Hand-Seal Test, Genin Malice

As soon as Naruto appeared, he stood out like a sore thumb in the crowd.

Among the children present, the tallest, Shino Aburame, barely cleared a meter and twenty even with his hair included, since they were all just turning six.

Those civilian parents scrambled to pull their kids aside like they were dodging a plague god, clearing a wide path.

Even though the higher-ups had banned people from calling Naruto a demon fox to his face, this bunch had lost none of their hatred for him.

The moment they caught sight of him, they dragged their kids far away.

The future elite group, on the other hand, couldn't care less about Naruto's identity.

Naruto glanced at this bunch of noble scions and raised an eyebrow.

Sure enough, Sakura managing to squeeze into the Konoha Twelve was entirely thanks to Ino.

The worldview of ninja worlds was rooted in bloodlines from the start, so it really was bizarre for a civilian green tea like Sakura to mix into the Konoha Twelve.

Now it seemed she had wedged herself into Konoha's upper echelons precisely because she backed the right horse at this time.

Pity she was foolish enough to hook up with Second Pillar, living like an absolute widow, not to mention leaving zero assets behind, and winding up hospitalized from the sheer stress of accidentally wrecking his house.

Among the Konoha Twelve, apart from Neji, she had it the worst.

Naruto had originally worried about those whisker marks on his face since childhood that looked like genetic mutations, but he found that without the interference of Nine-Tails Chakra, his face was as smooth as Minato Namikaze's.

Coupled with the Fourth Hokage's signature hairstyle, he looked like he had been cut from the exact same mold as a young Minato, while his skin tone inherited Kushina's, making him even better-looking.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had tried several times back then to persuade Naruto to keep a spiky hedgehog cut, because he looked far too much like the Fourth Hokage.

Yet every time, Naruto flipped him off with a middle finger and shut him down.

Are you kidding me, the old man is here to pick up girls, who keeps such a dated hairstyle?

As time went on, Naruto no longer needed to worry too much about Third brainwashing him by force.

That was because he knew Hiruzen Sarutobi's target had already shifted to the Uchiha Clan.

Using Sasuke to control the Nine-Tails!

This was the master stroke of killing two birds with one stone that Hiruzen Sarutobi laid down on the Clan Massacre Night.

Otherwise, could Itachi Uchiha's remark of "dare lay a hand on Sasuke, and I'll leak Konoha's classified intelligence" really threaten the Konoha upper echelons?

You've got to be kidding me.

How could a double agent like Itachi Uchiha possibly hold Konoha's core secrets in his grip?

Just on the strength of his ANBU squad captain title?

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi had long wanted to bring Sasuke under his thumb to keep Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, in check.

Unfortunately, man proposes and God disposes; before he could push Asuma into the Hokage's seat, he got himself iced by his own student first.

That was also why Tsunade only tokenistically dispatched a bunch of Genin to give chase when Sasuke defected.

Because Itachi Uchiha hadn't grasped Konoha's core secrets at all, and it made no difference whether he talked or not.

Right then, catching sight of Second Pillar glaring at him with burning hatred, Naruto walked over with an easy smile.

Yo~ Second Pillar, are your injuries healed?

Sasuke's face turned livid as he jerked his head away, ignoring him.

Shikamaru and the others nearby watched with stunned expressions.

Everyone said the Uchiha Clan was fiercely arrogant, so why was Naruto provoking him like this, yet Sasuke wouldn't even return a single word?

At that moment, Ino and Sakura whispered to each other on the sidelines.

Hey, Sasuke is so handsome~

But Naruto looks really handsome too!

I don't know how to choose, should we just take one each?

One warm guy, one aloof guy, ah~ so hard to choose!

Naruto's face was a match for Sasuke's, and combined with the warm-guy charm inherited from Minato, he ended up drawing even more fondness than Sasuke.

N-Naruto.

Hinata lowered her head the instant she saw Naruto walking toward her.

Let's go take the test, what are you all huddling around here for?

Naruto smiled and grabbed Hinata's hand, heading straight for the training ground.

Examinees who had already registered would gather over there.

The other kids also broke away from their parents to run off to the test.

Shikamaru cradled his head with a look of utter impatience.

What a drag, I told you I didn't want to come to school.

Choji stuffed another potato chip into his mouth and said:

Old man said it doesn't matter whether I take the test or not, I'll definitely pass.

The group of eager kids warming up nearby almost spat blood in frustration upon hearing that.

Damn it, why was the gap between people so huge!

The earliest entrance exams were based on the classifications in the Book of Ninjutsu, divided into eight categories: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Hand Seals.

Those had been specially set up by Tobirama Senju back then to integrate various clans, targeting the children of shinobi clans.

Later, as the ninja world wars raged endlessly and the number of shinobi fell into severe shortage, the original eight all-around categories were directly slashed down to four: Hand Seals, Intelligence, Strength, and Speed, all to train a few more cannon fodder.

Seals {Hand Seals}: Represents mastery and proficiency in hand seals.
Intelligence {Cleverness}: Represents the abundance of knowledge and IQ level.
Strength {Might}: Muscle strength of the whole body, including arm strength and leg strength.
Speed {Quickness}: Represents the agility of movements and reactions.

The remaining categories—Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Stamina—were simply too difficult for commoner examinees, so they were cancelled during the ninja world wars.

As for the remaining few categories, even people who had never touched ninja training could easily handle them, so they were left as the entrance assessment.

Naruto walked directly up to a Genjin in charge of the testing.

Entrance exams like this were basically handed out for Genjin to do as missions.

That Genjin wearing a forehead protector caught sight of Naruto, a trace of disgust instantly flashing in his eyes.

He had survived the Nine-Tails Night, and detested Naruto down to his core.

"Follow my lead."

The Genin said with a blank expression.

With that, his hands formed seals at flying speed, and in the blink of an eye, he scrambled the order of the twelve hand seals and swiftly performed them once.

Shikamaru, standing behind Naruto, knitted his brows.

"Hey hey, what the hell is going on, did the exam difficulty get ramped up this year? In the past, you clearly only needed to follow along with three hand seals."

This was a clear and blatant attempt to make things difficult for Naruto!