After some time, the teams that had passed the exam gradually arrived at the Central Tower.
Only five teams had made it through. The Grass Ninja, Sound Ninja, and the miscellaneous Konohagakure teams had all been eliminated, leaving only the Konoha Twelve and the three sand ninja siblings.
Of the original twenty-six participating teams, only five ultimately reached the Central Tower.
This meant every team had eliminated at least one opponent. Of the remaining sixteen teams, Naruto had taken out an additional two, while Gaara had taken out an additional four. Six teams had injured members unable to fight after being attacked by beasts, while another four had been eliminated after opening their Heaven and Earth Scrolls and falling unconscious.
Even so, fifteen people were still too many. Seven more had to be eliminated.
After all, what came next was no longer team combat, but individual battles.
In the noisy, restless training grounds of the Central Tower, the Third Hokage finally arrived. The Jonin instructors also stood in a row, solemnly watching the fifteen successful candidates below.
While the Third Hokage gave a lofty speech onstage, Naruto yawned below.
It was not until Gekko Hayate appeared, looking as though his kidneys had failed, that he explained to everyone that there were too many candidates advancing and a preliminary round would be added to the second exam.
Everyone reacted differently, some surprised, some nervous. Naruto, however, looked indifferent. He was planning to withdraw anyway.
The only point of entering the Chunin Exams had been to get Sakura and Sasuke in. At the very least, as their teammate, Naruto had not held them back. But if he really had to fight in individual matches, he had no interest whatsoever.
He was not short on money, nor did he care about honor.
Fighting