The first Chunin Ninja Exams were about to begin.
Jingxin headed to the exam hall with Kurotsuchi, Deidara, and Karin.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard fighting up ahead.
A boy in a green jumpsuit, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, was chasing Sasuke and beating him up.
And he was enjoying it more and more.
"Is that the Sharingan? All right! Next, I'll show you my true speed." Rock Lee crouched down, apparently about to remove his weights.
"That's enough, Lee." A middle-aged man in the same green jumpsuit, with the same thick eyebrows, stood on the back of a turtle.
Might Guy looked sternly at his student. "Have you forgotten what I told you? Don't take it too far when sparring with your comrades!"
Rock Lee wilted at once. "I'm sorry, Guy-sensei. I just wanted to prove that hard work can surpass talent, too."
Naruto was stunned by Rock Lee and Might Guy's outrageous outfits. "Aah?! Another kappa!"
"What kappa?" Might Guy flashed two rows of gleaming teeth. "I'm Might Guy, a Konoha jōnin and a friend of your teacher's. And I'll have you know, I've won more times than Kakashi in our matches!"
Kakashi-sensei...
Could lose to this guy?
Team 7 eyed Might Guy suspiciously.
"Hey... could you move aside?" Deidara's patience was just about gone.
The Konoha Ninja finally noticed that there were other people there.
Might Guy laughed heartily. "Ah, the little ones from Iwagakure! Don't get so angry! At least we're at peace now and taking the exam together."
Naruto blinked several times. He looked at Jingxin's Iwagakure uniform, then at the Anbu mask covering the upper half of his face, and suddenly slapped his forehead.
"It's you!" Naruto pointed at Jingxin and shouted. "The one from the Land of Waves! The Anbu from Iwagakure!"
Everyone's attention immediately shifted to Jingxin.
Anbu?!
Neji frowned, a hint of surprise appearing in his expression as he looked at Jingxin.
He looked about our age.
Jingxin had planned to take his team quietly to the exam hall, but now that Naruto had recognized him, he could only nod.
Naruto's eyes lit up. He hurried over and bowed deeply to Jingxin. "Thank you for saving us back then!"
He raised his head, grinning brightly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The man destined to become Hokage!"
Sasuke came up beside Naruto and sized Jingxin up. He sensed the calm, restrained presence about him. "A strong person like you is taking the Chunin Ninja Exams, too?"
Deidara suddenly laughed, answering before Jingxin could. "Who says an Anbu can't be a Genin? Hmm~"
"Hahaha!" Might Guy boomed with laughter. "Looks like we've got another genius like Kakashi! These Chunin Ninja Exams should be exciting."
"All right, it's about time. Everyone, head into the exam hall! Good luck, and I hope you all do well!"
"Woohoo!! Now this is youth~~~~"
"Yes, Guy-sensei! Waaaah~"
Tenten and Neji quietly moved a few steps away from the two of them.
The exam was being held in a large classroom at the end of the third floor.
When they opened the door, they found more than a hundred Genin already gathered inside.
The Konoha 12 hadn't all been together since graduation, and they were chatting and catching up.
Jingxin found seats for the four of them. He immediately noticed someone's scrutinizing gaze wandering over him.
Beside Sakura, Ino frowned, her eyes fixed on Jingxin.
That figure looked familiar.
The short black hair, straight back, posture, gait, even the sound of his footsteps.
Ino's pale, rosy nose twitched as her eyes narrowed slightly.
Even his scent...
Jingxin glanced at Ino and guiltily looked away.
Just then, a mild-mannered young man wearing glasses approached the Konoha Genin.
"Hey, could you keep it down?" Kabuto Yakushi warned them. "Notice how the people around you are looking at you."
Kiba Inuzuka spotted Kabuto's Konoha Forehead Protector and asked, "Who are you? I haven't seen you before."
Kabuto modestly bragged about himself, then mentioned that he had gathered plenty of information for the Chunin Ninja Exams. "If you need information, I can help. After all, I've taken the exam many times."
Naruto leaned over curiously. "Oh? Do you have information on me, senpai? Am I strong?"
"Ahem~" Kabuto took a stack of cards from his pocket and, as if performing a magic trick, pulled out Naruto's card. "Judging by the information alone, you should rank in the top twenty, Naruto."
Naruto immediately looked pleased and raised his eyebrows at Sasuke.
Sasuke ignored Naruto and asked Kabuto, "Do you have information on Neji?"
"I have information on everyone." Kabuto crouched down. "Of course I have some on Neji Hyuga. Let me tell you about the ones worth keeping an eye on."
The first card.
"Neji Hyuga, a genius from the branch family of Konoha's Hyuga Clan. He has the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai and is highly skilled in Taijutsu and Gentle Fist."
"According to the information, his strength should rank third in this Chunin Ninja Exams."
The second card.
"Sasuke Uchiha, the most closely watched genius among Konoha's newcomers. He has the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai, but has a limited mission record."
"That's why I ranked him fourth."
Next was the third card.
"Deidara, a genius from Iwagakure with the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. His mission record shows that he's taken part in several B-Rank Missions, and even A-Rank ones."
Everyone knew what an A-Rank Mission meant.
Some of them had already begun wondering who this so-called Deidara was.
"However, since he usually operates with his team, I ranked him second."
The fourth card.
"Gaara, a Genin from Sunagakure and the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail, Shukaku. According to the information, he's completed eight C-Rank Missions and one B-Rank Mission. It's worth noting that he completed the B-Rank Mission alone and returned without a scratch. He's extremely dangerous."
"So Gaara is ranked first."
Low murmurs spread through the classroom.
At the back, Gaara's lips curled into a slight smile.
Kabuto's praise put him in a good mood. And for some reason, whenever that masked man was around, Shukaku would immediately stop barking. Gaara's last couple of days had been so peaceful.
No, more accurately...
He'd slept like a log!
But Kabuto wasn't finished.
"There's also one very unusual case." Kabuto pulled out another card, a different color from the others. "Kintsuchi of Iwagakure."
"His file has such a high security clearance that I was able to find very little information. I can't accurately judge his strength."
"But it's certain that he once served in Iwagakure's Anbu and was the jōnin instructor for a Genin team."
"Even so, he's never taken the Chunin Ninja Exams before, and he's still young, so he meets the requirements to take them this time."
The classroom fell completely silent.
A jōnin instructor?
Wasn't this basically showing up to stomp on the competition?!
At times like this, Naruto always felt a little down. "So the masked guy's name is Kintsuchi? It's too bad Jingxin isn't here. He'd definitely be much stronger!"
The Konoha 12 all fell silent at his words.
They all knew how talented Jingxin was.
It was a shame that an accident had happened during a mission...
Ino shuddered when she heard the name. She abruptly turned to look at the masked Iwagakure Anbu.
When it came to knowing Jingxin and what he'd been through, Ino knew more than anyone.
After all, she'd pestered her dad for years about what happened back then.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat.
Ino quietly moved closer to Hinata and whispered something to her.
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