Bad, Someone's Fishing

The first stage of the Chunin Exams was about to begin.

Jingxin led Kurotsuchi, Deidara, and Karin toward the examination hall.

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard the sounds of a fight erupting ahead.

Rock Lee, dressed in a green spandex suit with thick eyebrows and large eyes, was chasing Sasuke and pummeling him.

And he seemed to be enjoying it more and more as he fought.

"Is that the Sharingan? Good! Now, I shall use my true speed." Rock Lee crouched down, seemingly preparing to remove his weights.

"That is enough, Rock Lee." A middle-aged man wearing an identical green spandex suit and sporting the same thick eyebrows stood atop a tortoise.

Might Guy looked at his student sternly: "Have you forgotten what I told you? Do not go overboard when sparring with comrades!"

Rock Lee instantly wilted: "I am sorry, Guy-sensei, I just wanted to prove that hard work can surpass genius."

Naruto Uzumaki was shocked by the bizarre appearance of the pair: "Ahhh?! Another kappa!"

"What kappa?" Might Guy revealed two rows of sparkling teeth: "I am the Konoha Jonin Might Guy, a friend of your teacher. I must remind you that in my duels with Kakashi, my win rate is higher than his!"

Teacher Kakashi...

Would lose to a guy like this?

Team 7 looked at Might Guy with skeptical eyes.

"Hey... can you move out of the way?" Deidara's patience was nearly exhausted.

The Konoha ninja finally noticed that there were others present.

Might Guy laughed heartily: "So it is the little ones from Iwagakure~ Do not be so angry~ At the very least, we are at peace now and are all participating in the exam together."

Naruto Uzumaki blinked repeatedly. He looked at the Iwagakure ninja uniform Jingxin was wearing, then at the Anbu mask covering the upper half of his face, and suddenly slapped his forehead.

"It's you!" Naruto pointed at Jingxin, his voice loud: "The one from the Land of Waves! The Anbu from Iwagakure!"

Everyone's gaze instantly converged on them.

Anbu?!

Neji suddenly frowned, a hint of surprise appearing in his expression as he looked at Jingxin.

Judging by his age, he should be about the same as us.

Jingxin had originally intended to lead his team to the exam hall quietly, but since he had been recognized by Naruto, he had no choice but to nod.

Naruto's eyes lit up. He ran a few steps over to Jingxin and bowed deeply: "Thank you for saving us back then!"

He raised his head, his smile radiant: "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I am the man who is destined to become the Hokage!"

Sasuke walked over to Naruto's side and sized up Jingxin, sensing the calm and restrained aura emanating from him: "A powerhouse like you is also here to take the Chunin Exams?"

Deidara suddenly laughed out loud, answering before Jingxin could: "Who says an Anbu cannot be a Genin? Hmm~"

"Hahaha!" Might Guy laughed heroically: "It seems there is another genius just like Kakashi~ This Chunin Exam should be very exciting."

"Alright, time is almost up, you should all head into the exam hall! I wish you all good results!"

"Woohoo!! This is youth~~~~"

"Yes! Guy-sensei! Wuwuwu~"

Tenten and Neji quietly moved a few steps away from the two of them.

The exam hall was located at the end of the third floor.

Pushing open the doors, nearly a hundred Genin had already gathered inside.

The Konoha 12 had not been this fully assembled since graduation, and everyone was chatting and catching up.

Jingxin led the three of them to find seats, and he immediately sensed a scrutinizing gaze lingering on him.

Beside Sakura, Ino frowned, her eyes locked onto Jingxin.

That figure was very familiar.

The short black hair, the straight back, the posture, the gait, the sound of the footsteps.

Ino's fair, rosy-tipped nose twitched, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

Even the scent was...

Jingxin glanced at Ino and guiltily avoided her gaze.

Just then, a bespectacled young man with a gentle expression walked toward the Konoha Genin.

"Hey, can you all be a little quieter?" Kabuto Yakushi reminded them: "Pay attention to the way the people around you are looking at you."

Kiba Inuzuka noticed Kabuto Yakushi's Konoha forehead protector and asked: "Who are you? I have never seen you before."

Kabuto Yakushi boasted a little about himself and mentioned that he had collected a lot of intelligence for this Chunin Exam: "If you need information, I can help. After all, I have participated many times."

Naruto leaned in curiously: "Oh? Does senior Kabuto have information on me too? Am I very strong?"

"Ahem~" Kabuto Yakushi pulled a stack of cards from his pocket and, like a magic trick, found Naruto's file: "If we look strictly at the intelligence, junior Naruto should be ranked in the top twenty."

Naruto looked rather smug, raising his eyebrows at Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored Naruto and asked Kabuto, "Do you have any information on Neji Hyuga?"

"I have information on everyone," Kabuto said, crouching down. "Naturally, that includes Neji Hyuga. Let me introduce those worth noting one by one."

The first card.

"Neji Hyuga, a genius from the branch family of the Hyuga clan in Konoha. He possesses the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai and has achieved high mastery in taijutsu and the Gentle Fist."

"Based on the intelligence, his strength should rank him third in this Chunin Exam."

The second card.

"Sasuke Uchiha, the most highly regarded genius among the Konoha rookies. He possesses the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai, though his mission record is relatively sparse."

"Therefore, I have ranked him fourth."

Next was the third card.

"Deidara, a genius from Iwagakure. He possesses the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. Mission records show he has executed multiple B-rank missions, and even A-rank ones."

Everyone knew exactly what an A-rank mission implied.

People had already begun to secretly speculate about who this so-called Deidara was.

"However, since he usually operates as part of a team, I have ranked him second."

The fourth card.

"Gaara, a genin from Sunagakure and the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku. Intelligence shows he has completed eight C-rank missions and one B-rank mission. It is worth noting that he performed the B-rank mission solo and returned without a single scratch. He is an extremely dangerous individual."

"Therefore, the first place goes to Gaara."

Low murmurs broke out in the classroom.

In the back row, the corners of Gaara's mouth curled up slightly.

Kabuto Yakushi's flattery put him in a great mood. Plus, for some unknown reason, whenever that masked man was around, Shukaku would immediately stop its incessant barking. Gaara had been living quite comfortably these past two days.

Ah, no—to be precise.

He had been sleeping quite soundly!

However, Kabuto Yakushi's introduction was not yet over.

"There is also one very special existence." Kabuto pulled out a card of a different color. "Kintsuchi from Iwagakure."

"Because his file's security clearance is too high, the information I could find is too limited to accurately judge his strength."

"However, what is certain is that he once served as a Jonin instructor for an Iwagakure Anbu genin squad."

"That said, he has never participated in the Chunin Exam before, and he is not very old, so he meets the criteria to participate in this exam."

These words caused the classroom to fall completely silent.

A Jonin instructor?

The hell, is he here to stomp on noobs?!

Whenever this happened, Naruto's mood would dip. "So that masked guy is named Kintsuchi? It's a pity Jingxin isn't here; he would definitely be much stronger than him!"

The Konoha 12 fell silent at these words.

They all knew just how high Jingxin's talent was.

It was a pity that an accident occurred during a mission...

Ino's body jolted at the mention of that name, and she whipped her head around to look at the masked Iwagakure Anbu.

When it came to understanding Jingxin and his history, Ino was definitely the one who knew the most.

Because after that incident years ago, she had pestered her father for years about it.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Ino quietly moved closer to Hinata and whispered something.