At last, they arrived at the spectator seats, where Tsunade was already waiting.
"You're slow, old man," Tsunade complained.
"Hehe, I'm an old man, after all." The Third Hokage smiled, then turned to the Kazekage beside him and said calmly, "Please, take your seat, Lord Kazekage."
"You're too courteous, Lord Hokage." Seeing Tsunade present, the Kazekage's eyelid twitched. He then walked over without betraying anything and sat beside the Third Hokage, with Tsunade on one side and himself on the other.
Sand and Konoha each had a jonin standing behind their respective Kage.
At this moment, the examinees were filing into the circular arena below the stands.
Cheers and excitement immediately erupted from the surrounding spectator stands.
Naturally, most of the ordinary spectators were Konoha residents, so they were cheering for Konoha's genin. Of the eight examinees, a full seven were from Konoha, which made them immensely proud.
Go, Naruto... Hinata sat in the stands with her father Hiashi and her younger sister Hanabi. Seeing that golden-haired figure among the examinees below, she silently cheered him on.
So that's Naruto... Hiashi narrowed his eyes slightly. Naturally, he could not have been completely unaware of Hinata and Naruto's situation, but for certain reasons, he had never stepped in to stop it.
Hanabi sat on her father's other side, astonished by how many Konoha examinees were in the arena.
Meanwhile, in the arena, Naruto suddenly turned toward the stands as Shiranui Genma, the referee for this round, introduced the match order again with a toothpick in his mouth.
As though they shared some sort of telepathy, he immediately spotted Hinata's small figure in the stands. Smiling, he waved in her direction.
Hinata had been staring at Naruto the entire time. Startled, her cheeks flushed slightly, but with her father seated beside her,