Following the mission in the Land of Waves, Team 7 gained a sliver of fame in Konoha.
Of course, the spotlight fell on Kakashi Hatake, the heroic Jonin… on Sasuke Uchiha, who awakened his Sharingan… and on Naruto Uzumaki, who unleashed the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Crane?
Not a trace of credit.
Kakashi's mission report to the Third Hokage mentioned him in only a few vague lines.
To summarize in one word?
"Lucky."
And that was exactly what Crane wanted.
Then, a piece of explosive news spread through the village,
The Chūnin Exams were about to begin.
Crane heard it while quietly eating a bowl of plain miso ramen in the corner of Ichiraku.
Around him, other Genin buzzed with excitement, nerves, and heated ambition.
But in Crane's heart?
Ecstatic madness.
Chūnin Exams?
No.
To Crane, this was the greatest ability buffet in history.
The second stage of the exam was held in the infamous Forest of Death, training field #44.
The air reeked of rotting leaves and damp earth. Sunlight barely reached the forest floor, sliced to fragments by towering trees.
Crane dialed his background act up to perfection.
His body trembled. His face was pale. His eyes radiated fear of the unknown.
When a massive centipede crawled past the trunk next to him, he let out a strangled yelp and practically curled into a ball.
Naruto clapped him on the back, cheerful as ever.
"Don't worry, background bro! I got you!"
Sasuke scoffed with open disdain.
Sakura gave him a pitying, helpless look.
This guy… was dead weight.
Suddenly, a rustle of brush,
A massive bear with exposed fangs charged out, roaring.
"AAAAHHH!"
Crane shrieked and scrambled behind Naruto, clutching his jacket in terror.
Sasuke's brow twitched. One Fireball later, the bear was fleeing.
His icy gaze swept over Crane.
"Pathetic."
Perfect.
His presence now scraped the bottom of the barrel. It was the ideal cover.
Because from the start, Crane's goal wasn't the scrolls.
It was Neji Hyūga.
Using Naruto's noisy antics and a rogue shadow clone, Crane subtly guided their path toward another team.
Like a seasoned hunter, he led his group right into the jaws of the prey.
Team Guy.
And then, just as "coincidence" would have it, they encountered each other.
Neji Hyūga. Eyes pure white, tone condescending.
He looked down at Naruto and delivered his sermon on fate like it was divine law.
"Failures are destined to fail. No matter how hard you struggle, it's meaningless."
Crane stood at the rear, head lowered, silent and spineless.
But beneath the curtain of his bangs, his single-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly.
He could see Neji's body enveloped in a thin chakra shell.
Every detail of the Gentle Fist stance, footwork, weight distribution, even the unique chakra flow through Neji's eye meridians, was being analyzed, copied, and committed to memory.
Now.
Crane "flinched" at Neji's overwhelming pressure.
He stepped back and, tripped. On a tree root.
"Ah!"
He tumbled forward in a clumsy sprawl, right toward Neji.
Neji's brows twitched. His expression soured.
He didn't even bother attacking. Just leaned sideways and let the fool fly past.
But in that split-second collision,
Crane's hand flailed just right, and the tip of his index finger brushed Neji's arm through the sleeve.
A touch. Nothing more.
No one noticed.
But in his mind, the system rang like a chorus of angels.
[Advanced Kekkei Genkai 'Byakugan' detected. Beginning replication…]
[WARNING: Host already possesses Sharingan, Dojutsu conflict detected.]
[Initiating contingency…]
[Core ability copied: Gentle Fist - Chakra Meridian Strike]
[Bonus acquired: Byakugan Insight (Trial Version)]
Chūnin Exam Preliminaries.
When the screen displayed:
Crane vs. Tenten
The arena erupted in amused whispers and chuckles.
This was expected to be a clean one-sided stomp.
Across from him stood Tenten, her hair styled in twin buns, her giant scroll already drawn, battle-ready and confident.
Crane, meanwhile, was calculating.
This wasn't a fight.
It was a test bench, to evaluate his newly acquired abilities.
"Begin!"
The moment the referee spoke, Tenten leapt back and unfurled her scroll.
"Twin Rising Dragons!"
A rainstorm of weapons surged toward Crane.
He began his trademark scurry.
Dodging wildly, falling flat, rolling, stumbling, he looked like he was surviving by luck alone.
But unseen to all,
Crane's vision had changed.
With Byakugan Insight (Trial Version) active, every projectile's speed, spin, and trajectory rendered themselves in crystal clarity, data flowing through his mind like code.
He could see the danger in the air itself.
Then, he moved.
Minuscule shifts. "Accidental" flinches. Miraculously standing at the one safe spot each time.
To the crowd?
It looked like every kunai just happened to miss him by pure chance.
After dodging for nearly a minute, Crane's movements began to "slow."
He was "running out of stamina."
Tenten saw her chance.
A chain burst from her scroll, wrapping around him.
A dull-edged practice blade followed, soaring toward his head.
Crane barely managed to twist,
Thud!
The flat of the blade struck the back of his skull.
His eyes rolled back. He collapsed.
KO. Perfect loss.
Medical Room.
A medic-nin examined the unconscious Crane, her expression gradually shifting from routine to confusion.
"Huh… strange."
She frowned.
"Blunt-force trauma to the back of the head… but his chakra formed a cushion at the last second, diffusing almost all the impact. No real injury."
"…This kid's luck is ridiculous."
She could only shake her head in disbelief.
In the stands.
Kankurō and Temari from the Sand sneered.
"Are Konoha's Genin really this weak?"
"Not even worth considering."
They crossed Crane off the list of potential threats.
Only Kakashi watched as the boy was wheeled away.
And under that headband, his Sharingan narrowed with curiosity.
Luck?
Once, maybe.
Twice, sure.
But every single time?
On the stretcher, Crane's eyes cracked open, just a slit.
His gaze slipped past the noise, the pitying stares, the sneers,
And locked onto the corner of the arena.
A red-haired boy.
Hollow gaze. Gourd on his back. Malice like a cloud of blood.
Gaara.
Their eyes met.
And then-
The system's cold voice screamed into Crane's mind.
[Danger: Detected presence of One-Tail's savage spiritual force!]
[WARNING: Forced copy will result in soul corruption and irreversible mental collapse.]
[However… success yields: Proto-Absolute Defense]
[Host… do you dare to gamble?]
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter