... Chief Examiner? Chief Examiner?!"
But Shikamaru clearly underestimated how shaken Naruto—the transmigrator—was by Chōji's seemingly bottomless snack dimension. No matter how loudly Shikamaru called out, Naruto didn't react at all!
In fact, at that very moment, Naruto—now doubting his own eyes—was seriously wondering if Chōji might actually be a fellow transmigrator... and possibly from the world of Doraemon.
"Chief Examiner? Chief Examiner?! No way... is he really this far gone? We're still in the middle of the exam! If he zones out any longer, we'll seriously fail... But I can't just leave them behind, that'd be way too rude and cause a misunderstanding... Tch. What a pain. If I'd known, I wouldn't have told them about this in the first place."
After repeatedly calling out and getting no response, and seeing that Naruto and Hinata were both frozen in shock, Shikamaru felt like he'd just shot himself in the foot. Clutching his chips tightly, he began pacing in place while thinking of a solution. Soon after, he stopped and raised his head with an odd look on his face, muttering to himself.
"Hmm... If we really are friends, like he said earlier, then calling him by name might work better than calling him by title... but that's only if he actually sees us as equals! Otherwise, calling him by name out of nowhere might just get us killed..."
"Tch, screw it! It's better than just standing around like an idiot... Phew, please let my luck hold out."
After weighing the pros and cons, Shikamaru made up his mind. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he carefully called out to Naruto by name.
"Uh... Naruto? Naruto! Wake up, Naruto!"
Thankfully, his gamble worked perfectly. The consequences he feared didn't exist in the first place.
"Huh...? Did someone just call me?"
With Shikamaru's voice reaching his ears, Naruto finally snapped out of it. Looking around in a daze, he asked instinctively, and only when he saw Shikamaru's unsure expression did he realize how out of it he'd been in front of everyone. Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward reply.
"Heh... Sorry about that. I kind of spaced out for a second."
"Whew... no worries. As long as you're back."
Seeing that Naruto had snapped out of it—and wasn't mad—Shikamaru breathed a silent sigh of relief. He adjusted his arms to keep the tower of potato chip bags from toppling and smiled as he quickened his pace a little.
"Alright, let's keep moving. We've wasted enough time. The others will probably catch up to us soon."
But just then, Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks. Shikamaru's comment had jogged his memory, reminding him of something important he'd forgotten.
"The others? Catch up?"
Naruto frowned and mumbled, then paused again. His gaze slowly shifted to Shikamaru's back as he asked seriously, sounding more curious than suspicious.
"Come to think of it, when we first met earlier... you also called me 'Chief Examiner' right?"
"Shikamaru, how exactly did you know... that I was the real Chief Examiner hidden in this year's Chūnin Exams?"
[Before Naruto seriously questions Shikamaru]
Sasuke: "So you finally remembered me, huh?!"
[After Naruto seriously questions Shikamaru]
Sasuke: "...You've gotta be kidding me! That's what you're focused on, you idiot Naruto?!"