Of course, he leaned more toward the latter possibility. Stealing the exam papers from Ibiki sounded unbelievable, but it made sense if you added Transparent Style to the equation.
Gekko Hayate had probably played a less-than-honorable role in this, too. Otherwise, who had told Keiichi that the first test was a written exam?
He was one of the examiners, after all, and one of the few people who knew the exam schedule!
Even so, stealing the exam papers from Ibiki was far more difficult than cheating in the exam room. It seemed he'd thought Ibiki's test was too childish and didn't give him enough room to show off.
Besides, he hadn't shared the answers with anyone else. He'd only sent Naruto a blank slip of paper, hinting to the Konoha High Command that he knew where to draw the line.
Could Hiruzen really fail to treat someone so sensible well?
But he couldn't tell Ibiki that Keiichi had mastered Transparent Style. A Kekkei Genkai concerned a ninja's most critical secrets. How could he reveal it so casually? Not even to someone from the same village.
Besides, Keiichi was only a twelve-year-old child and the village's future. He deserved some protection.
"All right, I understand what happened. Ibiki, I'll ask you just one thing: since you suspect Keiichi of stealing the exam papers, do you have any evidence?"
"Well... I need to interrogate him. Give me time, and I'm sure I can get him to talk..."
"I don't doubt your abilities, but do you think it's appropriate to treat a Konoha student who just graduated from the Ninja Academy this way?"
"This..."
"Remember, the Torture and Interrogation Force deals with outsiders. Don't resort to so many private punishments when dealing with our own people, unless you have conclusive evidence."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"Release Keiichi and let him continue to the second round."
"Yes!"
"Gekko Hayate, even though Keiichi is your student, you need to be careful. Don't play favorites."
Gekko Hayate was utterly confused. Why would he play favorites with Keiichi? That arrogant kid was so annoying.
He had no idea that, in Hiruzen's eyes, he had already become Keiichi's accomplice in cheating.
Chapter 36: The First Step in Fooling Sasuke
"Top Student, submitted his paper in an extremely short time, earned 10 Magic Modification Points."
"Someone else's Kid, ranked first in the total score among all teams, earned 10 Magic Modification Points."
The pleasant system notification rang out. Now free, Keiichi couldn't help smiling. Sure enough, risks also brought rewards.
"Keiichi, thank goodness, you're finally out! Wait, you tricked me!" Naruto was happy to see Keiichi at first, but then something occurred to him, and his expression turned resentful.
"Say that properly. How did I trick you? Don't you understand what I was trying to do?" Keiichi sighed, spreading his hands helplessly.
The first round had barely ended when the second test began. Everyone followed the chief examiner to the Forest of Death, and after being released, Keiichi hurried to catch up.
Then Naruto grabbed him.
Seeing Keiichi escape Ibiki's clutches had changed the way many Konoha ninjas looked at him, especially those who understood what it meant.
This guy had to have powerful backing!
Otherwise, how could Ibiki let him off so easily after he'd offended him?!
But once the fighting got serious, no amount of backing would help!
Thinking this, everyone looked forward to seeing him make a fool of himself.
"What am I supposed to understand?" Naruto looked completely bewildered.
"Tell me, did you turn in a blank paper at the end?"
"You... How did you know?" Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.
Hadn't he just been released? How did he know about that?
"Just tell me if you did."
"I did..."
"And did you pass the test?"
"Of course! How else would I be standing here?" Naruto immediately puffed himself up.
"So was my hint wrong?"
"Uh..." Naruto was dumbfounded. It did seem that way.
So when you gave me a blank sheet of paper, you meant I should hand in a blank exam?
"If I hadn't given you that blank paper, wouldn't you have been disqualified for cheating? So tell me, was I tricking you or helping you?"
"Uh..." Naruto thought it over and suddenly felt that charging over to demand an explanation from Keiichi might have been his own mistake.
"You've hurt my feelings, Naruto. Is this how little you trust your good friend?"
"Sorry, I was wrong. Thanks, Keiichi!"
See? I tricked him, and he still ended up thanking me.
"We're friends, so after the exams, I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen." Keiichi waved a hand grandly, looking very generous.
"I want three huge bowls!"
"That's not nearly enough. Five at the very least."
"Deal!"
Watching the two of them chatter back and forth, Sasuke and Sakura seemed to have a speechless crow fly over their heads.
That idiot was counting the money for the person who'd just sold him out!
How did I end up with a teammate like this?
"Keiichi, there's something I want to ask you. Please answer honestly." When the two of them seemed to have finished chatting, Sasuke suddenly walked over and asked bluntly, his face stern.
"Is it about Rock Lee?" Keiichi asked with a smile.
"How did you... Fine, yes. Since you've investigated the situation so thoroughly, I want to know why I lost to him." Sasuke looked unwilling to accept it.
"Do you think you're less talented than him?"
"How could that be?" Sasuke denied it outright. He was a Uchiha, after all, and had his pride.
"But you still lost. That can only mean one thing." Keiichi raised a finger.
"What?"
"You didn't work hard enough."
"Don't talk nonsense. I've worked hard enough, if you ask me. I spend a lot of time training every day!"
"Heh, and you call that working hard? Do you know what Rock Lee does?"
"What does he do?"
"Except for eating and sleeping, he spends all his time training. He keeps adding weight to increase the intensity, and he graduated a year before you, so he's had several times as long to train. Isn't it only natural that you lost to him?"
Sasuke had no answer to that. He couldn't imagine anyone devoting himself to training so completely. Didn't he need to relax?
"There are no shortcuts to gaining strength. If you want to surpass others, you have to work harder than they do. With talent like yours, if you work as hard as Rock Lee, you'll leave everyone behind. What you need most right now is patience."
Keiichi patted Sasuke on the shoulder and earnestly tried to talk some sense into him.
How much of it he'd take to heart was up to him.
In his previous life, Sasuke had taken plenty of shortcuts and grown quickly, but in the end, most of his abilities relied on those eyes of his.
By Boruto, the Rinnegan had been stabbed out with a kunai. Just look at how far his strength fell. When Konoha fell, wasn't he still nowhere to be found?
There were shortcuts, sure, but they came at a price!
Once someone got used to taking shortcuts, how could he still be willing to work hard the honest way?
"Even if you say that, how long am I supposed to wait...?" Sasuke murmured, a trace of confusion in his eyes.
"Look at Rock Lee. Hard work always pays off. Why not make beating him your goal?"
"I don't need you to tell me that. I was going to do it anyway!" Sasuke glanced at Rock Lee, his pride flaring up again.
Heh, another innocent kid.
Let's leave it at that for now. Once he beat Rock Lee, I'd find him a new goal.
No one noticed that, while Keiichi chatted with Naruto and Sasuke, he was actually keeping an eye on their surroundings, scanning the faces of the examinees.
He clearly remembered that Orochimaru would make his first appearance during this exam and get into a fierce confrontation with the main cast.
It was also then that Sasuke would be given the Heavenly Cursed Seal, the most important spark that would eventually ignite his defection.
If he wanted to change the story as much as possible, stopping Orochimaru from giving Sasuke the Cursed Seal was the best place to start. It could really alter the story's course in a major way.
Of course, until now, he'd only been thinking about it. If he really fought Orochimaru, his meager abilities wouldn't even be enough to fill the man's teeth. He was several times stronger than Kakashi.
At this point in the story, the Legendary Sannin were at the very peak of a ninja's strength!
He couldn't win. He really couldn't. Sasuke, you'd just have to fend for yourself.
But the moment he opened the Chunin Exams Limited Gift Pack, his mind changed. This time, he'd face Orochimaru head-on. Maybe he really could change Sasuke's future.
That was why he'd said those things to Sasuke.
To lock onto his target ahead of time, he tried to find Orochimaru.
But he'd forgotten which examinee Orochimaru had disguised himself as. After looking around for ages without spotting anything, he had no choice but to go with Plan B.
It was simple enough: follow the main cast. They were bound to run into Orochimaru sooner or later.
While they were talking, the chief examiner, Mitaraishi Anko, had finished explaining the rules. Each team would receive a scroll, then try to steal another team's scroll. They had to bring the scrolls of Heaven and Earth together and reach the finish line to pass.
As soon as the rules were announced, everyone turned their eyes to Keiichi, all of them full of ill intent.
There was no helping it. He was so unusual, and the only one on his team. Who else would they target?
Sure, you're Ken-8. Sure, you're smart. Sure, you have powerful backing. You stole the spotlight in the first test.
But now it was time for a real fight, where the spots would be decided by strength. You're an N-rank nobody. What kind of trouble could you possibly cause?
Keiichi paid no attention to their looks, as if he hadn't seen them.
That was only natural. If you'd made someone like Orochimaru your target, you'd treat them as if they didn't matter, too.
Next came the signing of the death waivers. Perhaps to accommodate Keiichi, he was the first to sign. Then he headed into the Forest of Death.
Behind him came a chorus of mocking, ill-intentioned laughter that sent a chill down his spine.
Yet in the next instant, Keiichi vanished before everyone's eyes. The laughter stopped abruptly, because not one person had seen where he'd gone.
Where was the easy target they'd been promised? How had he disappeared?
Chapter 37: The Terrifying Orochimaru
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"Akamaru, stop barking. There's nobody there!" Inuzuka Kiba patted his Ninja Dog on the head and scolded him irritably.
There wasn't a soul in sight. What was he barking at?
And the damp air was making his nose miserable. He didn't want to stay here any longer.
Long after Team 8 had left, Inuzuka Kiba's head suddenly poked out of the bushes. Only after confirming that no one was there did he leave, still looking a little confused.
Had Akamaru really been mistaken?
Keiichi let out a long breath, but he had no intention of moving just because Inuzuka Kiba had left.
Ever since entering the Forest of Death, jumping into this tree, and using the Invisibility Technique, he hadn't moved at all. He hadn't even bothered with the examinees who'd passed by.
The exam lasted a full seventy hours. Why get caught up in a fierce struggle with those young people?
Besides, he had something more important to do. He just had to keep his real body from being discovered.
He hadn't expected Akamaru to almost find him. He'd even picked a damp spot to mask his scent.
All his attention was on controlling his clone, a clone that felt utterly unfamiliar to him.
Peak Danzo Clone!
This clone possessed Danzo's strength at his peak and could remain active for six hours. It was the most useful item in the Chunin Exams Limited Gift Pack.
Before you continue