The First Exam

After returning to Konoha, Gaara and Feng Yao bid each other farewell.

"Feng... Lord Dosu, why haven't you returned yet?"

Kin waited on the spot, looking somewhat anxious, while Zaku beside her wore an expression of utter impatience.

"You've asked that over thirty times since just now! How would I know? Aren't you annoying!"

Zaku replied with a hint of irritation; he was nearly driven mad by Kin.

At this moment, a gentle voice drifted over, and Feng Yao appeared directly behind them.

"What are you arguing about? Haven't I returned now?"

Zaku let out a long sigh of relief, while Kin's face was filled with adoration.

Leading them into the classroom for this examination, they found that quite a few ninjas had already arrived one after another. These were ninjas from various countries surrounding Konoha, and this gathering was effectively a microcosm of the wars between nations, a stage for each country to display its strength.

According to his memory, the participants for this Chunin Exam were as follows: 30 from Sunagakure, 21 from Amegakure, 6 from Kusagakure, 6 from Takigakure, 87 from Konoha, and 3 from the Sound Village.

From these figures, one could clearly see the military disparity between the nations.

The strength of a country is the strength of its ninja village.

And whether a ninja village is powerful depends on its ninjas.

Upon entering, he saw many familiar faces from his memories.

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji—they had once been his classmates, having attended the Ninja Academy together.

At this time, Feng Yao also noticed someone else: Kabuto, the other most brilliant conspirator in the entire Naruto world.

He was currently holding some Ninja Info Cards, discussing the various villages and ninjas participating in this exam with Naruto and the others.

"As for the Sound Village, it is merely a newly established small country, so there isn't much intelligence on it. The other countries, however, are teeming with experts."

This voice not only reached Feng Yao's ears but naturally reached the ears of Zaku and Kin as well; their expressions were, predictably, not very pleasant.

Kabuto really is an excellent spy, completely abandoning his position as the second-in-command of the Sound Village to speak like that.

To be honest, he also wanted to recruit Kabuto under his command, but Feng Yao understood that Kabuto was no child. He drifted between countries gathering intelligence and was deeply brainwashed by Orochimaru; he would not be like Gaara, who could be persuaded by his Body Release.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I will never lose to you guys!"

The crowd in the room fell eerily silent for a few seconds, and everyone looked at Naruto with unkind eyes.

I really want to teach him a lesson.

"Lord Dosu, what do you think? Do we need to..."

Feng Yao suppressed the urge to laugh. What do I think? I'd actually like to see how you guys hammer your own second-in-command.

"I don't want to stop you, just don't go too far."

As soon as these words were spoken, Zaku was the first to rush forward. His arms were equipped with special devices that could use chakra to control air pressure for attacks.

He leaped into mid-air and unleashed a Cutting Air Wave at Kabuto, who pushed off with his feet and hurriedly dodged.

Kin took the opportunity to throw silver needles, which landed behind Kabuto, and she pulled the wires with both hands.

A rapid clanging of bells rang out; this sound could make anyone who heard it feel restless. Kabuto also appeared disoriented and was sent flying by a punch from Zaku.

Damn, what acting. This is just like the real thing. No wonder Kabuto's infiltration work has never been discovered.

Feng Yao couldn't help but secretly applaud Kabuto.

Naruto and the others hurriedly went over to check on him, just about to step forward and argue with Zaku.

Suddenly, a massive cloud of white smoke exploded in the classroom.

"You bunch of bastards, keep it quiet."

As the smoke cleared, the ones who arrived were the many Chunin responsible for this exam, as well as the proctor, Morino Ibiki.

"Tired of waiting, aren't you? I am the proctor for the first stage of this Chunin Selection Exam. You Sound ninjas, restrain yourselves, or I will disqualify you from the exam."

Hearing this, Feng Yao stepped forward.

"Apologies, my companions were rude. Are you alright, my friend?"

He then helped Kabuto up.

"Mr. Feng Yao."

Gaara also saw Feng Yao and muttered to himself.

Kabuto, meanwhile, gave Feng Yao a meaningful look and indicated that he didn't mind.

Morino Ibiki scanned the room and then announced the rules for this exam.

"Next, you will each receive a piece of intelligence. Everyone will have one. What you must do is protect your own intelligence from being seen by others, while simultaneously stealing the intelligence held by others. The time limit is one hour, and it will take place within one kilometer of the surrounding buildings. Exceeding this distance will result in elimination."

"After the time is up, teams that have protected their own intelligence and obtained the intelligence of any other team will advance. If either of these two conditions is not met, you will be directly eliminated."

Feng Yao frowned upon hearing this. Even the rules of the Chunin Exam have changed? Is it because of my appearance?

After everyone had been issued their scrolls, Morino Ibiki gave the order.

"Then, the exam begins."