In the designated classroom for the exam.
The room was buzzing with activity. Over a hundred ninja from various villages, including Konoha, Sunagakure, Amegakure, and Otogakure, were gathered, waiting for the Chunin Exams to begin.
Suddenly, creak!
With a sound that set one's teeth on edge, the classroom door was pushed open. Three figures walked in—it was Team 7, fashionably late.
"Aaaah! Sasuke, I've missed you so much! What took you so long!"
As soon as they entered, a girl with a blonde ponytail and a face like a blooming peach blossom threw herself at Sasuke.
SMACK!
A figure flashed in front of her, pressing a hand against her head. "Ino-pig! Stay away from my Sasuke!"
It was Sakura.
Ino tried to push forward but found herself completely blocked, unable to move an inch. She took a step back and glared at the person stopping her.
"Billboard-brow! Get out of my way!"
"No!"
"Are you going to move or not?"
"No, no, no! Come and get me if you can! Nyaah!" Sakura stuck out her tongue and made a face.
"Aaaah! Billboard-brow, I challenge you to a duel!" Ino shrieked in frustration and was about to charge forward and engage in a battle of eight hundred rounds.
But for some reason, the moment she moved, her hands were inexplicably pinned behind her back by Sakura, rendering her completely immobile.
"Hehe, Ino-pig, I'm a lot stronger than you now," Sakura said with a playful grin.
She was now half-draped over Ino's back, holding her hands with her right hand and cupping her chin with her left, turning her head to face her.
The pose was, to say the least, quite intimate. The two of them had been best friends since they were children and had only become rivals because of their shared affection for Sasuke, which was why they always argued whenever they met.
But even so, they still considered each other best friends in their hearts, which was why Sakura had no qualms about acting this way.
"Damn it, how did you get so strong!" After a few fruitless struggles, Ino gave up with a look of resignation, gritting her teeth.
She hadn't seen much of Sakura lately and had no idea about the special training she and the others had been receiving from Goku, which was why she was so surprised by her newfound strength.
"Sigh, why are you guys here too? This is such a drag." Just then, an incredibly lazy voice sounded out.
A listless, thin boy and a chubby boy who was munching on potato chips walked over to them. The one who had spoken was the former.
They were Shikamaru and Choji, Ino's teammates, from the renowned Ino-Shika-Cho trio of Konoha.
"Ha, so you're all here. Looks like all of us recent graduates have arrived." Before Naruto and the others could reply, another group of three walked over.
One was a brash-looking boy with a dog on his head, another a cool and aloof boy wearing sunglasses, and the last a shy girl with a perpetual blush on her cheeks.
The one who had spoken was the first. They were Kiba Inuzuka from the Inuzuka clan, Shino Aburame from the Aburame clan, and Hinata Hyuga from the Hyuga clan.
What followed was a lively scene as the old classmates began greeting each other.
"Hey, Naruto, I haven't seen you guys on any missions lately. What have you been up to?" Kiba asked.
As genin, they mostly took on D-rank missions, which usually involved trivial tasks like finding lost cats and dogs.
As a result, they would often run into each other around the village. But for the past month, Naruto and his team had been training with Goku almost every day.
They hadn't taken on a single mission, drastically reducing their visibility in the village, which was why Kiba was curious.
"We've been training, of course!" Naruto said with a grin, his hands behind his head.
"Training? So you're pretty confident about this exam, then?"
"Of course! Especially me! I'm going to take first place!" Naruto declared, pointing a finger in the air, his expression full of confidence.
"First place isn't necessarily yours, Naruto!" Just then, Rock Lee suddenly appeared and interjected. He had been at the back of the classroom and had only just now made his way over.
"Thick-eyebrows, first place is definitely mine!" Naruto reaffirmed, then pointed behind Lee. "Are those two your teammates?"
Not far behind Lee, a girl in a pink qipao and a cool-looking boy with long hair were watching them.
"Yes! They're my teammates, Neji and Tenten!" Lee replied.
"I hear you..."
"You rookies... I'd advise you to keep a lower profile, or you're going to have problems."
An interjecting voice cut off Naruto's sentence. A silver-haired young man, adjusting his glasses, walked over with a gentle expression.
He was the greatest actor in the shinobi world, Kabuto Yakushi. On the surface, he was a rookie genin who had failed the Chunin Exams multiple times.
In reality, he was a super-spy that Orochimaru had planted in Konoha years ago!
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, looking at him with suspicion.
Although the man was exuding an air of goodwill, as if he were trying to help them, for some reason, Naruto's ki sense told him that this person's aura felt somewhat sinister.
"My name is Kabuto. I'm your senior," Kabuto said with a gentle smile, pushing up his glasses.
Without giving them a chance to reply, he pointed to the back of the room and continued, "Look, all these people here to take the exam are not very happy with you right now."
Naruto and the others looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that among the large crowd of people sitting in their chairs, many were now glaring at them, especially at Naruto, with ill intent.
They had clearly all heard his bold declaration of taking first place.
"Hehe, I'm not afraid of them!" A normal person would likely have panicked and backed down immediately, but Naruto was clearly not a normal person.
Not only was he not scared, but he stared right back at them and, pointing a finger, declared with soaring spirits, "Listen up, all of you! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm definitely going to take first place in this exam!"
At these words, the entire classroom fell silent. Not only were the strangers stunned, but even those who knew Naruto, like Kiba and Shikamaru, were frozen in place, feeling that the former class clown had somehow changed.
Although his tone was as arrogant as ever, there seemed to be something new behind it, something called confidence.
"Hey, Naruto, I'm the one who's going to take first place," Sasuke, as if infected by Naruto's tone, said, uncharacteristically engaging in the verbal sparring.
"You two are really..." Hearing their declarations, Sakura put a hand to her forehead, a tiny version of herself screaming in her mind:
I know you're both really strong now, but please be a little more low-key!
After a brief moment of shock, two of the hot-tempered individuals that Naruto had pointed at slammed their hands on their desks and stood up.
"You brats, don't get so cocky! Today, we're going to teach you some manners!"
With that, the two of them flickered, attacking Naruto and Sasuke from the left and right!
Swoosh!
But their attacks hit nothing but air. At some point, Naruto and Sasuke had already flashed to another spot, leaving only afterimages that slowly faded.
Their skills are truly impressive. But this is all within my expectations,' Kabuto thought, a sharp glint in his eyes as he witnessed the scene.
"All of you bastards! Settle down!" Just then, a fierce voice suddenly roared.
A puff of white smoke suddenly appeared in a space in the classroom.
A group of ninja with imposing auras emerged from the smoke, and the one who had spoken was their leader—the head proctor, Ibiki Morino!