Discovered Your Secret, Hee-Hee

Naruto quickly shifted his gaze to the others again.

He lightly stroked his chin, his thoughts churning.

Those relying on tools are easy enough to deal with. The troublesome ones are those who can open their eyes or hear things. The simplest method is still to directly deal with the Chunin who have the answers. Naruto thought as he continuously adjusted the angle of his forehead protector.

"Found one." He finally locked onto a bespectacled examinee writing furiously. Judging from his appearance, he did not seem to have any external assistance.

"How should I deal with him...?" Naruto pondered inwardly, when another bold idea suddenly occurred to him.

Naruto's eyes once again turned scarlet, and this time, faint malice lingered around him.

Hinata's eyelid twitched beside him. She turned to look at Naruto, and when he met her gaze, she was so frightened that her face paled and her mouth fell open.

"Shh, it's fine. I'm just doing a little experiment." Naruto comforted her softly as he transformed the Nine-Tails Chakra into a long, transparent strand and sent it spreading outward.

Every examinee it passed felt a surge of fear. Some of the more timid ones even felt their lower bodies go damp, while others' hands trembled so badly that they could not write a single word.

Soon, the Nine-Tails Chakra reached the bespectacled examinee. He seemed to have been abruptly frozen in place by some unknown spell, his mind filled with endless malice. Before long, even his eyes had reddened slightly.

Through his forehead protector, Naruto took in everything happening behind him.

This is working! He secretly rejoiced and began searching for the next examinee with the answers.

Naruto did not directly cover the entire examination hall with the Nine-Tails Chakra. Otherwise, the commotion might become too great, and bringing the Konoha higher-ups over would be ridiculous.

As he searched, he tried to justify himself: I'm not setting you up. Many people are definitely going to die in the Forest of Death. Eliminating you ahead of time might even let you live a few more years.

"I'm doing this for your own good!" Naruto felt that he had sacrificed far too much for these Genin.

But soon, he felt a chill down his spine, and his eyes met Ibiki's at the very front.

Did he notice me? Naruto saw Ibiki staring in his direction with a solemn expression.

Still, the Nine-Tails Chakra seems to have improved my perception quite a bit too.

Naruto thought for a moment before withdrawing the Nine-Tails Chakra.

That little stunt of his had caused many examinees in the areas it passed through to give up on answering.

They suspected that some indescribably evil entity had set its sights on them.

As for Sakura, she had not picked up her pen either. Instead, she was considering whether to have Ino find a way to copy her answers.

According to the original story, Ino would use the Mind Body Switch Technique to obtain Sakura's answers and then pass them to Shikamaru and Choji.

After thinking for a long while, she still did not pick up her pen.

Perhaps influenced by the original owner's emotions, she did not want Ino and the others to continue participating in the subsequent trials, even if it meant Shikamaru would lose his chance to become a Chunin.

Leaving Shikamaru aside, Ino and Choji currently had no ability to protect themselves at all. If the new transmigrator was a psychopath, their lives would likely be in danger.

"Let fate decide." Sakura sighed softly. She intended to let Ino and the others fend for themselves.

Time soon reached the final ten minutes.

Ibiki swept his gaze around the room, then glanced once more in Naruto's direction before shouting, "All right! I'll now announce the question for the tenth question!"

"But on that basis, I'll be adding several more rules..."

Ibiki revealed a slightly twisted smile. "...Rules that will drive you to despair... Hmm?"

The instant he said the word "despair," the surrounding atmosphere suddenly grew extremely gloomy, only to return to normal in the blink of an eye.

He could not help glancing toward Naruto again.

Who exactly is it?

Meanwhile, Naruto helplessly shook his head. I only used the Nine-Tails to add a little pressure for you. Why did you freeze halfway through your speech?

Naruto felt that Ibiki was truly unprofessional.

Ibiki coughed and continued explaining the rules. This time, he delivered them in one smooth flow with consistent emotion. Once he finished, the examination hall immediately sank into an atmosphere of despair.

Naruto timely added another Nine-Tails effect. He even wondered whether he should ask Ibiki for a fee for his efforts afterward.

But what does that make me? The lighting technician? The atmosphere director?

"Hmm?" Ibiki once again sensed that something was wrong. This time, he finally fixed his hesitant gaze on Naruto.

This child... looks somewhat familiar... No, something's not right. How could a brat like this possibly emit such pressure?

Still, Naruto-sensei's atmosphere effects were quite impressive. Wave after wave of people raised their hands, and some even began lining up by the registration numbers.

Seeing this, Naruto finally reined in the Nine-Tails Chakra completely.

"That's enough, that's enough. If I keep going, something really will happen." Naruto let out a long breath. He suspected that a few more seconds might actually bring Hiruzen over.

At the same time, he kept looking around, but still found nothing unusual.

The Konoha 12, the Sound Ninja, the Sand Ninja, Kabuto... These people had not been affected, but the number of minor characters had indeed decreased considerably.

Hopefully that transmigrator is among those cannon fodder... Tsk, if they really got eliminated, would they just wait outside the entrance?

Naruto immediately tensed up again. He picked up his forehead protector and began carefully observing the examinees lining up to withdraw.

Seeing the person she loved looking left and right with a worried expression, Hinata felt a pang of heartache. She took several deep breaths, gathered her courage, and patted Naruto. "Naruto-kun, are you really all right?"

"I'm fine..." Naruto waved his hand, but quickly changed his tune. "Ahem, actually, something is wrong. I've felt a little off lately. How about you use the Byakugan to check me after the exam?"

Hinata thought about it, then nodded shyly.

Yoshi, Konoha's flower is very good!

Naruto smiled and nodded, planning to take his relationship with Hinata a step further today.

Meanwhile, after Ibiki swept his gaze around the classroom, he asked once more whether anyone wanted to withdraw. After receiving a negative answer, he finally announced solemnly:

"Then, everyone here... I declare that you have all passed the first exam!"

Everyone was shocked. Someone could not help asking a question, and only after Ibiki explained everything in detail did they understand.

However, while explaining, he kept glancing toward Naruto from time to time.

This brat isn't simple... He hasn't shown the slightest surprise from beginning to end, but his gaze has always been on guard against something. Has he simply not come out of his examination state yet?

Sasuke had also been watching Naruto's movements the entire time. Naruto had not written a single word throughout the examination, yet he had actively caused several "accidents." Faced with the final life-or-death question, he had remained neither servile nor overbearing, as if he had known the answer in advance.

"Naruto, just what else are you hiding...?" Sasuke could not help growing intensely curious about Naruto.

Sakura looked at Ino and the others after they passed the exam and sighed softly. So be it. If anything happens later, it can no longer be said to have anything to do with me, Haruno Sakura.

Ibiki: "You have passed the first stage of the exam. Keep working hard from now on!"

As he spoke, Naruto suddenly felt something touch the sole of his foot.

He lowered his head and saw a small piece of paper crumpled into a wrinkled ball.

Naruto picked it up and unfolded it. There was only one short sentence written on it:

[I've discovered your secret, hee-hee]