["Kakashi... what are we going to do?"]
[Might Guy said somewhat reluctantly.]
[Kakashi glanced at him.]
["Where is my Youth Training Manual?"]
["It's mine!" Might Guy frowned.]
["Fine, yours it is. Come with me."]
["Oh." Might Guy followed behind Kakashi as if guarding against a thief.]
[He didn't ask anything else; anyway, he would just do whatever Kakashi said.]
["Lee!"]
[Before leaving with Kakashi, Might Guy still gave some encouragement to Team Guy.]
[Well... to be precise, it was for Rock Lee.]
["Teacher Guy!"]
[Rock Lee also immediately gave a thumbs-up to Might Guy, revealing his white, gleaming teeth.]
[Soon, Team Guy met up with Team 7.]
["Team Ten and Team Eight arrived long ago; they've probably been waiting for us for quite a while."]
["Let's go in."]
[Opening the door to the examination hall.]
[The group walked inside.]
[When Team 7 and Team Guy entered the examination hall, what met their eyes was a large group of Genin.]
[Fortunately, almost everyone wore a forehead protector, so their origins could be seen at a glance.]
[However.]
[Team 7 and Team Guy were clearly slower than the others.]
[And they came in together.]
[As soon as they entered the hall, the gazes of over a hundred people immediately turned toward them.]
[There were quite a few whose eyes were fierce, cold, and filled with killing intent.]
[As the hosts, Konoha was naturally hated by these Genin who had come to participate in the Chunin Joint Exam.]
["So many people~" Rock Lee blinked.]
[Being stared at by so many people at once, even he couldn't immediately get fired up.]
["Hmph!" Neji snorted coldly.]
[His Byakugan swept over the Genin who had killing intent in their eyes.]
[Within his sight, there were some Genin who could meet Neji's Byakugan gaze, but not many.]
[Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.]
[At first glance, he accurately found his target.]
[At the same time, in the back row of seats, Kankuro also narrowed his eyes slightly, meeting Sasuke's gaze.]
["It's him~!" Temari's eyes lit up as she looked at Naruto.]
[Dammit!]
[Don't look!]
[Sakura immediately became alert.]
[Noticing the gazes of those female Ninjas lingering on Naruto, she immediately prepared to pull Naruto to find a seat.]
["Darling~"]
[Just then, a golden figure pounced over.]
[Sakura: "..."]
[Ino-pig!]
[The soft and fragrant girl crashed into his arms.]
[Naruto said with a mix of helplessness and indulgence, "You really aren't shy at all."]
[Ino blinked her big eyes, feigning innocence.]
["Hey, hey, Ino, pay a little attention to your image," Shikamaru said helplessly.]
["What does it matter?" Ino countered.]
[Shikamaru: "..."]
["Whatever you say." What else could Shikamaru say?]
[But soon he smiled again, "Everything is going smoothly."]
[Naruto nodded, "There's still plenty of time; no need to be in such a hurry to take a stand."]
[Shikamaru retracted his smile and nodded, "I understand, I'll say it."]
[The group chatted as if no one else were there, seemingly oblivious to the sharp gazes of others.]
[Sasuke scanned the surroundings and let out a cold laugh.]
[Everyone here is trash!]
["Naruto-kun~"]
[At this time, Team Eight also walked over.]
[Now, everyone's gazes converged on them once again.]
[The Konoha Twelve Small Strongs had gathered.]
[Inside the hall, none of the Genin could ignore them.]
[Invisibly, it seemed to have evolved into a confrontation between the Konoha Twelve Small Strongs and all the other Ninjas present.]
["It seems we weren't exposed that day." In the crowd, Dosu Kinuta, with his back hunched, gave a sinister smile.]
["Should we go say hello?" Zaku Abumi crossed his arms, looking askance at Sasuke below.]
["Good suggestion."]
[The two looked at each other, then hid in the crowd and slowly moved down.]
[Kin Tsuchi crossed her arms and swaggered down, drawing attention.]
["Aowu~"]
["We've been waiting so long we're getting a bit sleepy."]
[Inuzuka Kiba yawned, stretched his limbs, and rubbed his eyes as he walked over.]
["Woof~" Akamaru barked softly.]
[Looking at Naruto, his tail began to wag unconsciously.]
[Shino followed silently behind the two with his hands in his pockets.]
[After Naruto greeted them with a smile.]
[His gaze suddenly froze.]
[An inexplicable feeling of familiarity rushed to his heart.]
[This feeling was very strange.]
[At the same time, in the crowd, a figure hunched over, trying to minimize her presence as much as possible.]
[Underneath red-framed glasses, those big eyes unconsciously looked down at the extremely conspicuous Konoha Genin.]
['How strange... why... why do I feel warmth from that person... and can't help but want to get close to him?']
[Naruto's heart stirred; sensing that gaze, he was about to look over.]
[Just then, a voice rang out abruptly.]
["Hey, you guys!"]
["It's better to be a bit quieter."]
[The voice was gentle, yet it carried a hint of warning.]
[The rookies looked toward the source of the sound.]
[They saw a young man whose age didn't match most of the Genin present walking over.]
[He wore glasses and had short blue-white hair, looking somewhat refined.]
[He walked up to the rookies familiarly, a look of understanding in his eyes. "I see."]
["You guys just graduated from the Ninja Academy and are taking the Chunin Exams for the first time, right?"]
[Looking at the forehead protector on the newcomer's head.]
[The rookies didn't let down their guard because of it; they didn't speak, just watched him silently.]
["Heh, do you guys know that your voices are a bit loud?"]
[Sasuke frowned slightly; Kiba twitched the corner of his mouth and stepped forward, somewhat annoyed.]
[The other party's "I'm doing this for your own good" and "I've been through this" attitude made Kiba very uncomfortable.]
["So what?"]
["Not much." The newcomer maintained his smile.]
["However, you'd better take a look at everyone else." As he spoke, the newcomer pointed behind him.]
[Everyone instinctively looked.]
[In this way, almost all the Genin present were also looking at them.]
[Because of that over-familiar guy, in an instant, the gazes directed at Naruto and the others became much more hostile.]
["Hmph!"]
["If you're looking for death, you can keep talking."]
[Neji glanced at Yakushi Kabuto.]
["He seems to be looking out for us, but in reality, he exposed the fact that we're rookies as soon as he arrived. We were already being watched, and now almost everyone knows we're newcomers," Tenten said in an unfriendly tone.]
["Hey, what's your name?" Shikamaru's brow furrowed; his intuition told him this person had some issues.]
["Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Yakushi Kabuto."]
["Get lost," Sasuke said coldly, just as Yakushi Kabuto was about to continue.]
[Yakushi Kabuto: "..."]
[He pushed his glasses up awkwardly but politely.]
[He took a deep look at Sasuke.]
['Uchiha Sasuke... is this Lord Orochimaru's target this time?']
[Immediately after, Yakushi Kabuto smiled again.]
["It was my oversight."]
["However, I had no intention of harming you."]
["If you don't believe me, look. The Rain Ninjas behind you aren't that patient."]
["You've been noisy since you came in... if you provoke them..."]
[Yakushi Kabuto didn't finish, just smiled.]
[Everyone looked again.]
[Sure enough, they saw Ninjas from the Hidden Rain Village.]
[But...]
[If they get annoyed, then...?]
[How could such a cute little loli be someone ruthless and cruel?]
[However, the two Rain Ninjas beside the little loli did look somewhat fierce.]
['Is Hanzou still alive?' Naruto's gaze lingered for a moment on the attire of 'Mubi' and 'Oboro'.]
[This was very similar to the outfit of Hanzou, known as the Demi-God, whom he had seen before.]
[But in the information sent back recently, descriptions of the Hidden Rain Village faintly hinted at Hanzou's death.]
[Then, Naruto's gaze landed on the figure between Mubi and Oboro.]
[It was a very cute little loli.]
[She seemed to be saying something to her companions beside her.]
[Naruto's ears twitched.]
[Not only was the little loli cute, but her voice was as melodious as a mountain spring.]
['She looks a bit younger than us...']