"Natsuki, you were so cool back there!" Kiba burst into laughter as they climbed the stairs, noticing the others hadn't caught up yet. "That was Neji Hyuga, the genius of the Hyuga clan!
"Well, compared to Natsuki, he's still a bit lacking, isn't he?" Kiba recalled the few times Natsuki had displayed his power and felt there was no comparison to those still participating in the Chunin Exams.
'Good thing he's my teammate.'
Kiba felt grateful once again for his luck during team assignments after graduation.
Ignoring Kiba's comments, Natsuki turned to Hinata, who was still looking down.
He gently ruffled her hair and said comfortingly, "What's wrong? Don't be afraid. I'm here. No one can hurt you, not even with words."
"Mm-hmm..." Hinata responded softly but didn't lift her head.
Her face was flushed crimson, and her eyes overflowed with happiness.
Natsuki standing up for her was now was so cool.
The overwhelming sense of security and the scene replaying in her mind caused puffs of shy, white steam to rise from her head.
The trio soon arrived at the exam classroom. Perhaps by special arrangement, Natsuki saw many familiar faces in this room.
Team 7, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Gaara's team, the Sound ninja team led by Dosu, and others.
Oh, and there was also Kabuto Yakushi, the double agent.
The noisy classroom fell silent for a moment with Natsuki's arrival, and sharp gazes focused on the three of them.
Though surprised by the leading boy's good looks, in the strength-oriented ninja world, especially during the Chunin Exams, people subconsciously focused on more dangerous opponents.
Thus, in the next moment, the foreign ninjas shifted their attention to the renowned Hinata of the Hyuga clan.
Only the girls maintained their focus on Natsuki.
"What a cute-looking boy. A Konoha headband... Damn, another Konoha ninja," Temari's voice rang out, followed by a few grumbles from Kankuro.
"Natsuki!"
"Natsuki!"
"The seat next to me is empty. I wonder if Natsuki's seat is assigned here?"
"No way, the seats in front and behind me are empty. It must be mine!"
"Natsuki is still so handsome. If I could sit next to him, I'd share the exam answers. I'm really good at the written test."
The chattering of the Konoha girls nearly lifted the roof off the classroom.
Natsuki responded with a slightly pained wave of his hand, then quickly found his seat and pretended to sleep by slumping over his desk.
After all, it was an exam.
The seats of acquaintances were separated, with Hinata and Kiba each two rows away.
"Hey, Kabuto. What's the deal with that sleepyhead? He seems really popular," Temari called out to Kabuto, who was not far away.
Kabuto had just demonstrated his intelligence-gathering skills, successfully gaining the favor of Naruto's team.
Consequently, Temari, who was nearby, also learned that Kabuto possessed information on the examinees.
"Hmm, let me see." Kabuto adjusted his glasses and pulled out a card from seemingly nowhere.
It displayed Natsuki's personal information:
..
Natsuki Yuhi
Specialties: Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu.
Missions Completed: 35 D-rank, 3 C-rank, 1 B-rank, 0 A-rank, 1 S-rank.
Achievements: Created the astonishingly powerful lightning-fire dual-attribute ninjutsu, the Super Invincible Thunderbolt Fireball! Assisted the Hokage in slaying a powerful magical beast, saving the whole of Konoha. Holds the title of Konoha's Little Hero!
..
"Hiss!!!" Kabuto's voice wasn't quiet.
The surrounding onlookers gasped, the room temperature noticeably rising.
"Is this guy even human? Creating his own jutsu at this age?"
"Are you sure he's here for the Chunin Exams, not the Jonin Exams?"
"What kind of monsters are in this Chunin Exam? The Byakugan, the Sharingan, the sand-wielding Gaara..."
"Turns out the biggest monster is this guy. Is there a practical combat assessment in the Chunin Exams? I hope I don't have to face him."
"Is it too late to withdraw from the exam?" The foreign ninjas buzzed with discussion, some even starting to plan alliances against the monster of Konoha.
Even Gaara, usually indifferent to his surroundings, couldn't help but open his eyes to search for Natsuki.
"Hah, keep blowing smoke. Not only does Konoha want to be the best in the ninja world, but you also want to create a national idol?"
"Creating jutsu, slaying magical beasts, Konoha's hero...tch, tch, tch, did you know I slew a dragon on my way to Konoha." Zaku stood up, his face full of disdain.
"Heh, it's understandable that you can't comprehend such things. After all, your tiny Sound Village doesn't even have a single decent genius," Kabuto retorted, disparaging the Sound Village.
As expected, this provoked an attack from the Sound ninja trio toward Kabuto, who then feigned weakness by dramatically collapsing and coughing up blood.
He successfully downplayed the threat he posed and the importance others placed on him based on the information revealed.
Just as the other Konoha ninjas, especially Naruto and his team, were about to retaliate against the Sound ninja team, the proctor entered.
"This year's ninjas are quite lively!
"Let's see if you can continue to laugh later." Ibiki Morino said with a cold smile, his face covered in terrifying scars that sent chills down people's spines.
"Alright, please return to your seats.
"In 10 seconds, anyone not seated will be considered to have forfeited."
As soon as he finished speaking, the examinees, ignoring everything else, hurried back to their assigned seats.
Once everyone was settled, the written exam papers were distributed.
After the distribution was complete, Ibiki announced loudly:
"Chunin Exam! First stage, written test, begin!"
Everyone picked up their pens and started to answer, only to be dumbfounded by the content.
The first question involved function calculations.
Most of the examinees thoughts went like this:
Kakuzu, the missing-nin from the Hidden Waterfall Village, was said to have thrown a kunai from 800 kilometers away and hit Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi.
Question: Based on the parabolic trajectory shown in the diagram, how high must Kakuzu stand to throw a kunai over 800 kilometers and hit the God of Shinobi?
Math? I don't know, skip!
Next question, history! I'm good at this.
Question: During the Third Great Ninja War, at the Kannabi Bridge, how many kunai did Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, throw?
"???" Everyone was stunned. What kind of outlandish questions were these? Were these even answerable?
Just as the examinees suspected the proctor was playing a trick on them, a few people began rapidly answering the questions.
"What kind of monsters are these? They can actually answer these questions?" This time, even the proctors were taken aback.
These few were planted individuals meant to encourage the examinees to cheat using various methods.
Of course, if their methods were too crude and they got caught, two points would be deducted.
Getting caught five times meant expulsion from the exam hall.
Surprisingly, one of those answering was a genuine examinee.
It was the pink-haired Sakura Haruno.
Since someone could answer the questions, it meant the written test wasn't impossible.
But they didn't know which of these answering examinees had genuine knowledge.
Therefore, they should target the most capable one.
Countless gazes immediately fell upon Natsuki, with his impressive record.
But Natsuki, who had been pretending to sleep at his desk, was now emitting faint snores.
"Is he... actually asleep?
"This is Konoha's Little Hero?"
The examinees who were hoping to copy answers from the top student exchanged bewildered glances.
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