Aoba was not about to back down either, and the two quickly exchanged several blows.
The Gentle Fist was indeed troublesome.
Without using Earth Release: Earth Spear or any of the other jutsu whose origins would be difficult to explain, Aoba really had no easy way of dealing with it.
The techniques he could openly use right now were mainly Shadow Clone Technique and Body Flicker Technique.
Neither offered a reliable counter to the Gentle Fist.
Shadow Clones were enough to interfere with the Byakugan’s judgment, but they were fragile.
One solid hit and they would disappear.
Body Flicker Technique could make Aoba fast enough that Neji couldn’t keep up, but the moment he got within close range, he risked being struck by the Gentle Fist.
The two were locked in a stalemate when Hayate, serving as the referee, appeared in the training ground.
“This match is over.
All non-participants, leave immediately!
Cough, cough!” The two immediately stopped.
Neji was still brimming with fighting spirit.
“In the third round of the Chunin Exams a month from now, I hope you won’t get eliminated before you have a chance to face me.” By then, he would personally defeat this arrogant fool standing before him and make him understand that destiny was predetermined and could never be changed!
“I’ll avenge Hinata and teach you a good lesson!” As for so-called breaking free from destiny, Aoba wasn’t particularly interested.
Only someone as obsessed with the fate of the Hyuga branch family as Neji would keep harping on about it.
“Hmph.
Talking big won’t change reality.” Neji didn’t take him seriously, believing Aoba was simply putting on a brave face.
He had seen plenty of people like that.
In the end, they all fell to his Gentle Fist.
After Hayate urged them to leave the training ground again, the two soon departed.
Aoba had no interest in watching every match that followed.
He simply left early and headed home.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ As the sun began to set, Ibiki, Anko, and Hayate, the three chief examiners of the Chunin Exams, entered the Hokage’s office to report on what had happened during the examination.
“Have the candidates for the third round been decided?” the Third Hokage asked.
Hayate immediately announced the list.
“Yes, Hokage-sama!” “The eight candidates selected are Konoha’s Natsume Aoba, Hyuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Aburame Shino, along with Gaara, the son of the Kazekage, and Temari of Sunagakure.” “Cough!
Cough!
Cough!
Cough!” After saying so much in one breath, Hayate’s already poor health made him cough violently.
Hiruzen took out his pipe and contentedly drew in a deep breath.
“Hoho, Naruto made it through as well!” Of all the candidates, Naruto was the one he cared about most.
After all, Naruto was not only the surviving son of the Fourth Hokage, but also the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, the greatest asset Konoha possessed in an era when its ranks of talented shinobi were dwindling.
“And that child Uchiha Sasuke.
Putting him on the same team as Naruto really was the right choice.” After the Nine-Tails’ attack, the fact that the Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails had become deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds.
Hiruzen had deliberately placed Sasuke and Naruto on Team 7 partly because, should the Nine-Tails ever run wild, he wanted the Sharingan available to suppress the tailed beast.
He wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Konoha’s clan shinobi and the Kazekage’s children had passed the selection.
However, he soon noticed a name he wasn’t particularly familiar with.
“Natsume Aoba.
How did he perform?” Ibiki Morino handed over the candidates’ intelligence reports.
“Hokage-sama, please take a look.” Hiruzen took the documents and found Aoba’s name.
His brow immediately furrowed.
Natsume Aoba had lost both parents at a young age.
During his time at the Academy, his talent had always been mediocre.
After graduating and becoming a genin, he remained thoroughly unremarkable for several years.
Nothing in this information suggested that he possessed the ability to pass the first two rounds of the Chunin Exams consecutively.
“Tell me in detail about his performance during the examination.” Hiruzen knew that the written reports couldn’t reveal everything, but a person’s transformation couldn’t possibly happen without leaving any trace.
Ibiki truthfully reported what had happened during the first written exam, when the candidates had collectively handed in blank papers.
“Apparently, Natsume Aoba sold information before the exam, which resulted in this year’s unusual situation.” As he said this, Ibiki felt extremely embarrassed.
As the head of Anbu intelligence, having something like this happen under his watch was humiliating no matter the reason!
Anko Mitarashi’s report was much simpler.
“A lot of the surveillance equipment in the Forest of Death was destroyed during the fighting.
I didn’t see any footage of Natsume Aoba’s battles.” At that moment, the Cursed Seal of Heaven on her neck was still faintly aching.
After discovering that her former teacher, and now enemy Orochimaru was there, how could she possibly have had the mind to worry about anyone else?
Hayate, on the other hand, had witnessed Aoba’s battle against Kankuro as well as his confrontation with Neji.
After giving a detailed account of the battles, he offered his assessment.
“Natsume Aoba has exceptional insight.
Even Kakashi-senpai was full of praise for it.
His combat ability is equally impressive.
He possesses the Shadow Clone Technique and a Body Flicker Technique at the level of a jonin.
His overall strength has reached elite chunin level, which is completely inconsistent with the information in his candidate profile.
Cough, cough!” After a brief silence, Hiruzen took another puff from his pipe before smiling.
“Young people these days really do have some interesting ideas.
Hahaha!” Judging from the reports, aside from concealing his strength, there appeared to be nothing else suspicious about Aoba.
Ibiki also confirmed that information from the Chunin Exams could never have leaked.
The supposed sale of exam information had merely been a coincidence.
“Have Anbu keep a discreet eye on Natsume Aoba.
If they find nothing suspicious, have him join Anbu after the Chunin Exams.” Konoha’s situation truly wasn’t good.
Ever since the White Fang of the Leaf, Hatake Sakumo, took his own life, the village had been on a downward slope.
The Third Shinobi World War had depleted the village’s foundations, and the Nine-Tails’ attack had later claimed many of its veteran shinobi.
The death of Minato, whom Hiruzen had regarded as his successor, had been an especially devastating blow.
Then came Orochimaru’s defection and the Uchiha clan massacre.
Konoha’s new generation still hadn’t grown up, and Hiruzen was genuinely short on capable people.
Now that he had discovered a promising young talent, of course he wanted to nurture him properly.
A promising talent from a civilian background, without the connections of a shinobi clan, that was exactly the sort of person Hiruzen wanted to see more of.
“Yes, Hokage-sama!” An Anbu shinobi appeared without a sound and soon departed the Hokage’s office building.
Aoba had absolutely no idea that the Third Hokage had taken notice of him.
After returning home, he began waiting for Karin to summon him.
With the Forest of Death portion of the examination over, candidates from the other villages who had been eliminated were gradually leaving Konoha.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Meanwhile, in a forest somewhere within the Land of Fire, three shinobi from Kusagakure were making their way home at a leisurely pace, grumbling the entire time.
“Damn it.
We failed the Chunin Exams and let down the higher-ups.
We’re going to be in serious trouble when we get back.” “I wonder how the village is going to punish us?” The two Kusa shinobi looked rather dejected.
“It’s all Karin’s fault.
We entrusted her with the scroll, and then someone stole it from her.
Otherwise, we still would’ve had a chance!” “She’s such a useless burden.
She can’t even handle something this simple!” The two quickly dumped all the blame for their failure onto Karin.
As long as they had someone else to blame, they figured their punishment might be lighter when they returned.
As for what would happen to Karin after she went back, they couldn’t care less.
She was nothing more than a tool that Kusagakure had taken in.
Who would care about a tool’s feelings?
“Your strength was insufficient in the first place.
Even if you hadn’t given me the scroll to hold, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.” Karin, who was normally quiet and reserved, actually spoke up in protest.
Ever since she had decided to follow Aoba, her mindset had changed.
She wasn’t alone anymore.
She no longer had to cower before everyone.
If something wasn’t her fault, she wouldn’t let others bully her anymore.
“How dare you talk back?!” “Looks like you’ve grown some backbone.
Don’t forget that you’d be dead already if the village hadn’t taken you in!” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Hidden_Quill Thank you so much for reading!