Strike First, Gain the Advantage

"Your attitude is way too much of a slacker, don't you think?" Ino complained.

"I just became a genin, I didn't expect to become a chunin so quickly," Naruto said truthfully. "The missions for chunin are more troublesome, right?"

Ino put a hand to her forehead, speechless.

Shikamaru, however, quite agreed with Naruto's words and nodded.

"Troublesome things are the most annoying."

The exam began with the first written test.

Naruto sat next to Hinata, yawning as he glanced at the paper in front of him. The main questions were about freefall physics, and the multiple-choice options were all common sense.

If he were to answer, he'd have to guess and rely on luck for half of them, but Naruto hadn't even touched his pen.

He propped his head on his hand and closed his eyes to rest. It didn't matter what was written on the test anyway. The chief examiner, that perverted weirdo, would definitely set up some kind of Will of Fire assessment to test the candidates' trust in their comrades.

Boring. Who would be moved to tears by some mere Will of Fire?

The exam ended. As expected, with a blank paper, Naruto successfully passed the first stage of the Chunin Exams. The principle behind the written test screening was simple, summarized in six words: never give up, never abandon.

Naruto did nothing and smoothly advanced to the second stage of the exam.

Anko Mitarashi burst onto the scene of the written test, wearing a trench coat over a fishnet undershirt. There were no signs of weight gain on her face; she still radiated youthful energy full of collagen.

"You guys, it's just the first exam! What's there to be happy about?"

"There's no time for you to prepare! Twenty minutes from now, the second exam will begin at Training Ground 44!"

With that, she vanished in a puff of smoke.

Scattered sighs arose as the candidates, bewildered and helpless, got up and headed towards Training Ground 44.

"Hinata, let's go," Kiba Inuzuka called out to Hinata from a distance, a dog perched on his head.

"Okay."

Hinata answered, then blushed as she looked at Naruto and said softly.

"Naruto-kun, I'm heading off now."

"Okay, see you later, Hinata," Naruto said, waving.

"Naruto! Over here, or we'll be late!" Sakura urged from the doorway.

"Coming."

Outside the Forest of Death, Naruto sensed that the spectacled Kabuto seemed to be staring at his group, or more accurately, his gaze was subtly lingering on Sasuke.

"That guy with glasses over there is pretty strange. He might even be a rogue ninja from Konoha," Naruto said with some displeasure. Without any attempt to hide it, he pointed directly at Kabuto's location and said loudly.

"Don't the Anbu people check the candidates' backgrounds carefully?"

Such a sudden remark immediately drew the attention of the surrounding candidates, and the three members of Team Seven instantly became the focus of everyone's attention.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"

Sakura lowered her head, not daring to look around, her face blushing for a moment as she asked in a low voice.

"I'm not talking nonsense," Naruto whispered back, subtly pulling the two beside him closer and speaking in a voice only they could hear. "Be careful of those ninjas from the Sound Village."

He just mentioned it as a side note, nothing more.

Sensing the commotion, the examiner Anko Mitarashi walked over and said to Naruto.

"Candidates are forbidden from disrupting the exam order!"

After speaking, she scanned the surroundings and said to the candidates.

"Candidates who haven't received their scrolls yet, come and get them. The rules for this exam are that teams who obtain the Heaven or Earth scrolls and arrive at the central tower of the Forest of Death within five days will pass. Otherwise, they fail."

"Note that if a teammate dies or loses the ability to fight during the process, it will also be considered a failure. Additionally, no one is allowed to open their scrolls."

"Those who understand, come here to get your scrolls. Time is tight, so hurry up!"

Under Anko Mitarashi's urging, the atmosphere eased, and no one paid any more attention to Naruto's words.

Naruto scoffed, glanced in Kabuto's direction, and then went to get a scroll.

With a creak, the rusty iron gate of Training Ground 44 let out a sharp screech before slowly opening. The teams that had received their scrolls filed in, tacitly choosing different directions to proceed. Some, however, followed teams they had already targeted.

Team Seven casually chose a direction and walked for a long time before hiding in a bush to discuss the most important issue at hand.

Who would hold the scroll?

The exam rules were as follows: out of the twenty-six participating teams, half would receive Heaven scrolls, and the other half would receive Earth scrolls. The winning teams must collect a set of both Heaven and Earth scrolls and survive until the fifth day with no deaths or serious injuries within their team.

Thus, who would keep the scroll became a very important matter.

"Sakura, you should hold it," Naruto said.

"Me?" Sakura was clearly flustered. "What if I lose it?"

"It's fine. If there's no other way, just hand the scroll over," Naruto said. "Sasuke and I can protect ourselves. If you have the scroll, it might offer some protection. This is just an exam, no need to risk your life."

"But..."

"There's no 'but'," Naruto waved his hand. "I have a feeling something is off about this Chunin Exam promotion. You two be careful. If you encounter enemies, you can just drop the scroll and run."

Sasuke, understanding Naruto's underlying meaning, frowned and asked, "You're going to act alone?"

"What?" Sakura was completely bewildered.

They had just signed the death waiver outside the exam grounds, meaning no one would intervene even if they died in the Forest of Death. Now Naruto was saying he'd go alone, leaving only two members for Team Seven?

"Mhm," Naruto nodded, looking at them seriously. "I need to take care of something. You two wait here for me."

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke said. "Isn't it more convenient to act as a group of three than for you to go alone?"

"That... you don't need to worry about that," Naruto said with a smile. "I promise I'll be back to find you before dark. It'll be less convenient if the three of us go together."

Hearing this, Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a look.

"You're going to go after the scroll, aren't you?" Sasuke cut to the chase, frowning as he asked. "Before we entered the exam, you told us to be careful of those Sound Ninja, so you've already targeted them?"

"Sound Ninja?"

Sakura was taken aback, and then her face filled with worry.

"I'll tell you when I get back," Naruto said, then leaped away.

After leaving the other two members of Team Seven, Naruto's expression turned stern, his eyes filled with indifference. If he didn't deal with those three Sound Ninja, they would always be a problem. Besides, they were going to come after Sasuke themselves.

Rather than waiting for their move, it was better to strike first. It would be easier to settle these troublesome matters early and safely get through these few days.