Three days passed quickly.
By the final day before the registration deadline, even the participants from the farthest ninja villages had successfully arrived in the Hidden Leaf Village. Every village had sent at least three or four teams. With their arrival, even the least observant people in the Hidden Leaf were clearly aware that their village was about to host the Chūnin Exams.
Shop owners, smelling business opportunities, began preparing more merchandise. They knew that right now was just the appetizer. When the final stage of the Chūnin Exams arrived, high-ranking nobles and dignitaries from the Land of Fire and surrounding countries would come. Those people were a massive consumer group!
Naturally, the merchants prepared in advance.
The Hidden Leaf Village welcomed its most prosperous and bustling season in a long time.
By the time Menma arrived at the Ninja Academy at the appointed time, he saw ninja of all shapes and sizes wearing different forehead protectors. Of course, the Leaf's Genin still made up the largest proportion, followed by the Sand Village (one of the Five Great Ninja Villages), and then Genin from small and medium villages like Grass, Hot Water, Waterfall, and Sound.
Although they all looked like people not to be trifled with, there weren't many truly worth noting.
Yakushi Kabuto? Hmm, not here. Looks like he went in already?
Menma stood at the main gate, scanning the other ninja around him. A faint, peculiar glint flashed in his eyes.
If he could find Orochimaru directly, that would be best.
In fact, following the original plot, he would indeed have such a chance, since Orochimaru would come looking for Sasuke personally. However, in that setting, his teammates would definitely be present, making it unsuitable for a conversation. What Menma needed was a chance to speak with Orochimaru alone, and Kabuto was an excellent bridge.
I'll wait until we enter the second round to look for an opportunity.
Menma pondered internally.
After a few more minutes...
Sasuke and Naruto arrived one after another.
Only Sakura was late. Menma and the others waited a while longer at the gate. Just as they were wondering if Sakura had chosen not to participate...
The next second.
Sakura Haruno's figure appeared in their line of sight.
"Oh oh! Sakura-chan, I knew you'd definitely come participate too!"
Naruto shouted loudly with a smile, waving his right hand vigorously.
"Un. Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Menma-kun, since the three of you are participating, I certainly can't back down. I'll try my best not to drag you down in this Chūnin Exam."
Sakura walked up to them, took a deep breath, and spoke to the three with a look of determination.
"Oh oh! That's the spirit, Sakura-chan! Don't talk about dragging us down or not; we are comrades, so we should help each other!"
Naruto gave a thumbs-up and laughed.
Sasuke and Menma maintained their calm expressions. For the two of them, whether Sakura participated in this Exam or not didn't really matter.
"Alright, since everyone is here, let's go in. There's not much time left."
"Oh oh!"
"Un!"
Menma smiled faintly and took the lead, walking at the front.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura stepped forward, following closely behind.
Walking through the grounds...
One could clearly see that the ninja from various countries entering the Academy were divided into distinct groups, eyeing each other with scrutiny. Some Genin didn't even bother to hide their hostility. This was a common sight in the ninja world.
Over the past few decades, even discounting the three Great Ninja Wars, the killings between major ninja villages during ordinary missions were enough to breed the heaviest of hatreds.
And such hatred was easily passed down to the next generation, or even the generation after that. Hatred disappearing with the passage of time?
That was a joke in the ninja world.
Because in this world, often before old hatreds could be forgotten, new hatreds were born.
Day after day, year after year, hatred only stacked up over time, becoming heavier and harder to forget.
This was human nature.
Therefore, the world of "mutual understanding" spoken of by Hashirama Senju, Jiraiya, and Naruto in the original story was naively stupid talk.
It was a fantasy world that could never be realized.
Wasn't the attitude of these Genin gathering in the Hidden Leaf for the exams the best proof?
At least Menma didn't buy into Naruto and Jiraiya's philosophy. Leaving this life aside, weren't there plenty of similar examples in the world of his previous life?
History had already provided the best answer, not to mention how it repeated itself in the present.
Humans were just that kind of creature.
Not to mention that the root cause of conflicts between major nations was interest. Unless all nations disappeared and the whole world became one country, one collective... only then could the chain of hatred possibly be severed and fade with time. While conflicts over interests couldn't be completely eliminated, they could indeed be controlled to a minimum.
It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best visible solution available.
However, Menma wouldn't concern himself with these things right now. His own freedom and life weren't even fully in his own hands yet; what qualification or leeway did he have to consider such luxuries?
Living freely was the reality Menma needed to focus on most.
"So many people! It looks like a lot of ninja villages are participating."
Seeing so many Genin from different villages, the look on Naruto's face became even more excited.
Walking on the left, Sasuke's eyes revealed a deep fighting spirit.
With so many people and so many villages...
There had to be a few opponents worth fighting, right?
"Yeah, it looks like there should be several hundred people participating together, right?"
Sakura bit her lower lip lightly, her heart tightening in this moment.
However, seeing that Menma, Naruto, and Sasuke showed no signs of nervousness, Sakura's emotions inexplicably calmed down. Her teammates were strong, each stronger than the last.
They walked straight through the hallway.
Heading toward Room 301.
However, when they reached the far right side of the building, a crowd gathered ahead blocked their path.
The sounds of noise and scolding reached them.
And seeing the two "familiar" figures at the center of it all...
Menma's eyebrows raised involuntarily.