The scene returned to Konoha's young elites.
"Hey, Neji, did you hear that explosion?"
Rock Lee paused on a tree branch, looking toward the direction of the explosion and asking whether his companion had heard it too.
"Yeah, I heard it, Lee!"
Neji and Tenten stopped beside Rock Lee, their expressions grave as they looked in that direction.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Sasuke!!! Where the hell did you go just now? Believe it!"
Naruto glared furiously at Sasuke, who had been gone for quite some time, pointing at his nose as he loudly demanded an explanation.
"Nothing much. I just saved someone on the way, so I was late."
Sasuke still wore that smug look, his hands in his pockets as he watched Naruto point and curse at him.
"Sasuke-kun~"
Sakura looked delighted to see Sasuke back and was about to go over to him when—
BOOM!!!!!
Pillars of fire shot into the sky in the distance, thoroughly startling the two of them.
"No way..."
Naruto stared at the towering flames in disbelief, unable to stop himself from wondering whether the Chunin Ninja Exams were really this extreme.
With that kind of power, weren't they afraid of blowing themselves up too? Or was that person even dumber than he was?
Sakura could only stare dumbfoundedly, already regretting why she had entered such a dangerous exam.
As Sasuke looked at the distant firelight, a faint unease rose in his heart.
Naturally, that pillar of fire also drew the attention of most of the examinees.
The same thought arose in all their minds: Were they really going this far? Did they have a death wish?
What they did not know was that the pillar of fire was a warning before danger arrived.
"All right, stop looking. Naruto, Sakura, our task now is to