Naruto in Danger! Shinki Breathed a Sigh of Relief

"And did you see the calluses on his fingers?"

Sasuke emphasized the point.

"Calluses?"

Puzzled, Naruto looked at Rock Lee's hands. He squinted at them for a long while but still couldn't spot the calluses Sasuke mentioned. "Aren't that guy's hands wrapped in bandages?"

Sasuke said, "Look at the few fingers he has exposed. He's deliberately hiding them, but the calluses and scars on his fingers don't lie."

"So this guy has been training his Taijutsu day and night. He's well ahead of us in both strength and effort," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"In that case, these Chunin Ninja Exams are going to be really hard. (||๐_๐)" Naruto said.

"They should be hard. That's what makes them a challenge."

Sasuke smiled confidently.

Meanwhile.

After Lee promptly conceded, another strange figure appeared on the first floor.

He had the same bowl cut and the same green jumpsuit as Lee!

It was Might Guy!

Might Guy pointed at Lee and shouted, "Lee, are you bullying a junior here?!"

Lee turned around and, seeing that it was his teacher, felt like crying but had no tears. "Might Guy, I wasn't bullying him. And you were right. He's much stronger than me. (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"

Might Guy turned to look at Shinki.

Having some trouble recognizing faces, he studied Shinki for a long time before recognizing him as the boy he and Rock Lee had seen using the Eight Gates in a clearing outside the village.

"Yo, young man, we meet again! Looks like fate has brought us together! ❛‿˂̵✧"

Might Guy spoke enthusiastically and gave Shinki a thumbs-up. "You really haven't let me down. You can open the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates now, right?!"

Rock Lee: (꒪⌓꒪) !!

What?!

The red-haired boy had actually mastered the Sixth Gate so quickly!!!

Lee didn't doubt Might Guy's words in the slightest. He looked at Shinki, who stood not far away, in shock.

How old was this guy?!

He'd only just graduated from the Ninja Academy, right?!

How long had he been training?!

Even if I'd started training in the Eight Gates in the womb, I couldn't have made that kind of progress!

Might Guy turned back to Rock Lee, his eyes brimming with tears. "Lee! Challenging someone without knowing your own limits has left me very disappointed!"

Rock Lee hurriedly said, "Might Guy! I'm willing to accept any punishment!"

Might Guy nodded. "Yosh! Then run a hundred laps around the Ninja Academy's field!! Let everyone witness our youth!"

Rock Lee stood at attention. "Yes, Might Guy!!"

With that, thick-browed Rock Lee really did run onto the field.

Might Guy followed close behind. Before leaving, he looked back at Shinki and the others. "You three are the students on Team Kakashi, right?"

"Yes," Shinki said, nodding.

"Your teacher is my eternal rival. Say hello to him for me. (^з^)-☆"

With that, Might Guy vanished.

Naruto said, "What a pair of weirdos. o_O"

"Let's go too."

Neji called to Tenten beside him, the corners of his mouth curling up. "These Chunin Ninja Exams are getting more and more interesting."

"Okay."

Tenten nodded, looking at Shinki reluctantly. "That boy actually made Might Guy show that kind of expression, and he's stronger than Rock Lee. Which of you do you think is stronger..."

Neji didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he explained, "If I fought Rock Lee head-on, I definitely wouldn't beat him as easily as he did."

Tenten said, "So... you think..."

Neji said, "Let's go. We graduated from the Ninja Academy a year before they did. We can't let those kids overtake us."

After everyone from Might Guy's team had left, Sasuke, Shinki, and Naruto each went home and began training.

Soon, the day of the Chunin Ninja Exams arrived.

According to the exam procedure, Shinki's first test was a written exam.

In the classroom.

The head examiner, Ibiki Morino, stood at the front, his face covered in scars.

His gaze was piercing, as if he could see right through people, and he gave off an oppressive presence.

Examiner Ibiki surveyed all the Genin taking the Chunin Ninja Exams and said, "This exam is very simple. There will be ten questions in total, each worth one point."

"Furthermore, no crude cheating will be permitted during the exam. More than ten elite Chunin will be monitoring the room. Each time you're caught cheating, two points will be deducted. If you lose all ten points, you'll be sent straight out of the room."

The perceptive Shinki quickly noticed a loophole in the head examiner's words.

No crude cheating?

Did that mean cheating was allowed?

But only if you left no trace and weren't caught?

Still, cheating was something Shinki wouldn't do.

A written exam? A piece of cake!

( ' - ' * )

At the front of the room, Examiner Ibiki Morino continued, "There's one more thing. You're taking this exam in teams of three."

"So if any member of your team scores zero on the written exam, the entire team's results will be invalidated!"

Shinki: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)

Sasuke: (≖╻≖;)

Danger, danger!

If even one person scored zero, the whole team would be eliminated!

Although Shinki had given Naruto special training in Ninja knowledge, it probably wasn't enough to get him through this exam.

The chances of him scoring zero were extremely high!

I have to find a chance to help Naruto cheat.

Shinki and Sasuke both wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, the same thought occurring to them.

Naruto, who was sitting in his seat, remained completely unaware and was still looking around at the other examinees.

Just then, Hinata, who was sitting beside Naruto, called out, "Naruto~"

Naruto was startled. "Oh, it's you, Hinata. How come you're sitting next to me?"

He had always had a rather vague impression of Hinata. Back at the Ninja Academy, her presence in class had been barely noticeable.

His only impression of the girl was that she didn't dare look him in the eye and blushed whenever she saw him...

Behind Naruto, Shinki saw Naruto and Hinata talking and breathed a sigh of relief.

Back at the Ninja Academy, he had noticed that Hinata had a crush on Naruto.

And it was very obvious—so obvious that Hinata would blush and be at a loss whenever she saw Naruto.

Probably the whole class had noticed. Only Naruto, that dummy, was oblivious.

Back at the Ninja Academy, Hinata's written exam scores had rivaled Shinki's.

With her beside Naruto, Shinki felt much more at ease.

Meanwhile, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief too.

That idiot Naruto has a fool's luck.

In the front row, Hinata blushed as she answered Naruto's question. "Um... the exam seats were assigned randomly..."

"Oh."

Naruto nodded and began studying Hinata with a puzzled look.

He couldn't understand why this girl blushed whenever she saw him...

Ibiki Morino stood at the front and began unsealing the exam papers. "All right, the exam officially begins now! You have sixty minutes in total. The tenth question will be handed out forty-five minutes after the exam starts!"

The examiners then handed out the papers.

Shinki took his paper and, just as he had on every previous exam, first looked over the whole thing...