Chapter 35: Kabuto Yakushi
After submitting their exam application forms, Sakura and the other two opened the doors to the exam classroom.
Behind the door, the large classroom was already packed with people. A bustling, noisy crowd of ninja with all sorts of strange or ordinary appearances filled the room.
"Sasuke~ Long time no see!" A figure brushed past Sakura and threw herself at Sasuke, startling Sakura. She turned her head to look. Needless to say, this shameless, love-struck girl clinging to Sasuke was Sakura's classmate from the academy, Ino.
"Yo! Long time no see, fangirl!" Sakura said teasingly. "You're as enthusiastic as ever!"
"Ah, it's you! You violent maniac, big forehead, flat-chested freak!" Ino pointed at Sakura, looking a little frantic. "Damn it, why does a woman like you get to be on a team with Sasuke! Hmph, Sasuke is mine anyway!"
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Sakura's forehead. All I did was call her a fangirl, why such a fierce response? And what kind of logic allows her to declare that Sasuke is hers? Can't she see the helpless expression on Sasuke's face as he tries to break free from this clingy girl?
The relationship between Sakura and Ino... could be considered a one-sided hostility from Ino towards Sakura.
As mentioned before, back in the academy, most of the girls in the class had a crush on Sasuke. Because there were so many people who liked him, the competition was fierce. In the end, the many girls reached a sort of equilibrium, which was that no girl was allowed to make a move on Sasuke. Of course, in Sakura's eyes, this was just a superficial crush on Sasuke's appearance. Sakura had no interest in participating in the childish behavior of these girls. She had no interest at all in their romance games and just did her own thing.
But in the eyes of those girls, the cool and aloof Sasuke, who ignored everyone, would actually frequently seek out Sakura to spar! This was intolerable! It was one thing for Sakura not to participate in their activities, but how dare she seduce Sasuke—that's right, in those girls' eyes, the reason Sasuke paid any attention to Sakura was that she had seduced him! Such a serious violation of the rules certainly required punishment!
Then came the punishment methods. The first move: isolation.
Well, Sakura never had much in common with those chirpy girls anyway. Her social circle consisted of Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and the Delinquent Four. Isolate Sakura? It took a year or two before Sakura even realized that the girls in the class were deliberately talking to her less!
Isolation didn't work, so the second method was, of course, violence.
On Earth, a single girl against several others would certainly be outnumbered. But for ninja, numbers often couldn't make up for a gap in strength. Ino, the strongest and with the best grades among those girls, took on the important task of picking a fight with Sakura.
The result was predictable.
After beating Ino and her followers to the ground several times, Ino finally recognized the absolute gap in their strength. From then on, Sakura gained another nickname: "violent maniac."
Speaking of which, this could be considered a case of becoming friends through fighting.
Just then, the other two members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio also walked over.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you three are here too. What a drag!" Shikamaru said with a pout and a helpless look on his face.
"Tha's righ'," Choji mumbled indistinctly while eating potato chips.
Sakura dropped her bickering with Ino and greeted them with a smile. "Hmph, Shikamaru, you're still looking as unmotivated as ever! Asuma-sensei must have forced you to come to the Chunin Exams, right? Choji, you've gotten quite a bit chubbier!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. It seemed Sakura had hit the nail on the head. He sighed like an old man, but silently evaluated the three of them in his heart: The presence of all three of them has become much more composed and confident. It seems their strength has definitely improved greatly since their time at the academy. Sasuke and Sakura were already famous geniuses back in the academy, and now it seems Naruto has also become stronger! Sigh, what a drag!
The thought of possibly facing these three in the exam made Shikamaru's future seem bleak. Sasuke's Sharingan, Naruto's super-strong stamina, how was he supposed to deal with them? It was a super drag!
If I have to face Sakura, surrendering immediately should be fine, right?
"Tch, looks like everyone's here!" the high-spirited and confident Kiba also walked over. Following behind him were Hinata, who couldn't help but blush upon seeing Naruto, and Shino, who had an inscrutable expression behind his dark glasses.
Sakura looked around. Indeed, all the rookies from her year were participating in this year's Chunin Exams. This was definitely a rare sight in previous years. In name, all Genin could participate in the Chunin Exams, but in reality, only the outstanding ones would be nominated by their team leaders. In other words, everyone present was an outstanding student in their teacher's eyes, the elite among the Genin!
In Sakura's year, setting aside Naruto, Sasuke, and herself, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was a classic and powerful combination in Konoha. Hinata was the main family daughter of the powerful Hyuga clan. Kiba and Shino were both the pride of large Konoha clans. In terms of status and strength, they were the elite of their year. It wasn't without reason that these nine were called the Konoha Rookie Nine.
"So... Sasuke, Sakura!" Kiba looked at Sakura with a composed air. In their year, he respected these two the most in terms of strength. "How far do you think we can go?"
"Hmph, that's hard to say... There are too many strong people! Not to mention us, just among those I don't know, I've already seen several ridiculously strong guys!" Although he said this, Sasuke's tone didn't show much nervousness; on the contrary, he looked completely confident. "If things go wrong, we might even lose to them!"
"Hey, you sound so sure of yourself!" Naruto was a little dissatisfied that Kiba hadn't asked him. "We're really strong! We're not afraid of those guys!"
"Is that so... Then what about you, Sakura?"
Sakura stared into Kiba's eyes and said without hesitation, "First place! The people here... not a single one of them can beat me!"
Just as the other eight were startled by Sakura's bold declaration, a strange voice cut into their conversation.
"Hehehehe, you rookies are really confident! But, as far as I know, there are many very strong Genin participating in this exam. Getting first place is not as simple as just talking about it!" A young man with glasses and plain, unremarkable features, the kind who would disappear in a crowd, walked over.
Is this the most famous spy, Kabuto Yakushi? Sakura glanced at him. Kabuto is said to be on par with Kakashi in strength, but he doesn't look it! Still, with my current strength, I probably can't beat him.
"Whether it's just talk, you'll find out when you see it! By the way, who are you?" Sakura said, annoyed.
Being scrutinized by Sakura's sharp, hawk-like eyes, Kabuto showed a look of discomfort, but no one knew what he was thinking in his heart.
"Haha, don't look at me like that. I'm your senpai. I've already taken this exam for four years." Kabuto pointed a thumb at the Konoha forehead protector he was wearing. "If you don't believe me, I'll reveal a little information to you!"
Sakura didn't respond, laughing coldly in her heart. It's best not to believe even a single punctuation mark from Kabuto's words. If she could beat him, she planned to cut him down in the Forest of Death.
"I won't talk about the exam content; you should all know a little about it. I've collected a lot of information, including data on those strong people you mentioned... How about it, interested?" Kabuto took out a deck of info cards, pushed up his glasses, and a glint of light seemed to flash in his eyes.
Sasuke stepped forward and asked, "So, do you have information on Gaara, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga?"
"Of course! Unless it's a very obscure ninja, I have information on most people. Not to mention they are the highly anticipated ninja in this exam, and their strength is quite formidable!"
Kabuto raised an eyebrow and began to flip through the cards with extremely fast hands.
"Wait...!" A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Kabuto's right hand, which had already become a blur! Kabuto was shocked. His right hand twitched subconsciously, and an impulse to violently resist surged up, but he forcefully suppressed it. Kabuto wiped away a cold sweat in his heart. If I had really made a conditional counter-move just now, I might have exposed my strength in front of everyone, which could have also leaked my true identity! Fortunately, I suppressed the impulse!
A delicate and warm sensation came from the wrist that was caught. At the same time, Kabuto also felt an irresistible, powerful force from that slender hand that didn't match its appearance. He looked up and saw that the person who had reached out was Sakura, who was looking at him calmly!
Sakura sighed inwardly. If Kabuto had really resisted just now, she would have unhesitatingly used her Jonin-level taijutsu to attack at full power and force out his hidden true strength! At that time, Kabuto, who had displayed strength he shouldn't have, would have had to either flee or be subdued, because he couldn't explain why someone with the strength of an elite Jonin would be content to be a Genin in the village for several years.
She really wanted to see how Kabuto could escape with so many Jonin and Chunin from Konoha present! If they could catch him, they would definitely be able to obtain very important information from a high-level spy like him. Unfortunately, Kabuto didn't take the bait!
Though she regretted the missed opportunity in her heart, Sakura's face remained impassive. Instead, she gave Kabuto a radiant smile. "There's no hurry for their information. There are a few people whose information I'd like to see first. Is that okay?"
"Cutting in line? Alright, ladies first!" Kabuto shrugged and smiled with a gentlemanly air. "Whose information do you want to see first? Do you have their names?"
"Hn, their names are..." Sakura nodded and said slowly.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and... Haruno Sakura!"