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Without needing Naruto or Sasuke to say anything, Sakura had already decided to participate in the Chunin Selection Exams: "I want to know if the gap between myself and you two has narrowed at all after all this training."

Hearing this, Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a smile, each patting one of Sakura's shoulders.

Naruto: "Don't worry, compared to the day we graduated, you've already become much stronger."

"Just as Naruto said."

Sasuke nodded in firm agreement: "I've seen your hard work during this time. You are already an excellent ninja."

Naruto's affirmation made Sakura feel a bit happy. As for Sasuke's words, they nearly sent Sakura into a state of mental overload.

The "crush" that hadn't flared up in a long time erupted in that moment; Sakura's mind was filled with Sasuke's words, "I've seen it all," and her imagination raced toward their future, all the way to the end of their lives—surrounded by children and grandchildren, passing away with a smile.

Sakura had no memory of what happened afterward, only knowing that when she came to, she was already sitting at home, being looked at by her mother with an expression of utter disdain...

On the morning of July 1st, the three of them—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—arrived at the academy with their application forms.

Walking through the familiar hallway and looking at the familiar scenery, Sakura suddenly felt an inexplicable emotion: "I never thought the first time I'd return to school after graduation would be for an exam."

Sasuke seemed to have a similar feeling, letting out a silent nasal hum: "Yeah."

Naruto's focus was different: "I was wondering why we suddenly had a few days off five years ago; turns out it was for the Chunin Selection Exams."

Sakura immediately shook off her strange mood: "I'm impressed you can remember that so clearly."

Naruto: "Because that was the exact time I met my Master."

"That's the first time I've heard you mention that."

Sasuke was a bit interested: "Tell us about your first meeting with your Master."

"Hmm... is there really anything to say?"

Naruto thought for a moment: "That day, my Master suddenly appeared and pulled my consciousness into the Sealing Space. Afterward, I don't know what method he used, but he modified the seal without breaking it. The chakra my mom and dad left inside the seal was separated and then linked to Kurama, allowing their chakra to persist indefinitely. After that, he just taught me how to train, and that's been it until now."

"That's really simple."

Sasuke shook his head, feeling as though Naruto had said something, yet also nothing at all.

He had been learning from his Master for a while now, but whenever he faced him, Sasuke always felt a sense of distant alienation.

Sasuke hated that feeling, but he truly didn't know much about his Master: "Has your Master ever told you why he wanted to help you, or why he wanted to teach you?"

"He has, actually..."

Naruto tried hard to recall: "My Master said he taught me out of 'interest.' As for the things he did to help me, he said he just hoped I would study hard."

Hearing this, Sasuke fell silent for a long while, then sighed softly: "That reason sounds simple, even thin, but it is exactly something my Master would say."

"Don't think too much about it."

Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder, comforting him: "My Master is very serious when he teaches. We just need to work hard to get stronger; everything else is unimportant."

Sasuke fell silent again, seemingly accepting this.

They could see others ahead, so the topic of the Master ended there.

Over a dozen genin were gathered in front of the door to Classroom 301, with two people claiming to be seniors blocking the entrance, preventing those around them from passing through.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura glanced at the sign for Classroom 301, stepped back a distance, and lowered their voices to communicate:

"Isn't this the second floor? I remember that spot being the stairs to the third floor. Why is there a Classroom 301 here?"

"It's an illusion."

"Those two guys at the door claiming to be seniors are also using the Transformation Technique."

"So, the Chunin Exams start from the moment we submit the application form?"

"Are the people over there idiots? It's so obvious..."

"They might have realized it but are pretending not to."

"What should we do? Just barge through?"

"No need, we can just go around from the outside to the third floor."

After discussing, the three climbed out of a second-floor window, focused chakra into the soles of their feet, and walked directly along the outer wall to the third floor, where they found Kakashi standing outside Classroom 301.

"Yo, you're all here."

Kakashi greeted them: "Now you can go in."

Sakura's eye twitched: "Kakashi-sensei, judging by what you said, if any of us hadn't come, we wouldn't have been able to enter?"

Kakashi nodded: "Because the requirement for this exam is that you must register as a three-person team."

Naruto said helplessly: "I understand, but if you keep doing things like this, we're going to end up hating you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi looked away, feeling guilty: "Next time, I'll try to find another way."

The three didn't dwell on it further and pushed open the classroom door to enter.

The classroom was quite spacious, and since they had arrived early, there weren't many people yet.

The three silently walked to a less crowded area of the room and spoke in low voices.

"Don't these people look a bit nervous?"

Sakura asked, "It feels like they could strike at any moment."

"When you're in another hidden village, especially one that was once hostile, and there's an exam going on, anyone who isn't nervous is either incredibly thick-skinned or absolutely confident in their own strength."

Sasuke's gaze swept over everyone in the classroom: "The guys in this room right now all look pretty ordinary."

"There are a few who are particularly dangerous."

Naruto kept his eyes straight ahead: "Judging by the Qi on them, there is one whose strength is on par with Kakashi-sensei, and another whose strength exceeds his. They can't possibly be Genin; I suspect they are someone in disguise."

"Stronger than Kakashi-sensei!?"

Sakura felt a bit of fear: "Should we... report the people in disguise?"

"It's useless."

Sasuke shook his head: "Right now they haven't done anything and are following the normal registration process for the exam. Even if we reported them, without evidence, the village could only have the Anbu monitor them; otherwise, it would trigger a diplomatic incident."

"Sakura, you should be more confident."

Naruto said: "The three of us aren't weak. If we coordinate well, even if we can't defeat these guys, we won't be defeated in the short term, nor will we be in any life-threatening danger. Even if something unexpected happens, I can have Kurama help. At the very worst, I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to take you both and escape."

The multiple safeguards Naruto listed put Sakura slightly at ease. Beside them, Sasuke also relaxed a little.

The three sat in the classroom chairs, silently entering a state of Qi Refining, waiting for the exam to begin.

Every few minutes, another three-man squad would walk into the classroom.

Sasuke noticed a few faces he had seen on the second floor earlier: "As expected, they were deliberately showing weakness."

Although most of the people who walked in afterward were strangers, there were a few familiar classmates: Team 8's Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru, and Shino Aburame; Team 10's Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka.

When they saw the three members of Team 7, they all came over to say hello and incidentally group up—they were classmates after all, and even if there was a competitive relationship in the upcoming exams, they were still more trustworthy than ninjas from other villages.

However, as more and more people filled the classroom, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

At this moment, a young man wearing a Konoha forehead protector, his face plastered with an innocent smile, took the initiative to approach them: "Yo, you must be the nine rookies who just graduated this year, right? Hello, my name is Kabuto Yakushi, and I suppose you could call me your senior..."