The next morning, Naruto woke up with a slight frown.
Something felt…
different.
It took him a while before it suddenly clicked.
The ANBU surveillance was gone.
Yesterday, the moment Kakashi left, Naruto had immediately gone off on his own.
He had done so specifically to verify whether, once separated from Kakashi, the hidden surveillance would resume.
It hadn’t.
And today, there was still no sign of it.
Clearly, after Naruto graduated, the Third Hokage had indeed stopped having him watched.
Of course, Naruto didn’t believe that was out of kindness.
Rather, now that he had graduated, Naruto would grow rapidly under Kakashi’s guidance.
Continuing the surveillance carried the risk of being exposed, which could deepen the rift between Naruto and the village.
Besides, Kakashi could now openly and legitimately keep an eye on him.
Kindness?
Heh.
If it had truly been kindness, the surveillance would have ended long ago.
After washing up, Naruto strapped on his ninja pouch, grabbed a loaf of bread nearing its expiration date and a carton of milk that was about to expire as well, and headed out.
On the way, he ran into Sakura and Sasuke.
“Naruto, you’re eating bread?
Didn’t Kakashi-sensei tell us not to eat breakfast?” Sakura asked.
“He said we’d throw up if we ate.
He never said we weren’t allowed to,” Naruto replied calmly.
“Want some?” he asked, offering them the food.
“These expire in three days,” Sakura said reflexively after checking the date, black lines practically appearing across her face.
“They’re not expired yet, are they?
If you don’t want them, fine.
Sasuke, want some?” Naruto snatched the milk back from Sakura and offered it to Sasuke instead.
“Thanks.”
The usually aloof Sasuke frowned slightly before accepting it and taking a drink.
He had been too anxious earlier to notice something so simple.
Naruto’s casual gesture helped calm him down.
Whether he was anxious or calm wouldn’t change the outcome much.
But since this was an examination, there had to be conditions for passing.
Keeping a cool head would make it easier to discover them.
After all, they had only just become genin.
No matter what, they were no match for a jōnin.
If a jōnin set an impossible challenge, it would defeat the very purpose of the test.
That meant the real condition had to be something universal—something everyone tended to overlook.
At that moment, Sasuke’s eyes gleamed with the qualities of a true shinobi.
No wonder Orochimaru had become so obsessed with him.
“Even drinking almost-expired milk, Sasuke-kun looks so cool…”
Meanwhile, Sakura continued gazing at Sasuke with lovestruck eyes.
Although skipping breakfast had left her hungry, she had just complained about Naruto’s nearly expired food.
Her pride wasn’t thick enough to immediately ask for some.
Besides, girls were generally better at enduring hunger for the sake of dieting.
“You’ve figured something out, haven’t you?” Naruto suddenly asked.
“Huh?” Sakura blinked in confusion.
“I wasn’t asking you.” Naruto glanced at her.
“Eh?”
Sakura looked even more bewildered.
“You noticed it too?” Sasuke asked Naruto in slight surprise.
“Of course.”
Naruto smiled.
“Noticed what?
Sasuke-kun, Naruto, what are you two talking about?” Sakura asked, completely lost.
Sasuke looked at her, frowned slightly, and said sternly with a trace of disappointment, “Sakura, you’ve always ranked above me in theory and intelligence analysis at the Academy.
Have you really not realized the purpose of this survival exercise?”
“Huh?
Didn’t Kakashi-sensei already say it?
It’s to determine who qualifies as a real genin.
Only nine will pass, while the other twenty-seven will be sent back to the Academy.
A seventy percent elimination rate.”
“Did he ever say only nine must pass?” Sasuke asked coldly.
“And even if only nine can pass, what are the criteria?
What determines success and failure?
Haven’t you analyzed that?”
“Uh…”
Sakura was stunned.
“Didn’t Kakashi-sensei say he’d explain the rules later?”
“The rules he tells us are necessarily the real rules?” Naruto said evenly.
“Sakura, we’re shinobi now, not students solving written exam questions where every condition is clearly listed.”
“…”
Sakura was speechless.
She had never imagined Naruto and Sasuke approached problems this way.
Even though neither of them had revealed the answer yet, their method of thinking alone left the Academy’s perennial top student in theory and intelligence analysis feeling deeply ashamed.
Thinking back to how her mind had been filled with nothing but Sasuke is so handsome, Sakura’s face flushed with embarrassment.
Still, she possessed one admirable quality.
When she realized she was wrong, she corrected herself immediately—even if she might make the same mistake again later.
Taking a deep breath, she asked earnestly,
“So…
Sasuke-kun, Naruto, what conclusion did you reach?”
“As newly graduated genin, there’s no way we can defeat a jōnin,” Sasuke began methodically.
“Unless that jōnin is exceptionally incompetent.
And Hatake Kakashi, despite how unreliable he appears, is exactly the kind of ninja who’s usually the strongest.
Because he’s strong enough, he can afford to act that way.”
Truly worthy of being recognized by Orochimaru as a precious shinobi talent.
“So even if Hatake Kakashi is an elite jōnin—as I believe he is—there’s no chance the three of us, fresh out of the Academy, could defeat him.
Therefore, although he claimed that our opponent in the survival exercise is himself, just as Naruto said, the actual passing condition absolutely cannot be what it appears to be.”
“Exactly.” Naruto smiled faintly.
“For example, if it’s a bell test where we’re supposed to seize the bells while he’s protecting them, then simply taking the bells can’t possibly be the real requirement for passing.”
“Right.” Sasuke nodded.
“It’s a trap.
If we get caught up in the surface objective, then even if we obtain the bells, we’ll still fail.”
“When did you two become so in sync?”
Watching them analyze the situation from exactly the same perspective, Sakura couldn’t help sounding a little jealous.
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke paid any attention to her.
“So,” Naruto said with a smile, looking at Sasuke, “you’ve figured out the real purpose of the test and the actual passing condition.”
“I only realized it because you reminded me,” Sasuke replied, lightly shaking the carton of milk in his hand.
“You probably figured it out last night.”
“Naruto…
Sasuke-kun…” Sakura asked, forcing herself to speak despite the sour feeling of seeing Naruto drawing Sasuke’s attention away from her.
“Then…
what exactly is the real test?
And what’s the actual condition for passing?”
“You still don’t understand?” Sasuke said.
“This test began the moment we were assigned to our teams after graduation.
No…
it probably started the day they announced the survival exercise.
Since missions are carried out in three-man squads, the real objective of the exam is naturally—”
“Teamwork!”
Sakura finally caught up with Sasuke’s train of thought and interrupted him, declaring the answer with absolute certainty.
ADD TO COLLECTION.