"...So that's how it is."
In the outside world, Naruto opened his eyes, finally gaining a clearer understanding of his current situation.
From what the Nine-Tails had said, he and that gourd-bearing boy were, in the strictest sense, this world's alternative nuclear weapons.
The First Hokage had distributed the nine tailed beasts among the various shinobi villages...
Why hadn't he just unified the shinobi world directly???!!!
Could the shinobi world really be this deep?
Terrifying indeed!
If that was the case, he needed to quickly find a way to improve his strength.
His current strength was nowhere near enough.
He had always used Hayate Gekko as his benchmark.
After all, a Konoha jonin sounded incredibly prestigious.
No matter how he looked at it, that level of strength should be respectable even in the shinobi world.
But now that he thought about it, if tailed beasts could be handed out to others, then jonin seemed like...
Thud...
The fishing rod in his hand pulled him back to reality. Focusing his eyes, he saw that something had taken the bait.
Naruto's face lit up. Dinner was settled! He couldn't catch fish here every time, so his luck today was clearly extraordinary!
Outside the examination room.
Raimon Koshireki and Izuno Akigiku stared speechlessly at their late-arriving teammate.
"We thought you'd forgotten about the Chunin Exams."
"Not that bad." Naruto rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly.
"Where have you been these past two days? I went to your place several times," Raimon Koshireki asked.
"Fishing at the usual spot."
"For two days?"
"Only you would do that."
Compared to that empty apartment, Naruto still preferred staying in his little wilderness nest.
"No one's here yet, right?" Naruto asked. He had calculated the time and arrived early.
"Unless something unexpected happened, we should be the first team to enter the exam room." Izuno pushed open the door and walked in.
Seeing the empty classroom, the girl wore an expression of complete certainty.
"Raimon..." Naruto explained the difficulties he had encountered while making the Shinobi Prosthetic. Raimon had an almost obsessive love for machinery, so perhaps he could offer some advice.
After pondering for a moment, Raimon looked up and asked, "What is the purpose of making this Shinobi Prosthetic?"
"To improve my mobility. After all, no matter how strong a shinobi's jumping ability is, there are some heights and distances that are difficult to reach in a short time."
There was another point Naruto did not mention. He had used the Shinobi Prosthetic for most of his previous life. When facing steep terrain, he could only walk honestly, and he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Besides, compared to his previous life, his current fighting style had not changed much. The greatest impact chakra had brought him was probably the improvement of his physical abilities.
"Um..." After hesitating for a moment, Raimon still said, "Naruto, there are actually many ways to improve mobility. For distances on flat ground, you can use the Body Flicker Technique. Vertical movement isn't all that necessary. If you want, contracting a summoning beast might be more practical."
"As for the Shinobi Prosthetic, my suggestion is to just treat it as a hobby for your spare time. There's no need to take it so seriously."
Naruto's clogged mind felt as though someone had violently cleared it out with a brush. He finally realized where the problem lay. He had relied too heavily on the combat system from his previous life.
He had considered the differences between this life and his previous one far too little.
"Thank you, Raimon! Why didn't I ask you sooner?" Naruto grabbed Raimon's hand.
"It's really not that big a deal." Raimon cast a pleading look toward Izuno.
Good heavens!
What kind of image did Naruto have in his mind—powerful and aloof!
How could that persona collapse just like that?
Oh, heavens above!
Izuno watched the scene with great interest and selectively ignored her boyfriend's plea for help.
Click!
The classroom door was pushed open once again.
The three turned toward the sound. Rain shinobi dressed like fish-men filed in. After both sides exchanged glances, they looked away.
What do you think? Raimon sent with his eyes.
Just trash. Naruto returned a reassuring look.
Izuno: "..."
Why did she feel like the direction those two were heading in was a little off?
The appearance of the Rain shinobi was like opening the floodgates of a reservoir. Shinobi from other villages gradually began arriving at the exam room as well.
"Where are the other Konoha shinobi?" Gradually, the three began to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Are there already this many people?" At last, the appearance of the new generation Ino-Shika-Cho team broke the deadly awkwardness.
"Their outfits are all so strange, ahahaha..." Ino's voice grew softer and softer. By the end, only Shikamaru and Choji could hear her.
"A little scary." Looking at the predatory gazes of the shinobi from other villages, Shikamaru scratched his head helplessly.
As he watched the three approach, Naruto asked, "Where are the other Konoha shinobi?"
"They might still be taking the test downstairs," Shikamaru answered uncertainly.
"Test?" The three looked at each other, utterly confused.
"You didn't take that Genjutsu test either?" Ino asked curiously.
"Genjutsu test? What's that?" Raimon Koshireki asked.
"Either?" Naruto was the first to spot Watson.
"Two upperclassmen set up a fake exam room downstairs with Genjutsu to persuade some overconfident idiots to leave," Shikamaru said, scratching his ear.
"Good thing Shikamaru's brain suddenly started working, or we would've been played like monkeys downstairs too," Ino said.
What a way to put it...
Naruto looked at Shikamaru's helpless expression and held back a laugh.
Honestly, Shikamaru's brain was definitely not made of calcium. He just found everything troublesome and was practically a couch potato.
"You really didn't take the test?" Ino asked again.
"Not just us. They didn't either." The three exchanged looks. In the end, Izuno, as the team captain, stepped forward and pointed at the shinobi from the other villages.
"Why?"
"They're outsiders. This is Konoha. The three of us are the exception because we came too early." Naruto rubbed his chin.
A few minutes later, the other Konoha shinobi gradually arrived as well.
"It's been a long time since all of us were gathered like this," Naruto said with a smile.
"Can't be helped. We were all assigned to different teams and sent on missions." The others smiled as well.
"Our generation of rookies seems quite bold. Previous classes only took the Chunin Exams after skipping a year," Shikamaru said.
Everyone nodded.
Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke, Sakura, ??, as well as Raimon and Izuno.
Other than Raimon and Izuno, everyone else had been in the same class.
Izuno quietly observed the group. Other than Naruto and Sakura, they all seemed to be heirs of major clans.
"Hm?" Sasuke looked behind him in confusion.
"What is it?" Sakura asked softly.
"...Nothing." Sasuke shook his head. The feeling of being watched had vanished quickly, and he had not found the source of the gaze.
Naruto quietly withdrew his gaze from a white-haired man wearing glasses. Judging by the Headband on his forehead, he was also a Konoha shinobi, though Naruto did not know why the man kept looking in their direction.
Raimon and Izuno, who had been keeping an eye on their teammates, also secretly became wary of the white-haired man.
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