"Your attitude is way too lazy," Ino complained.
"I just became a genin. I'm not expecting to become a chūnin that quickly," Naruto said honestly. "Chūnin missions are way more troublesome anyway."
Ino held her forehead, completely speechless.
Shikamaru, however, seemed to agree with Naruto and nodded.
"I hate troublesome things the most."
The exam began.
First stage: the written test.
Naruto sat in the seat next to Hinata and yawned as he glanced at the paper in front of him. The big question was about physics—free fall motion, while the multiple-choice questions were mostly basic common knowledge.
If someone actually wanted to answer them, half would be guessing and the other half blind luck.
But Naruto didn't even touch his pen.
He simply rested his head on his hand and closed his eyes to take a nap.
After all, whatever was written on the exam didn't really matter.
That perverted chief examiner would definitely pull out some "Will of Fire" nonsense later to test the candidates' trust in their teammates.
How boring.
Who would actually be moved to tears by such a cheap trick?
When the test ended, just as expected, Naruto passed the first stage of the Chūnin Exam with a completely blank answer sheet.
The principle behind the written test's elimination process was actually simple. It could be summarized in six words:
Never abandon your teammates. Never give up.
Naruto did absolutely nothing and smoothly advanced to the second stage.
Suddenly, Anko Mitarashi burst into the testing room.
She wore her usual outfit: a long coat with a fishnet bodysuit underneath. Her face showed no signs of weight gain—she still looked youthful, full of vitality.
"You bunch of idiots!" she shouted. "That was only the first exam! What's there to celebrate?!"
"You don't get any rest. In twenty minutes, the second stage begins at Training Ground 44!"
With a bang, she disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
Groans and sighs echoed throughout the room. The candidates looked confused and helpless as they hurried toward Training Ground 44.
"HINATA! Let's go!" Kiba shouted from a distance, a small dog sitting on his head.
"Okay."
Hinata answered softly. Then she blushed and looked at Naruto.
"Naruto-kun… I'll go ahead."
"Alright. See you later, Hinata," Naruto said with a wave.
"Naruto! Over here! You'll be late if you don't hurry!" Sakura urged from the doorway.
"Coming."
Outside the Forest of Death, Naruto noticed someone in the distance staring toward them.
Kabuto Yakushi.
More precisely, his gaze seemed to drift repeatedly toward Sasuke.
"That guy with glasses over there looks pretty suspicious," Naruto said loudly without hesitation, pointing directly at Kabuto. "Wouldn't surprise me if he's a rogue ninja from Konoha."
"Don't the ANBU check the candidates' backgrounds carefully?"
Those sudden words immediately drew attention from the surrounding examinees. Instantly, Team 7 became the center of attention.
"Naruto, what are you saying?!" Sakura whispered nervously, lowering her head as her face turned red.
"I'm not joking," Naruto replied quietly. He pulled Sasuke and Sakura closer and spoke in a voice only they could hear.
"Be careful of the Sound Village ninjas."
He didn't mean much by it—just a casual warning.
The disturbance caught the attention of the examiner, Anko Mitarashi, who walked over.
"Candidates are forbidden from disturbing order in the exam area!"
Then she looked around and addressed everyone.
"Those who haven't received their scrolls yet, come here!"
"This exam's rule is simple: obtain both the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll, and reach the central tower of the Forest of Death within five days. If you fail, you're eliminated."
"Also, if a teammate dies or becomes unable to fight during the test, your team automatically fails."
"And one more rule—do not open the scrolls."
"If you understand, come get your scrolls now! Time is limited, so move quickly!"
Under Anko's urging, the tension eased slightly, and the candidates stopped paying attention to Naruto's earlier comment.
Naruto clicked his tongue, glanced once more toward Kabuto, and went to collect his scroll.
With a loud creak, the rusty iron gate of Training Ground 44 slowly opened.
Teams that had received their scrolls entered one after another, each choosing different directions into the forest.
Some had already targeted specific teams and quietly followed them.
Team 7 walked for quite a while before hiding inside a bush to discuss the most important question right now:
Who should carry the scroll?
The rules were simple.
There were 26 teams in total.Half received the Heaven Scroll, the other half the Earth Scroll.
To pass, a team had to collect both scrolls and survive until the fifth day without any deaths or serious injuries.
Because of that, who held the scroll was extremely important.
"Let Sakura hold it," Naruto suggested.
"Me?" Sakura panicked. "But what if I lose it?"
"It's fine," Naruto said. "If you absolutely can't protect it, just hand it over."
"Sasuke and I can protect ourselves. If you carry the scroll, it at least gives us some flexibility. It's just an exam—there's no reason to risk your life."
"But—"
"No 'buts'," Naruto waved his hand. "Something about this Chūnin Exam feels off."
"You two should be careful. If you run into enemies, just throw the scroll away and escape."
Sasuke immediately caught the hidden meaning in Naruto's words.
"You're planning to move alone?" he asked, frowning.
"What?!" Sakura was completely stunned.
They had just signed a death waiver before entering the exam. If they died in the Forest of Death, no one would interfere.
If Naruto left now, Team 7 would only have two members left.
"Yeah," Naruto nodded seriously. "I have something I need to deal with. Wait here for me."
"You're joking," Sasuke said. "Three people working together is obviously safer than one."
"Well… don't worry about it," Naruto said with a smile. "I promise I'll be back before nightfall."
"If we move together, it'll actually be inconvenient."
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances.
"You're going to steal scrolls, aren't you?" Sasuke said suddenly. "Before entering the exam, you warned us about the Sound ninjas. So you were already targeting them."
"Sound ninjas?" Sakura asked, shocked.
Her expression quickly turned to worry.
"I'll explain when I get back," Naruto said.
Then he leaped away and disappeared into the forest.
Once he was far away from his teammates, Naruto's expression turned cold.
His eyes were filled with indifference.
Those three Sound ninjas had to be dealt with.
If he left them alone, they would inevitably come looking for Sasuke anyway.
Rather than waiting for them to make the first move…
It was better to strike first.
Taking care of them early would make the next few days much safer.
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