Chapter 72: The Chūnin Exams Begin – The Bizarre Written Test
Naruto shrugged, his tone completely indifferent.
"I already said it—your little brother started it by running his mouth. You didn't discipline him."
"So I had to help you out."
"Otherwise—if someone else had been in my place—I can't guarantee your brother wouldn't have ended up dead!"
Naruto spoke as if he were discussing something completely trivial.
And just like he said—
with Kankurō's personality,
if no one stepped in,
sooner or later he'd offend someone he really shouldn't.
And in that case—he wouldn't live long!
This world wasn't like the anime.
There was no protagonist halo or plot armor guaranteeing survival.
This was a real, brutal world.
Temari's beautiful eyes looked like they could shoot flames.
She snapped open her giant folding fan.
Ready to blast Naruto away with a gust.
But right at that critical moment—
Gaara stepped in and stopped her.
Temari looked confused. She didn't understand why Gaara would intervene.
Was he afraid she'd accidentally kill Naruto?
Gaara spoke calmly:
"You really are strong. But I don't want to fight you here. If we do—the commotion will attract the other Konoha ninja."
After a pause, Gaara continued—his voice completely devoid of emotion:
"I hope to face you during the Chūnin Exams."
"That way—I can kill you openly and honorably."
Temari was stunned. She never expected her little brother to have this in mind.
She had no intention of stopping him.
Naruto had just beaten Kankurō half to death!
How could she—as the older sister—not be furious?
Gaara was still the same Gaara.
To be precise—
the current Gaara wasn't yet Kazekage.
He had far fewer concerns.
He was simply an emotionless human weapon built for killing.
His personality was decisive and ruthless.
If not for that last sentence,
Naruto might have thought the kid had actually changed.
Naruto gave a light laugh.
"Sure. I'm looking forward to it too."
"After all—Sunagakure is too small. There aren't many decent ninja there to be your opponents."
"You—!!!"
Temari's brows furrowed tightly. She glared viciously at Naruto.
Those words were a direct slap to the face of every Suna ninja.
She couldn't just pretend she didn't hear that.
But Gaara remained unfazed.
"Let's go—see if Kankurō's dead or not."
"If he's dead—just have someone send the body back to Suna."
Temari wanted to settle the score with Naruto right then and there!
But remembering Naruto's terrifying instant-movement ninjutsu earlier,
she realized—without knowing how to counter it,
rushing in blindly would be foolish.
After all—she wasn't stupid.
Charging in when you know you'll lose wasn't bravery—it was idiocy!
Before leaving, Temari shot Naruto one final glare.
It clearly said: You wait for me!
Kankurō wasn't dead.
But he was in bad shape.
Two broken ribs.
Covered in dirt and dust—he looked utterly miserable.
Crow's damage was severe too.
It would need materials for repairs.
Another annoying hassle.
Gaara obviously wasn't going to help carry Kankurō.
He gave his brother a cold glance from above.
The lid of the massive gourd on his back opened.
Rustle rustle rustle—
Golden sand poured from the gourd's mouth.
Under Gaara's chakra control,
the sand formed a makeshift stretcher.
Lifting Kankurō off the ground.
Gaara didn't care whether Kankurō lived or died.
But they were still from the same village.
Family came second.
Gaara didn't feel much attachment to Sunagakure,
but he also didn't want Suna ninja to be casually bullied outside.
There was another reason.
He didn't want to see Temari helping carry Kankurō.
With one hand holding Crow—
that would slow them down too much.
After the Suna trio left,
Naruto also departed shortly after.
Lately he hadn't seen his big wife Hinata in several days.
On another note—
having lived two lives,
he couldn't possibly spend every day hanging out with kids his age, right?
Even though he didn't need to train like others—it still felt pointless.
Let's calculate—how old is Mei Terumī right now?
Almost thirty!
And him?
Just twelve or thirteen.
Meeting the youngest version of himself at the peak of her beauty?
No matter how you look at it—Mei Terumī is the one profiting.
Of course, Naruto definitely wouldn't consider any of this until he was seventeen or eighteen.
Right now the age gap was a bit awkward.
Besides—he hadn't even met Mei yet.
Thinking about it now was way too early!
He needed to find a way to sneak into Kirigakure.
Using a puppet shadow clone?
That was actually a pretty good idea.
But there were still many details to carefully consider.
Changing appearance was easy.
But without a believable, reasonable identity,
he'd be found out quickly.
After all—every village's elite intelligence division wasn't just for show.
After Naruto left,
the others soon dispersed as well.
Sasuke returned early to the Uchiha compound and began serious, intense training again.
He could accept Naruto having a lead over him!
But the gap couldn't be too big!
After witnessing Naruto's new techniques today,
it only fueled his determination even more.
"Wait for me! One day—I will catch up to you! Naruto."
Bang—
Another kunai struck dead center on the target.
Sasuke could now hit the bullseye eight or nine times out of ten.
But what puzzled him was—
why did Naruto almost never use kunai?
Whatever—he'd use them himself.
A few more days passed.
Many small incidents happened in between.
Today the sun was shining brightly.
Konoha's hosted Chūnin Exams had finally begun!
A middle-aged man with a scar across his face stood at the center of the exam hall.
His appearance was fierce and intimidating. He introduced himself to the crowd:
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"I am Ibiki Morino—the first examiner of the Chūnin Exams!"
The atmosphere in the room was extremely oppressive.
The participating ninja barely dared to breathe. The pressure was intense.
He was perfect for scaring children.
Just tell any misbehaving kid at home:
"If you keep being naughty, Ibiki will come take you away and eat you."
Konoha kids would instantly stop crying.
"Alright—that's all for the rules!"
"Now—those participating in the Chūnin Exams—line up and come forward one by one!"
"Take your number tag and sit according to your number."
"Don't even think about switching seats. Once that's done—you'll receive your exam paper."
Ibiki stood with his hands behind his back, scanning the crowd, speaking word by word.
Down below, Naruto watched with great interest.
Don't be fooled by Ibiki saying "no cheating."
Anyone who knew the plot—like Naruto—knew the truth.
That was all bluff.
The real exam condition should be stated more clearly:
Throw out all the students who don't cheat!
Anyone who seriously tried to answer on their own—
they were the ones who got eliminated.
In fact—this test was really about:
How well the students could use the ninjutsu they had already mastered to cheat silently.
Not completely silently.
But within the range the proctors allowed.
Not too blatantly.
If caught cheating openly—one person gets zero, the whole team fails.
When they heard this rule,
the examinees below collectively groaned.
This was unfair!
It was basically a tyrant clause.
Just take the damn test—why drag the whole team into it?
They refused!
So the ones loudly refusing
were all chased out of the room by Ibiki and the other proctors.
The remaining examinees—seeing this—immediately became much more obedient.
Even if they had complaints—they had to swallow them.
Soon all the seats were assigned.
Naruto held his pen and looked at the exam paper. When he saw the very first question,
the corner of his mouth twitched.
The content on his paper read:
"There are 30 heads and 88 legs in total in the cage (chickens and rabbits). How many chickens and how many rabbits are there?"
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