"Sasuke, you're so slow. I've been looking forward to seeing Sasuke again after so long, and I've been waiting eagerly!" While Sakura and the others were curiously observing the examinees, Ino suddenly rushed out from behind and hugged Sasuke tightly.
"Get away from Sasuke, you big fat pig, Ino!" Seeing Ino's actions, Sakura instantly flew into a rage.
"Oh my, isn't this Sakura? Your forehead is still as big as ever, you ugly monster, Sakura!" Hearing Sakura's words, Ino retorted without backing down at all.
"What did you say?!" Hearing Ino's words, Sakura became even angrier.
The commotion from their side attracted the attention of many examinees. Takeru watched the girls with amusement.
One had to admit, the girls in the Naruto World matured really early, starting to think about love and romance from the age of six, and now at twelve, it was even more pronounced.
And Takeru knew even better that Ino and Sakura were originally very close best friends, but because of Sasuke, they became rivals...
"What's this, this troublesome exam, are you guys taking it too?" While Ino and Sakura were bickering, Shikamaru, with Choji who was munching on chips beside him, came over and said.
"What's this, the idiot trio!" Seeing Shikamaru and the others, Naruto directly mocked them.
"Don't say that, really, what a bother!" Hearing Naruto's words, Shikamaru said somewhat angrily.
"Yahoo, found you! This is great, everyone's here so rarely!" At that moment, Kiba with Akamaru on his head, along with Hinata and Shino, walked over.
As the nine rookies gathered, many people turned their gazes towards them.
"You guys are here too? What a pain," Shikamaru complained again upon seeing Kiba and the others.
"I see. All nine rookie Genin this year are taking the exam. So, how far can we go, what do you think, Sasuke?" Kiba directly focused his gaze on Sasuke.
After all, as the top of their class, someone as proud as Kiba paid the most attention to him, always thinking of surpassing him.
"Hmph, you seem quite composed, Kiba," Hearing Kiba's seemingly provocative words, Sasuke calmly replied.
"We've been training hard. We won't lose to you," Kiba continued in response to Sasuke.
"You guys are so annoying. Forget about Sasuke, how could I possibly lose to guys like you!" On Naruto's side, hearing Kiba's words, he spoke loudly.
"I-I'm sorry, Kiba didn't mean it like that..." Hearing Naruto's words, Hinata blushed and said to Naruto.
"Huh?" Because the voice was a bit soft, Naruto curiously looked at Hinata. However, under Naruto's gaze, Hinata shyly lowered her head.
"That's strange, Takeru-nii. That guy with the sunglasses over there has a lot of strange auras coming from him. It's like many things are parasitizing on his body," Suddenly, Ui, using her Observation Haki to sense Shino, felt that Shino's body contained a vast number of auras.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a creeping sensation. There were simply too many auras, as if his whole body was composed of these small creatures.
If not for Shino's own aura being slightly stronger...
"Mm, those are some special little insects. Probably a kind of secret technique," Hearing Ui's words, Takeru nodded slightly and said.
Ritsu, hearing Takeru and Ui's discussion, also tried to sense it and felt extremely frightened. If it were Mio, she probably would have fainted on the spot.
"Hey, you guys, it's better to keep it down a bit," Just as the nine rookie Genin were chatting, Kabuto, playing the role of the good guy, the dream-fulfilling master, stepped forward.
"You guys must be fresh graduates from the Ninja Academy, right? Brand new rookies. You're so cute, yet making such a racket, really. This isn't a field trip."
"Who are you? Why do you talk like you're so great?" Hearing Kabuto's words, Ino spoke impatiently.
"I'm Yakushi Kabuto. But more importantly, look around first," Kabuto kindly reminded them.
Looking around, they realized that because of their earlier noise, almost everyone in the classroom had turned their attention to them, some with unfriendly stares.
"Those guys behind you are from Amegakure. They're hot-tempered. Everyone's on edge before the exam, so I'm warning you before you cause any trouble," Kabuto spoke gently.
Hearing Kabuto's words, the nine realized that Kabuto was actually looking out for them.
"It can't be helped. You guys are all rookies who can't tell left from right. It reminds me of my former self," Seeming to notice the confusion in their eyes, Kabuto softly explained.
"Is it Kabuto-senpai? Then... are you taking the exam for the second time?" Sakura hesitantly asked.
"No, it's the seventh time. Because this exam is held twice a year, this is already the fourth year," Kabuto replied calmly.
Hearing Kabuto's words, Ui somehow thought of Tonpa from the Hunter Exam and instantly suspected Kabuto might be that kind of rookie crusher...
During the Hunter Exam, Ui had naturally seen Tonpa, and he had even tried to strike up a conversation with them. However, with their Observation Haki, hearing others' conversations, they hadn't fallen for it at all.
"So, that means Kabuto-senpai knows a lot about the exam, right?" Sakura said happily after hearing this.
"More or less," hearing Sakura's words, Kabuto smiled lightly.
"Wow, Kabuto-senpai is amazing!" Naruto said with admiration.
"But, you've never passed," Shikamaru, however, looked skeptical.
"And that's how it is now," Hearing Shikamaru say that, Kabuto scratched his head sheepishly.
"The Chunin Exam is really that hard? Really, this is getting more and more troublesome," Seeing Kabuto's demeanor, Shikamaru frowned deeply, feeling it was an immense hassle.
"Well then, for my cute juniors, I'll share a little information with you. Using this Ninja Info Card!"
"Simply put, it's a card that uses chakra to turn information into symbols, then imprints them. To prepare for the exam, over four years, I've collected information and prepared nearly 200 such cards. They look blank. To unfold the information on this card, you need to use my Chakra."
As Kabuto spoke, he demonstrated for everyone. Soon, they saw information and diagrams appear on the previously blank card.
"Amazing! What's written on it?" Sakura asked curiously.
"The total number of participants in this Chunin Exams and the participating countries, then how many examinees are from each Ninja Village. Why do you think the Chunin Exams is held jointly by all countries?"
After a brief explanation, Kabuto asked them another question. Faced with Kabuto's question, the nine remained silent.
"First, to deepen friendship between nations. Second, it's said to be for the purpose of mutually improving Ninjas' abilities," Kabuto stated directly.
"Said to be?"
"Yes. The true purpose is to ascertain the level of Ninjas from neighboring countries, balance the power of each country as much as possible, thereby achieving a state of equilibrium," Kabuto revealed one of the purposes of the Chunin Exams.
This was also to prevent weaker countries from being immediately conquered by stronger ones, or even unilaterally dominated. There was also an element of mutual deterrence.
As for these matters, Naruto and Sasuke clearly weren't very interested.
"Do you have cards with detailed personal information?" Sasuke directly interrupted Kabuto's speech and asked.
"Yes, there are. Is there someone you're particularly concerned about?" Hearing Sasuke's words, Kabuto nodded calmly.
"Yes," Sasuke answered without hesitation.
"Is that so? Although the information on this year's examinees isn't complete, I've saved it all. Of course, that includes yours," Kabuto said frankly.
"Tell me about the person you're concerned with, whatever you know. I'll look it up for you," Kabuto continued.
"Gaara from Sunagakure, and from Konoha, Nara Takeru and Rock Lee," Sasuke said directly.
Shikamaru beside him, hearing there was a member of his own clan, was somewhat puzzled, but he had no impression of Takeru at all.
In the corner, Ui and Ritsu, who had been watching all along, were taken aback when they heard Sasuke mention Takeru's name.
Takeru signaled for the two not to worry. The reason was probably his single act of saving Konohamaru seven days ago.
From the side, Takeru was also very curious about what information about him Kabuto possessed.