Preliminaries

The second exam went smoothly.

Or, even if there were any stray pebbles, they were crushed by Sakura and Naruto, who had recovered most of their fighting strength, making the journey to the central tower smooth sailing.

On the third morning, after dealing with two teams that attempted to ambush them using Genjutsu and traps near the tower, the six-man team collected two sets of scrolls and successfully passed the second test.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, the second exam concluded, and the seven teams, totaling twenty-one people, who had passed the exam, gathered together in the hall inside the tower.

What awaits them is the preliminary round of the third exam.

The Third Hokage, whom they hadn't seen before, greeted them in high spirits and told the examinees the harsh truth about the Chunin Ninja Exams.

This exam, ostensibly for selecting Chunin, was in reality a microcosm of a bloody competition between allied nations. Considering that a full-blown war would result in mutual destruction, these so-called allies unanimously chose the Chunin Ninja Exams as their arena. The final round of the Chunin Ninja Exams invited daimyo and important figures from various countries to observe, thus the ninja villages that performed exceptionally well in the exams were considered to have outstanding strength, thereby securing more mission orders!

Listening to the Lord Hokage's speech, Sakura secretly grumbled to herself. The system of one village per country established by the First Hokage might have been a huge step forward for the Warring States period, but now, only a hundred years later, this system has already developed serious problems.

In broad terms, there was a serious mismatch between productive forces and relations of production.

Thanks to her education in her previous life, Sakura can view this issue from a very high perspective. However, when it comes to the specific details, such as the mismatch between productive forces and relations of production, and how to make adjustments, these are things that Sakura, with her limited knowledge, cannot fathom.

If she had to offer her own opinion, she felt that ninjas, as the highest productive force, could support themselves and even the world if they were willing to humble themselves and engage in productive work.

In the world of Hokage, the essence of war lies in the acquisition of resources for survival. Ironically, the main actors in war—the ninjas—could actually obtain these resources entirely through Ninjutsu —for example, by using Ninjutsu to cultivate fertile land and engage in agriculture, thus potentially meeting their own survival needs without the need for external warfare. Even more ironically, if any ninja village were to acquire resources in this way, before it could even grow and prosper, it would already be targeted and divided up by envious neighboring villages.

Hmm, this example is starting to resemble Konoha during its construction phase.

Furthermore, the master-servant relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire under this system also fuels conflict.

In short, Sakura found the various chuunibyou (delusional) aspects of this world utterly ridiculous.

Neither the past nor the present world has ever achieved true world peace, but the past world was undoubtedly more peaceful than the Hokage world. At least in the past, Sakura didn't have to worry about her homeland going to war with another country and then being killed by invading enemy forces as a civilian.

And peace is also one of Sakura's ideals.

Although Sakura hadn't watched much of the ending of Hokage, she knew it was a happy ending, with countries seemingly achieving a certain degree of peace. However, given the level of political understanding among Japanese manga artists, Sakura seriously doubted whether Kishimoto's vision of peace in the manga could be realized in the real Hokage world.

She simply didn't believe that peace could be achieved through the protagonist's empty talk.

However, that's a story for later. At least for now, Sakura, with her thin arms and legs, no matter how much she dislikes this foolish system, doesn't have enough wisdom or power to change it.

Since we can't change the world, we can only try to adapt to it.

In short, after the Third Hokage intimidated the examinees present, the sickly-looking Gekko Hayate timely took over the task of presiding over the exam.

"So, before the third exam, all candidates need to take a preliminary round to determine if you are qualified to participate in the third exam!" the examiner, with dark circles under his eyes, said weakly.

"... These are the rules for the preliminary round."

"Now, let's announce the names of the two sides in the first round!"

The monitor on the wall slowly turned on, and Sakura looked up and stared at it coldly.

"Sasuke Uchiha vs. Akado Yoroi!"

Knowing Sasuke had health problems, was it specially arranged for him to be in the first match so he could receive treatment as soon as possible? Sakura glanced at Kakashi in the stands. After Orochimaru Cursed Seal on him, Sasuke's body would occasionally experience severe pain and weakness. Even so, with Sasuke's current strength, even without the Sharingan, dealing with a nobody shouldn't be a problem.

"Let's go straight to the hospital with Kakashi-sensei after this, no need to wait for us!" Sakura didn't offer any words of encouragement, because she had faith in Sasuke!

"Don't let your guard down, I'm still looking forward to facing you in the main tournament!" Naruto patted Sasuke on the shoulder.

"Don't worry... Sakura, Naruto," Sasuke smiled confidently, "I'm going!"

Under Gekko Hayate's command, the examinees followed their team leaders Jonin, onto the stands, leaving the two combatants in the hall.

The outcome of the battle off the field was not in any suspense.

Although Sasuke couldn't use the Sharingan and was constantly affected by the Cursed Seal, his performance was much stronger than in the original story. Akado Yoroi was constantly being overwhelmed by him. If it weren't for the intense pain caused by the Cursed Seal every time Sasuke tried to finish off his opponent, Akado Yoroi wouldn't have been able to hold on until now.

"Kakashi-sensei..." With the match about to end, Sakura, who had been hesitating for a while, finally made up her mind.

"Hmm? Is something the matter, Sakura?"

"After the qualifiers are over, there's something important I want to tell you."

"Something important..." Kakashi muttered Sakura's words meaninglessly, but his mind was completely focused on Sasuke in the audience.

Just now, under Sasuke's series of clean and swift Taijutsu attacks, Akado Yoroi suffered repeated setbacks. Just as he was about to unleash his final blow, the Cursed Seal suddenly activated with unprecedented force. Sasuke immediately clutched his neck in pain and collapsed to the ground, losing his fighting ability. Strange black tadpole-shaped runes spread across half of his body!

The situation reversed in an instant!

Sasuke, who had collapsed to the ground, was brutally beaten by Akado Yoroi, who had just been in a sorry state. The Cursed Seal had drained all of Sasuke's power, leaving him completely powerless to fight back!

That's it... Seeing Sasuke's pained expression, the examiner and Kakashi had the same thought in their minds!

"Sasuke, do you even deserve to be called [Sasuke Uchiha]?" Naruto shouted angrily at the weak and powerless Sasuke on the sidelines, "Don't let us see you looking so pathetic!"

"Are you just going to succumb to the power of the Cursed Seal like this? Sasuke, we're going to face off in the main tournament!" Sakura shouted after him!

Just like in a shonen manga, the Cursed Seal that was about to spread throughout Sasuke's body was actually forced back by Sasuke's willpower after he heard Naruto and Sakura's voices! This is not unscientific; Chakra is a combination of mental and physical power, so the stronger a person's willpower, the greater the power their Chakra can unleash!

The power... returned to his body! Sasuke's furious punch ended Akado Yoroi's dream!

"In the first round, Sasuke Uchiha wins!" The examiner glanced at the unconscious Akado Yoroi and said lazily.

"Oh, right, something important!" Kakashi finally turned his attention back to Sakura. "Okay, I'll come find you after the match!"

After finishing, Kakashi Body Flicker Technique appeared behind Sasuke and led Sasuke away from the hall.

Next up was the second match.

"Zaku Abumi vs. Shino Aburame!"

It's basically the same as the original work.

These matches were not randomly arranged, but rather scheduled after careful consideration.

For example, Sasuke was scheduled for the first match because he had injuries that needed to be treated quickly, and his opponent was a relatively weak ninja from Konoha to take care of him.

Other matches are also arranged as much as possible based on equal strength or other principles.

Aside from Sakura and the people around her, the other peripheral characters are not much different in strength from the original work, so their battle arrangements will not differ much from the original work.

Sakura was certain she wouldn't face Ino again, because that would be too unfair to her. Among the ninjas present, the only ones likely to be her opponents were Neji, Lee, Gaara, and Naruto. Neji was the most probable, since a clash between a ninja who graduated last year and one who graduated this year would be the most dramatic.

In the second match, Zaku Abumi, who was off the field, was tricked by Shino's various insect -Secret Technique and eventually blew off his own arm, falling unconscious and losing the match.

The third match is Misumi Tsurugi and Kankuro.

Kankuro's puppet was a very successful disguise, even fooling the examiners watching the battle. Misumi Tsurugi, with her supple body, completely entangled Kankuro's puppet, which was the key to his swift defeat.

To be honest, Sakura didn't quite understand why his mentor would teach him this fighting style. This special skill was actually completely unsuitable for combat; the closer a ninja got, the greater the danger. How had he survived such a suicidal Taijutsu before?

"... Because Misumi Tsurugi is unable to continue the match, Kankuro wins the third round! Next, we will proceed to the fourth round!"

New text appeared on the screen.

Sakura Haruno vs. Neji Hyuga!

P. S. I was out having fun today, so sorry for the late update. This chapter hasn't been revised much yet, so please bear with it for now.