The First Round of the Chunin Exams Begins

After that, Hyuga Kei made no further moves and simply waited quietly for the Chunin Exams to begin.

Every day, he went out with Hikari and Karin, looking as though he had become obsessed with beautiful women rather than a ninja who had come to take the Chunin Exams.

Moreover, only the three of them from the Sound Village were participating in the Chunin Exams, so no one bothered looking into them.

Until the Chunin Exams began.

The three equipped themselves with the Sound Village's special ninja tools and headed together to the examination gathering point.

Along the way, Hyuga Kei spotted many familiar faces: Konoha's Twelve Shinobi, Kumogakure's three-person team, and Gaara and his siblings from Sunagakure.

There were also plenty of minor characters, such as Oboro, Kagari, Moka, and the others sent by the Rain Village to make up the numbers.

As Hyuga Kei and the others walked toward the gathering point, three people appeared and blocked his path.

They were Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Sakura Haruno, the three he had met once before.

Though he already knew, Hyuga Kei asked, "It's you three. What do you want?"

Naruto walked up to Hyuga Kei and bowed deeply. "Chiba-kun, can you tell me anything about my parents? Please."

The two teammates behind him also looked over with pleading eyes.

This scene drew the attention of quite a few examinees nearby. Most stopped in their tracks, eager to watch the spectacle and see what was happening.

Hyuga Kei crouched slightly and whispered into Naruto's ear, "Come find me during the second round. I'll tell you my guesses then. For now, remember to act properly. Don't let the Konoha people notice. Once I'm done speaking, attack me immediately. And remember to pretend to faint later."

Hyuga Kei straightened and said loudly, "You're not qualified to challenge me. Go get one of your Konoha adults. I don't have time to bully a little brat like you."

"You bastard, how dare you look down on me!" Following Hyuga Kei's instructions, Naruto immediately threw a punch at his face.

Hyuga Kei tilted his head aside to evade the punch, caught Naruto's arm effortlessly with an open hand, then threw him over his shoulder and slammed him onto the ground.

It looked like a terrifying blow, but Hyuga Kei had held back. When Naruto hit the ground, it only felt like he had taken a fall.

Naruto immediately closed his eyes and pretended to have been knocked unconscious.

Seeing Naruto knocked out, Sasuke and Sakura cried anxiously, "Naruto!"

Seeing his close friend being bullied, Sasuke clenched his fists. "You bastard!"

Sasuke immediately charged at Hyuga Kei. Hyuga Kei gave a disdainful smile. "Foolish."

Hyuga Kei suppressed his speed and strength to the level he had possessed when he had first joined the Anbu, then took the initiative to meet Sasuke head-on. His single punch shot out with incredible speed.

So fast! Sasuke was secretly alarmed. By the time he reacted and tried to block, Hyuga Kei's fist had already struck him in the face.

Bang! Sasuke was sent flying backward, rolling across the ground.

Only Sakura's desperate catch spared him from suffering greater injury.

The three Kumogakure prodigies led by Samui were astonished. This ninja from the small village that everyone looked down on was actually a genius.

The surrounding spectators were equally shocked. This guy was actually this strong? They clearly could not keep up with his speed.

"How is that possible? Didn't the intelligence say he was just here to make up the numbers?"

"What incredible speed."

The three Sunagakure siblings passing by also stopped to watch.

Gaara showed an interested expression. "Killing a genius like this must be fun."

On the other side, Sasuke wiped the dust from his face. "You've made me angry!"

Two blood-red tomoe surfaced in his eyes. "Sharingan!"

A wave of gasps rose from the crowd. They could hardly believe that this person was the legendary surviving Uchiha—Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke charged at Hyuga Kei again like a gust of wind.

Hyuga Kei stopped Hikari and Karin, who were about to intervene, and stood where he was, waiting for Sasuke to approach. Once Sasuke came close, he threw another simple, unadorned punch, just like before.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth curled upward. This time, he could see it clearly. Just as he was about to block, he suddenly realized that his movements had become abnormally slow in his own eyes. Faster, faster—the attack is coming!

Hyuga Kei's fist smashed into Sasuke's face again. This time, Sasuke's muscles were tense and he had been prepared, so he was not sent flying like before.

Sasuke staggered back several steps and steadied himself.

"Take a good look this time!"

Before his words had even faded, Hyuga Kei suppressed his strength a little further, then instantly accelerated, appearing before the Sasuke who had just regained his footing like a bolt of lightning.

So fast! No one present could even see Hyuga Kei's movements clearly. They only felt that he had appeared before Sasuke in an instant.

Chiba Consecutive Strikes!

Hyuga Kei's fists rained relentlessly upon Sasuke. With every punch, he would appear on Sasuke's weaker side at a speed too fast to react to.

Every strike landed solidly. Although Sasuke could see Hyuga Kei's attacks with the Sharingan, his body could not keep up with the rhythm at all.

Whenever he tried to block, the blow had already landed on him. The next strike would come from another direction, and he could never keep up with Hyuga Kei's speed.

Gradually, Sasuke was beaten so badly that he became completely disoriented.

For the final strike, Hyuga Kei spun sharply one hundred and eighty degrees, whipping his arm out like a lash. The blow was about to smash into Sasuke's neck, but it stopped abruptly at the very last moment.

The fierce wind howled past Sasuke's cheek, lifting his hair.

"Stop when it's enough. Don't be so impulsive in the future." Hyuga Kei turned his back as he spoke, then said to the two girls, "Let's go."

The crowd automatically parted, all of them looking at Hyuga Kei with awe.

No one present could guarantee they would have been able to withstand that barrage of attacks. Hyuga Kei had clearly held back; if he had fought seriously, his attacks would have been even faster.

Just when everyone had thought Hyuga Kei was nothing more than a pretty-boy young master, he had taught them all a harsh lesson.

Rock Lee's eyes shone within the crowd of spectators. This was the kind of opponent he had been searching for.

"This is youth—powerful opponents constantly appearing, only for me to defeat them!"

Neji frowned deeply. "This guy might really be a formidable opponent."

Sasuke, meanwhile, remained frozen for a long time, still immersed in the match from moments ago. Only two words remained in his mind: So fast. So strong.

It was not until Sakura came up beside him and asked, "How are you, Sasuke?" that he snapped out of it.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm fine."

At that moment, Naruto also climbed to his feet. He came over to Sasuke and asked with concern, "Is idiot Sasuke okay?"

Sasuke ignored Naruto's words and only asked, "Why did you suddenly start fighting just now?"

Naruto repeated what Hyuga Kei had said.

"So as long as we pass the first exam, we can learn clues about your parents!"

A faint smile appeared on Sasuke's face. He was not only helping Naruto—he was helping himself as well.

And this Chunin Exams was full of hidden talents, which only made Sasuke even more excited.