[Great Fox?]
[Naruto's brow furrowed slightly; he felt that the Great Fox was acting a bit strange.]
[He called out softly a few times.]
[Within the Sealing Space, only the Great Fox's mutterings could be heard.]
[He shook his head.]
[Forget it, let her be.]
[The tsundere fox is being a bit rebellious right now; it's better to stroke her red fur the right way.]
[At this moment, down below, Asuma stole a glance at his old father.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded imperceptibly.]
[Only then did Asuma clear his throat and say:]
["First Match: Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuga Hinata!"]
["Second Match: Nara Shikamaru vs Tenten"]
["Third Match: Rock Lee vs Shino Aburame!"]
["Fourth Match: Uchiha Sasuke vs Gaara!"]
["Dosu receives a bye!"]
[Once the results were out.]
[Gekkō Hayate coughed twice, "The date is tentatively set for one week from now, it won't be any sooner, so everyone please be prepared."]
[Hinata's delicate brows furrowed slightly.]
["Naruto-kun, I don't want to fight you."]
[Hearing this, Naruto reached out and rubbed Hinata's small head.]
["Just treat it like our usual practice."]
[Opposite them.]
[Kankuro clicked his tongue.]
[Out of the three of them, only Gaara had actually advanced.]
[The plan before coming here was for all of them to advance.]
[At that time, in front of numerous Daimyō and Ninja leaders, they would directly launch an attack on Konoha.]
[Baki didn't say much.]
[Now that things had come to this, it didn't matter if they adjusted things slightly.]
[Kin sat to the side, looking dejected.]
[Dosu narrowed his eyes slightly.]
[He glanced at Sasuke, then looked at the expressionless Gaara.]
[He suddenly let out a cold laugh.]
[A bye, huh?]
[What if someone is absent during the match?]
[Zaku and Kin both failed.]
[Now, only he was left.]
[That's fine, as long as I defeat Uchiha Sasuke, I'm sure Lord Orochimaru will be very pleased.]
[With that thought, a rough plan formed in Dosu's mind.]
[Sasuke glanced at Gaara and then withdrew his gaze.]
[Gaara felt a small sense of disappointment in his heart.]
[He gave Asuma a cold, indifferent look.]
[Just now.]
[Gaara had used his sand to alter the order while Asuma was drawing lots.]
[In the end, Asuma didn't follow the names on the lots at all.]
[Hmph!]
[With a cold snort.]
[Gaara turned and left.]
[The fact that his opponent wasn't Uzumaki Naruto made him very unhappy.]
[The others also began to leave one after another.]
[At this moment, the'secretary' Ninja beside Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately shouted:]
["Please wait a moment!"]
["Next, we invite Lord Hokage to give his final speech!"]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback, then his old face broke into a wrinkled, chrysanthemum-like smile.]
["Ahem... First of all, congratulations to everyone for successfully passing the preliminaries."]
["Shortly, the third exam will officially..."]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi cleared his throat and then began his performance.]
[Seeing the Hidden Sand Village's side looking full of impatience, and Gaara even leaving directly.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed.]
[His voice paused for a moment.]
[At this time, Gekkō Hayate coughed twice, stepped forward, and said:]
["Thank you for the speech, Lord Hokage."]
["So, while waiting for the Daimyō of various countries, Ninja leaders, and dignitaries, which will take about a week to a month, please pay attention to your own condition."]
["Once the specific time for the matches is confirmed, your Jōnin Instructors will be notified, so don't worry about missing it."]
["Now... does anyone have any questions?"]
[No one replied.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Gekkō Hayate with a dark expression; he really couldn't take it anymore.]
[But just then.]
[Shikamaru suddenly raised his hand lazily.]
[Before Gekkō Hayate could speak amidst his coughing.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with a chuckle: "Oh?"]
["Shikamaru, do you have a question?"]
["The third exam is also a one-on-one battle format... So, how many spots for Chunin are there?"]
["Is it obtained by the winners, or?"]
[As soon as Shikamaru finished speaking.]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately spoke up, fearing that the tactless fellow would snatch the words away again.]
["Not exactly."]
[And then he began to talk grandly.]
["A Chunin, as a squad leader, needs to possess..."]
// He rattled on a whole bunch of things.
[Finally, he got to the point.]
["Therefore, for this Chunin Joint Examination, I, along with the Fourth Kazekage, the referee and chief proctor of the day... as well as the Daimyō, Ninja leaders, and dignitaries from various countries who come to watch, will serve as the judges."]
["Then what's the point of the competition?" Kankuro sneered.]
["Even if someone defeats everyone in the end, whether they become a Chunin is just a matter of a single word from you people in Konoha, isn't it?"]
[Kankuro wanted to say more.]
[Baki frowned and stepped in front of Kankuro, bowing to Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face had turned somewhat unsightly.]
["My apologies, Lord Hokage."]
[Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, feigning magnanimity.]
[Gekkō Hayate took the opportunity to say: "Dismissed!"]
[With that, he was the first to leave... he couldn't hold it in any longer.]
Anko Mitarashi: "That's really shameless enough."
Kurotsuchi: "Exactly, exactly. There are things everyone knows but doesn't say, but these high-level officials in Konoha are truly disgusting!"
Kurotsuchi: "They just blatantly tell you that Konoha has hegemony; you have to accept it whether you like it or not, and once you accept it, you still have to be grateful to them!"
Uchiha Izuna: Deserving of death.
Ino Yamanaka: "Handsome Godfather, you're wrong there~"
Ino Yamanaka: "Black-framed Naruto-kun doesn't seem to want him to die directly... otherwise Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan would have succeeded."
Orochimaru: "Heh heh heh... Teacher Sarutobi, it seems you won't even be allowed to die with dignity."
Fourth Raikage: "Hmph! Isn't that because that Old Thing himself doesn't want to be dignified?"
"..."
After a long time, the Chat Room once again began to criticize Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Dirty? It's normal. Who is truly clean?
But everyone still wants to save face and covers it up a bit.
The Konoha High Council, on the other hand, not only doesn't cover it up but also forces people to lie through their teeth.
They even force people to be grateful.
Once the high hat of the Will of Fire is placed on... [In the exit passage.]
[The group of Genin met again.]
[As soon as they met, Kankuro couldn't help but speak up:]
["Hehe, Uchiha Sasuke, I advise you to just give up."]
["You guys have no idea how terrifying Gaara is!"]
[Sasuke glanced at him.]
["You couldn't even pass the preliminaries; you should just shut up."]
[Hearing this, Kankuro's face instantly turned ugly.]
[In the end, he only gave a cold snort and stopped talking.]
["Cherish this one month well."]
[Talking tough—as if anyone couldn't do it.]
["A useless dog can only bark."]
[Fortunately, Kiba wasn't there.]
[However, compared to the confrontational Kankuro.]
[Temari was very quiet.]
[Her beautiful eyes moved slightly as she looked at that golden figure, her sandalwood lips parting slightly.]
["Uzumaki Naruto."]
[Naruto looked over at the sound.]
[He saw Temari with a slightly reddened face, her mouth open as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.]
[She wanted to remind Naruto not to forget their promise.]
[But when her small mouth opened, the words turned into—]
["Are... are you free?"]