"Hey, Sasuke, my number is 1!"
Naruto shouted loudly, his face filled with excitement. As he spoke, he quickly ran over to Sasuke's side.
Sasuke, however, looked somewhat cold and bored. He merely said flatly, "Boring..." Then, without hesitation, he reached his hand into the box.
As Sasuke moved, a ball engraved with a number soon appeared before Naruto's eyes.
Naruto took a closer look and saw a clearly printed number on it—"0."
He couldn't help asking in confusion, "What? What does 0 mean?"
"Examiner! Does this count as adjacent numbers?"
Hayate Gekko looked at the ball in his hand, furrowing his brows slightly. Then he coughed lightly and walked over to Sasuke.
He picked up the ball and examined it carefully for a while before slowly saying, "No. Your adjacent number is 2. However... whoever draws 0 can advance directly to the final exam!"
As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward Sasuke.
"Congratulations."
Naruto curled his lips, a trace of unwillingness flashing through his eyes.
He had originally thought he would draw a good number, but Sasuke had beaten him to it.
"What a crafty zero!"
Sasuke grinned, his heart filled with smug satisfaction.
He finally had something he was better at than Naruto!
Although it was only a number, it was still a kind of victory to him.
"Then, Naruto! Be brave and keep moving forward! I'll wait for you in the final match!"
With that, Sasuke jumped directly onto the viewing stand beside them.
"Tch!"
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, pretending not to care, but his eyes still kept darting toward Sasuke.
"Since it's not Sasuke... then..."
Naruto's gaze slowly swept across the entire arena, as if searching for something.
Nearby, Kiba Inuzuka had already heard Naruto's incessant chattering, and his heart was filled