"What happened?"
"Why do you all look like you're dead?"
Kakashi Hatake looked at his three students after they emerged from the Forest of Death.
They had clearly passed the exam, yet instead of looking happy, each of them looked as though his father had died.
For some reason.
Kakashi Hatake turned his gaze to Sakura Haruno.
Of the four of them, only Sakura Haruno still had both parents alive.
"Sigh. We ran into Yemu."
Sakura Haruno sighed and spread her hands.
Of the three of them, two had been too scared to move in front of Yemu, while the other had been beaten so badly that he began questioning his life.
Even passing the second stage of the Chunin Exams couldn't cheer them up.
"What happened, Naruto? Why are you like this too? That's not like you."
Kakashi Hatake pushed up the Konoha forehead protector on his brow.
He was very curious about what the three kids had gone through.
What could have left them looking so utterly defeated?
"Bastard!!"
Sasuke Uchiha punched the large tree beside him.
Being crushed by Orochimaru was bad enough, but then Yemu had mercilessly thrashed him too.
That was something Sasuke couldn't accept.
Strength!!
Sasuke Uchiha craved strength so desperately that he wouldn't mind even if the price was becoming a little femboy.
"Kakashi... Kakashi-sensei, that Yemu guy is way too freakish. He's not even human."
Naruto Uzumaki shook his head and finally spoke.
With his happy-go-lucky personality, he soon shook off the shadow of Yemu's overwhelming dominance.
Inside a spacious Arena in Konoha.
The teams that had passed through the Forest of Death and obtained the Heaven and Earth Scrolls assembled there in formation.
"Since too many participants have advanced, we need to eliminate half of them before the official third