It Begins Quietly

To ensure Team 7 had enough energy to handle the Chunin Ninja Exams, Kakashi temporarily suspended Team 7's ninja missions for the week before the official exams.

The little that remained of June flew by, and the Genin welcomed July 1st, the day the Chunin Ninja Exams began.

Three in the afternoon, Konoha Ninja Academy.

The academy, which normally should have had no students on a weekend, was packed with countless people today.

Among those gathered at the academy were children around Naruto's age, eleven or twelve years old; teenagers of seventeen or eighteen; and young adults in their twenties or even early thirties.

Though their ages varied greatly, they all shared one thing in common.

Naruto's gaze swept over the forehead protectors visible somewhere on each person's body—every one of them was a ninja here to take the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Gathered here were not only Konoha's ninja, but also ninja from the minor nations' villages of Grass, Rain, Waterfall, and Sound, as well as ninja from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, one of the Five Great Nations alongside Konoha's Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire.

"So many people..."

Sakura sighed as she looked over the sea of people before her.

"About a hundred... maybe more. And those are only the ninja on the field. There must be more inside the school building."

After casually glancing around, Sasuke estimated the number of examinees.

"I heard the Chunin Ninja Exams are very strict, and the chances of successfully becoming a Chunin are low—we have to compete against so many people..."

A hint of worry entered Sakura's voice. "And there are adults taking the exam too. They must be very experienced... We haven't even been ninja for half a year..."

Hearing Sakura's negative words, Naruto frowned slightly. He knew that in the original story, Sakura had lacked confidence about taking the Chunin Ninja Exams.

But he had not expected that Sakura now was not only as insecure about her own strength as she had been in the original story—her inferiority complex was even worse now.

It was the negative feedback brought on by Naruto and Sasuke's incomparable rate of growth.

Naruto did not want Sakura to be ready to withdraw from the exam when they had already reached the testing site.

In the Chunin Ninja Exams, the first test was a written exam held at Konoha Ninja Academy, while the second was a survival exercise and practical examination in the Forest of Death. Both had to be taken in a three-person ninja team.

If even one person was absent, the remaining two members would be deemed to have failed outright even if they passed both tests.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. Originally, this should have been the moment Sasuke noticed Sakura's unusual mood and comforted her.

But Sasuke was not paying attention to Sakura or Naruto at all. He was watching the other examinees, looking eager to encounter strong opponents and prove his own strength.

Left with no choice, Naruto could only step in himself.

"...Sakura, you don't need to belittle yourself like this."

Naruto spoke, drawing Sakura's attention to himself. "I've told you before: just because those ninja are taking the Chunin Ninja Exams doesn't mean they have the strength of Chunin."

"Those older Genin you're worried about, the ones who are supposedly 'powerful,' are the best proof. They're in their twenties or thirties and still stuck as Genin, unable to even become Chunin. That already proves they aren't qualified to be ninja at all."

"They're nothing more than... parasites unwilling to give up the benefits that come with being ninja."

Naruto made no effort to hide his contempt for those older Genin. That was simply how the ninja world was, and they were fortunate that the ninja world was currently in a peaceful truce.

If this had been wartime, those people would not even have had the right to live into their twenties or thirties.

"I'm certain you're stronger than them. Besides... you've placed first on exams even more times than Sasuke, yet you're afraid of an exam? That doesn't sound like the Sakura Haruno I know."

Naruto said it to comfort Sakura, but it was also what he genuinely believed.

Sakura was neither born into a ninja clan nor particularly strong among Konoha's Twelve Elites at this point.

Her potential could not compare to the descendants of great clans, but among ordinary people, while she still could not be considered at the peak, she was more than capable of easily surpassing most of them and making something of herself.

The fact that she had become a Chunin at fourteen or fifteen in the original story had already proven that she possessed talent as a ninja.

Hearing Naruto's words, Sakura stared at him with a slightly frozen expression.

Naruto smiled back.

"Thank you for believing in me like that, Naruto."

Sakura's eyes gradually grew resolute.

"We're teammates, so of course I believe in you. Now that you've stopped overthinking, let's hurry to the exam room. It's almost time."

Sakura's self-deprecation was only a minor interlude.

Once they had resolved that small episode, the three members of Team 7 entered the school building.

Kakashi had said the examination site was Room 301 of the Ninja Academy.

Naruto remembered that it was a classroom much more spacious than the others.

"Room 301 is certainly spacious, but it probably still isn't large enough to hold one or two hundred examinees, right?"

As they walked down the corridor, Sakura voiced her opinion.

But there was clearly something wrong with Sakura's statement—

—The three members of Team 7 suddenly found themselves unable to move forward. Ahead of them, countless examinees were crowded around the entrance to Room 301.

The mistake in Sakura's words was her underestimate of the number of people taking this Chunin Ninja Exam.

There were already nearly a hundred people standing outside Room 301 alone.

"What's going on? Why is everyone standing in the hallway instead of entering the classroom?"

Standing on tiptoe to peer ahead, Sakura noticed two young ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors blocking the entrance to Room 301.

"Why?! Why won't you let us through?!"

The examinees blocked outside the classroom tried to force their way into the examination room, only to be knocked down in a single blow by the two ninja guarding the door.

"The two of us are doing this for your own good. Little brats like you can't pass the exam anyway... You'll definitely give up as soon as it starts. Since your ending is already set, isn't it only right for us to clear out the likes of you in advance?"

"This is outrageous! We're all examinees. What right do you two have to stop us from taking the exam?!"

"That's right! Everyone, get them! There are only two of them!"

The arrogant words of the ninja blocking the door ignited everyone's anger, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.

Naruto watched the scene with interest. He knew very well that the first test had already begun.

The two young ninja blocking Room 301 were actually Chunin examiners—Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki—who had used the Transformation Technique to take the form of young men.

And this was not Room 301.

Naruto drew his gaze back from the classroom plaque.

"This feeling... it's a gen—"

Sakura finally noticed the problem as well.

Naruto raised a hand to stop her, then looked toward Sasuke beside him.

Sasuke met Naruto's gaze and silently nodded.

It seemed Sasuke had already understood.

"Let's go."

Naruto said.

Naruto immediately grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her away from the noisy corridor outside the "Room 301," since her reaction had been slightly slower.

After leaving the noisy crowd behind, Naruto released Sakura's hand and said to Sasuke and Sakura, "You noticed the problem too, right?"

"It's genjutsu."

Sasuke spoke.

Sakura nodded as well.

"This isn't the third floor. The ones casting the genjutsu are those two guys blocking the door, and their appearances bear traces of the Transformation Technique too—they're probably examiners. The exam has already begun."

Naruto looked at the two of them and made his decision:

"We'll take a detour to the real Room 301. As for those idiots who can't even see through genjutsu, ignore them. Fewer opponents can only be beneficial to us."