What a Fun Kid~

"That Anbu..."

Second floor.

Kankuro's face twitched. "Good thing we didn't pick a fight with him earlier."

Temari frowned as well. "His chakra reserves and strength are far beyond anyone his age, and his Taijutsu is unfathomable. I didn't expect there to be someone even stronger than Gaara..."

She left the rest unsaid, immediately realizing her mistake. She sneaked a glance at Gaara.

But she found Gaara looking at...

Huh?

What was that?

Something like...

Admiration?

Oh my god!

What was I looking at?!

Was I dreaming?

On the field.

Sasuke finally recovered and stood up, demanding, "Why didn't you attack?!"

"Because you're not qualified enough for me to make the first move." Jingxin's tone was perfectly calm.

As a transmigrator, he knew exactly how to insult someone.

Sasuke had heard those words countless times in his nightmares.

Of course... they had always come from Itachi Uchiha.

"You!"

The Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes spun wildly.

Jingxin watched with anticipation, even giving him another push. "You're hopeless, like mud that can't be propped up. If your teammates hadn't been there, you'd have died in the Land of Waves."

Aaaaaah!

With bloodshot eyes, Sasuke charged at Jingxin.

But the gap in their strength was too great. His nearly mindless attacks couldn't threaten Jingxin at all.

In just a few seconds, Sasuke was kicked to the ground again.

"Hey! Kintsuchi, what are you doing?!" Naruto glared "fiercely" at Jingxin with his bright blue eyes. "You've already won! Why humiliate Sasuke?!"

"Just you wait! I'll definitely—mmph!"

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing?"

Kakashi had covered Naruto's mouth from behind. He raised one hand beside his mask. "Shh~ He's helping Sasuke."

As a Sharingan user and Obito's former teammate and friend,

Kakashi knew some of the Sharingan's secrets.

Helping Sasuke?

Naruto furrowed his brows and looked down in confusion.

Under Jingxin's repeated goading, the Two-Tomoe Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes spun faster and faster.

But it still didn't seem to be enough.

There was no choice.

Jingxin's eyes turned scarlet as he cast a genjutsu.

Sasuke's body stiffened. He saw once more that night of despair and terror.

When Sasuke woke up again, he was on the second floor, surrounded by a group of Konoha shinobi.

The result of the fight was obvious.

"Whoa! It's true!" Naruto pointed excitedly at Sasuke's eyes. "Look! There's another Tomoe!"

What?!

Sasuke immediately focused on the changes within himself. The increase in his Sharingan's power was unmistakable.

He stood up and looked at Jingxin, who was standing quietly not far away.

"Hahaha~ Sasuke, you should thank Kintsuchi," Naruto said, patting him on the shoulder. "You lost, but you won!"

Just then, Sasuke saw Jingxin's mask turn toward him, as if he were being watched.

Sasuke hesitated, but couldn't bring himself to speak. His face flushed red, and at last he lowered his head deeply like an ostrich.

Finally, in a very strange, stammering voice, Sasuke said, "Th... thanks..."

Jingxin watched with interest and nodded.

His body might have been twelve, but his soul belonged to a man in his thirties.

If he'd married early, his son would have been about Sasuke's age by now.

No wonder Itachi liked Sasuke.

What a fun kid~

Too bad... Itachi had already turned into a weasel.

Well, now I get to play with him.

Actually, the main reason Jingxin could stay in such good spirits and avoid taking out his hatred of Itachi on Sasuke was that Jingxin's parents in this life had sacrificed themselves for the village. They hadn't died at Itachi's hands.

That meant Jingxin held Konoha responsible, not Itachi.

Otherwise, Sasuke might not have lived this long.

Suddenly, Jingxin sensed something was off. He turned and saw Neji staring at him, the veins around his eyes bulging.

Jingxin raised a hand and greeted him.

Neji's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "You!"

Tenten noticed and asked curiously, "What is it, Neji?"

Neji was usually rather aloof.

It was rare to see him make such an expression.

"Ahem!" Neji quickly said, "It's nothing."

The corners of Neji's mouth curled into a smile.

I was wondering who it could be~

Someone this strong.

So it was Jingxin~

That explained everything.

Neji glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi out of the corner of his eye, then quickly looked away.

Whatever Jingxin's plans were, he was wearing a mask because he didn't want anyone to know who he was.

So there was no need to make trouble.

All Neji had to do now was wait for word from Jingxin.

When that time came, the Hyuga Clan's so-called destiny would cease to exist. After all, even Konoha would be gone...

The rest of the matches were exciting too.

Gaara vs. Akado Yoroi: a complete one-sided victory.

Akado Yoroi could absorb chakra through physical contact, but he happened to run into Gaara.

Deidara vs. Kiba Inuzuka.

Kiba was toyed with by Deidara.

Fortunately, after Jingxin's changes, Deidara was still mischievous, but he'd become much more restrained. Kiba only suffered a few injuries.

Neji Hyuga vs. Hinata Hyuga.

Neji still won, but this time, the match didn't end with three jonin rushing in to stop him.

At the crucial moment, Neji pulled back in time and calmly said, "Go back and train twice as hard."

After Gekko Hayate announced Neji as the winner,

Neji looked up at Jingxin.

The Anbu mask gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Neji felt a little excited.

Jingxin had once been the strongest student at the Konoha Ninja Academy.

But only Neji knew just how strong Jingxin really was.

Neji had loved sparring with him. It helped him improve quickly.

And during their breaks, Jingxin would tell him about the society he longed to see.

Neji just didn't know when Jingxin would make his move.

But whatever happened, I, Neji Hyuga, will go help him out.

For now, though,

since Jingxin wasn't revealing his identity, Neji would avoid interacting with him as much as possible.

Soon, all the matches were over.

The Genin who had passed the test gathered to hear Gekko Hayate drone on about the time and place of the final test, then dispersed.

Ōnoki took Jingxin's team back to their lodgings.

Ōnoki was in an excellent mood today.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had plenty to worry about.

First: how to tell Naruto the truth about his parentage.

Second: how to keep Naruto's parentage secret from the outside world.

Third: Konoha had a relatively low proportion of Genin among those who passed this Chunin Ninja Exam. That didn't align with Konoha's strategic goals for the exam. How would Hiruzen deal with it?

Ōnoki called everyone into a room. "You all did very well."

"But the real show comes in the final test."

"Jingxin knows what's going to happen. When the time comes, don't hold back. Give the Ninja World a little jolt."

Jingxin nodded solemnly. "I will, sensei."

Ōnoki nodded in satisfaction. Even in his old age, he couldn't help feeling excited.

Since they'd chosen to reveal themselves, they might as well do it completely.

He could already see it: before long, Jingxin's name would resound throughout the Ninja World.