The Goal! The Thing He Wanted Most

Those eyes! That Genin's eyes!

Ibiki gritted his teeth and tried to steady himself, but inside, he could no longer stay calm.

Neji's eyes made Ibiki realize that he was an ambitious person, and had absolutely not come to take the exam just to get by!

"Heh, hehe! Not bad... A member of the Hyuga Clan..."

"Ha ha! Congratulations on passing the first written exam! I'll take it from here!"

With a boisterous laugh, a nimble figure leaped in through the window.

At the same time, she pulled a wildly oversized banner from behind her. It bore the words "The Second Chunin Exam Begins" in huge letters.

"Hello, everyone! I'm the chief examiner for the second Chunin exam, a Special Jōnin from Konoha—Mitaraishi Anko!"

Anko smiled, but her gaze swept across the room with the sharpness of an eagle's.

Neji took the opportunity to sit down. Anko had completely overshadowed the display of his sharpness just now, and he had no desire to draw attention to himself.

All the examinees were relieved to have passed, but they were also very curious about this strange second examiner.

"Oh, my, Ibiki! Your exam was too easy—there are still twenty teams left! Let's eliminate more than half of them in the next round!"

The room erupted into all sorts of chatter. Everyone was caught up in the joy of advancing and the tension of the next round.

Standing behind the banner, Ibiki could only sigh silently and grumble, "That woman... Couldn't she at least let me finish talking?"

Still, there was no doubt that Neji had left a deep impression on him.

"Everyone, take a break for now. After dinner, meet at the Forest of Death for the draw!"

Before dinner, Neji took the opportunity to train for a while.

By the time they reached the meeting point outside the Forest of Death, the draw was already over.

"There are twenty teams, sixty people in all, and we'll enter through twenty separate gates... We drew gate number eighteen. Since we don't know which gates the others are using, we can't plan any counterstrategies. And our scrolls... Good grief, I don't even know if we'll be able to get the Earth Scroll."

Tenten sighed and murmured. As the team's only long-range fighter, she was usually the one who took charge.

Rock Lee chimed in, "And I heard that the areas around the different gates vary. The terrain also affects how favorable the conditions are for survival..."

Neji listened to them discuss it, lost in thought.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Dummy, Sakura, why are you so excited?"

"Dummy, Ino, Sasuke isn't on your team. What are you doing here?"

The two kunoichi started bickering as soon as they saw each other. Everyone was used to it by now.

"Sakura!"

The moment Rock Lee saw Sakura, he could barely move.

"Hey, bushy brows, what do you think you're doing?"

Naruto immediately jumped in, and the Konoha Genin all started getting into it.

Neji had no time to join their chatter. He looked around, but couldn't see Hinata.

"Shino, where's Hinata from your team?"

Neji went over to the quiet Shino and asked.

Shino replied, "She was here a moment ago. Kiba seems to have sent her to get some supplies."

Hinata's teammates seemed reliable enough, so he could rest easy.

"Neji!? Shino? Come over here!"

"From what we've seen so far, Team 7 has the best chance of passing, right?" Sakura said with a smug grin.

Ino scoffed. "Hmph, that's only because Sasuke's on your team!"

Naruto butted in. "What about me? I'm pretty strong too, right?"

Sakura glared at Naruto. "Go away!"

"Huh? Sakura..." Naruto drooped his head and shuffled away from the group.

"If you ask me, the only one here weaker than Naruto is probably Neji, right?"

Tenten abruptly changed the subject and looked at Neji.

Rock Lee hurriedly cut in. "But this is a team exam! Our team should be able to pass too. I have faith in us!"

Tenten shrugged. "Lee! You can't keep indulging him like this. Everyone came here with their own goals. What about Neji? He doesn't have what it takes to become a Chunin!"

Kiba, who was standing nearby, laughed too. "Neji really is weak, though. Isn't he still practicing basic hand-to-hand combat against a wooden post?"

At that point, Shino spoke up. "Then shouldn't we hear what Neji himself thinks?"

Everyone looked over. Even the three members of Ino-Shika-Cho, who were the weakest on paper, seemed to look at Neji with disdain.

Neji felt a little awkward and smiled.

"My goal? Of course I want to pass the exam. It's just..."

His expression grew a little solemn. Ino couldn't bear to see it, so she came to his rescue. "Oh, come on. Neji-kun must have something he wants most, too, right?"

Sakura giggled. "Of course. For example, the thing I want most..."

She gave a bashful smile and looked at Sasuke. Ino clenched her fist. "Sakura, what kind of weird thing are you thinking about?"

Everyone started fooling around again, leaving Neji alone.

But Neji really did have something he wanted most.

His bet with the elders was one thing. What he truly wanted now was a real fight!

And preferably a real fight with a strong opponent. Even if it meant taking a risk, he still wanted to give it a try.

He pondered this as he looked toward Naruto, alone in the corner.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned around and saw Neji behind him.

"Eyes like Hinata's!"

Neji chuckled and started chatting with Naruto...

"Oh? Oh? So that's how it is? The draw wasn't fair?"

Neji put on a troubled expression and smiled wryly. "Yeah. Gates one through five are probably closer to water sources. Six through ten might be in areas with more trees, making them easier to hide in and safer. There are plenty of wild animals around gates eleven through fifteen. Gates sixteen through twenty have more enemies and more open ground, but they're full of all kinds of wild mushrooms, so there's plenty of food."

"I see!"

Naruto took a deep breath, then asked with a frown, "Wouldn't that make the forest a perfect place for ninja who can use Fire Release?"

He smacked his lips as if jealous and added, "That guy Sasuke can use Fire Release!"

Neji smiled and raised an eyebrow. "So you drew a gate somewhere between six and ten?"

Naruto froze, as if he had realized something.

Oh no, Sakura told me not to reveal the results of the draw! But Kabuto said this guy was really weak, so it should be fine!

"Heh, hehe, Neji, I've got something to do. I'm heading out! Say hi to Hinata for me!"

Neji smiled as he watched Naruto run off.

"Shh!"

The Forest of Death was bleak and full of murderous intent.

All the teams had gathered at the various entrances to the Forest of Death.

The sounds of cicadas and snakes intertwined. No one knew what was hidden in the depths of the forest.

"Let's split up here! Be back here before dark!"

Rock Lee dropped a kunai, then the three of them vanished like shadows.

"Byakugan!"

His footsteps pattered as he raced across the ground.

He suddenly froze and frowned slightly.

Seconds later, Neji's lips curled into a smile.

"Gates six through ten, huh? It should be this way..."

Without hesitation, he headed in one direction.

The thing he wanted most? Right now, Neji was naturally itching to fight the strongest opponent of all!