Ino and Sakura quickly lost interest once Sasuke walked away. The two girls, after exchanging a few laughs, slipped back into their usual fragile sisterhood, heading together toward their seats.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, the reflection of light obscuring his eyes and making him seem unreadable.
As the chatter carried on, more familiar figures entered the room: Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.
"Lady Hinata," Neji said respectfully as he approached, bowing his head slightly.
"I told you, Neji, there's no need to be so formal with me," Hinata replied quickly, a little flustered.
"Etiquette cannot be discarded," Neji answered with a slight shake of his head. His tone was calm, but his meaning sharp. Once, he might have spoken those words with disdain, only showing respect on the surface while his heart remained unconvinced. But now, after witnessing Hinata's overwhelming growth and surpassing strength, he acknowledged her from the depths of his heart. The truth of their family's division weighed on him, yet he accepted it without bitterness.
"Tenten," Naruto suddenly piped up, his face lighting with energy. "How's the weapons shipment coming along?"
"It's already on its way to the Land of Iron," Tenten reassured him, giving her chest a confident pat. "Don't worry."
"Brother Naruto, this time I can finally challenge you properly!" Rock Lee raised a thumbs-up, his gleaming white teeth flashing as brightly as his spirit.
Naruto's smile widened as he looked at his junior. Lee was a kindred spirit, someone who believed in sweat and perseverance as much as he did. Yet unlike Naruto, Lee didn't have his monstrous recovery ability, which made certain extreme training methods impossible. Still, thanks to Guy's guidance, Lee had adapted.
Lee's regimen had grown harsher than ever, built on lessons learned from Naruto's own training methods.
"Haha, I can't match you, Brother Naruto," Lee admitted with his usual unshakable grin. His admiration was written all over his face.
Naruto chuckled. "Stick with it. One day, you'll be running on my heels. Keep pushing, and you'll catch up to my taillights."
Before Lee could reply, a sinister voice cut across the room.
"You brats are too noisy." The words dripped with malice.
Another figure stalked closer, his posture tense as if ready to lash out. "Loud little pests like you clearly haven't been taught a proper lesson."
Neji and Lee tensed, their eyes narrowing as they prepared to respond. But before either could act, a sharp gust of killing intent swept across the classroom.
With a thunderous crack, the hostile ninja was flung off his feet and slammed into the wall. The impact left a jagged spiderweb of cracks in the stone. The figure slumped, unconscious.
Every eye in the room turned toward the source of the attack.
Hinata stood there, calm-faced, withdrawing her hand as if nothing had happened.
If anyone dared try to harm Naruto, they'd have to get through her first.
"Quiet down."
A sudden cloud of white smoke erupted in the center of the classroom, and when it cleared, a squad of uniformed examiners appeared.
At their head stood a man with a face scarred by marks like centipede tracks. His sunken eyes radiated menace, and his presence crushed the atmosphere flat.
His gaze swept to the unconscious ninja hanging against the wall. Two proctors quickly moved to pry the boy free.
"What's going on here?" Ibiki Morino's gravelly voice cut through the air, his narrow eyes flashing dangerously.
"They started it!" Kin, the kunoichi from the Sound, quickly pointed at Hinata, her voice sharp with accusation.
She had struck first verbally, hoping the proctor would punish Hinata.
"They attacked first," Naruto replied lazily, leaning back in his seat.
"Hmph. Your team's disqualified. Get out," Ibiki declared coldly, turning his glare on Kin and her squad.
"What?!" Kin and Zaku stared at him in disbelief. How could they be disqualified just like that? Without the exam, how were they supposed to complete Orochimaru's orders?
"This exam is strictly in teams of three," Ibiki explained flatly. "One of you is unconscious. You no longer meet the requirement."
Zaku clenched his teeth and quickly slapped his teammate, Dosu, across the face.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Gasps echoed through the room. Several genin winced, instinctively rubbing their own cheeks. Just watching made their faces sting.
By the time Dosu stirred awake, his cheeks were swollen and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, a few teeth missing.
"See, he's awake! We're fine now, right?" Zaku pleaded, bowing quickly toward Ibiki.
Ibiki flicked his hand in annoyance. "Tch. Get back to your seats."
"Thank you, sir!" Zaku and Kin hurried to haul Dosu back to their spot.
Ibiki's cold eyes scanned the room again, then he coughed to draw attention. "Now, listen carefully. I'll explain the rules."
Proctors began passing out sheets of paper.
Naruto glanced down at his exam. One look told him the truth: he had no idea how to solve these.
He had studied earnestly in the Academy. He wasn't top of the class like Sakura, but he wasn't bad either. Yet these questions were way beyond genin-level knowledge.
It was obvious the real test wasn't about book smarts. It was about gathering information.
Naruto smiled faintly. He might not be a genius at theory, but he had other resources.
He flicked his fingers, using a subtle breeze to link his pen with Hinata's. The moment she wrote, his pen would mimic the movement.
The handwriting was identical, of course, but Naruto didn't mind.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sasuke's Sharingan spinning faintly. His teammate smirked as he copied the movements of a candidate in front of him.
Naruto smirked. Perfect. His whole squad were pros at "creative problem-solving." They'd never get banned for this kind of teamwork.
Minutes passed. Hinata finally stopped writing, her paper complete. Naruto's was filled as well.
Yet the candidate she had mirrored kept writing, line after line, his pace unbroken.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. A trained intel operative, no doubt.
Sasuke, too focused, didn't realize his own paper was already full. His hand continued to move, repeating answers again and again under the influence of his copied vision.
"Time's up! Pens down!" Ibiki's voice barked suddenly.
Chairs scraped as pens froze mid-stroke. Across the room, despair colored the faces of many genin. They hadn't solved the puzzle, nor understood the exam's true intent.
"Damn Konoha," someone muttered bitterly. "Why test us with theory? A ninja's strength is in combat!"
As the proctors gathered the papers, Ibiki's thin smile twisted his scarred face.
"There's one final question."
His scarred face and dead eyes leaned forward, his gravel voice drawing the classroom into silence.
Naruto rested his chin on his hand, watching. The way Ibiki turned a written exam into a psychological battlefield was almost impressive.
The classroom, once an ordinary lecture hall, was steadily transforming into something closer to an interrogation chamber.
His presence was oppressive, his tone a dagger of intimidation. Many of the younger genin fidgeted, sweat dripping down their necks.
But Naruto wasn't shaken. His spirit and will had been hammered into steel through years of trials. Even simple genjutsu barely rattled him these days.
One by one, students began to falter. Nervous hands shot up. Teams withdrew, abandoning their chances.
The number of empty seats grew with each passing moment.
Ibiki's grin only widened, his gaze sweeping over the shrinking group of survivors. His eyes gleamed as if daring them all to break.
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