The Second Exam Ends

"Sakura, are you okay?"

"Hehe... I almost got killed. Good thing Ryusuke got there in time."

Ryusuke had just finished treating Sakura when Hinata and Aburame Shino appeared in a Body Flicker.

Hinata immediately checked on Sakura's condition, using her Byakugan to inspect the flow of chakra inside her body and see whether any of her chakra pathways had been damaged.

Fortunately, aside from heavy chakra depletion, Sakura had suffered no internal injuries.

The two best friends then moved aside and began whispering to each other.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

Ryusuke formed hand seals with both hands and created three shadow clones. Then, seemingly from nowhere, he pulled out three Storage Scrolls and had the clones collect the Sound Ninja Trio's corpses.

Sasuke Uchiha was somewhat surprised by this, unsure why Ryusuke was collecting the enemies' bodies.

But he did not ask. After all, those corpses were Ryusuke's spoils of war.

Aburame Shino, however, was not surprised at all. Ryusuke had probably used one of his trump cards again and did not want others to learn his secrets.

After the shadow clones finished collecting the Sound Ninja Trio's corpses, they brought the Storage Scrolls back to Ryusuke and handed him the Earth Scroll as well.

Ryusuke first put away the Storage Scrolls, then waved the Earth Scroll in his hand and looked at Sasuke Uchiha. "We've already gathered the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. Do you want this scroll?"

"No. We'll take one ourselves."

Just as Ryusuke had expected, the proud Sasuke Uchiha refused without hesitation.

"Then I'll see you at the Central Tower."

Ryusuke put away the Earth Scroll, walked over to Hinata, and said to Sakura, "Sasuke is awake now, so we should leave too. After all, we're enemies now."

"Yeah. See you again at the Central Tower."

Sakura was reluctant to part, but she still smiled and nodded.

Ryusuke and Hinata waved goodbye to Sakura before disappearing in a Body Flicker with Aburame Shino.

From beginning to end, Sakura never thanked Ryusuke. Their relationship no longer needed such formalities.

Team 8 raced through the forest, their feet landing on the treetops.

Aburame Shino looked at Ryusuke and asked, "Did you find Team 10?"

"I did. They didn't need help—they've already gathered the Heaven and Earth Scrolls."

Ryusuke smiled. "Let's head straight to the Central Tower."

"Okay."

Team 8 then traveled at full speed and reached the tower at the center of the Death Forest in just over ten minutes.

In less than twenty-four hours, Team 8 had passed the second exam.

Since there were still more than a hundred hours until the second exam ended, Team 8 was assigned rooms in the Central Tower dormitories to wait for the exam's conclusion.

They could rest there, and Konoha provided food as well.

If the Third Exam had begun immediately after the second one ended, the candidates who arrived early would have held an enormous advantage.

Just like that, four days quickly passed.

During that time, Ryusuke ran into Gaara several times in the cafeteria. Gaara's gaze toward him was brimming with killing intent.

Beneath Gaara's Sand Armor, his expression was surely one of excited ferocity.

Ryusuke merely smiled it off.

However, that smile, along with his complete lack of fear toward Gaara, made Temari and Kankuro wary.

After the first exam ended, they had looked into Ryusuke a little and wondered how he had managed to make Gaara calm down.

When they learned that he was this year's Top Student and had spent years in the same class as the Uchiha Clan's last survivor and the heirs of the major ninja clans, they realized that this civilian genius was definitely not as simple as he appeared.

Once the plan began, he would likely become one of the three siblings' greatest enemies.

Konoha Year 60, July 7th, 2:30 p.m.

Ryusuke and the other two received notice that the second exam was about to end.

When they arrived at the first-floor hall of the Central Tower, it was already packed with candidates.

Unlike the spotless Team 8 and Gaara's three siblings, these candidates were either wrapped in bandages, dressed in tattered clothes, or covered in dust...

Clearly, the past five days had not been easy for them.

Ryusuke's group immediately drew countless gazes upon their arrival.

Every one of those looks was filled with wariness.

However, when some people noticed Hinata's Byakugan, they seemed to understand.

With Byakugan that granted Telescopic Vision and X-ray Vision, it was only natural for them to reach the Central Tower faster after gathering the Heaven and Earth Scrolls.

"Ryusuke, Hinata, over here..."

Ino's voice reached their ears.

Ryusuke looked into the crowd and saw a girl with a new hairstyle, her blonde hair tied into twin ponytails, waving at them.

Beside her stood Sakura, who was likewise covered in dust and looked somewhat disheveled.

Ryusuke smiled and walked over.

The moment he reached Ino's side, he heard her complain in a coquettish tone, "Ryusuke, you went looking for Sakura, so why didn't you come looking for me?"

"Who said I didn't?"

Ryusuke helped Ino straighten one of her ponytails and smiled. "I looked for both of you. I only showed myself because Sakura was in danger. I didn't leave until I saw that you had gotten your scrolls."

"Hehe... I was looking for you guys too. I only learned Sakura was in danger after running into Team 7 the day before yesterday."

"Sakura did amazingly. The look she gave that Sound Ninja was so cool. It's a shame I didn't capture it."

"Stop talking about it. It was so embarrassing."

"Ryusuke, where exactly do you hide that camera? Do you have any developed photos? Let me see!"

"You guess!"

"..."

While the four of them chatted, the time reached exactly three o'clock.

At that moment, a large group of figures appeared on the second floor. There were the chief examiner and proctors for the second exam, as well as the Jonin Instructors of each team and unfamiliar jonin.

At their head stood none other than one of the Five Kage, the Third Hokage.

The Jonin Instructors did not come down to chat with their students. Instead, they went to the viewing stands on either side, giving their students thumbs-ups or nodding in approval.

Yuhi Kurenai was among those giving a thumbs-up.

Seeing Ryusuke's group so spotless and in such stark contrast to the other candidates, she knew they must have been the first to pass.

Among the Jonin Instructors, only Kakashi Hatake flickered down. After checking Sasuke Uchiha's Cursed Seal, he intended to take Sasuke Uchiha away to seal it, but Sasuke Uchiha refused.

He did not know whether there would be another exam next, and he did not want to be eliminated for being absent.

Kakashi Hatake did not force him. He returned to the stands and looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen alongside the candidates.

Sarutobi Hiruzen then began his speech, explaining to the candidates the importance of the Chunin Exams and the Third Exam.

During peacetime, the Chunin Exams were an important competition for the major ninja villages to display their national strength, and that importance lay in the Third Exam.

The Third Exam would be held in Konoha's largest plaza. At that time, not only would there be a great many spectators, but many wealthy merchants and nobles would also come to watch.

Powerful villages and ninja would win their favor. In the future, when commissioning missions, they might choose those villages or specifically request their teams.

However, only the elite among elite candidates could participate in the Third Exam.

There were still too many candidates who had passed the second exam, and the second exam had been a team competition. So, an individual-combat elimination round would be held shortly to select half of the elite genin!

Standing at the back of the group, Ryusuke counted the candidates.

Including himself, there were... twenty-four candidates who had passed the second exam.