"The next match is starting!"
"Who will it be this time?"
"Now that Hada Ichiba has already been called, there's nothing much left to worry about."
Gekko Hayate's words instantly drew everyone's attention back into the arena, to the flickering screen.
With Gekko Hayate's announcement, the screen began to cycle.
After all, they had come to participate in the Chunin Exams, not to wonder why some little girl did not act like a ninja, or what had made her cry.
Honestly, they had merely been curious for a moment, instinctively drawn in by that unusual behavior.
In the end, what did Kusagakure's problems have to do with them?
In fact, the more problems Kusagakure had, the more advantageous it was for them. There was no need for them to interfere.
Right now, the Chunin Exams were what mattered.
"Idiot Kazuha, if you can't stop Anna from crying, I won't go easy on you!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, where everyone's attention had previously been focused, the young boy standing before the sobbing girl made as if to fling the powdered solution in his hand at the nearby Hada Ichiba.
At the same time, he spoke viciously.
"Sniff... huh? The next fight?"
Then, in the very instant Hada Ryuhiko spoke fiercely, Hada Anna, who had been bawling her eyes out, suddenly stopped crying. She blinked her red, swollen eyes and turned to look at the cycling screen.
Her face was now filled with curiosity, as though her storm of tears moments ago had been nothing more than an illusion.
One second, she had been crying her heart out. The next, she wore a completely unconcerned expression.
"Uh..."
Hearing that Anna had suddenly stopped crying, Hada Ryuhiko and Hada Ichiba both looked over at her almost simultaneously. Seeing Hada Anna acting as