So much like you

"Sosuke, Itachi and I both won our matches! Now it's your turn! Your opponent's a Sand Ninja too. If you win, Konoha will have swept Sunagakure!"

After his victory, Hayato returned happily to the second-floor viewing gallery. The exhilarating fight had dispelled his frustration over the Hokage's absurd order, and he enthusiastically offered his encouragement to Sosuke, who was up next.

"Hey, Sosuke, at least say something!"

Sosuke said nothing in response to Hayato's encouragement and silently walked into the arena. Opposite him stood another Sunagakure ninja, Kazeya Fūya, a handsome boy with long black hair and a cool expression. Judging by the fan in his hand, he was likely a ninja who used Wind Release.

"Begin!"

Seeing that neither Sosuke nor Fūya had anything much to say, Arakawa Kiba announced the start of the match without further delay.

"Secret Technique: Kikaichū!"

As soon as the match began, Sōsuke Aburame unzipped his clothing, revealing countless insect holes across his body. As Sosuke formed hand seals, innumerable black Kikaichū poured out of those holes and swept toward his opponent in a tide that blotted out the sky.

"Hey, Itachi, aren't you going to watch Sosuke's match? He's our teammate, you know. Show a little concern."

"Enough. Watching your match already wasted enough of my time. We still have more fights after this match. I suggest you rest and recover some chakra too."

Ignoring Hayato's attempt to keep him there, Madara Uchiha closed his eyes and began meditating cross-legged.

In the arena, Kazeya Fūya remained perfectly calm in the face of Sosuke's swarm. Though the insects were numerous, they were individually weak and slow. In Kazeya Fūya's view, Wind Release was ideally suited to dealing with this sort of sinister technique—and Wind Release was his specialty.

"Wind Release: Cyclone!"

As Kazeya Fūya waved his paper fan, a whirlwind rose around him. Caught in its sweep, all of Sōsuke Aburame's Kikaichū fell from the sky as corpses.

"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"

After dealing with Sōsuke Aburame's attack, Kazeya Fūya pressed his advantage and launched an attack of his own.

A vicious wind blade streaked through the air and struck Sōsuke Aburame head-on, slicing his body into three pieces. The spectators cried out in shock at the sight, but a moment later, they noticed something strange.

Though Sōsuke Aburame's body had been cut into three pieces, not a drop of blood flowed from any of them. Then the bloodless remains turned into a dense mass of Kikaichū, which attacked Kazeya Fūya once again.

"Cheap tricks."

Kazeya Fūya smiled contemptuously at Sōsuke Aburame's Insect Clone. With an elegant wave of his paper fan, he sent wind and sand sweeping outward around him. Under the scouring sandstorm, Sōsuke Aburame's figure was exposed where he had been hiding on the high wall.

"Let's end this little game. Konoha's Aburame Clan isn't anything special after all!"

Kazeya Fūya looked down haughtily at the bedraggled Sōsuke Aburame, then sent several more wind blades sweeping toward him.

With the wind and sand interfering, Sōsuke Aburame's Kikaichū seemed to have become useless. He could only draw a kunai to block the wind blades, but their impact instantly knocked it from his hand.

"I surrender!"

Seeing that he had no way to counter his opponent, Sōsuke Aburame forfeited.

"Woo!!! Fūya! Fūya! Fūya!"

The Chunin Ninja Exams were being held in Sunagakure, after all, so most of the spectators were locals. Sunagakure's two consecutive losses to Konoha had left them seething. Now that one of their own had finally won, they were generous with their applause and cheers.

In the arena, Kazeya Fūya gracefully acknowledged the crowd before leaving, while Sōsuke Aburame returned silently to the second-floor viewing gallery.

Thud!

In the viewing gallery, Hayato Hyuga greeted his defeated teammate not with a comforting embrace, but with a solid punch.

Sōsuke Aburame, who had just been easily beaten by his opponent in the arena, made no attempt to dodge Hayato's punch. After knocking Sosuke down, Hayato turned his furious eyes on Kazuhiko Sarutobi.

"Lord Hokage did not order Sosuke to lose."

As a competent teacher, Kazuhiko Sarutobi knew the temperaments of all three of his students quite well. One look at Hayato's actions was enough for him to understand what had angered him.

With Sosuke's true abilities, there was no way his opponent could have defeated him so easily, and there was nothing wrong with his physical condition. The only explanation was that Sosuke had deliberately held back. Having practically grown up with Sosuke, Hayato naturally knew his true strength, which was why he had struck him in anger. But what could have made Sosuke hold back against a Sunagakure ninja?

Kazuhiko could guarantee that it had not been the Third Hokage's intention, but he could not say the same for Danzo.

"Konoha's people really are harsh. Do they beat up their own teammates just for losing?"

The spectators, unaware of the circumstances, turned to watch with interest when they saw Hayato and Sosuke fighting among themselves.

"Don't you have anything to explain?"

Hayato Hyuga stared at his closest friend, furious that he had let him down. He could not understand why Sosuke would hold back against someone here. To Hayato, Sosuke's behavior was an insult to all the effort he, Itachi, and Sosuke had put into getting this far!

"There's nothing to explain. As ninja, we're supposed to obey orders."

[Relations between Konoha and Sunagakure must not deteriorate. Lose to the Sunagakure ninja, and I will ensure you become a chunin.]

Those were the instructions Sosuke had received from Danzo. Sosuke himself bitterly resented them, but just as he had said, he would not—and absolutely could not—disobey Danzo's orders.

"You!"

Seeing how stubborn Sosuke was being, Hayato Hyuga raised his hand to teach him another lesson, but Madara Uchiha caught his right hand.

"Sosuke was only following orders. This isn't his fault. Stop acting out in front of outsiders. If you make a scene, both your chunin promotion and mine will go up in smoke, and we'll be punished by the village when we get back. Calm down, idiot."

At Madara Uchiha's urging, Hayato Hyuga reluctantly reined in his anger. Looking at Sosuke sitting silently on the floor, Hayato held out his right hand.

"No matter who gave you that order, trust me. I'll never let you suffer this kind of humiliation again."

Who could have resented this more than Sosuke himself? He had been forced to suppress his strength and lose to an outsider in front of everyone, even bringing ridicule upon his clan. Surely Sosuke was the one suffering most right now. Once he had calmed down, Hayato immediately forgave him and made that heartfelt promise to his friend.

Madara Uchiha watched Hayato pull Sosuke up from the floor. Though the boy was always impulsive and quick to anger, he had to admit that Hayato's ability to empathize with others bore some resemblance to Hashirama Senju's back in the day.