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"It seems your companions aren't very friendly towards you," Moriyue remarked casually, leaning against the inner wall of the pebble-lined bath.

Ando nodded in strong agreement. They were from Kumogakure, known as the most united ninja village, with the fewest rogue ninjas in its history. Naturally, they found this sort of ostracizing behavior difficult to stomach.

The ninjas of Kumogakure couldn't stand Ando, who they felt had used forbidden jutsu to get ahead. However, after Moriyue demonstrated his strength, many of them began to acknowledge him.

More importantly, once outside Kumogakure, no matter how disharmonious things were internally, they would put aside their prejudices during their time abroad. Anyone who dared to speak ill of their fellow team members outside the village would be prepared to be pinned to the ground and experience the might of lightning.

In other words, only Kumogakure could deal with its own people; outsiders who tried to interfere would be dealt with ruthlessly.

As for Sunagakure, based on the current signs, even Ando, who wasn't familiar with the plot, could guess that their village might not be very united.

"Not at all. It's because I'm not strong enough that they don't acknowledge me. They're not wrong; if I were strong enough, they would surely recognize me."

Shira shook his head. Although he felt disheartened by his companions' words, he didn't believe it was their fault.

"Oh? What a twisted way of thinking. Shira, haven't you realized? They're manipulating you." Moriyue sneered, not believing they would acknowledge Shira even if he became stronger.

Even if they acknowledged him on the surface, it would only be a compromise based on his strength. Such a relationship was twisted.

"Moriyue, I know you're very strong and smarter than me, but I still believe that as partners from the same village, I will earn their recognition..."

Shira shook his head. It seemed that those who practiced taijutsu were all this stubborn. Moriyue understood the principle of "too much is as bad as too little." Afterward, they discussed taijutsu training techniques, and the others also left the bath.

After Moriyue and Ando left, the other ninjas in the bath dared to exhale. They were genuinely afraid that the madman Moriyue would unleash electricity in the bath. No matter how skilled the ninjas present were with electricity, they were no match for Kumogakure.

"Hey! Shira, you were chatting happily with that kid just now."

Seeing Moriyue leave, several Sand Shinobi surrounded him. Five or six of them encircled Shira, with some constantly poking him.

"I told you already, a weakling who can't use ninjutsu is a burden, a traitor."

"Everyone, it's not like that. I just wanted to exchange some taijutsu insights. After all, Kumogakure's nintaijutsu..."

"Yo yo yo, if Kumogakure is so great, why don't you go there? Are you saying Sunagakure can't keep a big shot like you?"

"Everyone, I really didn't mean that..."

"Thump~" From the shadows, someone punched Shira. He couldn't see who it was, nor did he want to. He could only endure it silently.

Ando, watching from a distance, witnessed the scene. He clenched his fists. Although he and Shira weren't from the same village, it didn't stop him from wanting to stand up for Shira.

Moriyue patted Ando's shoulder, suppressing him before he could transform into a street-fighting god.

"Everyone has their own choices. If he believes that enduring silently will earn him recognition, he must walk that dead-end path himself."

Shira's little episode didn't delay the two for too long. Kazeki wiped her not-yet-dry hair, with Kaede, starry-eyed, beside her. Ajisai, who always maintained a cool demeanor, followed behind Kazeki. Tenten held a sealing scroll, seemingly discussing something with her.

"Why did Kazeki get involved with that group so quickly? Is this the wonderful understanding between women..." Moriyue looked at Kazeki with a strange expression. He didn't want to approach the other Konoha ninjas to probe for information. If talismans had appeared in Konoha, the Konoha Twelve would definitely know.

But perhaps because of his overly prominent performance in the previous two exams, Neji led Rock Lee around him, and Shino and Kiba were busy playing with their pets, ignoring him.

As for Shikamaru, he absolutely didn't want to get involved with a troublesome guy like Moriyue. Conversely, after Moriyue left, the other examinees' relationships quickly warmed up because they now had a common target to despise.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Moriyue, single-handedly, had brought the examinees from different ninja villages closer together.

"Oh, Captain, we're here." Kazeki spotted the two who seemed out of place in the crowd and waved to them from afar.

Through Kazeki's introduction, Moriyue finally had his first interaction with the ninjas from Konoha and Amegakure.

Kaede was the first to smile and fist-bump Moriyue, like two old friends who had known each other for a long time. She was used to life in her village and was generally unguarded and simple.

Ajisai, on the other hand, was more cautious. After all, she had a mission from Konan to investigate potential Tailed Beast Jinchuriki appearing in this exam. If she hadn't suspected Kazeki of possibly being a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, she wouldn't have dared to approach her.

She had sensed a very chaotic chakra within Kazeki, a feeling as if there was another conscious chakra inside her body. Thinking about it, wasn't that how Tailed Beast Jinchuriki were? The chakra of the Tailed Beast and the Jinchuriki were mixed. Ajisai felt she had guessed correctly; Kazeki must be a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki!

"Um... Hello, my name is Ajisai, from Amegakure."

Tenten eyed Moriyue suspiciously. She was somewhat displeased with his actions during the written exam that had hindered other examinees, but she didn't show too much, as he had passed the exam through his own strength.

"Hello, I'm Tenten. Don't get me in the next exam, okay? I'm very strong."

Tenten waved her small fist, using these half-joking, half-serious words to quickly bridge the distance between them. Moriyue and Ando also greeted each other, subtly probing for information during their conversation.

"Standing around like this is tiring. It's almost lunchtime. Come on, let's eat and talk," Moriyue invited them with a smile. After this brief exchange, they all realized that Moriyue wasn't as... crazy as he seemed.

Gentle and polite – that was their impression of Moriyue after their first encounter. He was much more approachable than he had appeared before.

"Sorry, we were new here before and had to act tough." Moriyue smiled slightly. His humble attitude made Tenten, who had been somewhat critical of him earlier, feel a little embarrassed.

"No... I didn't expect you to be not as annoying as I thought, hehe. Let's go, let's go."