Seeing that Hayato Ren completely ignored her, Yuhi Kurenai stamped her feet fiercely, revealing an angry expression.
Her cheeks puffed up like a hamster's, round and utterly adorable.
Witnessing this scene, Hayato Ren could no longer hold back.
He suddenly reached out and firmly poked Yuhi Kurenai's puffed-up cheek with his finger.
With a "poof," her cheek deflated.
Yuhi Kurenai wore an incredulous expression.
Clearly, she hadn't expected Hayato Ren to make such a move.
At the same time, she felt deeply embarrassed by the sound she had just made.
Just then, a boisterous laugh interrupted Yuhi Kurenai's thoughts.
Hayato Ren pointed one finger at Yuhi Kurenai while clutching his stomach with the other hand, letting out an extremely irritating laugh.
"Hahaha... Kurenai, are you trying to make me laugh? Even if you quit being a ninja, you could become a comedian and achieve great success. I've even thought of your signature move for you—the 'farting with your mouth' technique you just demonstrated, haha..."
Hayato Ren's laughter was so infectious that Konan and Nohara Rin, who initially didn't want to laugh, couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Yuhi Kurenai's face turned as red as a tomato.
Even her ears and neck flushed crimson, showing just how much this incident had affected her.
After a brief mental shutdown, Yuhi Kurenai swiftly retaliated against Hayato Ren's behavior.
She lunged forward and bit down hard on the index finger he was pointing at her.
With a "crack," tears welled up in Yuhi Kurenai's eyes.
Biting down without holding back not only failed to harm Hayato Ren but instead made her feel as if she had bitten solid stone, nearly shattering her teeth.
"You... is your body made of stone? How can it be so hard?" Yuhi Kurenai asked tearfully, her voice filled with disbelief.
Hayato Ren gently tapped her forehead with two fingers and replied, "You think you can get back at me? You're still far from it. Train for a few more years before trying again."
After the playful scuffle, Yuhi Kurenai and the other two quickly focused and threw themselves into training.
Although only Leaf Genin were participating in this Chunin Exams, it didn't mean the difficulty would be lower than in previous years.
On the contrary, precisely because all the candidates were Leaf ninjas, the exam's difficulty was even higher than those involving multiple ninja villages to maintain quality.
Thus, Yuhi Kurenai immersed herself in intense training.
"If I fail this exam, it would be truly humiliating."
....
"Are you really planning to have your three young disciples sign up for the Chunin Exams? Isn't this a bit too early?"
Nawaki looked at Hayato Ren with a surprised expression, unable to resist asking.
Hayato Ren picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp before responding leisurely:
"That question doesn't sound like you. Back when you first graduated, didn't you insist on participating in the Chunin Exams? You even said something about becoming the future Hokage and that special cases should be handled specially."
Hearing this, Nawaki immediately showed an embarrassed expression on his face.
Admittedly, he had indeed been a bit arrogant back then, acting as if he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
However, after experiencing the harsh realities of the world...
Looking back at his childish remarks now, they were indeed somewhat embarrassing to mention.
"Enough about irrelevant matters, I'm being serious with you here."
Nawaki tried to steer the conversation back to Hayato Ren.
Hayato Ren looked deeply at Nawaki.
"Of course I'm serious. All three of them have already experienced real combat. The Chunin Exams are nothing to them. When I was their age, I was already hunting enemy ninja alongside White Fang."
"Do you think everyone is a freak like you? Konan and Yuhi Kurenai's abilities should be sufficient, but what about Nohara Rin? Can she handle it?"
Nawaki couldn't help but continue questioning.
"Rin is a medical ninja, and isn't this combat assessment conducted in team format?"
"Oh, that's right. But how do you know the specific details of the assessment?"
Faced with Nawaki's question, Hayato Ren simply revealed a mysterious smile.
"Let's just say I have my own special sources of information."
(Actually, Sarutobi Hiruzen had secretly gone to the bookstore to buy Hayato Ren's "masterpiece," only to be caught red-handed by Hayato Ren himself. Under pressure, he had no choice but to provide information about this Chunin Exam as "hush money" for Hayato Ren.)
"By the way, Minato, are your three students signing up?"
Hayato Ren looked curiously at Namikaze Minato beside him.
Namikaze Minato nodded, but showed a somewhat strange expression.
"Actually, I'm not entirely in favor of them participating in the Chunin Exams so soon, but Kakashi and Obito have been pestering me to let them take part. Reluctantly, I could only let them give it a try."
Namikaze Minato spread his hands with a helpless expression.
"Tch, Minato, you're no good. As a team leader, how can you be threatened by your own students? You lack authority - it's unbecoming."
Nawaki couldn't help but tease.
Hayato Ren chimed in from the side:
"Exactly, exactly. In my team, there's only one voice that matters, and that's mine."
Aside from the restless element that was Yuhi Kurenai, Hayato Ren's team was indeed his absolute domain.
Konan went without saying - she would never disobey Hayato Ren's orders.
And the same went for Nohara Rin.
"Alright, let's not talk about work during leisure time. Let's toast to a wonderful weekend!"
"Cheers!" *2
....
"Any form of cheating is prohibited in this examination. If caught cheating, the entire team will immediately be disqualified from the exam."
A ninja with a long scar across his face stood on the podium, glaring fiercely at the candidates below as he announced the exam rules.
As soon as he finished speaking, the candidates immediately broke into murmurs and discussions.
"Who would've thought? The Chunin Exams even test theoretical knowledge—isn't this just absurd?"
"Exactly, exactly. I returned all my knowledge to the teachers back at graduation."
"Ah, capitalism..."
The scarred ninja slammed the podium in front of him with a heavy thud, producing a loud "bang."
The previously noisy classroom instantly fell silent following the loud noise...