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“Why don’t you take a look behind you?”
The Konoha Nine turned as one.
Every face went still.
Genin from a dozen different villages packed the space at their backs, each wearing a different forehead protector, every pair of eyes fixed on the group with a predatory sharpness.
The air felt wrong.
Naruto stumbled back two steps, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up.
“Whoa…
these guys look seriously terrifying…”
Kabuto pushed up his glasses.
Cold light flashed across the lenses.
“Those behind you are ninja from Amegakure.
They fight through blood and carnage year-round.
Their tempers are something you do not want to test.”
He scanned the Konoha Nine, each wearing a different flavor of unease, and kept going.
“The exam’s close.
Everyone’s wound tight.
Do yourselves a favor and keep a low profile.
Don’t be the spark that blows the powder keg right now.”
Naruto scratched the back of his head, visibly relieved.
“Ah, right…
Thanks a lot, man.”
Kabuto smiled — gentle on the surface, complicated underneath.
“Can’t help it.
Looking at you lot reminds me of my old self.
When I first graduated from the Academy, I was just as reckless.”
Sakura’s eyes lit up.
“Oh!
So you’re a senior?
Have you taken the Chunin Exam before?”
“No.
My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and I’ve taken it seven times.” His tone was completely flat, like he was talking about grocery runs.
“NANI?!
Seven times?!”
Shikamaru tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, his face a portrait of suffering.
“Took it that many times and still hasn’t passed…
so this exam is going to be brutal, huh.
What a drag.” He could already picture the thorough cross-examination his mother would put him through afterward.
“Heh.
True enough.
But for cute juniors like you, I can still share a little intel.”
Like a magician, Kabuto produced a thick stack of cards from inside his robe and fanned them out in front of everyone.
“Ninja Info Cards.
Encoded with chakra and heat-stamped onto the surface.
I’ve been collecting these for years, nearly two hundred at this point.”
Naruto tugged at one of his whisker marks, puzzled.
“And…
what do they actually do?”
“Give me a moment.” Blue light gathered at Kabuto’s fingertips.
He channeled his chakra into one of the cards, and within seconds, crisp patterns and dense rows of text materialized across the blank surface.
“OMG!” Naruto and Kiba shouted at the same time.
“That’s the effect.” Kabuto’s lips curved slightly at the sight of these kids’ wide eyes.
“Detailed records on every examinee in this room, and intel on the hidden villages standing behind them.”
“You have intel on examinees?” Sasuke pushed past Naruto and stopped in front of Kabuto.
“That’s right.
Anyone specific in mind?”
“Two.” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.
“Gaara of the Sand.
And that Konoha kid, Rock Lee.
I want everything you have on both of them.”
“Gaara…
found it.
And Rock Lee’s too, here.” Kabuto flipped through the stack and pulled two cards free.
[Gaara of the Desert: Mission experience — 8 C-rank, 1 B-rank.
Zero injuries throughout.]
[Rock Lee: Mission experience, 21 D-rank, 11 C-rank.
Team Three.
Taijutsu has shown marked improvement over the past year.]
Sasuke held both cards, jaw tight.
Rock Lee’s record was ordinary.
Nothing to worry about.
But Gaara…
He remembered that red-haired boy’s killing intent.
The sheer weight of it.
His expression stayed grim.
Kabuto unlocked another card and held it up.
“Konoha, Suna, Kusa, Taki, Oto — every village sent their finest for this one.”
“Though regarding Otogakure,” he added, “it’s a small village that only appeared in the last few years.
Practically no usable intel on them.”
In the corner, three genin wearing musical-note forehead protectors turned their heads in unison.
Their expressions were not friendly.
Sakura’s forehead beaded with sweat.
Her fists were clenched.
“So that means…
everyone here is the elite of the elite?”
She glanced at Naruto beside her.
He was trembling.
No matter how tough you tried to act, with this many people pressing in and this atmosphere hanging over everything, you were bound to crack.
It couldn’t be helped.
They were the rawest genin here.
Rookies among rookies.
She stepped forward to say something and stopped cold.
His face had no fear in it.
No anxiety.
Only that absolute, stubborn confidence that simply refused to know how to lose.
“HEY!” Naruto spun around and thrust a finger at every genin in the room.
“I’m Uzumaki Naruto, and I’m not losing to a single one of you!”
…
Silence.
Ino recovered first.
She grabbed Sakura’s arm with both hands, face white.
“What is he DOING?!
Why would he just start screaming at everyone for no reason at all?!”
“INO, LET GO, that hurts!
And how would I know he’d pull something like that?!” Sakura yelped and pried her hand free.
Whatever the rest of the Konoha Nine thought hardly mattered. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Every ninja in the room had turned to look at Naruto, and none of them looked happy.
“That idiot…” On the Sand Siblings’ side, Kankuro, face covered in thick war paint, muttered under his breath, fingers twitching.
“He’s that kid from back then, isn’t he.”
“Hmph.” Temari smoothed her hair without looking up.
“The weaker the dog, the louder it barks.”
Over with Team Three, Neji was still fast asleep in Rock Lee’s arms.
(What a lazy cat.)
Rock Lee watched Naruto with blazing eyes.
“That’s…
so passionate.”
Without warning, three shapes tore out from the corner.
They crossed the room in a blink and came to a stop not in front of Naruto, but in front of Kabuto standing right beside him.
Kabuto’s expression snapped to focus.
He launched into a rapid series of backflips, clearing two kunai aimed straight at him.
He cleared the last one.
His face nearly broke into a smile.
Then a fist grazed his cheek.
CRACK!
“Urk!”
Glass shattered.
Kabuto’s knees hit the floor.
He knelt there retching, face twisted in raw pain.
“What happened…
I should have dodged that…”
“What a bizarre attack…”
Sasuke and Shikamaru both stared at the scene, expressions dark, unable to read the attacker’s method.
“Kabuto-senpai!” Naruto and Sakura rushed forward and pulled him upright, then turned blazing glares on the three strangely dressed figures standing over him.
“Hm.
Not so impressive when it actually counts.”
“A veteran who’s been taking this exam for four years, and you fold that fast?”
“With that level of skill, you have the nerve to pass judgment on Otogakure?
Someone really should just kill you.”
The Oto trio stood over Kabuto with cold, vicious eyes, already moving into position for the next strike.
BOOM!
“Everyone.
SHUT.
UP.
You worthless trash!”
A massive cloud of smoke erupted at the front of the room.
When it cleared, over ten Konoha ninja stood on the platform, expressions ranging from bored to dangerous.
The man at the front had a scar across his face like an old wound that never quite healed.
He let his gaze drag across every genin in the room, slow and deliberate, then smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, trash.
I’m the proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Selection Exam.”
“Morino.
Ibiki.”
➤ Next: Written Exam?
No, It’s a Cheating Competition
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