Chapter 85: Yūhi Kurenai-neesan Is Really Beautiful
The second exam passed without any suspense.
If Naruto had gone all out from the very beginning of the Chūnin Exams,
he probably could've used a few Flying Thunder God jumps and arrived straight at the tower center.
Any ferocious beasts or poisonous insects were meaningless.
In front of absolute speed, they were simply helpless.
Or rather—even without relying on speed advantage,
he could've just crushed everything along the way.
With Naruto's strength, doing that would've been effortless.
But from the start, he had come with the mindset of a tourist.
Now that the Chūnin Exams were nearing the end,
if Naruto remembered correctly, in the upcoming stages…
midway through…
Sarutobi Hiruzen would be executed on the spot by Orochimaru!
Then came Orochimaru infiltrating the Akatsuki.
And Sasuke's older brother, Uchiha Itachi, returning to the village under the guise of a mission.
To "visit" Sasuke.
And incidentally fuel his desire for revenge even further.
Akatsuki, huh?
Down below—Kisame Hoshigaki catching Tailed Beast Bombs with Samehada.
Up top—Obito (posing as "Tobi"), the fake fool who was actually the mastermind and final boss.
Okay—got a bit sidetracked.
Back to Konoha.
At this moment, all the ninja who passed the second exam had gathered in the large hall.
Anko stood on the stage announcing the results.
"Congratulations, everyone. A total of 21 genin successfully completed this stage and advanced to the third exam."
Anko said "congratulations" on the surface.
But inwardly she had different thoughts.
In her original expectation,
only single-digit numbers would remain after elimination.
But so many people passed at once.
It could only mean one thing:
This generation of genin was exceptionally strong.
On the stage—not only Anko stood there.
Behind her was the grand schemer Sarutobi Hiruzen,
along with a group of elite Konoha jōnin.
And among the examinees—
Naruto had also spotted Yūhi Kurenai.
Right now Kurenai had voluminous wavy hair and red pupils.
Perhaps because of constant training,
her abdomen had zero excess fat.
Everything that should protrude—protruded.
Everything that should curve—curved.
Mm—a true beauty.
In her current state, she was probably still single.
Kid driving a big truck?
That could work.
But for now—put it on hold.
There were quite a few legends circulating in the Naruto world.
Aside from Akatsuki's shocking feats,
there were also some about Yūhi Kurenai.
Mm—yes, exactly Yūhi Kurenai.
If Naruto remembered correctly—
Kurenai tried to use genjutsu against Uchiha Itachi.
That wasn't just bringing a knife to a gunfight.
It was bringing a plastic spoon to a nuclear war.
He genuinely couldn't understand what that woman was thinking back then.
cough cough cough…
Bear-brain no common sense?
Pretty accurate.
Anko continued:
"Now please welcome the Hokage-sama to explain some details regarding the third exam."
"I hope everyone listens carefully!"
All eyes turned toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
At this moment, Hiruzen had his pipe in his mouth.
He nodded and stepped forward.
"Do you know the main purpose of this Chūnin Exam?"
"Why are we holding this joint exam with allied nations this time?"
"It's to strengthen the friendship between our villages."
"I don't want any of you to still hold onto previous misunderstandings after hearing these words."
"Moreover—it's not just about selecting excellent ninja."
"You are fighting with your village's honor on the line, desperate to achieve good rankings."
"The future belongs to you. Your performance doesn't just represent the strength of your village's new generation."
"Because of your outstanding performance, various nations will take notice. The stronger you appear—the more high-paying missions your village will receive. The weaker ones—the opposite."
Hiruzen spoke at length.
In summary:
Work hard—someone's watching.
Perform well—big rewards.
Perform poorly—get lost and go home early.
Looking at the dazed, bewildered expressions below the stage,
Hiruzen felt secretly pleased.
Yes—this was exactly the feeling he wanted.
Just throw out some incomprehensible professional terms
or grand achievements.
Confuse them completely—that's the goal.
As ninja—how can you always think about hiding and developing slowly?
If you don't risk your life—how do you get missions?
If you don't risk your life—how do you earn money?
Who's going to pay for village construction?
Naruto kept staring at Yūhi Kurenai.
Beside him, Aburame Shino noticed.
He couldn't help asking:
"Naruto—what are you looking at?"
Naruto didn't hide it at all. He answered directly:
"I'm looking at your sensei. Yūhi Kurenai-neesan is really beautiful."
Even the usually calm Aburame Shino
couldn't help sucking in a cold breath.
Masaka!
I never expected you to be that kind of person, Naruto!
I misjudged you!
Aren't insects fragrant?
Why chase 3D creatures?
cough cough cough…
Shino choked and coughed repeatedly.
Yūhi Kurenai frowned.
Seeing her student lose composure,
she felt deeply speechless.
The Third was still speaking.
Whatever it was—couldn't it wait until later?
Immediately, Kurenai shot Shino a glare.
As for Shino—
he was truly aggrieved.
What did I do to deserve this?
It's not my fault, sensei.
It's all Naruto's fault.
Sarutobi Hiruzen paused for a moment.
Seeing no further disturbance below,
he continued:
"Alright—regarding the content of the third exam, cough cough…"
Hiruzen gave two light coughs.
In the next instant—a figure appeared in front of him.
Kneeling on one knee.
"Holy crap? Moonlight Hayate?"
Honestly—Naruto was genuinely shocked for a second.
Moonlight Hayate.
What an incredibly cool name.
The "Hayate" in Naruto Shippuden was named after him.
Unfortunately—the protagonist wasn't him.
And the story had nothing to do with him.
Moonlight Hayate gave Naruto a puzzled glance.
The Fourth Hokage's son… knows me?
Could my reputation in Konoha really be that big?
All kinds of doubts rose in his mind.
But after being glared at by Hiruzen,
Moonlight Hayate remembered his purpose.
cough cough… "Everyone… cough cough… before the third exam… cough cough…"
Moonlight Hayate spoke while coughing intermittently.
Dark circles were heavy under his eyes.
No one knew how he managed to look like this.
Konoha was so big—surely there were red-light districts.
Could Moonlight Hayate be into—
Kidney-deficiency's hobbies might be different from ordinary people.
Naruto thought to himself.
The foreign examinees present
couldn't help twitching at the corners of their mouths.
Especially the outsiders.
Did Konoha really have no other jōnin?
To send a tuberculosis ghost to announce exam details.
This is fucking ridiculous!!!
"But before that—after discussion—we have arranged a preliminary round."
What?
What the hell is this preliminary round? Why wasn't it mentioned from the beginning!
Everyone inwardly resisted this sudden addition.
Damn it—are you playing us for fools?
Why add this meaningless match out of nowhere?
Geneva Convention!
We want to withdraw!
Seeing the increasingly confused expressions below,
Moonlight Hayate hurriedly explained:
"It's like this—the first and second exams may have been too easy for some of you."
"That's why so many candidates remain."
"But don't worry—the daimyō of various nations will be watching this exam."
"Those who perform outstandingly may catch their attention."
"Additionally—this preliminary round will help eliminate more participants."
As soon as Moonlight Hayate finished speaking,
the crowd erupted.
You're telling us the first two exams were easy?
Why don't you just die?
We almost lost our lives in there.
Do you even remember what you were like back then?
Of course—
not every ninja present was particularly strong.
Some truly relied on strength.
Others relied partly on strength and partly on luck.
Now telling them there's an extra preliminary round—
this is straight-up insane!
--------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 50 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkroxx