At first glance, Qingshui recognized the Cloud Ninja among them as Killer B.
After all, in the Original Work, he was the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and had a close relationship with the protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki.
He had helped Naruto greatly when Naruto was learning to control the Nine-Tails' power.
The Original Work had also shown Killer B as a child, and Qingshui had a fairly strong impression of this character, who had worn sunglasses since he was little.
As for the person who had just spoken, it wasn't Killer B, but one of his companions.
Now, as the man looked at Qingshui, who had stepped forward, he still wore a contemptuous expression and didn't take Qingshui seriously at all.
"Mister, you don't actually believe that Sand Ninja brat and think you're the strongest, do you?"
Although Qingshui was older than them, he wasn't old enough to be called "Mister."
Ignoring the Cloud Ninja brat completely, Qingshui looked toward their Jonin squad leader.
"Are all Cloud Ninja so badly behaved? Don't forget, this is Konoha, not your Kumogakure!"
Qingshui wasn't afraid of fighting them. He had already noticed that Konoha Anbu had arrived.
This was one of the busiest parts of Konoha, after all, and many ordinary villagers passed through here. The Anbu naturally wouldn't let anyone cause trouble.
If this dragged on any longer, even the Uchiha Ninja from the MP would be drawn here.
"This is Konoha. If you cause trouble, we'll revoke your eligibility to take the Chunin Exams."
Sure enough, before the Cloud Ninja could say anything, a group of Konoha Anbu appeared and issued a warning.
"Sorry, it was just a misunderstanding. We're only here to eat."
The Kumogakure Jonin leading the group hurriedly explained, then left with Killer B and the others.
They had come to Konoha on a mission. If their eligibility was revoked, how could they carry it out?
But even as they left, the Cloud Ninja brat who had spoken earlier didn't forget to provoke Qingshui.
"Mister, you'd better pray you don't run into us during the exams. Otherwise, you won't even need the real strongest, Killer B, to step in—I, Motoi, can take care of you!"
Qingshui naturally didn't take those words to heart.
After all, why would an elephant care about an ant's taunts?
He would just take it as a joke and let it pass.
After saying goodbye to Pakura and the others, Qingshui left as well.
After looking around for a while longer, Pakura and the others returned to their lodgings.
"Listen, there's a Konoha Ninja named Qingshui. He's very strong, definitely the strongest in these Chunin Exams. If you run into him, don't try to prove yourselves."
Gousuke didn't want his fellow Suna Ninja, Baki and the other two, to get hurt, so he took the initiative to warn them.
But when Rasa heard this, he snorted.
"The Chunin Exams haven't even started, and you're already boosting someone else's morale. Baki, if you run into this Qingshui, you absolutely must not bring shame to the village!"
Of the six Genin from Sunagakure, Baki was the strongest and specialized in Wind Style Ninjutsu.
In Rasa's eyes, Baki was even the strongest of all the Genin.
That was why he gave him such an order.
But Gousuke immediately protested.
"Qingshui defeated Teacher Pakura. No matter how capable Baki is, he can't possibly beat him!"
Those words didn't make Rasa withdraw his order. Instead, they made him even more displeased.
He was displeased with Pakura.
Rasa felt that although Pakura wasn't as strong as he was, she was still a Jonin. Yet she had carelessly lost to a Konoha Genin and caused the mission to fail.
She had brought shame on Sunagakure!
That was exactly why Rasa was so dissatisfied with Pakura.
"Pakura, keep your subordinates in line. Don't let them keep bringing shame on the village like you did."
After saying this, Rasa left the lodgings with Baki.
He planned to put Baki through special training before the Chunin Exams officially began.
Rasa didn't think Qingshui was actually all that strong, but the other boy had defeated Pakura.
Even if it had been because Pakura was careless.
Still, that showed he had some ability, so they couldn't afford to underestimate him.
"Baki, remember this: no matter what kind of enemy you face, never let your guard down. You represent the honor of Sunagakure!"
"Also, once the Chunin Exams begin, you must defeat Qingshui and wipe away the humiliation Sunagakure suffered!"
"Yes!"
Baki promptly agreed with Rasa.
Over the next few days, Baki learned what it meant to be pushed to the limit.
His daily training was relentless. By the time he got back to bed, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
It was grueling, but the results were significant.
Baki could clearly feel his strength improving rapidly.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Ninja were doing everything they could to gather information about Uzumaki Kushina.
But they were being especially cautious to avoid drawing Konoha's attention, so they hadn't made much progress.
And so, as everyone pursued their own plans, a few days passed in the blink of an eye. All the Genin who would take part in the Joint Chunin Exam had arrived in Konoha.
That meant the grand Chunin Exams were officially beginning!
Qingshui had arranged to take the morning off with Fukada Minako. After getting up, he slung the Ninja Sword he had picked up from the weapons shop the day before over his back and headed straight for the Ninja Academy.
That was where the first Chunin Exam would be held, and where he had arranged to meet Kushina.
"Qingshui, over here!"
As soon as he arrived outside the Ninja Academy, Qingshui saw Kushina waving both hands to get his attention.
Her vivid red hair made her hard to miss.
"Sorry, I'm late."
"It's fine. I only just got here myself."
Kushina lived in the Senju Clan Compound, which was close to the Ninja Academy.
Unlike Qingshui's home, which was outside the Konoha Main City Area, so it took him much longer to get there.
"All right, let's hurry inside."
Before long, they reached the room where the first exam would be held.
At a glance, there were a total of 189 Genin taking the exam.
There were 87 Konoha Genin, 30 from Sunagakure, 30 from Kumogakure, nine each from Kusagakure, Takigakure, and Amegakure, and the rest were from other small ninja villages.
Fortunately, the exam room was large enough. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been enough seats for everyone.
After looking around, Qingshui noticed that he didn't recognize many of the people there.
At the same time, Motoi, who had provoked Qingshui earlier, and Baki both turned their attention to him.
Just as they were about to approach and say something to Qingshui, all the proctors for the first exam arrived.
"Everyone, immediately find your assigned seats and sit down. The first exam, the Written Exam, will begin shortly. Anyone who disobeys will be disqualified."
As soon as the proctor said this, the noisy classroom fell completely silent.
Only then did the head examiner nod in satisfaction.
"Next, I'll read out the exam rules. Everyone, listen carefully."
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