After finishing her conversation with the Third Hokage, Anko received word that Shinju's team had already completed the exam, and the unconscious Sasuke had been sent to the ninja hospital.
Since Sasuke's incapacitation was considered a special circumstance, their team had not been disqualified from the exam.
Having just delivered her report, Anko decided to stop by the hospital to check on Sasuke's condition.
More importantly, she wanted to see whether Shinju's sealing technique was truly effective.
...
In the intensive care ward of the ninja hospital, Anko pushed open the door.
What met her eyes was Sasuke lying unconscious on the bed, with Shinju and Naruto keeping watch by his side.
"Has his condition stabilized?"
Anko asked.
Shinju stood up, greeted her, and replied, "I'd say it's stabilized, but Sasuke still shows no signs of waking up."
Anko said, "The twenty-four hours following the implantation of the curse mark are the danger period. Twenty-four hours from now will also be when the second exam ends."
"At that time, depending on how many pass the second exam, the higher-ups will decide whether to hold preliminary rounds for the finals. For now, you two should get some rest. There are medical-nin here to take care of him. You'll need both stamina and a clear head to face the matches ahead."
"I'm fine. My stamina's plenty."
Shinju waved it off.
Sasuke was his teammate—he had to stay.
Besides, Shinju wanted to see for himself how much effect his sealing jutsu would have.
If something went wrong overnight, he could be there to fix it.
Seeing how determined he was, Anko didn't push the matter further. After giving a few more reminders, she left the ward.
...
Later, Kakashi also arrived.
After briefly inquiring about the situation, Kakashi told Naruto to head home and rest, leaving himself and Shinju to watch over Sasuke.
For once, Naruto didn't make a fuss. He knew staying here would only get in the way, so he obediently went home to wash up and sleep.
Once Naruto was gone, Kakashi rolled Sasuke slightly to look at the curse mark on his shoulder, and at the sealing technique Shinju had placed over it.
The curse mark was actually sealed!
Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock.
The Hokage had just explained what had happened in the Forest of Death.
When Kakashi heard Shinju had somehow created a sealing technique of his own, he had to come see it for himself.
And to his surprise, this casually self-created seal of Shinju's was strong enough to suppress the curse mark.
A Wood Release ninja with extraordinary learning and development ability, who had now even created his own sealing technique...
Kakashi marveled inwardly. He had stumbled upon a truly monstrous student!
...
The next day.
Having survived the danger period, Sasuke finally woke up.
As soon as his eyes opened, he winced sharply, clutching the back of his neck where the curse mark was.
"My neck hurts like hell."
Kakashi, still looking as lazy as ever, shrugged and said, "You should just be glad you're alive."
He then explained briefly to Sasuke about the effects of the curse mark, and added,
"If Shinju hadn't suppressed it with his sealing jutsu in time, you might not have woken up at all."
"And that greedy kid even gave up a chance to make money—for your sake."
"Is that so?"
Sasuke's eyes flickered. Kakashi's words struck him, and he lowered his gaze toward Shinju, who was fast asleep in the bed next to him.
Kakashi went on, "That kid stayed up all night monitoring your condition. He was worried the sealing technique might cause problems for your body. He only allowed himself to sleep once your condition stabilized this morning."
As Kakashi spoke, his single visible eye lingered on Shinju, as if it shone with light.
Kakashi had always believed: in the shinobi world, those who don't follow the rules are trash. But those who don't value their comrades are worse than trash.
Which was why he held Shinju, who clearly cared for his teammates, in such high regard.
Kakashi then glanced at the clock on the wall.
"The Forest of Death exam is about to end. You two should hurry over."
With that, his body vanished. Sasuke went to gently shake Shinju awake.
When Shinju opened his eyes, he immediately knew—it was time to gather outside the Forest of Death.
He grabbed Sasuke's sleeve, activated the Flying Thunder God Technique—
Whoosh!
By the time Sasuke realized what had happened, he found himself already standing outside the Forest of Death.
And there beside them was Naruto, who had just arrived!
Naruto's face lit up with joy. He slapped Sasuke hard on the shoulder and exclaimed,
"Great, Sasuke, you're alright! You don't know how bad you looked yesterday—after that monster bit you, you were rolling on the ground in pain… it was miserable to watch…"
Sasuke, unconscious during the implantation of the curse mark, had no memory of his own agony the day before.
Now that Naruto had brought it up, all he felt was humiliation.
(ー_ー)!!
"Enough already…"
Sasuke covered his face in shame.
...
The three chatted for a while, as more teams who had passed the exam emerged from the forest.
In the end, seven teams had successfully cleared the exam.
Because Shinju had specifically instructed Karin yesterday to hand the scrolls over to Konoha's ninja, the majority of those who passed turned out to be from the Leaf.
The seven teams were: Shinju's team, Gaara's team, Neji's team, Shikamaru's team, Hinata's team, Kabuto's team, and one unnamed team from Amegakure.
What puzzled Shinju was that Karin's team hadn't passed.
When he went to ask, he learned that Karin had given all their scrolls to the Leaf ninja as he requested, and their team was ambushed by the Amegakure squad afterward—causing them to fail.
Every Leaf team that came out of the forest made sure to thank Shinju's team.
"Thanks, Shinju. Without the scroll you gave us, our team never would've made it."
Yamanaka Ino spoke on behalf of Shikamaru's team.
"Yeah, just surviving five days in the forest was hard enough, let alone trying to steal scrolls from others," Chōji added.
The gluttonous Chōji had slimmed down noticeably after the grueling five days.
Even the usually aloof Neji came close and muttered softly to Shinju.
"Thanks."
"Though we owe you, don't think I'll go easy on you in the next matches."
Hearing that, Shinju shot back without hesitation,
"No need. Even if you go all out, you still might not beat us."
Neji: (▼ヘ▼#)
At that moment, Tenten tugged Neji aside and grasped Shinju's hand earnestly.
"Don't mind what Neji said. Anyway, we're really grateful to you!"
But Ino, standing nearby, immediately sensed danger. She jabbed Tenten with her elbow and snapped,
"Grateful is fine, but why are you holding Shinju's hand! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
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