Information Life

"It might sound a bit embarrassing, but this match is my seventh time participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams."

Yakushi Kabuto squatted halfway on the ground, drawing one card from the stack in his hand and placing it on the floor.

"Seven times?! Are the Chunin Ninja Exams really this brutal?!"

Hearing Yakushi Kabuto's exam count, even Shikamaru Nara, who usually treated surrounding matters with a lazy attitude, showed shock.

"Still, I've been seriously reviewing the reasons for my failures, so I've been gathering intelligence on examinees to deal with the exams."

"Gathering examinee intelligence? Is that how you know Naruto's name?"

Sasuke searched for key information in Yakushi Kabuto's words.

"That's right. I put a lot of effort into gathering intelligence for this Chunin Ninja Exams too. These are the cards I'm showing you now."

Yakushi Kabuto pressed his index and middle fingers against the card on the ground, injecting his chakra into it.

The card, which previously looked like a blank piece of white paper without any content, suddenly displayed information complete with illustrations and text.

Naruto looked silently at the content on the card.

The card was a map of the ninja world. Two of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, along with the surrounding Land of Rice Fields, Land of Waterfalls, Land of Grass, and Land of Rain—a total of six nations—were painted in striking colors.

"The painted countries are the participating nations for this Joint Chunin Exams."

Yakushi Kabuto explained to the group, pointing to the numbers beside the ninja villages of each country as he continued:

"There are over 400 applicants for this Chunin Exams. You should have noticed the genjutsu on the second floor of the classroom building as well; most examinees can't even pass the qualification test for the official exam—the number I actually recorded is the number of ninjas currently in the real Room 301 who successfully participated in the exams from various ninja villages."

Land of Fire, Konoha: 87 people;

Land of Wind, Sunagakure: 30 people;

Land of Rain, Hidden Rain: 21 people;

Land of Grass, Hidden Grass Village: 6 people;

Land of Waterfall, Hidden Waterfall: 6 people;

Land of Rice Fields, Hidden Sound: 3 people.

Based on three-person ninja teams, a total of 51 groups, 153 people.

"And then... this is the intelligence I gathered on this batch of examinees."

Yakushi Kabuto pulled out another card, performing the operation of injecting chakra just as before.

In an instant, Naruto's intelligence was revealed within the card.

The intelligence Yakushi Kabuto gathered regarding Naruto accurately described Naruto's appearance photo, ninja team member composition, the number of missions executed at various levels, a five-attribute radar chart of strength...

As well as his proficient ninjutsu.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and...

Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.

Looking at the ninjutsu he was "proficient" in, Naruto was surprised by Yakushi Kabuto's intelligence-gathering capability.

It was completely normal for Yakushi Kabuto to uncover intelligence on the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, since it was one of Naruto's primary offensive methods in terms of overt strength.

Although the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique was something he actively asked Kakashi to teach him, deliberately exposing his "Earth" nature chakra transformation.

It had only ever been used during training, and those D-rank missions in the village had no use for such assassination ninjutsu.

The only actual combat deployment was outside Konoha village against the Demon Brothers of Hidden Mist.

It wasn't normal for Yakushi Kabuto to obtain this intelligence.

Aside from surveilling Naruto 24 hours a day, the only remaining source of intelligence was the ninja records with restricted access among Konoha's higher-ups, which contained a registration of Naruto using the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.

Yet, a second thought crossed his mind.

The fact that Yakushi Kabuto could still masquerade within the Hidden Leaf Village as a Konoha Genin meant that his secret identity remained a subordinate of Danzo.

Viewed this way, Yakushi Kabuto participating in this Chunin Ninja Exams was both an instruction from Orochimaru and an order from Danzo.

After all, this exam featured the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and the lone survivor of the Uchiha Clan, both of whom Danzo cared about most.

Danzo, Orochimaru, Sasori...

It was simply too easy for a triple agent like Yakushi Kabuto to gather intelligence.

Fortunately, Naruto had been hiding his true strength ever since he transmigrated.

That was why the "correct" intelligence about Naruto on Yakushi Kabuto's card had become "incorrect."

Ninjas were absolute information lives; whether intelligence was correct and complete would determine the life or death of an individual, an organization, and even a nation.

If Yakushi Kabuto only regarded Naruto as an ordinary Genin... perhaps supplemented by the intelligence of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, which Yakushi Kabuto had deliberately erased from the card...

An un-grown Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

If that was Yakushi Kabuto's view of Naruto, then Yakushi Kabuto, deeply believing in "false" intelligence, would be even less likely to be Naruto's match.

Having witnessed Yakushi Kabuto's intelligence-gathering capabilities firsthand, Naruto's thought of disposing of Yakushi Kabuto during the Chunin Ninja Exams grew increasingly intense.

Given their current strength and intelligence gap—the long-term survival exercise in the Forest of Death presented Naruto with the best opportunity to strike at Yakushi Kabuto.

"Could it be that you have information on all of us?"

Naruto put on an expression of utter disbelief, as though Yakushi Kabuto knew him inside and out.

Since a senior he was meeting for the first time was displaying his data, he naturally had to fake some surprise.

"Of course."

Yakushi Kabuto's tone was filled with confidence in his own intelligence-gathering abilities.

Hearing Yakushi Kabuto's words, Sasuke fell silent for a moment before stepping forward and coming right up to him. "Does that mean you also have information on the powerful guys in this exam?"

Yakushi Kabuto glanced at Sasuke and readily admitted to his abundance of intel. "I do indeed have their data."

"Can you... let me see it?"

After a brief hesitation, Sasuke cautiously sought Yakushi Kabuto's help.

After all, this intel was something Yakushi Kabuto had gathered with great effort; to a ninja, accurate information was a weapon and even a second life.

No one would casually hand over intelligence to others.

Yakushi Kabuto adjusted the position of his glasses on his face. "Alright, consider it a little help from this senior to some newbies taking the exam for the very first time... Back when I was a rookie, I always hoped someone would help me out, too. Seeing you guys reminds me of my past self."

This remark was, of course, a disguise. Given Yakushi Kabuto's true identity, his actions were actually a deliberate exposure of intel.

Even though Gaara, Orochimaru's ally, was the linchpin of the Konoha Destruction Plan.

Yakushi Kabuto was bound to expose Gaara's intel to Sasuke anyway.

This was to make Sasuke factor in team dynamics and actively avoid Gaara, preventing any accidental mishaps before Orochimaru could reach him.

And to keep Gaara's intel from standing out too abruptly, Yakushi Kabuto added the information of three others to muddy the waters—

"Among the examinees whose personal data I've gathered, there are a total of four people who require special attention during this Chunin Ninja Exams."

Yakushi Kabuto drew out four blank cards and placed them on the ground.

With a channel of chakra, the intel materialized.

Among the four examinees requiring special attention, one of them was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself.

"Excluding yourself, there are three whose strength stands out as top-tier in this exam."

Yakushi Kabuto pointed at the remaining three cards, the photos on them displaying three youths.

"First is Konoha's Team 3, a year older than you, led by the jōnin Might Guy, featuring the taijutsu-specialist genin—Rock Lee."

Rock Lee wore a bizarre green spandex suit, sported a black bowl haircut, and possessed a pair of large, circular eyes beneath thick eyebrows.

"Second, also from Team 3, and whose strength surpasses Rock Lee's, is Neji Hyuga from Konoha's Kekkei Genkai clan—the Byakugan."

That was a youth with the exact same eyes as Hinata.

Hearing Yakushi Kabuto's introduction of Neji Hyuga, Hinata anxiously rubbed her ten fingers together.

"Lastly, Gaara of Sunagakure."

Red hair, no eyebrows, and the red kanji for love carved upon his forehead.

Out of the three, the intel Yakushi Kabuto had gathered on Gaara was not quite detailed, consisting only of the number of ninja missions completed.

Yet the mission rank alone was enough to illustrate Gaara's might.

B-rank Mission—1 time.

"A genin capable of executing a B-rank mission... Rumor has it that Gaara not only completed this mission smoothly, but also came out of it completely unscathed."

Yakushi Kabuto supplemented the information that wasn't displayed on the card.

"Unharmed on a B-rank mission!?"

Hearing Yakushi Kabuto's words, Sasuke's eyes flickered.

There was no record of completed B-rank missions on his and Naruto's intel cards, only a record of executing a C-rank mission 1 time.

That was the commission in the Land of Waves; although officially a C-rank, Kakashi personally verified its actual difficulty as B-rank.

A B-rank mission was one where even a jōnin like Kakashi couldn't guarantee returning in one piece.

Looking at Gaara's file, Sasuke felt no fear toward his strength; instead, it sparked an eagerness to fight him.

Sakura was paying attention to Gaara's intel as well.

Yet Sakura's gaze lingered far more on Gaara's photograph.

The look in Gaara's eyes within the picture.

It represented irritability, gloom, and solitude.

It was just like... Naruto in the past.

"Senior Kabuto, do you have detailed information on the Hidden Sound Village? I don't think I've heard of this ninja village before."

Naruto chimed in at this moment.

Sensing that the conversation might not proceed as anticipated, he intervened appropriately to steer the direction of the dialogue.

"I'm not too sure about it either; I only know it's a small ninja village established very recently."

Unlike exposing information about Gaara.

From the standpoint of Yakushi Kabuto, neither his public nor covert identity would leak the intelligence of the Hidden Sound Village established by Orochimaru.

However, as a multi-faced spy with extremely deep infiltration, the trio of the Hidden Sound Village genuinely did not know the identity of Yakushi Kabuto.

As the voice of Yakushi Kabuto's evaluation of the Hidden Sound Village just faded, a sharp glint flashed obscurely in Naruto's eyes, only to vanish in an instant.

The development of the situation was proceeding back according to Naruto's expectations once again!

The next moment, the Sound Ninja youth whose entire head was wrapped in white bandages, leaving only his left eye exposed, abruptly appeared before Yakushi Kabuto.

He threw a punch at Yakushi Kabuto!