The rest of the people also finished drawing lots in turn, and the record-keeping table was handed over to Third Hokage by the examiner.
The battle table was unfolded and announced in front of all candidates: the first game, No. 1 vs. No. 2, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga.
In the second game, Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara.
The third game, Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame.
The fourth game, Shikamaru vs. Temari.
Otogakure Ninja Dosu has a bye.
Naruto glanced at Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga written side by side on the battle table, then turned to look at Neji who was standing not far away.
Neji happened to be looking at him too, and their eyes met in front of the bulletin board.
Neji's white pupils shrank slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled up as if he were looking at a prophecy that had finally been proven.
The corners of Naruto's mouth also curved up.
Neither of them spoke, but the air around them was inexplicably colder by several degrees.
After Third Hokage announced that the venue was over, the candidates who passed the pre-selection dispersed.
Naruto nodded slightly in the direction of Third Hokage, with a polite smile on his lips, then turned around and walked out with the crowd.
When Naruto pushed open the medical room, he found that the bed where Hinata had been lying on was empty.
Naruto stood in front of the bed for a moment and reached out to touch the pillow.
It's cool, people have been gone for a while.
Naruto guessed that Hyuga Clan's clan members rushed over to take Hinata back soon after he left.
Hyuga Main House's eldest daughter was injured in public. Hyuga Hiashi could not let her daughter continue to lie in the temporary medical room in the examination room.
Naruto didn't think much, put on his white windbreaker again, turned around and walked towards Sakura's bed.
The bed at Sakura is in the back compartment of the medical room, separated from the one at Hinata just now by a translucent curtain.
When Naruto opened the curtain and walked in, Sakura was sitting on the bed with his back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
There were two band-aids on her cheeks, several circles of bandages wrapped around her fingers, and the quilt covered her waist. She looked much more energetic than when she was just carried out of Forest of Death.
"Naruto You are here."
Sakura heard the footsteps and turned around to see Naruto, showing a forced smile, "How is the situation in the qualifiers?"
Her voice was still a little hoarse as if she had just woken up.
"The qualifiers are all over."
"Sasuke and I both passed and will take the third formal exam one month later."
Naruto walked to the bedside. "Sasuke is fine too. Kakashi-sensei took him to the sealing room to deal with Cursed Seal. He is now stable."
Sakura Listening to Naruto telling her the results of the preliminary round in a normal tone, a very strange feeling suddenly came over her heart.
In the past, she was the one reporting various things to Naruto, such as what the homework was, the task collection time was changed, and Kakashi-sensei was late again.
Now the person sitting on the bed listening to others' reports became herself.
Sakura pursed her lips and tried to bend the corners of her mouth upwards. "Congratulations."
"Sakura, I have to practice hard in the next month. I may not have time to see you during this period. Please recover well."
After saying that, Naruto nodded slightly towards Sakura, then turned and walked towards the door.
When he turned around, his white windbreaker gently brushed against the iron railing at the end of the bed, making a very light friction sound.
Sakura looked at Naruto's back, and suddenly felt that this back had nothing to do with the Naruto who always stuck behind her, blushed at every turn, and shouted "Sakura-chan, I like you" every now and then.
Now Naruto has become calm and confident, unwavering in his goals and no longer revolves around anyone.
And from Land of Waves to now, my strength has hardly increased. What I am thinking about all day long is either being petty in front of Sasuke or being jealous of Ino.
When fighting against Ino, she tried her best but only ended up being eliminated together.
But when Forest of Death was, Naruto dared to stand in front of Sasuke alone, and even managed to escape despite facing a powerful ninja who didn't even dare to move Sasuke.
There is nothing I can do except wait for Sasuke and Naruto to protect me.
"Naruto!"
Sakura's voice came from inside the curtain, which was half a degree louder than before.
Naruto stopped and turned his head to look at Sakura from above his shoulder.
"Thank you. You stood in front of us in Forest of Death, and what you said during training before, thank you."
"I've been thinking during this time that I seemed to be a little too much towards you before."
"We are teammates, Sakura."
Naruto waved his hand, opened the door of the medical room and walked out.
The door closed gently, and silence returned to the curtained compartment.
"Teammate?"
Sakura lowered his head and spread out his bandaged hands. There were still red marks on the palms of his hands from the grinding of Kunai's handle when he fought with Ino.
These two hands had done nothing before except helping Sasuke pass the ninja tool and shaking their fists at Naruto.
Sakura clenched into a fist and dug his nails into the bandage.
She took a deep breath and started packing her ninja bag.
Naruto walked out of the medical room and walked along the corridor.
The end of the corridor led to the public rest area of the examination room, and two people walked towards them.
Kakashi walked in front, Sasuke followed half a step behind him.
The Cursed Seal bitten by Orochimaru on Sasuke's neck was surrounded by a fine circle of Sealing Formula.
At this time, Sasuke's face was still a little pale, but his expression had returned to its previous appearance.
"Hey, it's Naruto. Do you want to see Sakura too?"
Kakashi raised his hand with a lazy tone, but Forehead Protector's right eye underneath curved into an upside-down crescent.
"Yes Kakashi-sensei, Sakura is awake, nothing serious."
Naruto nodded and then glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke just nodded slightly to him as a greeting.
Naruto didn't say much and turned his attention back to Kakashi.
"Sorry, Naruto."
Kakashi put down Make-Out Paradise in his hand, and his tone changed from his usual laziness to a bit serious:
"I may not be able to accompany you in the next month."
"You saw the situation of Sasuke just now in the qualifiers. If Cursed Seal doesn't step up his sealing training, it may come back at any time."
"And he will face Gaara in a month and will need special training."
Kakashi's single eye looked at Naruto with an apologetic look.
He has made the optimal allocation of his limited time and energy. Naruto has become stronger visibly with the naked eye. From the battle awareness to the use of Ninjutsu, it is growing faster than he expected.
And Sasuke is still in a state where Cursed Seal may lose control at any time. The decision-making of any team leader Jōnin in this situation is the same.
"Okay, Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto nodded and said calmly, "Then Sasuke, we will see you Chunin Ninja Exams in one month."
Sasuke looked at Naruto's blue eyes for a few seconds, as if confirming something.
Then he nodded, his voice a little hoarse. "See you in a month."
Naruto turned around and walked out along the corridor. The white trench coat swayed between the light and shadow of the wall, and then disappeared around the corner.
Sakura saw the two people walking in and stood up straight.
"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun."
"Sakura, how is your recovery?" Kakashi asked.
"It's nothing serious, Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura shrank the bandaged hand into his sleeve.
"That's good. In the next month, I will take Sasuke for special training..."
"..."