The Chunin Preliminary Tournament

"Let me see." Zeyu discovered the situation and went straight to Shota to inspect it.

"Hinata, help me get a basin of cold water," Zeyu said to Hinata, who had also hurried over.

"Big Brother, I..." Shota lowered his head, sounding somewhat guilty.

"It's fine, this isn't your fault. Let's get your hands treated first," Zeyu said, placing both hands over Shota's.

A stream of green chakra flowed from Zeyu's hands, concentrating on Shota's wounds.

"This is..." Shota looked at Zeyu in shock.

"Medical ninjutsu! Zeyu, you can do this too?" Megumi noticed their situation, walked over, and said in disbelief.

"Instead of being surprised, it would be better to have them apologize," Zeyu said with a deadpan expression.

I was a medical ninja in my past life, and I practiced it just in case, but I never expected to use it here, Zeyu thought to himself.

However, Megumi crouched to the side, pouting with her cheeks puffed up, saying nothing.

Zeyu looked at Megumi in confusion, and only then did she speak up.

"You go. I'll... watch over Big Brother."

Zeyu was speechless, thinking to himself:

A young lady is a young lady. Since no one usually bickers with you, is your ability to argue zero?

"It's alright, it was my own choice to catch them that caused the burns," Shota said.

At that moment, Hinata brought the water over. Zeyu pressed Shota's hands into the cold water while continuing to treat them with medical ninjutsu.

"Sakura, I don't care how much you like Sasuke, but you were the one who bumped into Shota during the argument. Apologize, and we'll call it even," Zeyu said sternly, still keeping his back to them.

"Big Brother..." Shota whispered, looking at Zeyu.

Hearing this, Sakura was just about to step forward to apologize, but Sasuke reached out and stopped her. Sakura looked at Sasuke in confusion.

"And what if I don't?" Sasuke said with a faint, disdainful smile.

Zeyu didn't answer immediately; he slowly stood up with a dark expression.

Everyone present watched Zeyu, unsure of what he was about to do, and the atmosphere grew tense.

Heh, this is going to be a good show, Neji thought from a distance, watching them with a faint smile.

Suddenly, the Zeyu in front of them vanished and reappeared in front of Naruto, holding the two cups of ramen that Shota had caught.

Everyone was startled, cold sweat trickling down their faces.

So fast! Sasuke thought.

"Naruto, you have a match later, you should eat something," Zeyu said.

Then he turned back to look at Sasuke and said, "Sasuke, you can eat the one on the ground. I only have two hands, so please pick it up yourself."

"Ah, okay," Naruto said, taking the ramen in a daze.

Zeyu then walked past Sasuke, exchanged a glance with him, and returned to his original spot to continue treating Shota's hands.

Tch, this guy, he's so fast. If he wanted to, he could have killed me just now, Sasuke thought, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Naruto, Sakura, let's go," Sasuke snorted and called for the two of them to leave.

Sakura wanted to catch up, but remembering Zeyu's mention of the upcoming matches, she bowed to Megumi, picked up the cup of ramen from the ground, and followed.

"Sorry, Zeyu, thanks for the ramen," Naruto realized what happened, thanked him, and chased after Sasuke.

"Big Brother, thank you," Shota said with his head bowed.

"Don't mention it," Zeyu said, focusing on the two hands in the basin.

After a while, they were finally much better, and he wrapped the hands in bandages.

After some time, the exam period ended.

The supplies had been packed up, and as everyone was resting, Anko appeared at the entrance.

She glanced at the large hole left in the wall with a look of helplessness, then cleared her throat and shouted loudly:

"Congratulations to everyone here for passing the second stage of the Chunin Exams. Now, everyone please gather in the main hall."

Before long, everyone had gathered and stood in rows. Zeyu's team and Hinata's team were adjacent, both standing at the very back.

The leaders of each team, along with Anko and the Third Hokage, stood at the front watching the crowd.

Hayate Gekko stood in the center to explain the details of the preliminary rounds.

Standing toward the back, Orochimaru, disguised as a Sound ninja, sized up Sasuke, unable to hide the joy on his face as he couldn't help but lick his lips.

"I protest! How come that redhead has supplies, and his people are all rested? This isn't fair!" Zaku suddenly shouted from the crowd, pointing at Zeyu.

Shota, Megumi, and the others looked at each other, and Hinata also looked at Zeyu.

"It's fine, don't worry," Zeyu said, reaching out to hold Hinata's hand.

"Anko, did we send any supplies?" the Third Hokage asked with his hands behind his back.

"No, and there were no regulations against preparing them," Anko replied, then looked toward Zaku.

Zaku gritted his teeth, his face full of resentment.

Zeyu looked smug, took Hinata's hand, and kissed the back of it, causing Hinata's little face to turn bright red instantly.

Zaku, that move of yours really made me laugh. Is this just impotent rage? Zeyu thought.

Suddenly sensing a gaze, he looked forward to see the Third Hokage watching him.

After their eyes met, the Third Hokage coughed twice to signal Zeyu not to be so flashy.

Zeyu hurriedly kissed Hinata's hand two more times.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage coughed twice more and accidentally choked a little.

Kakashi, standing beside him, asked with concern, "What is it, Lord Hokage?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just choked on my smoke," the Third Hokage said, clearing his throat.

Zeyu stopped messing around, but he still held Hinata's hand. Hinata also realized the Third Hokage had seen them, and her face grew even redder as she snuck a glance at Zeyu.

Lord Hokage isn't even smoking right now, Kakashi thought.

On the other side, Naruto and the others were all concerned about Sasuke's physical condition, but in the end, they chose to continue participating.

Afterward, under the surprised gazes of the crowd, Kabuto voluntarily forfeited and left.

Once Hayate finished explaining the procedures, everyone went to the second floor on both sides of the hall to watch.

Immediately, the large screen began randomly selecting names to start the 1v1 battles.

Kabuto still left, so that means there are three extra people including me. The order of the others' battles should remain the same, so in the end, there will be one extra person. Who will it be? Zeyu stood on the spectator stand, pondering.

"It's starting!" Shota grabbed the railing, excited.

Everyone looked toward the large screen, and as the names began to be selected, everyone couldn't help but start to feel nervous.

"Hm? Why did I seem to hear two sounds?" Zeyu wondered, looking toward Naruto's direction on the right. At this moment, Naruto was also gripping the railing, staring intently at the large screen.

"Uh..."

The rest followed the original events mostly the same; Sasuke went up first and was then taken away by Kakashi.

"Ninja Art: Sickle Weasel!"

Temari swung her Giant Folding Fan toward Tenten, who was in mid-air. All of Tenten's attacks were blown away, and she was swept into the hurricane, letting out a painful roar.

"Tenten!" Lee shouted, grabbing the railing in worry.

Temari watched Tenten, who had been hit, with the corners of her mouth curled up in a smug expression.

When the ninjutsu ended, Tenten lost consciousness and fell from mid-air.

Temari stood below, holding her Giant Folding Fan upright, intending to let Tenten fall right onto it, while looking up at the girl in the air.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zeyu on the spectator stand, leaning on the railing with his chin in his hand, watching her with an expressionless face.

After their eyes met, Temari shivered involuntarily, and cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

Oh no! This guy isn't going to think I went too far and try to get back at me, is he? Temari thought.

At that moment, Tenten was already falling right in front of her.

"No! Tenten!" Lee shouted excitedly.

The people from Konoha on the spectator stand all stared intently at the scene below, their hearts tightening.

Just then, Temari hurriedly swung her Giant Folding Fan away and caught Tenten with both hands.

"Eh? What is she doing..." Lee looked confused.

Beside him, Neji frowned, also feeling somewhat puzzled.

Temari slowly crouched down, placed Tenten on the ground, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and tentatively looked up at Zeyu.

Seeing this scene, Zeyu found it inexplicably funny and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Was she scared by me? Zeyu thought.

To Temari, however, that look seemed terrifying.

I knew it! If I had actually done that just now, this guy definitely would have retaliated! Temari swallowed hard, thinking to herself.

Neji followed Temari's gaze from the arena to Zeyu, smiled slightly, and thought, Zeyu, that guy, he must have had something happen between him and them.

As Hayate announced the result of the match, Temari returned to her teammates.

"What happened? Temari?" Baki noticed Temari's abnormality and asked.

"Nothing," Temari replied, then glanced at Gaara again.

Baki knew it must have been Gaara's instruction, but since Gaara was very important, as long as it didn't delay the plan, he wouldn't ask further.

At this moment, the large screen on the wall began to scroll.