In winter, enjoying a hotpot meal is truly a rare delight.
And with so many friends around, hotpot is definitely the best choice.
Sena Hoshino replied, "Choji's nose never misses a thing. Yep, it's definitely Momiji Hotpot."
"Momiji Hotpot? What's that?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Momiji Hotpot is deer meat hotpot, Naruto. You really can be so clueless sometimes," Sakura explained.
Shiki decided to step up to defend Naruto, saying, "Actually, I don't know what Momiji Hotpot is either."
Indeed, at this point in time, young Sakura hadn't yet matured into her future self. She was still quite spoiled and headstrong back then,
with a strong tendency to judge people by appearances.
Back when Shiki used to read the Naruto manga, he often felt indignant on Naruto's behalf.
So naturally, right now, Shiki immediately stood up to support Naruto.
"Sorry about that, Shiki. I didn't mean to mock you," Sakura apologized to Shiki—something she'd never do if it were Naruto.
Shiki felt slightly speechless inside, thinking that perhaps only after Sakura grows up will she change. After all, eventually, she becomes a capable kunoichi in her own right.
Naruto, meanwhile, looked pretty down and was stuffing himself with hotpot like there was no tomorrow.
Everyone present was a student at the Ninja Academy, so naturally, they began discussing school-related topics.
With his mouth full of venison, Choji muttered gloomily, "After winter break, we've got a really important exam coming up. The problem is, I still haven't mastered the Transformation Jutsu."
Upon hearing that, Sakura also paused mid-bite and complained, "Seriously, why would the school even do that? Testing us on everything we've learned so far?"
That caught Shiki's attention too.
As for the Ninja Academy, he understood it well—usually even graduation exams just randomly selected one basic ninjutsu for testing.
It wasn't common practice to test absolutely everything.
Seeing everyone puzzled, Shikamaru explained, "This exam is actually meant to check whether we have the basics needed to become genin. After all, we're over a year away from graduation. If we fail, I bet our teacher'll be right on our case about it."
Hearing that, everyone reacted differently.
The way Shiki looked at Naruto made it clear he could already picture how Iruka might punish him—like banning ramen outings to Ichiraku altogether.
Well, Shiki figured that must be Naruto's worst nightmare.
After all, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen was likely the only person in Konoha who treated Naruto with genuine kindness, regardless of the Nine-Tails sealed within him.
So it was perfectly natural for Naruto to love Ichiraku Ramen.
Ino added, "But I also heard that some high-level Jonin will be watching closely this time... They might even choose their apprentices based on students' performance."
This information came directly from her father, Inoichi Yamanaka. So it had to be true.
"Hmm..."
Shiki thought it was indeed quite possible.
After all, in the original storyline, the graduation exam only tested one technique—the Clone Jutsu.
Yet it managed to assign every child to the team most suitable for them.
For instance, Might Guy's team included Lee, Tenten, and Neji—all specialists in taijutsu. The new generation of "Ino–Shika–Cho" just happened to be assigned to Asuma Sarutobi's squad.
Of course, Shiki clearly understood one thing: Kakashi would absolutely not participate in such matters.
The incredibly powerful Team 7 later might truly have been assigned strictly according to scores.
Although both Naruto and Sasuke had very impressive backgrounds, Sakura's performance early on was excessively mediocre, and she came from an ordinary family background (Regarding the parents shown in the Tsukuyomi world who were Jonin, that actually had nothing to do with real Sakura).
Moreover, based on Kakashi's personality, he indeed wouldn't get involved in these matters. Without missions, he had already become someone lazy who spent his days reading [Make Out Paradise] intensively.
Ino also said with concern, "Plus, the students in the neighboring class seem to be working extremely hard to achieve good grades."
Tenten said rather casually, "Don't worry, it's not that hard. Just try your best and you'll be fine."
Only then did Shiki realize Tenten was a year senior to him, along with Neji and Lee.
They'd probably graduate in about six months and get assigned to Team Guy like expected.
Thinking about this, Shiki couldn't help breaking into a sweat.
Earlier, Lee had apparently said Master Guy would teach both of them, even though they weren't in the same graduating class.
It would have been bad enough if only Lee acted foolishly, but even Master Guy went along with it—they really were something else.
Hearing Tenten's words, Sakura seemed even more worried.
Because Tenten was among the elite kunoichi, vastly superior to her own "average student" level.
Naruto, however, clenched his fist excitedly and loudly declared, "Great! I will definitely be the top of the class!"
"What an idiot," Shikamaru muttered indifferently.
Shino Aburame still kept himself hidden within his cloak, making it impossible to see his expression. However, one could notice insects crawling out along his fingers, licking up the soup droplets spilled on the table.
Hinata suddenly started fiddling with her fingers and said, "Um, I heard that Qingmu wants to defeat Shiki in the upcoming match."
Defeat me?
Not just Shiki, but everyone else also displayed expressions of disbelief. After all, everyone now knew that despite his injuries, Shiki had the strength to defeat a Chunin.
But Hinata continued staring at Shiki and said, "Shiki-kun, you must take good care of your injuries. If things look bad, actually surrendering is okay too. Of course, I'm not saying you're weak, it's just…"
Hinata's voice gradually got softer. Compared to the bewildered crowd, Shiki roughly understood what Hinata meant.
Hyuga Ao probably already knew about his injuries.
After all, the Hyuga was a prominent clan, naturally possessing strong intelligence capabilities.
Suddenly, Shiki noticed Shikamaru also giving him a meaningful glance.
It looks like he also figured out from Hinata's words that his injuries must be pretty bad.
Shikamaru stared at Shiki and said seriously, "Sasuke also wants to challenge you during that exam. If you're not capable, don't force yourself."
None of them knew how badly Shiki was hurt, so they just felt more lost.
"C'mon, what are you even saying, Shikamaru?"
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