"Cough cough..."
Gekko Hayate coughed twice and looked at Kairen in surprise.
"Anko, he's Moku Kairen?!"
Back then, Kairen, as the king of dead last in the school, was naturally known by everyone.
"Hmph!" Anko snorted in acknowledgment.
Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao took another look at Kairen, inwardly shocked at how much he had grown.
"Candidates participating in the Chūnin Exams, assemble here!"
The chief examiner announced for the students to gather. The crowd surged, and Kairen and the others followed along.
Very soon, the chief examiner explained the first test.
Just like previous exams, it was a written test.
In less than two minutes, all the candidates had gathered into a single classroom.
Kairen sat in the very back. Beside him was Anko, her head tilted to one side, cheeks puffed up.
Kairen smiled and said to Anko, "Little Anko, if you don't know how to do it later, you can copy mine!"
Anko snorted. "Who would copy from you, the dead last? You copying mine would make more sense. But I won't let you copy."
Kairen shook his head, clasped his hands behind his head, and returned to that same leisurely demeanor as before.
The smell of school really gave him a hint of familiarity, as if he had returned to his past life, hiding in the classroom playing on his phone...
Kairen looked over the candidates in the classroom.
On the far left, there was a black-haired boy wearing a high-collared sweatshirt—Shisui.
Shisui's senses were very sharp. Feeling Kairen's gaze, he turned his head and returned a smile.
Kairen then swept his eyes around the surroundings again.
Obito sat at the very first desk, his whole person seeming as if the color had faded away, shivering in the silent wind.
Kairen smiled. Back when he was in college, he feared sitting at the very front during finals the most—because any move could easily lead to disaster.
"Hey! Can you tell me… how did you grow so tall?" a girl's voice sounded.
Kairen looked forward. With a head of purple hair, it was Uzuki Yugao from earlier.
Beside her was Gekko Hayate, who also turned around to look at Kairen.
Both of them were very curious about the changes that had happened to Kairen.
Kairen replied to Yugao, "Read more books every day and stay up late less—that's my method!"
"Heh!"
Yugao curled the corner of her mouth, clearly not believing him.
But Hayate continued to press, "Reading more and staying up late less can really make you healthy?"
Kairen didn't answer. Instead, he looked straight at Hayate's face.
The dark circles under his eyes were extremely heavy. He looked listless, as if he already had twenty-some years of experience staying up all night.
"Cough cough..."
Noticing Kairen's observation, Hayate coughed and said, "It's an illness I've had since childhood."
"Oh!"
Kairen nodded, then glanced at Yugao once more.
Such a cute girl—Hayate really was fortunate.
Unfortunately, Hayate had the look of someone with a short lifespan. Who knows who it would end up benefiting in the future?
On the other side, Kairen saw two more familiar faces.
Asuma, Nara Yūji...
After just one glance, Kairen shifted his gaze away. A snake crawling in the mud wasn't worth his attention.
But Nara Yūji cared very much about Kairen. He whispered to Asuma beside him,
"Compared to a month ago, he's changed a lot!"
Asuma clenched his fist. Only someone who truly knew the truth understood just how strong Kairen really was.
The reason the Konoha front-line army had been urgently recalled to the village was because of him.
But no matter how strong you are, you can't block that many people!
Kurenai is still mine!
The classroom was noisy until the chief examiner roared, and only then did it quiet down.
"Now… the exam begins!"
When Obito heard this, he held his pen, trembling, glanced left and right, and saw only unfamiliar faces. His heart instantly sank into despair.
The test papers were swiftly handed out.
Kairen looked at the questions of the Chūnin Exam, black characters on white paper, and couldn't help but recall the past.
That youthful time… once gone, never to return!
The chief examiner wasn't the type like Ibiki, who used fancy ninja methods to test people.
It was a straightforward exam. If you had the ability, then cheat. Get caught once, and you were expelled on the spot.
The questions above were all very basic. Kairen understood them at a glance.
But he didn't move his pen. Instead, he turned his eyes toward Anko beside him.
Anko always completed her schoolwork on time, so the questions weren't very difficult for her.
She began writing furiously.
A mischievous impulse suddenly rose in Kairen's heart, and he prepared to tease Anko.
His eyes instantly turned red. Three tomoe spun rapidly, merging into the shape of a shuriken.
"Genjutsu·Elementary Schooler Torture Technique!"
Anko suddenly discovered that the questions on her test paper had unknowingly changed.
Densely packed formulas, square roots, endless problem-solving...
After just one glance, Anko's head started to ache. She couldn't do a single question.
Anko quietly glanced to the side and saw Kairen writing on his test paper.
The pen moved fast, smooth and effortless—clearly someone who knew how to do it.
In a very soft voice, Anko asked, "Kairen, is your test paper the same as mine?"
"Take a look!"
Kairen tilted his paper slightly to let Anko see clearly.
It had the Genjutsu modifications Kairen had applied. To Anko, it looked exactly the same as hers.
Anko was full of confusion. "How could this be? It was clearly very simple just now!"
She looked around. Everyone was writing, and a wave of panic rose in her heart.
I'm done for!
The sound of papers flipping made Anko extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.
In her desperation, she no longer sulked with Kairen and pleaded in a very small voice,
"Kairen… quickly move over a bit and let me take a look!"
"Nope!" Kairen refused outright.
"You—"
Anko hadn't expected Kairen to reject her so directly.
She grew anxious.
"Kairen, we're all from the same school. We see each other all the time. Don't take things this far!"
Kairen laughed on the spot and replied lightly,
"Everyone taking this exam is from the same school. Stop trying to pull connections with me!"
Anko gripped the desk tightly, as if the desk were Kairen himself—she wanted to crush him to death.
Kairen suddenly made a demand. "As long as you call me 'Kairen-san' once, I'll let you see the answers!"
This was an extremely embarrassing request. With Anko's pride, she would never normally agree.
But with panic flooding her mind, she no longer cared.
Anko blushed and quietly said to Kairen, "K-Kairen-san!"
The sound was as faint as a mosquito, yet it was like a gentle breeze brushing across Kairen's heart.
"Say it again!"
"Kairen, don't go too far!"
Anko's voice grew anxious, stirring up some commotion.
Realizing her behavior was inappropriate, Anko quickly shut her mouth and obediently lay on the desk.
Yugao glanced back.
She had just heard Anko call Kairen "san" and felt completely confused.
Kairen said to Anko, "I won't trick you anymore. Look at your test paper now!"
After hearing Kairen, Anko looked at her test paper.
The paper changed again, returning to the previous basic version.
Only then did Anko realize the strangeness from earlier. She immediately glared at Kairen with murderous eyes.
"You just used Genjutsu on me!"
Kairen smiled and didn't deny it.
"Just you wait. After the exam, I'll make you pay!"
Kairen sized up Anko. "You?!"
"Nothing in the front, nothing in the back. A tiny flat A—ridiculous, ridiculous."
Anko spat out harsh words. "Later, I'll definitely feed you to the snakes!"
"Oh right, didn't you say you'd make sure everyone passes? Let's see how you do that!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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