Kabuto Yakushi

After submitting the exam application forms, Sakura and her two friends opened the door to the exam room.

Behind the door, the huge classroom was already packed with people, a cacophony of ninjas in all sorts of strange and ordinary costumes.

"Sasuke ~ Long time no see!" A figure brushed past Sakura and pounced on Sasuke, startling her. Sakura turned her head and saw that the shameless girl clinging to Sasuke was none other than Ino, Ino's classmate from the Ninja Academy.

"Hey! Long time no see, you lovesick girl!" Sakura teased. "You're still as enthusiastic as ever!"

"Ah, it's you! Sakura, you violent freak, big forehead, flat-chested girl!" Ino pointed at Sakura in a fit of rage, "Damn it, how can a woman like you be on Sasuke's team! Humph, Sasuke is mine now anyway!"

Sakura felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down her forehead. All she did was call her a lovesick girl, and she reacted so fiercely! Besides, what logic did she have to claim that Sasuke was hers? Didn't she see Sasuke's helpless expression, trying to break Ino Ino's clingy clinginess?

The relationship between Sakura and Ino... can be described as Ino's one-sided hostility towards Sakura.

As mentioned before, back in the Ninja Academy, most of the girls in the class liked Sasuke. Because so many girls liked Sasuke, the competition was fierce, and eventually, they reached a balance: none of them were allowed to make a move on Sasuke. Of course, Sakura saw this liking as nothing more than a superficial attraction to Sasuke's appearance, and she had no interest in participating in these girls' childish behavior. She had absolutely no interest in their love games and went about her own business.

But in the eyes of those girls, Sasuke, who always seemed so cool and aloof, was actually constantly asking Sakura to spar! This was intolerable! Sakura didn't participate in their activities, but she dared to seduce Sasuke —that's right, in the girls' eyes, Sasuke only paid attention to Sakura because she seduced Sasuke! Such a serious violation of the rules certainly deserved punishment!

Then there are the punishment methods, the first of which is isolation.

Okay, Sakura never really had anything in common with those girls anyway. Her social circle consisted of Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and the Delinquent Quartet. Isolating Sakura? It wasn't until a year or two later that Sakura realized the girls in her class were deliberately avoiding talking to her!

Isolation is useless, so the second option is, of course, violence.

On Earth, one girl would obviously be no match for several girls. But for ninjas, numbers often can't compensate for a difference in strength. Ino, the strongest and best-performing girl among them, took on the responsibility of picking a fight with Sakura.

The result was predictable.

After beating Ino and her henchmen to the ground several times, Ino finally realized the absolute gap in strength, and Sakura gained the nickname of a violent maniac from then on.

Well, you could say this is a case of "becoming friends through a fight."

At this moment, the other two members of the Ino-Shika-Cho duo also came over.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the three of you are here too, what a nuisance!" Shikamaru said with a pout and a helpless expression.

"Sure, sure," Choji mumbled between bites of potato chips.

Sakura, putting aside her bickering with Ino, greeted him with a smile, "Hmph, Shikamaru, you still look so unmotivated! Did Asuma-sensei force you to come to the Chunin Ninja Exams? Choji, you've gotten quite a bit plumper!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes; it seemed Sakura had really hit the nail on the head. He sighed like an old man, silently assessing the three of them: their auras had become much more composed and confident, indicating a significant improvement in their strength compared to when they were at the Ninja Academy. Sasuke and Sakura were already renowned talents at the Ninja Academy, and now it seemed Naruto had become quite formidable as well! Ugh, what a nuisance!

The thought of potentially facing these three guys in the exam filled Shikamaru with dread. Sasuke's Sharingan, Naruto's incredible stamina—how was he going to handle that? It was incredibly troublesome!

If I were to face Sakura, surrendering immediately shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Tch, looks like everyone's gathered!" Kiba, full of arrogance and confidence, walked over, followed by Hinata blushed unconsciously when she saw Naruto, and Naruto, who wore a magic mirror and looked Shino.

Sakura looked around. Indeed, all the new recruits in her class had participated in this year's Chunin Ninja Exams. This was absolutely rare in previous years. Nominally, all Genin could participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams, but in reality, only outstanding Genin were nominated by their instructors. In other words, everyone present was an excellent student in their instructors' eyes, an elite among the Genin!

Leaving aside Naruto, Naruto, and herself, Sakura 'Sasuke generation included the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, a long-established and powerful group in Konoha; Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, a prestigious Hyuga Clan Konoha; and Kiba and Shino, both outstanding members of major Konoha clans. In terms of both status and strength, they were all elites of their generation. It's not without reason that these nine were called the Konoha Nine Elites.

"So... Sasuke, Sakura!" Kiba looked calmly at Sakura; among this generation, he admired the two the most for their strength. "How far do you think we can go?"

"Hmph, this isn't good... There are just too many powerful ones! No, even among strangers, I've already encountered several ridiculously strong individuals!" Despite his words, Sasuke's tone didn't betray any nervousness; instead, he sounded confident. "If things go wrong, we might even lose to them!"

"Hey, you look so confident!" Naruto said to Kiba, ignoring his dissatisfaction. "We're really strong! We're not afraid of those guys!"

"Is that so...? And what about you, Sakura?"

Sakura stared into Kiba's eyes and said without hesitation, "First! No one here... can beat me!"

Just as the remaining eight were taken aback by Sakura's bold words, an unfamiliar voice broke into their conversation.

"Hehehe, you newbies are really confident! But as far as I know, there are many very powerful Genin participating in this exam. Getting first place won't be as easy as you think!" A bespectacled young man with an ordinary appearance, who looked like he would be lost in a crowd, walked over.

Is this the most famous Kabuto Yakushi? Sakura glanced at him. Kabuto is said to be on par with Kakashi, but he doesn't look like him at all! However, with my current strength, I probably still can't beat him.

"Whether it's a laugh or not, you'll see when you see it! By the way, who are you?" Sakura said unhappily.

Under Sakura's sharp, hawk-like gaze, Kabuto appeared uncomfortable, though no one knew what he was really thinking.

"Haha, don't look at me like that. I'm your senior. I've taken this exam four years now." Kabuto pointed to the Konoha Forehead Protector he was wearing. "If you don't believe me, I'll give you a heads-up!"

Sakura didn't reply, but sneered inwardly. She knew she shouldn't believe a single word Kabuto said. If she could beat him, she planned to chop him down in the Forest of Death.

"I won't go into the exam content, you probably already know the gist of it. I've gathered a lot of information, including data on your powerful figures... How about it, interested?" Kabuto took out a card filled with information, pushed up his glasses, and his eyes seemed to gleam with a sharp light.

Sasuke stepped forward and asked, "Then, do Gaara, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga?"

"Of course! Unless they're extremely obscure ninjas, I have information on most of them. Besides, they're the most watched ninjas in this exam, their strength is quite remarkable!"

With a raised eyebrow, he flipped the card up and down with lightning speed.

"Wait...!" A hand suddenly reached in and grabbed Kabuto's right hand, which had already turned into a blur! Kabuto was startled, his right hand trembling instinctively as an impulse to resist surged within him, but he forcibly suppressed it. Kabuto wiped a cold sweat from his brow. If he had actually resisted just now, he might have exposed his strength in front of everyone, potentially revealing his true identity! Luckily, he had suppressed the impulse!

A delicate and warm touch came from the wrist that was grabbed. At the same time, Kabuto also felt an overwhelming and irresistible force from that slender hand. He looked up and saw that the hand that reached out was Sakura, who was looking at him calmly!

Sakura sighed inwardly. If Kabuto had really resisted just now, she would have unhesitatingly used her Nintaijutsu to attack him with all her might, forcing out his hidden true strength! At that time, Kabuto, who displayed strength that he shouldn't have, would either have run away or been subdued, because he couldn't explain why he, with the strength of an elite Elite Jonin, would stay in the village as Genin for several years.

She was eager to see how Kabuto could escape with all the Jonin and Chunin Konoha! If she could capture Kabuto, she could definitely obtain very important information from him as a high-ranking spy. Unfortunately, Kabuto didn't fall for it!

Although she felt regret for missing the opportunity, Sakura remained outwardly calm and smiled sweetly at Kabuto: "Don't rush to look at their information. There are a few people whose information I'd like to see first, is that alright?"

"Cut in line? Okay, ladies first!" Dou shrugged and smiled with a gentlemanly air. "Whose file would you like to see first? Do you have their name?"

"Hmm, their names are..." Cherry Blossom said slowly.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno!"