Repaying Malice with Kindness—How Then Do You Repay Kindness?

At the entrance to the arena.

"What are you looking at?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto withdrew his gaze from the stands above. A gaze had just made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But as the winner of the previous match, there were at least eighty, if not a hundred, people in the audience watching him. He could only sense the general direction of that gaze.

"Nothing. Focus on your match." Naruto patted him on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be offering some sincere good wishes at a time like this?" Shikamaru had so much to complain about that he did not know where to begin.

Naruto merely smiled faintly and said nothing more.

It seemed this guy still had no proper understanding of his own laziness.

But that unpleasant gaze...

As he stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor, Naruto formed the Ram hand seal. Jiraiya had taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu, just as he had taught him the Summoning Jutsu.

Perhaps because he had an ample supply of chakra, he had taken a liking to this ninjutsu as soon as he learned it.

Confusing enemies, gathering intelligence, overwhelming opponents with numbers...

If he had possessed this jutsu in his previous life, he would not have needed to die so many times.

Leaving behind a Shadow Clone holding Kusabimaru to head for the second-floor lounge, Naruto's real body took a side passage toward the section of the stands where the gaze had originated.

With his current strength, taking part in the Chunin Exams really did feel like bullying weaker opponents.

Even if his real body did not fight personally, among all the contestants, the only one who could likely threaten his Shadow Clone was Gaara, another Jinchuriki.

Is this what it means to be a Jinchuriki? His sensitivity to hostility is actually this sharp...

At the very back of the stands, Kabuto wore an ANBU uniform that he had somehow obtained and muttered inwardly.

When he saw Naruto cast an investigative glance in his direction, he shifted his eyes slightly, avoiding a direct meeting of their gazes.

He had every reason to believe that the moment their eyes met, he would be exposed.

The source of that final gaze is in Section B...

Naruto's eyes moved as he swiftly headed toward Section B.

The stands for this Chunin Exams were divided into four sections: A, B, C, and D. Aside from Section A, which was reserved for nobles and dignitaries, entry to the other three sections only required a ticket, so slipping in would be easy.

ANBU? But that uncomfortable sense of being watched, and that hostility...

At the entrance, Naruto only needed one casual sweep of his eyes to confirm that the source of that gaze had been the ANBU ninja in the back.

Ever since he had reached an understanding with Kurama, Naruto had strangely discovered that his sensory abilities had improved enormously, especially his ability to sense hostility.

With just one glance, he could basically tell whether someone harbored hostility toward him.

No, it was not just toward him. This ANBU's hostility was directed at every Konoha ninja present.

And the reason his hostility toward Naruto had been especially apparent just now was because Naruto had won...

Naruto narrowed his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he did not step forward to expose him.

He was merely a genin, with little weight to his words, while the other party was Konoha ANBU. Whose words carried more weight was obvious. Besides, he was also curious what could make a Konoha ANBU harbor hostility toward every Konoha ninja.

Ever since learning about his origins, Naruto's feelings toward Konoha had instantly fallen to zero—perhaps even below zero.

In the past, he might have still felt grateful to Konoha for raising him and thought that he would repay it if he ever had the chance.

After all, the kindness of being raised was greater than the heavens. No matter how hostile those people had been toward him, being raised was still being raised. That debt could not be erased.

But that had only been in the past.

After learning of his origins, he understood that he and Konoha owed each other nothing.

Years of hatred, discriminatory treatment, and the complete disappearance of everything his parents had left behind...

The only reason he had not openly declared himself a missing-nin was that he had yet to find a new place to go.

As for helping Konoha?

If kindness repaid malice, then what would repay kindness?

It looked like this Chunin Exams would have quite a show in store...

Naruto glanced toward the highest seats in Section A, where the Fourth Kazekage sat beside the Third Hokage.

If he remembered correctly, Konoha and Sunagakure had only become allies after Konoha had thoroughly crushed Sunagakure during the Third Great Ninja War and then signed an alliance treaty.

Meanwhile.

The match below had gradually reached its climax.

Whether it was the Aburame Clan's Insect Technique or the Nara Clan's Shadow Imitation Technique, both had opened the eyes of every spectator present.

Especially the schemes layered upon schemes, each link fitting perfectly into the next—they made everyone deeply feel that their brains simply were not enough.

"What a wonderful match," Kotetsu Hagane said with emotion.

"Indeed. No matter how this match ends, those two Chunin slots are already spoken for." Izumo Kamizuki nodded.

The greatest difference between genin and chunin was that genin were led, while chunin were already considered leaders.

Strategy and planning, things genin rarely valued, were the core criteria for judging whether a genin could become a chunin.

"I think there will be three," Kotetsu Hagane said, shaking his head slightly. "Although leadership ability is an important standard for judging whether a genin can become a chunin, strength is also an indispensable factor."

"Uzumaki Naruto's strength is so overwhelming that it crushes the other genin of his generation. He is fully qualified to be promoted to chunin."

After pondering it for a moment, Izumo Kamizuki nodded slightly as well.

Indeed, when a ninja was powerful enough, things like strategy and leadership ability became entirely optional.

"But it is hard to say," Kotetsu Hagane suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"Uzumaki Naruto's identity..." Kotetsu Hagane spoke vaguely.

"...Why think so much about it? Your position determines your perspective. That is not something we should be considering." Izumo Kamizuki suddenly smiled.

Bzzzz!

Shikamaru looked at the Kikaichū that had formed a circle around him and could not help swallowing. He had every reason to believe that if he said those three words, the mouthparts of these little darlings would viciously bite into him.

Shino Aburame's fingers trembled slightly. He was trying—trying to break free of the Shadow Imitation Technique.

Though he had been extremely cautious, against Shikamaru's monstrous intelligence, some things could not be avoided through caution alone.

In fact, the reason he had fallen into this predicament was entirely because Shikamaru had exploited his excessive caution.

Thankfully, when Shikamaru had restrained him, his Kikaichū had also completed their encirclement of Shikamaru.

The two sides had now entered a strange stalemate.

Shino Aburame did not dare command the Kikaichū to attack Shikamaru, because he feared that his mouth would lose control and say the three words, "I surrender."

Likewise, Shikamaru did not dare make Shino surrender. He did not think he could withstand the Kikaichū gnawing at him.

The spectators had not expected such a deadlock either. Their urge to speculate instantly flared up as they all guessed who would emerge victorious.

"I think Shikamaru will win," Ino said.

"On the contrary, I think Shino will win. What do you think, Hinata?" Izuno asked.

"Shino will win!" Hinata said softly.

She and Shino were teammates. How could she not support her teammate?

"Not fair!" Ino grumbled, then smacked Choji, who was stuffing his face beside her. "Choji, who do you think will win?"

"Shino." Choji grinned.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ino immediately felt dissatisfied. What kind of ridiculous teammates had she ended up with?

"Ino, you still do not understand Shikamaru." Choji shook his head slightly.

"I surrender!"

Shikamaru raised his hand.

"...Why?" Shino Aburame looked at him in confusion.

If the stalemate continued, Shikamaru would not necessarily lose.

"I'm out of chakra." Shikamaru released the Shadow Imitation Technique and smiled freely.

"Is that so..."

Shino's tone was unreadable. He did not believe that someone as intelligent as Shikamaru would make such a low-level mistake.

Proper chakra allocation was a required lesson for every ninja.

"Shino Aburame wins!"

The announcer declared the result at the appropriate moment.

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