I, Who Participated in the Chunin Exam, Was Broadcast Live!

"What's wrong with you?!"

"You knew we were testing ninja tools, and you forgot your tool pouch?"

Iruka exploded on the spot.

He was scolding the class's Dead Last—Naruto Uzumaki.

···

"Hehe—"

The scene drew laughter from the students in the class.

To them, the exam had felt tense, but watching Naruto mess up seemed to lighten the mood.

"Naruto, that Dead Last, he's definitely gonna fail this Graduation Exam."

While Iruka was chewing Naruto out, the students had already started chattering idly.

"Honestly, Naruto can't even do the Three Body Technique right. How's he supposed to graduate?"

"He told me he wants to become Hokage—a Hokage who surpasses all the others."

"That's hilarious—"

"He's the only one who won't pass this year!"

"Haha—"

In an instant, the classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

So...

Right now, hardly anyone in the class believed what Naruto said: "I'll become Hokage—a Hokage stronger than all the previous ones!"

And these people...

Kitahara Kaede propped his chin on his hand, expressionless.

To him, everyone mocking Naruto right now... was a fool.

···

Kitahara Kaede was a reincarnator, and even if he weren't, he wouldn't deny Naruto.

Naruto was the Dead Last in class.

But Naruto had a heart that never gave up... Whether he fell to darkness or upheld the Will of Fire, he would grow strong.

Not to mention...

Naruto Uzumaki was the original story's saintly protagonist, the reincarnated chakra of Asura, son of the Sage of Six Paths, and... the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, the future Seventh Generation.

So these people... all had no vision.

Did they have any idea how much benefit you could get by buttering up the saintly protagonist early on?

···

"Naruto!" Iruka was still scolding him.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Kitahara Kaede raised his hand and stood up.

"If it's a tool pouch, I have an extra one."

"So I can lend it to Naruto."

···

"Ah..." Naruto, who'd been getting chewed out with his head down, lifted his face instantly. His gaze at Kitahara Kaede was full of gratitude.

Like he'd seen hope.

He wanted to become Hokage and earn everyone's recognition, but first... he had to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

If he failed and got held back, his dream... would probably be crushed outright.

Plus, Naruto figured none of the other students would lend him tools.

"Since you have a spare, that works." Iruka said.

Naruto finally stopped getting scolded.

Then he jogged over toward Kitahara Kaede.

He was coming to get the tools.

Kitahara Kaede looked at Hinata, sitting to his right.

"Hinata, you said you brought two sets of tools, right?"

"Lend me the extra tool pouch."

Hinata: ???

Was he saying... to give the tools she'd prepared for Kitahara Kaede-kun to Naruto?

Hinata's fair little hand hesitated as it held the backpack.

The ninja tools she had prepared were ordinary, yet not so ordinary.

Because she had considered that Kitahara Kaede would be the one using them, she had carefully sharpened and polished every kunai and shuriken.

It had taken her a long time.

But those were meant for Kaede... and now...

"Mmn... okay."

Noticing Kaede looking at her, Hinata finally handed over the backpack, then placed both hands at her stomach and fidgeted with her fingers.

Her mood seemed to drop.

Kitahara Kaede set the ninja tool pack Hinata had handed him on the desk, then took the complete set strapped to his own thigh and gave it to Naruto.

"These have everything required for the exam."

"Use them well."

Feeling the weight of the ninja tool pack in his hands, Naruto looked at Kitahara Kaede with gratitude and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for saving my skin!"

"I owe you big time—if you ever need me, even if it's through a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, I'll be there!"

Then he quickly hurried back to his seat, because if he stayed any longer, Iruka-sensei would definitely lose it.

Kitahara Kaede took the ninja tool pack that Hinata had specially prepared for him and reattached it to his side.

"Thank you, Hinata," Kitahara Kaede said. "You prepared an extra set for me, so I could do Naruto that favor."

"No, that's..." Hinata said. "I'm glad you like it."

She gently patted her chest, as if feeling relieved inside.

And it felt like the effort of these past days had paid off.

"But..." Hinata was curious. "Kitahara Kaede-kun cares a lot about Uzumaki-san."

"Yeah," Kitahara Kaede said. "Because right now, I exist for his sake—to suppress him when he goes berserk."

"Oh... eh-eh?! Uzumaki-san is that important?"

Hinata was instantly crushed.

"Shikamaru, what have you been staring at?"

Two desks behind Kitahara Kaede and Hinata, Choji gently nudged Nara Shikamaru beside him.

Shikamaru seemed to have been fixedly watching Kaede and the others.

"Love just seems like such a hassle. All that anxiety over gain and loss."

Shikamaru said.

Choji: Oh... huh?

Who in the class was dating who?

Chapter 003: Myriad Realms Chat System! (Please support)

The Hidden Leaf Village's Graduation Exam was divided into the Written Exam, Ninja Tool Exam, Taijutsu Exam, and Ninjutsu Exam.

The written portion was simple, since it was all questions they'd done to death—just memorization.

The Ninja Tool Exam tested shuriken accuracy, range, and so on.

For Taijutsu, they sparred with a regular Chunin and passed based on evaluation.

Ninjutsu was even easier—just one of the Three Body Techniques drawn at random.

Kitahara Kaede drew the Transformation Jutsu from the Three Body Techniques.

Transforming into Iruka's likeness was enough to pass.

"Almost identical, though my facial scar isn't this deep."

"Pass!"

Iruka nitpicked a little before handing the forehead protector to Kitahara Kaede.

Students who finished and passed could leave immediately, but they had to return to school at 9 a.m. the next day.

Because by tradition, after graduation they would receive the title of Genin, but they had no practical experience yet, so new instructors were needed.

These new instructors wouldn't be like Iruka, who handled over forty students in a single class; instead, a Jonin would individually guide three students.

But the specific team assignments still needed to be reported to the Hokage, so everyone would have to wait until tomorrow to find out their squad compositions.

·········

Kitahara Kaede, who had received his graduation pass, didn't leave immediately. He waited at the school gate for a while.

Soon, a black-haired, white-eyed girl jogged out of the school in quick steps.

This was Hinata. Her face was flushed a rosy red from the exertion.

Hinata had also passed the graduation exam.

The proof was the new Hidden Leaf Village headband around her neck.

········

"Congratulations on passing the exam," Hinata said after running out.

"I secretly saw Iruka-sensei's score sheet."

"Kaede-kun is amazing—your Ninja Tool Exam score was only below Sasuke's."

The Sasuke she mentioned was Sasuke Uchiha, the deuteragonist or Second Pillar of the original story, still the sole survivor after the Uchiha clan's massacre.

He always maintained an aloof and excellent demeanor.

And Sasuke was the genius and top student of the class.

But none of that mattered to Kitahara Kaede.

What he was more interested in was that the iconic scene from the original—Sasuke and Naruto's first kiss—hadn't happened yet.

However, Kitahara Kaede also noticed that Hinata's mood seemed to be dropping.

"If... if I hadn't forgotten two shuriken at home, then Kitahara Kaede-kun could have gotten a perfect score of 10 on the Ninja Tool Exam," Hinata said, fidgeting with her fingers. "And Kaede-kun is best at shurikenjutsu."

She had polished every shuriken she prepared for Kitahara Kaede one by one, but... because she took them out to polish them, she lost track of the count.

As a result, Kitahara Kaede was two shuriken short during the Ninja Tool Exam and couldn't get a perfect score.

"Don't worry about it," Kitahara Kaede said. "I don't really want to be first."