Forcibly Pulling Anko into His Arms, Provoking Orochimaru!

A piercing pain shot up from her wrist. She felt as though the bones in her wrist were about to be crushed by his grip!

Before Anko could react further, an overwhelming force suddenly surged from her wrist!

"Ah!"

Anko only had time for a short cry before an unreasonable force yanked her over, sending her helplessly crashing headfirst into a scorching, solid embrace!

Thud!

A dull impact rang out.

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Over a hundred elite genin from various villages, including the well-informed examiners, all seemed to have been hit by a paralysis jutsu. They stood petrified, jaws dropping to the floor.

What had they just seen?

That reckless blond brat... Naruto Uzumaki... he... he had actually dragged the second exam's chief examiner, Mitaraishi Anko, the Special Jōnin infamous for her madness and brutality, straight into his arms?!

Was this flirting?

No!

This was fucking public molestation of the chief examiner!

Sasuke was completely dumbfounded. His hand, which had been reaching for his ninja tool pouch, froze in midair. Even the tomoe in his scarlet Sharingan trembled wildly from sheer shock.

His mind buzzed, with only one thought echoing over and over: Big bro... will always be big bro!

There was no learning a move like that. Absolutely no way to learn it!

Sakura's eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted on the spot from happiness.

That was... way too wild!

Naruto... how could he dare?!

Anko, forcibly dragged into Naruto's arms, had completely crashed. Her mind was blank.

Her cheek pressed tightly against Naruto's firm, scorching chest. Even through the thin layer of fabric, she could clearly feel the steel-like contours of his sharply defined abs, as well as his steady, powerful heartbeat pounding like a war drum—thump, thump, thump.

Was that really the physique a genin should have?

It was even more outrageous than that of a taijutsu-specialist jōnin!

But that was not even the most fatal part!

The most fatal part was that an aura she had never felt before, brimming with pure masculinity and vitality, continuously radiated from Naruto's body and instantly enveloped her whole being!

That aura was domineering and blazing, like the midday sun in the height of summer, instantly driving away the coldness and stench of blood that had accumulated around her for years.

Even more unbelievably, the Cursed Seal on her neck, planted by Orochimaru and the source of endless pain and torment for so many years, actually... actually stopped stirring beneath that intensely pure, masculine aura!

A warm, incredibly comforting sensation spread from the Cursed Seal and slowly flowed through her limbs and bones.

The chilling, stabbing pain that had plagued her for years and kept her awake at night was miraculously... temporarily suppressed at this moment!

Comfortable... so comfortable...

This was a long-lost peace, almost a luxury.

Anko even had the absurd urge to remain in this embrace forever and never leave.

"!"

The instant that thought surfaced, Anko jolted and suddenly came to her senses!

What was she thinking?!

She was Mitaraishi Anko!

An elite of the Hidden Leaf Torture and Interrogation Force!

How could she feel this sort of... this sort of attachment toward a little genin brat?!

She struggled to push Naruto away, but his arms were like iron hoops, locking her tightly in his embrace and leaving her unable to move!

Then, a warm breath carrying a trace of mocking amusement brushed against her ear, making her whole body tremble.

"Examiner Anko."

Naruto lowered his head, bringing his lips close to her earlobe, which had turned crimson from embarrassment and indignation. In a voice only the two of them could hear, he murmured:

"Do you feel it? The trash Orochimaru left on you... in front of me, it does not even have the right to stir."

Boom!

Anko felt a string in her mind snap completely.

He... he knew Orochimaru!

He even knew about the Cursed Seal!

Who the hell was this brat?!

"You..."

Anko's cheeks instantly flushed all the way down to her neck!

The wild, sexy, unapproachable big-sister image she had maintained for years was shattered beyond recognition by Naruto's few words, vanishing completely!

She was like a feral cat whose tail had been stepped on, every hair on her body standing on end!

"Let me go!"

She roared, and somehow found the strength to shove Naruto away by half a step.

She staggered back three or four steps before barely steadying herself. Her chest heaved violently, her breathing was ragged, and her gaze toward Naruto was full of panic, shock, and a trace of avoidance she did not even notice herself. She did not dare meet his eyes at all.

"D-Don't get cocky!"

Anko forcibly suppressed her racing heart and burning face, then shouted at Naruto with a fierce front that lacked all real confidence, "You think you have guts, huh? Fine! Tomorrow! Eighth Training Ground! I'll be waiting for you! I hope your bones are at least half as hard as your mouth!"

After saying that, she did not dare look at Naruto again. She turned, leaped away several times, smashed straight through a window, and vanished from everyone's sight in utter disarray.

No matter how one looked at it, she seemed to be fleeing in defeat.

[ Ding! Detected intense emotional fluctuations from Mitaraishi Anko. The strong person's defenses have begun to loosen! Favorability +20!]

[ Current Favorability: 20 (A mysterious and extremely dangerous arrogant brat) ]

The system's pleasant notification sounded in Naruto's mind.

Naruto stuck out his tongue and gently licked the faint streak of blood on his cheek. A light taste of rust spread across his tongue.

Interesting.

Not only was she wild enough, even the taste of her blood carried a distinctive fragrance.

With the chief examiner's "defeat," this first round of the Chunin Exams, perhaps the most dramatic in history, finally came to an end.

Ibiki wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, walked forward, gave Naruto a long look as if he were staring at a monster, then cleared his throat and announced the end of the exam.

The candidates gradually left the classroom, but nearly everyone who passed Naruto cast complicated looks at him, filled with awe, fear, curiosity, and admiration.

The name Naruto Uzumaki had, today, thundered into the hearts of every candidate in the most violent and incomprehensible way possible.

"Hmph. What an attention-seeking fool."

A cool female voice, carrying arrogance and disdain, sounded beside Naruto.

Naruto turned his head and saw the blond girl from Sunagakure with four pigtails—Temari.

Holding that enormous Iron Fan, she looked down at Naruto with a mocking curl to her lips. "You even dared provoke the chief examiner. I doubt you'll survive until the end of the second exam."

Naruto stood and stepped directly in front of Temari. Their faces were nearly touching.

He was more than half a head taller than Temari. Looking down at her now, the powerful pressure he exuded made her unconsciously tighten her grip on the Iron Fan.

"Want to make a bet?"

Naruto grinned, revealing an amused smile.

"Bet on what?"

Temari forced herself to maintain her composure as she asked coldly.

"Bet that not only will I survive, but I'll also take first place in these Chunin Exams."

Naruto spoke slowly, but his gaze swept meaningfully over Kankuro and Gaara behind her. "If I win... that little panda behind you will belong to me. How about it?"

"You...!"

Temari's face immediately turned bright red with both shame and anger.

This guy's arrogance knew no bounds. He actually dared say, right in front of her, that he wanted to subdue Gaara?!

She glared fiercely at Naruto, cursed him as a "madman," then clutched her fan and hurried away without looking back.

Yet as she ran, she failed to notice the strange ripple in the depths of her heart, stirred by the fact that he had seen through the burden she carried beneath her identity as an older sister.

Just as Naruto turned to leave, a cold, slimy, malicious feeling silently coiled around him like a venomous snake.

At the same time, two ANBU ninja wearing animal masks stood solemnly in a shadowed corner of the academy building.

"Record it! The target's life field just spiked off the charts. Our instruments can't quantify it! This isn't chakra! Encrypt the data immediately and report it to Lord Hokage!"

"And that cold chakra from before... there's an intruder! Lock onto the source!"

Naruto paused. He did not look up, nor did he search for the source of that gaze.

He knew Orochimaru had arrived.

At this stage, with his Pure Byakugan sealed, openly provoking a Shadow Level powerhouse would have been foolish.

But he needed to do something.

He slowly turned around and walked toward Sasuke, who was talking to Sakura. Under everyone's watchful eyes—including the ANBU's and Orochimaru's from afar—he naturally reached out and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Let's go, Mr. Punching Bag."

His tone was casual, as though he were merely urging a teammate along.

However, at the instant his palm touched Sasuke's shoulder, a nearly imperceptible yet incomparably pure strand of golden Yang Release energy silently entered Sasuke's body like a brand, flashing away in an instant.

That energy possessed no offensive power, yet carried an unquestionable, tyrannical declaration belonging to a king.