Shisui stood up for him

"Lord Kazuhiko, please trust us. We know our limits, and we won't let anything happen to Uchiha Itachi. Of these three, shouldn't Itachi be the one who most needs testing?"

The Chunin, who knew nothing about Madara Uchiha, heard Kazuhiko say they did not need to test Madara Uchiha and assumed he was afraid they would hurt him. To demonstrate their professionalism, all three immediately offered Kazuhiko their assurances.

"Uchiha Itachi may only be eight, but he is the strongest and most mentally mature of my three subordinates. Based on my assessment, he has already reached the level of a Special Jōnin. I'm not letting you test him for two reasons: first, I have complete confidence in him; second, I'm very worried he might kill you during the test."

The sight of Madara Uchiha killing bandits without the slightest change in expression had long since been seared into Kazuhiko's mind. Although these three were Chunin, Kazuhiko seriously doubted whether they could withstand Madara's relentless barrage of attacks. To prevent Madara Uchiha from being barred from the exams for killing fellow villagers, Kazuhiko Sarutobi had told them not to test him.

"Yes, understood."

After hearing Kazuhiko's explanation, the three Chunin still did not quite believe Madara was as strong as he claimed. But as ninja, they would not defy orders from above.

"Huh? Are you kidding me? A little brat like this deserves to take the Chunin Ninja Exams with us? Hayato, have you gone so crazy over getting promoted that you'd bring a kid like this to the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, the day came to set out for Sunagakure to take the Chunin Ninja Exams. When Hayato Hyuga and the others arrived at the departure point, eight-year-old Madara Uchiha stood out awkwardly among the departing group because of his small stature. Naoto Hyuga was Hayato Hyuga's older cousin, and he had always been bitterly jealous of his exceptionally gifted younger cousin. Having failed the Chunin Ninja Exams twice already, he was naturally all the more resentful upon hearing that his cousin would be taking them after only a year as a Genin. When he saw Hayato Hyuga actually standing in the lineup for the Genin exams, he immediately began picking a fight.

Normally, Hayato would have snapped right back at Naoto Hyuga's provocation. But this time, Naoto had provoked Madara Uchiha, so Hayato Hyuga stayed silent instead. He was eager to see how Madara would teach his unfortunate cousin a lesson if he pushed him too far.

"Hey, Hayato, I'm asking you a question! Are you bringing a brat like this to the Chunin Ninja Exams because you want him to die in them?"

Madara Uchiha naturally ignored Naoto's provocation. After all, he had no intention of letting Hayato use him as a weapon. Seeing that Hayato was ignoring him, Naoto continued relentlessly taunting him. Just then, a Ninja Blade dropped from above into Naoto's field of vision. It swept right past his cheek; a fraction closer, and it would have sliced his flesh open. Cowed by the blade, the previously arrogant Naoto immediately held his breath and did not dare utter another word.

"You little brat, what good does it do to act tough toward comrades from your own village? If you had even half this much spirit when facing ninja from other villages in the Chunin Ninja Exams, you wouldn't be here taking them for the third time."

Following the Ninja Blade came a fair-faced boy with short hair. Judging by appearances alone, he looked little different from Naoto Hyuga, who had already failed the Chunin Ninja Exams twice. He was Shisui Uchiha, one of the ANBU assigned to protect the group taking this year's Chunin Ninja Exams.

The ANBU had dispatched two groups for this escort mission: one to guard the group openly, and another to protect them from the shadows. Shisui was one of the five open escorts, so he wore no mask. Seeing Madara Uchiha being harassed, Shisui immediately stepped in to stand up for him. While intimidating Naoto Hyuga with his Ninja Sword, Shisui also drove his words like a knife straight into Naoto's heart.

Stung by Shisui's mockery, Naoto looked at Shisui Uchiha, who stood atop the Ninja Sword and gazed down at him. Though humiliation and anger filled his heart, he knew he was no match for the boy before him.

Body Flicker Shisui—that was a name even Jōnin treated with deference. Someone like him, who had not even passed the Chunin Ninja Exams, could never stand against such a powerful ninja. If he made a mortal enemy of Shisui here, Naoto believed he would most likely never make it back to Konoha from Sunagakure alive.

"And what are you smiling about, Hayato Hyuga? Someone from your own clan is harassing your teammate because of you, yet you don't even have the courage to stand up for him. What right does someone like you have to call himself a ninja? It's bad enough that members of the Hyuga Branch Family aren't allowed to oppose the Main Family. What, since when did your Branch Family have ranks of its own, too?"

Seeing Naoto Hyuga subdued by Shisui, Hayato naturally began taking pleasure in his misfortune. What he did not realize was that Shisui Uchiha disapproved of him even more than Naoto. After all, Hayato was Madara Uchiha's teammate, yet he had made no effort whatsoever to stand up for him. In Shisui's eyes, someone like that clearly did not deserve to be Madara's teammate.

Hayato Hyuga looked into Shisui's impassive eyes, then glanced at Madara Uchiha, whose expression had remained unchanged from the beginning. Although Shisui had yet to interact with Madara, the two gave off a similar impression, as though they were the ones who truly belonged together as comrades. After Shisui's reprimand, Hayato felt ashamed of his earlier behavior. In truth, he had simply trusted Madara Uchiha's abilities. He did not think Naoto was capable of getting the better of Madara, and he had wanted to enjoy the spectacle and see how Madara dealt with Naoto, which was why he had not intervened. Now that even an outsider had spoken up for Madara, Hayato felt a wave of shame.

"That was my fault. I shouldn't have stood by and watched while someone harassed my teammate. I was wrong. I'm sorry!"

Having recognized his mistake, Hayato Hyuga immediately apologized to Madara and Shisui. Only upon seeing how sincere he was did Shisui stop fixing him with that icy stare.

"All right, all right, Shisui, don't get so angry. Naoto, Uchiha Itachi is my most prized subordinate. If you don't want to die, I suggest you give him a proper apology. Otherwise, I can't say what might happen during the Chunin Ninja Exams. Hayato, you need to change that habit of enjoying a spectacle, too. Itachi is certainly far stronger than Naoto, but that's no excuse to use him as your hired muscle."

Just as Shisui's forceful entrance left the departing group's atmosphere frozen, Kazuhiko Sarutobi appeared before them, blinking his bright eyes. For this year's Chunin Ninja Exams, Kazuhiko Sarutobi was the ninja leading the entire group, and he had witnessed everything that had just happened. He had already intended to step in, but he had not expected Shisui's affection for Itachi to run so deep that Shisui would act before he could make his entrance.