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"It seems your companions aren't very friendly toward you." Moriyue leaned against the pebble-lined wall of the bathhouse pool and casually brought it up.

Ando nodded in agreement. They were from Kumogakure, known as the most united ninja village and the one with the fewest rogue ninja in its history. Naturally, they found this kind of exclusion of a companion hard to stomach.

The Kumogakure ninja looked down on Ando as someone who had risen through opportunism with forbidden techniques, but once Moriyue displayed the corresponding strength, quite a few of them still acknowledged him.

More importantly, once they left Kumogakure, no matter how discordant things were internally, they would put aside their prejudices while outside. If anyone dared say a bad word about one of their teammates, they had better be prepared to be pinned to the ground by several muscular men and experience lightning firsthand.

In other words, Kumogakure people could only be dealt with by Kumogakure. If outsiders wanted to interfere, then beat the hell out of them.

As for Sunagakure, judging by the signs so far, even Ando, who knew nothing about the plot, could guess that their village might not be very united.

"That's not true. It's because I'm not strong enough, so I haven't earned everyone's recognition. They aren't wrong either. If I were strong enough, they would definitely acknowledge me."

Shira shook his head. Though his companions' words had chilled his heart somewhat, he did not believe they were at fault.

"Oh? What a warped way of thinking. Shira, can't you see it? They're brainwashing you." Moriyue sneered. He did not believe they would acknowledge Shira once he became stronger.

Even if they acknowledged him on the surface, it would only be a compromise based on strength. That kind of relationship was warped.

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

Shira shook his head. People who practiced taijutsu seemed to be this stubborn. Moriyue understood that too much was as bad as too little, so he discussed some taijutsu training techniques with Shira afterward, and the group soon left the bath.

Only after Moriyue and Ando had left did the other ninja in the bath dare let out a breath. They were genuinely afraid that lunatic Moriyue would discharge electricity in the bath. No matter how good the ninja present were at video games, they were no match for Kumogakure.

"Hey! Shira, you seemed pretty happy chatting with that brat just now."

Seeing Moriyue leave, several Sunagakure ninja crowded around Shira. Five or six of them surrounded him, with some constantly poking him with their fingers.

"I told you long ago that a useless idiot who can't use ninjutsu is nothing but dead weight. You traitor."

"Everyone, it wasn't like that. I really just wanted to exchange some taijutsu insights. After all, Kumogakure's Nintaijutsu..."

"Oh, oh, oh, if Kumogakure is so great, why don't you go join Kumogakure? Don't tell me our Sunagakure can't keep a great Buddha like you around."

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

Thud. From the shadows, someone punched Shira. He could not see who it was, nor did he wish to look. He could only endure it silently.

Ando witnessed the scene from afar, his fists clenching. Though he and Shira were not from the same village, that did not stop him from standing up for Shira.

Moriyue patted Ando on the shoulder, holding back the man who was about to transform into a foul-mouthed god of war.

"Everyone has their own choice. He thinks enduring humiliation will earn him recognition. He has to walk that dead-end road himself."

The brief incident with Shira did not delay them for long. Kazeki wiped her still-damp hair, with Kaede trailing beside her, eyes sparkling. Ajisai, who had maintained a cool persona all along, followed behind Kazeki as well, while Tenten held a Sealing Scroll and seemed to be discussing something with her.

"How did Kazeki get along with that group so quickly? Is this the mysterious rapport between women..." Moriyue looked at Kazeki strangely. It was not that he did not want to approach the other Konoha ninja and fish for information. If a talisman had truly appeared on Konoha's side, then Konoha's twelve rising stars would definitely know about it.

But perhaps because his performance in the first two exams had been too outstanding, Neji dragged Rock Lee around him, while Shino and Kiba were busy playing with their little pets and paid him no attention.

As for Shikamaru, he had absolutely no desire to get involved with someone as troublesome as Moriyue. Instead, after Moriyue left, the examinees rapidly grew closer because they now shared someone to despise.

It was no exaggeration to say that Moriyue had single-handedly brought the examinees from every ninja village closer together.

"Oh, Captain, we're over here." Kazeki spotted the two who stood out from the crowd and greeted them from afar.

With Kazeki's introduction, Moriyue finally made contact with the ninja from Konoha and Amegakure for the first time.

Kaede was the first to smile and bump fists with Moriyue, as though they were old friends who had known each other for years. Having grown accustomed to staying in her village, she was practically defenseless around others—simple and innocent.

Ajisai, on the other hand, was much more wary. After all, she carried out the mission Konan had given her: to investigate whether a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki might appear in this exam. If she had not suspected that Kazeki was likely a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, she would not have risked approaching her.

She had sensed it already. There was a chaotic mass of Chakra within Kazeki's body, as though another conscious Chakra existed inside her. Thinking about it carefully, wasn't that what a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki was? The Chakra of the Tailed Beast and the Jinchuriki mixed together. Ajisai felt certain she had guessed correctly—Kazeki had to be a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki!

"Um... h-hello. My name is Ajisai, and I'm from Amegakure."

Tenten eyed Moriyue suspiciously. She was somewhat dissatisfied with how he had discharged electricity during the Written Exam to hinder the other examinees, but she did not show it too openly. After all, he had passed the exam through his own strength.

"Hello, I'm Tenten. Try not to run into me in the next exam, okay? I'm very strong."

Tenten waved her little fist. Her half-joking, half-serious words quickly closed the distance between them. Moriyue and the others exchanged greetings as well, subtly probing for information everyone already knew.

"Standing around like this is tiring. It's almost time to eat, right? Come on, let's talk over a meal." Moriyue smiled and invited them to a restaurant. After that brief exchange, they had all realized that Moriyue was not as... crazy as he appeared.

Gentle and refined, courteous and well-mannered—those were their first impressions of Moriyue after meeting him. He was far more approachable than he had seemed before.

"Sorry. We had just arrived, so we had to act a little more forcefully." Moriyue smiled slightly. His humble attitude made Tenten, who had been somewhat hostile toward him before, feel a little embarrassed.

"I-I didn't expect you to be not as annoying as I imagined either. Hehe, let's go, let's go."