Encounter with Team 3

Naruto naturally knew everything about Fujikaze Yukie. Awen's memories contained the entire story of Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, but what Naruto cared about more now was the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams.

The next day, Team 7 gathered in front of the Ninja Academy. Naruto was still as optimistic and cheerful as ever, Sasuke had his hands in his pockets, while Sakura seemed weighed down by something and had been gloomy the whole time.

Sakura seems a little off... Sasuke thought to himself.

After returning home yesterday, Sakura had realized something: she was weak. No, she could not exactly be called weak. Among ordinary ninjas, she was outstanding, but compared to her two teammates, Naruto and Sasuke, she seemed very weak.

Sakura was afraid that she would hold Naruto and Sasuke back during the Chunin Ninja Exams, so she had been extremely nervous.

After entering the academy, they found many ninjas gathered outside Classroom 301. A thick-browed, bowl-cut boy in a green skintight jumpsuit had been kicked aside.

One of the two ninjas standing before the door, a spiky-haired ninja, sneered, "What? You people at this level dare take the Chunin Ninja Exams? Underclassmen, I think you should just forget it!"

Tenten pleaded, "Please, let us in!"

Bang!

Tenten was sent flying to the side. Among the Genin, someone muttered, "That was brutal!"

The ninja with two large shuriken strapped to his back sneered, "This is for your own good!"

The other ninja spoke up. "Exactly. The Chunin Ninja Exams are incredibly difficult. We have seen plenty of people give up being ninjas as soon as the exams begin, or get beaten so badly they cannot stand. Many have even died."

The spiky-haired ninja continued, "Chunin are equivalent to squad commanders in the military. If a mission fails or their subordinates die, they bear tremendous responsibility. With people like you, heh... you definitely will not pass. What is wrong with driving you away?"

As they spoke, Naruto and the other two arrived!

"Huh, Tenten-senpai, you really are taking the Chunin Ninja Exams too. But what happened to you..." Naruto asked as he looked at Tenten.

"It's you, Naruto!" Tenten hurriedly got to her feet. Her injuries had already vanished, and with her were Neji Hyuga, who possessed the Byakugan, and Rock Lee. Especially Rock Lee, who had just been knocked down—there was no trace of his earlier dejection or embarrassment.

Many of the weaker Genin, unable to understand what had happened, stared at Rock Lee and the others in shock. What was going on?

Neji asked Tenten, "Hey, Tenten, why did you suddenly change your mind? Didn't we agree to keep a low profile and avoid putting others on guard?"

Tenten said, "I had no choice. We ran into someone I know. He's Naruto, the one I told you about, a member of Kakashi's Team 7. They really did come to take the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"Hello!" Naruto waved in greeting.

Neji gave a slight nod. He looked like a rather aloof person. As for Rock Lee, his gaze was completely fixed on Sakura.

"You must be Sakura. My name is Rock Lee. Please go out with me! I will protect you with my life!" Rock Lee raised a thumbs-up, narrowed his left eye, and flashed gleaming teeth.

So he's the Rock Lee Naruto mentioned? And the other one is Neji! Sasuke deliberately observed the two of them, lingering especially on the bandages wrapped around Rock Lee's hands. He was very curious about what they were for.

Sakura said bluntly, "Absolutely not... Your eyebrows are way too thick!"

Rock Lee suffered a crushing blow and lowered his head in disappointment.

Sasuke stepped forward and looked at the two people by the door. "How much longer are you going to keep up this trick? Hurry up and undo this genjutsu barrier. We need to go to the third floor."

"So you saw through it!" The two ninjas were not upset, merely looking at Sasuke with interest.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and said, "Sakura, you should have been the first to notice, right?"

"What?" Sakura was slightly stunned.

"Because your analytical skills and knowledge of genjutsu are also exceptional in our class." Sasuke still looked as indifferent as ever, but his words made Sakura feel warm inside. All her unease and nervousness about the Chunin Ninja Exams vanished, and her gaze became resolute.

Sakura called out loudly, "That's right, I noticed it a long time ago, because this is the second floor!"

The door plaque marked 301 shifted. The genjutsu was undone, and the number changed to 201. The spiky-haired ninja curled his lips slightly.

"Not bad, but seeing through the genjutsu alone is not enough." The two ninjas attacked Sasuke and Naruto separately.

Just as Naruto and Sasuke prepared to strike back, Rock Lee and Tenten moved together, pinned down the two ninjas, and flung them aside.

Rock Lee looked at Tenten in surprise and asked, "Why did you make a move too, Tenten?"

Tenten smiled. "Of course, I wanted to look cool in front of our underclassmen. What about you, Lee?"

Rock Lee's cheeks flushed as his large, thick-browed eyes stared at Sakura. "Of course, I wanted to show Sakura my best side."

Naruto, who had been standing around doing nothing, spoke up. "Since that's settled, let's go. We need to get to Classroom 301 quickly."

"Mm!" Sasuke and Sakura responded softly.

Team 7 headed toward the third floor. Meanwhile, the two ninjas who had been causing trouble had already disappeared. In a room elsewhere, they returned to their original appearances. Their true identities were Konoha Jonin Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

Izumo Kamizuki said, "So those are Kakashi's subordinates. They passed the application submission test."

Kotetsu Hagane smiled. "This year's examinees look like they will be worth the examiners' anticipation!"

At that moment, Rock Lee suddenly caught up with the three members of Team 7.

"Please wait, Sasuke Uchiha. Let us have a match right now. What do you say?" Rock Lee issued a challenge to Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. With Naruto's earlier warning, Sasuke did not underestimate Rock Lee in the slightest. "You want to fight me now?"

Rock Lee walked up to Sasuke and said with complete seriousness, "My name is Rock Lee. I want to see whether my moves work against the Uchiha Clan, who are called geniuses. And besides, I..."

Rock Lee blushed, looked toward Sakura, and blew her a kiss. "My angel!"

"Ahhh! No! I hate your droopy eyelashes, that hairstyle, and those thick eyebrows! Nooo!" Sakura screamed in breakdown.

"Am I really that annoying?" Rock Lee lowered his head even farther.

Sasuke stared at Rock Lee solemnly. His black eyes transformed into the Two-Tomoe Sharingan. "You came for the Uchiha name, didn't you? Perfect. I also want to see your taijutsu!"

Naruto lightly patted Sakura and called out, "Leave this to Sasuke. Let's go first, Sakura. Don't worry, Sasuke is very strong."

"But there's less than half an hour until registration closes!" Sakura said, pointing at the clock hanging in the hall.

Sasuke charged at Rock Lee first, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan spinning. "I'll keep an eye on the time."

"He's coming!" Rock Lee assumed a fighting stance and faced Sasuke.