What did that mean?
This was...
Watching the Hidden Rain ninja pass in front of him, remaining calm all the way and completely ignoring the whispers from earlier, before now leaning close to whisper to Gekko Hayate, Hada Ichiba's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart.
"Is that so..."
As the Hidden Rain ninja whispered, Gekko Hayate nodded, seemingly understanding what had happened, and said, "I understand."
"Extremely sorry."
At the same time, after finishing his whisper, the Hidden Rain ninja stepped back and gave a courteous bow as he apologized.
Afterward, the Hidden Rain ninja unexpectedly gave Hada Ichiba a slight bow at the same angle. After leaving Ichiba momentarily stunned, he headed up to the second floor.
"Cough... cough, cough... Then, due to Kusada Kakeru withdrawing for personal health reasons, the winner of this match is Hada Ichiba!"
Gekko Hayate then put away the examinee files in his hand and made the announcement.
Withdrew?
Hearing the announcement, Hada Ichiba froze again. He looked at the Hidden Rain ninja who had already gone up to the second floor, then at Gekko Hayate beside him, unable to react for a moment.
At the same time, upstairs, although there had already been speculation about fleeing and the like, hearing the news for real still drew surprised voices from all around.
Health reasons?
This... was an excuse, wasn't it? After a brief moment of shock, the furrow in Hada Ichiba's brow loosened slightly.
But though his brow relaxed, his heart tightened.
Health reasons?
That Kusada Kakeru?
He did not look like it at all. Clearly, this was just an excuse.
During the second exam, that Kusada Kakeru should not yet have been Orochimaru's substitute, but Orochimaru himself. In other words, it had been Orochimaru