"This is the preliminary registration list. Take a look."
After clearing away the remains of dinner from the table, Teacher Heyin gently placed a scroll before Hada Ichiba, who had stayed behind, and spoke.
"The preliminary registration list? Isn't that your responsibility? There's no need for me to look at it, right?"
Yet when Hada Ichiba saw the preliminary registration list before him, his heart suddenly skipped for no reason. A bad feeling abruptly welled up inside him, and he instinctively spoke.
He also rose to his feet, preparing to return to his room.
It was about time. He ought to get some proper rest.
Besides, the preliminary registration list had already been submitted to Konoha. There was no need for him to look at it now.
Nothing could be changed anyway.
According to Chunin Exams convention, registration happened twice: once for preliminary registration submitted to the host, and once on the day itself. Neither registration could be altered.
Before dinner, Heyin had submitted the preliminary registration list to Konoha's organizers. Its contents had already been finalized. Any changes now would simply count as withdrawal for the altered portion; nothing else could be changed.
There was truly no point in looking at it now.
"Just take a look. There might be a surprise."
Heyin merely smiled at that. After leaving those words behind, she headed straight for her own room, giving Hada Ichiba no chance to say anything further.
Uh...
A surprise?
Hearing that, Hada Ichiba's heart sank completely, and that ominous feeling rose to its peak.
He could even vaguely guess what sort of surprise might be inside the scroll.
"It can't really be that, can it?"
Then, watching Heyin disappear from sight, he muttered as he picked up the scroll and opened it.
Names flashed past his eyes