Chapter 70 – legend of the white snake
The vast examination hall.
Naruto pushed open the door; the Genin inside turned to look at them.
He ignored those eyes brimming with every emotion under the sun.
With his strength, saying "every one of you here is trash" wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
But a few people made him curious enough to take a second glance.
The first was Yakushi Kabuto.
He was easy to spot.
Glasses, white hair, Konoha forehead protector, mid-twenties.
More importantly, his Chakra far exceeded that of a Genin.
He'd hidden it well, but in front of Naruto it was useless.
Besides, the moment Sasuke walked in, Kabuto's gaze never left him.
It was even more devoted than Sakura's.
Naruto was kind of curious how he'd strike up a conversation.
The original's reckless protagonist was missing this time around.
But this was still Yakushi Kabuto, the three-time turncoat—no, triple agent.
During the Chunin Exams, Naruto was ready to hand him an Oscar.
Apart from Kabuto, there were Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro from Sunagakure.
They were just as easy to recognize.
Gaara was dressed in red, the kanji for "love" carved into his forehead, a huge gourd on his back.
Those heavy dark circles made him look like a panda.
Because Shukaku was inside him, he didn't dare sleep.
Right now, thanks to his twisted childhood and his father's bizarre antics, Gaara wanted to kill everyone in sight, like a berserk power-drill.
But in the later stages his personality was actually pretty good.
Behind him were his teammates—his older brother and sister.
Kankuro played with puppets—no, substitutions.
Temari wielded a giant fan; during this exam she'd hit it off with Shikamaru and eventually marry into Konoha.
Orochimaru probably wouldn't show up for the first test.
Naruto located Hinata.
Shino tactfully stood up and vacated the seat to his left.
"Thanks."
The conspicuous gesture drew Naruto's attention.
"No problem."
Shino adjusted his glasses.
Naruto greeted Kiba and Akamaru, then sat down.
As for Sasuke, he was already trapped between Ino and Sakura.
Shikamaru found it troublesome and stayed far away.
Choji munched on chips; the world had nothing to do with him.
A few seconds later Kabuto appeared, smiling. "Pretty ladies, it's best to keep quiet in the exam hall."
Only then did Ino and Sakura notice the unfriendly stares.
"Ah, sorry."
"No worries. You're Ino, right?"
Kabuto's gentle tone was comforting. "My name's Kabuto. My team leader is Yamanaka Inoichi; he asked me to look after you."
That was arranged by Danzo.
Ino maintained her ladylike posture. "So you're Senior Kabuto."
Kabuto pulled out a stack of cards and began his performance.
Even Sasuke became interested.
"You're saying these Ninja Info Cards hold data on every participant? Then who are the strongest?"
Kabuto wasn't surprised.
He swiftly drew a card.
It was Hyuga Neji.
"First, from Konoha, apart from you, the strongest should be this Hyuga Neji, a genius from the branch family."
"Anyone else?"
Sasuke heard his own name mentioned.
Not bad—someone with taste.
He glanced over Neji's hexagonal stats; taijutsu especially stood out.
But clearly it was still an underestimate.
In his mind, among this year's Genin, Narutoranked first, himself second, Neji third, Hinatafourth—all Jonin level.
The stats on Kabuto's cards only went up to Chunin.
Naruto, though, should be a perfect hexagon, every stat maxed out.
"Gaara of Sunagakure."
Kabuto produced a second card. "An outsider taking part for the first time; intel is limited, but he's completed a B-rank mission. You know how impressive that is for a Genin—he's dangerous."
Sasuke's face was blank.
After completing an S-rank mission, a B-rank didn't impress him.
"As expected of an Uchiha."
Kabuto praised, slipping in a bit of flattery.
At the same time he mentally filed away Sasuke's data.
Unmoved by praise or blame—possessing the bearing of a great general.
Kabuto went on to explain the number of participants, the significance of the exam, and so on.
Only the original's masochistic clash with the Sound trio was missing.
Naruto didn't care.
Having Kabuto give them a briefing was fine.
In the end Orochimaru wouldn't be taking Sasukeaway.
A short while later
Head proctor Ibiki Morino appeared.
He wore a black coat, two scars on his face.
As head of Konoha's Torture & Interrogation Unit, he excelled at terrifying children.
His opening line: "Any idiot who defies me is out—immediately."
Once order was restored, he began handing out seat numbers.
Naruto was 53, Hinata 54.
Same as the original.
Ibiki picked up a piece of chalk and laid out the rules.
Simple.
Everyone started with ten points, deducted for wrong answers.
One point lost per wrong answer, two points for every instance of cheating.
The team's combined score would be the final result.
Naruto received his test paper.
One look confirmed it: questions he couldn't afford.
His usual grades were decent, but these were far beyond Genin level.
Probably only Sakura could answer them.
She was the kind of academic goddess who devoured extracurricular knowledge.
Naturally Naruto turned in a blank sheet.
He chose instead to admire the lovely Hinata.
"…"
Hinata's face turned crimson as she wrote.
By the end she didn't even know what she was scribbling.
Meanwhile Sasuke and the others began a cheating contest.
Forty-five minutes in, Ibiki announced the final question.
A terror question.
Choose not to answer—whole team fails.
Choose to answer and get it wrong—forever remain a Genin.
Naruto sat unmoved, still watching his future wife.
Finally Ibiki declared that everyone who stayed had passed.
Only then did Hinata breathe a sigh of relief.
She'd gotten a ton of answers wrong.
Immediately the second proctor, Anko Mitarashi, burst through the window in her own unconventional style.
Luckily she wasn't in her future "sweet-potato" shape yet.
Otherwise a single pane of glass wouldn't have been enough.
She declared she'd eliminate half the candidates.
Naruto thought of the second exam—no surprise: Heaven and Earth scrolls meant cutting the numbers in half.
He said goodbye to his friends and returned to the Treehouse.
Suddenly his heart gave a violent lurch.
A flood of memories surged into his mind.
But before he could look, unimaginable pain filled him.
First a fierce burning, as if his body were roasting forever in a furnace that never went out.
Then the sensation of being flayed alive, chunks of flesh sliced away.
Finally a tearing feeling, limbs shredded apart.
It hurt so much he nearly passed out.
Damn it.
What the hell did that Shadow Clone do?
This is insane!
[Congratulations, host, for unlocking the active achievement: legend of the white snake.]
[host will receive one targeted draw, one normal draw, ten stat points, and a special buff.]
[Special Buff: When fortune smiles, heaven and earth conspire; tonight you are the chosen one, the only one.]
[Note: This lucky buff lasts one week.]
"???"
Naruto wondered if the pain was making him hallucinate.
Or if he'd opened the system the wrong way.
He shut his eyes, then opened them again.
Reading those lines, he couldn't help saying, "Oh, Shadow Clone—my superhero!"
This portion of the Chunin Exams is sponsored by the Shadow Clone "Fool." The author has nothing to do with it (laughs). P.S. Some big shots got it wrong—spoiler: the Shadow Clone isn't Xu Xian, it's someone else.