Sasuke Made His Move!

The poisoned needle rapidly enlarged in Ling Yue's eyes! It was incredibly fast, and the distance was far too close!

[Paper Arts] had no time to sense the airflow, and [Flash Step] could not be activated in time either!

I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die!!

At that critical moment, there came an extremely faint yet crisp sound of collision!

A shuriken struck the tail of the poisoned needle with perfect accuracy, knocking it off its original trajectory!

The poisoned needle grazed past Ling Yue's ear and ultimately embedded itself in a wall not far behind her, its tail still trembling slightly!

Ling Yue could even smell the sweet, fishy stench on its tip. Cold sweat from the lingering fear instantly soaked her back.

She turned her head toward where the shuriken had come from. In the stands, Sasuke maintained his throwing stance, his Sharingan slowly spinning as he stared coldly down at the arena.

It was him!

"Bastard!" Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, Black Hoe furiously tried to make another move.

But Ling Yue would not give him another chance!

The rage and killing intent of having narrowly escaped death instantly engulfed her!

Her downward momentum did not change. She turned the kunai in her hand away from his shoulder and viciously thrust it toward the mouth that had just spat out the poisoned needle!

Since you were so vicious, don't blame me for being ruthless!

"Stop!" Referee Genma Shiranui's voice rang out. At the same time, his figure flashed, and he instantly appeared between them, precisely pinching the tip of Ling Yue's descending kunai between his fingers!

His other hand restrained Black Hoe, who was trying to struggle free.

"The victor has been decided." Genma Shiranui's tone was icy. He glanced at the conspicuous poisoned needle in the wall, then swept a cold look toward Black Hoe. "Black Hoe of the Hidden Rain Village violated the rules by using a lethal poison weapon. You are disqualified and will be handed over to Hidden Leaf Village's interrogation department!"

Two ANBU ninja immediately appeared and dragged away the unwilling, venom-eyed Black Hoe.

Only then did Genma Shiranui release Ling Yue's kunai. He looked at her and nodded. "Good reaction. Ling Yue wins the fourth match."

The stands erupted with applause and cheers, with Naruto shouting the loudest of all.

Ling Yue let out a breath, her body swaying slightly. The burst of exertion and fright from earlier had left her somewhat drained.

She put away her kunai and gave a slight nod of thanks toward Sasuke in the stands.

Sasuke shifted his gaze away expressionlessly, as though his intervention had merely been a casual gesture.

As Ling Yue left the arena, Sakura immediately ran over to support her. "Yue! Are you all right? You scared me to death just now!"

"I'm fine, thanks." Ling Yue smiled, but her gaze drifted toward Sasuke.

This guy... actually took the initiative to save someone? And used the Sharingan to predict the throw? Looks like the special training worked pretty well.

Sasuke sensed her gaze, snorted, and said nothing.

Kakashi also walked over and examined the shallow bloodstain on Ling Yue's neck. "Luckily, it's only a flesh wound. Go to the medical unit and get it treated to make sure no poison remains."

He then looked at Sasuke and nodded. "Well done, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned his head away. "I just didn't want to watch a teammate lose so badly."

Kakashi smiled but did not expose him.

The remaining matches continued.

Ling Yue went to the medical unit for a simple treatment. After confirming that she had not been poisoned, she returned to the stands to watch.

One thrilling match followed another. Gaara of the Sand Village displayed terrifying strength and killing intent, easily crushing his opponent with brutal methods that sent chills through everyone present.

Naruto faced Kiba Inuzuka. Relying on his stubborn will and an unexpected tactic—a fart—he narrowly won in the end. It was not a glorious victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Tenten faced Temari and unfortunately lost.

In the end, the list of those who passed the preliminaries was finalized: Sasuke, Naruto, Ling Yue, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and a Sound Ninja named Dosu.

The Third Hokage appeared once more and announced that the finals of the third exam would be held one month later, with daimyo and nobles from various countries invited to attend.

At the same time, that month would serve as the contestants' final preparation period.

The exam came to a temporary close, and everyone dispersed.

On the way back, the atmosphere within Team 7 was somewhat more relaxed.

"That's great! We advanced!" Naruto excitedly waved his arms around. "After training for a month, I'll definitely shine in the finals! Hahaha!"

"The dead last advanced purely because he got lucky." Sasuke habitually put him down, though his tone seemed less cold than usual.

Sakura looked at Sasuke worriedly. "Sasuke, your body..."

"I'm fine." Sasuke tugged at his collar. "Over this next month, I'll become stronger."

Ling Yue walked in silence, reflecting on the battle from earlier.

That Rain Ninja, Black Hoe, had clearly intended to kill her. Was it because of the grudge from the Forest of Death? Or was there another reason? The Hidden Rain Village... seemed to have some sort of problem.

And those vague gazes from the stands...

She instinctively looked around. The crowd was bustling, and there did not seem to be anything unusual.

Was it just my imagination?

Meanwhile, in a hidden room somewhere within the Hokage Building.

Danzo listened to a report from one of his Root subordinates.

...The target won the preliminary match. During the battle, she used a high-speed taijutsu technique suspected to involve lightning-nature chakra transformation. Its style was unique, and its school could not be determined. At the final moment, Sasuke Uchiha intervened and deflected a poisoned-needle ambush from a Hidden Rain Village ninja.

Danzo leaned on his cane, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers. "That Uchiha boy... seems quite close to that girl of unknown origin."

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Continue observing them. Do not make contact for now. Focus on Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara... Orochimaru's pawn and the Sand Village's jinchuriki... those are the key matters. As for Ling Yue, as long as she does not get in the way, there is no need to bother with her."

"Yes." The Root member bowed in response, silently melting into the shadows and disappearing.

Danzo gazed out the window with his single eye, his expression unfathomable. The Chunin Exams... were becoming more and more interesting.

This was the perfect opportunity to see how every side would react and... assess the caliber of Hidden Leaf Village's new generation.

Elsewhere, Ling Yue bid farewell to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura before returning to her small apartment.

Only after closing the door and shutting out the noise outside did she finally relax completely, collapsing onto her bed.

Today was seriously thrilling!

She summoned the system interface.

[Ding! Mission completed: Pass the Chunin Exams preliminaries. Rewards issued: Dimension Points x500, Skill Card Voucher (R) x1.]

[Current Dimension Points: 1150]

[Skill Card Voucher (R): 2]

The rewards were hers! Her points had exceeded a thousand again, and she had two R-card vouchers.

Should I draw, or save them?

As she pondered, the system notification sounded again.

[Ding! New mission issued: Within one month, raise any existing skill to the "Mastery" level.]

[Mission reward: Dimension Points x200, Designated Skill Enhancement Opportunity x1.]

[Failure penalty: The proficiency of one random skill will decrease.]

A new mission? Raise a skill's proficiency? That fit perfectly with Kakashi's special training.

A designated skill enhancement opportunity? That sounded pretty good.

Her highest-proficiency skills were currently [Zetsu] (Mastery) and [Paper Arts] (Proficient), while [Thunder Breathing] and [Flash Step] were both at the Proficient level.

[Zetsu] was already at Mastery. Improving it further would mean reaching the next realm, which was probably very difficult.

[Paper Arts], on the other hand, was not far from Mastery.

Then I'll focus on [Paper Arts]! Combined with Kakashi's basic training, I should have a chance.

As for drawing... she looked at her two R-card vouchers and 1,150 points, feeling a little tempted.

"System, use one R-card voucher for a single draw!"

A roulette wheel appeared, and its needle began to spin.

[Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: [Basic Taijutsu Enhancement] Experience Pack.]

A warm current flowed into her body. Knowledge and experience involving basic taijutsu—methods of exerting force, fighting stances, joint locks, and more—flooded into her mind. It was not some earth-shattering skill, but it perfectly compensated for her weakness in close combat.

Not bad!

Looking at her remaining 1,150 points and one voucher, she decided to save them for now.

Once [Paper Arts] reached Mastery, she would see what the designated enhancement opportunity actually was.

Over the following days, Ling Yue entered a frenzied training regimen.

She got up before dawn every day to practice chakra control and shuriken throwing. Then she went to Kakashi for basic taijutsu sparring and evasion training—mainly to improve [Paper Arts]. In the afternoon, she worked on combining [Thunder Breathing] with [Flash Step]. At night, she continued refining chakra and used [Resilient Body] to recover from fatigue.

Sasuke and Naruto each followed Kakashi and Jiraiya respectively, undergoing their own intense special training.

Sakura, meanwhile, devoted a great deal of effort to studying medical ninjutsu and genjutsu.

Everyone gave their all for the finals one month later.

During that time, Ling Yue could vaguely sense that someone seemed to be watching her from afar, but whenever she investigated carefully, she found nothing.

She guessed that it might be someone from Root, but since they made no further moves, she could only remain vigilant and pretend not to notice.

The days passed one by one.

Ling Yue's [Paper Arts] proficiency steadily rose, drawing ever closer to the Mastery level.

Her basic taijutsu and chakra control also improved significantly.

That day, she repeatedly carried out extreme evasion drills at the training ground, using rubber kunai fired from various mechanisms to attack herself and temper [Paper Arts]' predictive and evasive abilities.

Sweat drenched her clothes, and the rubber kunai had left bruises all over her body. Yet her eyes remained focused. Her body moved like a boneless willow branch, weaving through the dense barrage with increasing fluidity.

Finally, amid repeated evasions that pushed her to the limit, she felt her perception of airflow and control over her body reach an entirely new realm!

[Ding! Skill [Paper Arts] proficiency has risen to "Mastery"!]

[Mission completed: Within one month, raise any existing skill to the "Mastery" level. Rewards issued: Dimension Points x200, Designated Skill Enhancement Opportunity x1.]

[Current Dimension Points: 1350]

She had succeeded!

Ling Yue's heart filled with joy. She stopped and panted heavily, sensing the changes in her body as it became lighter and sharper.

[Designated Skill Enhancement Opportunity: You may select one existing skill for a one-time major enhancement or a beneficial mutation.]

A beneficial mutation? That sounded tempting.

Which skill should she enhance?

[Flash Step]? [Thunder Breathing]? Or the newly acquired [Basic Taijutsu]?

Just as she was thinking, she suddenly caught sight of someone at the entrance to the training ground from the corner of her eye.

It was Sasuke.

He seemed to have just finished training. As he watched Ling Yue's inhuman evasive movements from earlier, a trace of surprise and curiosity flashed through his eyes.

"Your evasive ability... has gotten stronger again," he said.