Except for those who were killed by other teams, all of the remaining clones had returned to help him in the battle.
So, there were only four of those left. After they dispelled themselves, Naruto didn't receive much Chakra.
He went to check those ninjas, pulling them up from the ground. He tied them using a rope and took their scroll.
[Heaven Scroll]
Reading the title, Naruto smirked and waved his hands towards Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, we got Heaven's Scroll. We can cross the third stage now."
"Hmm! That was fast."
Sakura couldn't help but feel surprised at how fast Naruto ended this battle. It shouldn't have been possible.
After all, Naruto didn't have the strength to defeat these enemies with a single punch. He would need a few more punches.
And even more so, these enemies were using their various techniques to hide. That made things even more difficult.
Generally speaking, Naruto should've required their help, but he only asked for Sasuke's help.
And, it was only one strike. Sasuke destroy that's clones, and Naruto took care of the rest.
"Hahaha! I don't know why, but I feel much better after I woke up."
Naruto burst into laughter as he rubbed the back of his head.
Soon, they traveled towards the central tower with two scrolls.
While they were moving, they didn't even realize someone was following them.
'Hmm! I never thought Naruto would be this strong. It seems like my information is lacking.'
'His attacks seemed precise and powerful. He should've been worse at Chakra Control, but he seems better.'
'Did something happen after they met Orochimaru-sama, or was it always like this?'
'But if it was like this, he shouldn't have performed so badly in the academy.'
This mysterious figure slowly revealed his face to the light. If Naruto were here, he should've been shocked.
Since this person was none other than Kabuto, the senior ninja from their village.
This was just Kabuto. There were still many ninjas who had seen Naruto before and knew him personally.
His change wasn't normal, and it was bound to trigger some confusion and questions.
But that was for later.
As Naruto and his team strolled through the Forest of Death and reached the tower.
Upon reaching there, Naruto looked around and saw several lines about Heaven and Earth written on the wall.
"So, what do you guys think this is?"
"If Heaven's qualities are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities you lack, then train your bodies, prepare to attack."
Sakura read the context on the wall, but she couldn't understand it.
At this moment, Naruto felt like he was having some sort of flashback as he, Sakura, Sasuke, and Iruka stood there talking about this.
As he remembered that, he spoke.
"Could this be that if we lack the intellect to become a Chunin, we need to read more books, and if we lack the strength to become a Chunin, we need to train hard?"
Hearing that, both Sakura and Sasuke looked at him with surprise.
Sakura thought about it and nodded.
"That sounds about right! So, that's what it meant. We need a strong body and mind to become a Chunin."
Sasuke nodded and said.
"That's why the first test was a written test where we could cheat, even though cheating is bad."
"If we don't have information, we need to use our intellect to gather it. That's a part of being a ninja."
Sakura's eyebrows rose as she said.
"And the second test was about fighting other ninjas for the scroll. This scroll represent mission, and to complete it, we need strength to fight enemies."
"But what should we do next?"
"Let's just open them together!"
Naruto said.
Sakura nodded, and two of them opened the scroll at the same time. Suddenly, a lot of smoke emerged from the scroll.
"Oh no, that's a summoning scroll! Naruto, Sakrua, throw the scroll away!"
Before he said that, Naruto had already grabbed Sakura's scroll and thrown it away.
Then, he looked back at Sasuke and smirked.
"You were too slow, Sasuke. I already knew that."
"That's a surprise."
Sasuke mumbled.
"Yeah, it's getting more and more confusing. How did you suddenly become so smart, Naruto? And, don't try to dodge the question this time."
"We know how smart you are. This isn't something that you can change overnight."
Sakura stared at Naruto, with a little bit of fear, as she asked.
"You weren't affected by that ninja, were you?"
She was worried that somehow Orochimaru had affected Naruto, which changed Naruto.
Naruto froze as her fear reminded him of the past. But before he could speak, the smoke on the scroll disappeared as Iruka appeared.
"Congratulations, Team Seven! You have made it to the tower on the fourth day."
Iruka spoke with a bright smile.
"Originally, Kakashi was supposed to be here, but he got busy with something, and I got a chance to receive you three."
"Since you have brought both scrolls, you have successfully passed the second stage of the Chunin Exam."
When three of them heard his words, they were stunned for a moment.
Only Naruto recovered instantly as he cheered.
"Horray! Iruka-sensei, you must treat us to Ichiraku Ramen."
Seeing his reaction, Sakura and Sasuke's expressions returned to normal as they sighed and shook their heads.
They knew Naruto had been a bit different, but they couldn't tell where.
He had gotten smarter and stronger, but they didn't know why.
"Alright! Tomorrow is the last day for the Chunin Exam. After that, there is still the third round."
"After having Ramen, you need to return here and stay here until the end of the Chunin exam, understand?"
"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei!"
Naruto gave his teacher a thumbs up and turned to his team.
"Let's go have some Ramen!"
"Alright!"
But just before they left, a swirling wind and leaves appeared in front of them, revealing a Jonin with a mask and silver hair.
"Kakashi Sensei!"
Naruto excitedly waved his hand and said.
"We were just about to go for Ramen. Do you want to go together?"