Konoha: I Have a Gravity Training Room

Xia Mu rubbed his forehead. So there was this part of the plot too.

Apparently, in the anime setting, Sakura was very pretty, which was why Naruto liked her—and Rock Lee liked her too.

And Rock Lee's love at first sight was genuine. He really did protect Sakura with his life afterward. Xia Mu truly felt it wasn't worth it for Rock Lee. How had he gone blind and fallen for her?

Sakura was instantly dumbfounded and flatly refused. "Sorry! Your eyebrows are too thick, and you're not my type!"

·· send flowers· ····

After saying that, she hid behind Sasuke.

Naruto immediately exploded, making a huge noisy fuss.

Xia Mu's face twitched. He decisively dragged Tenten, who was holding back her urge to complain, toward the third floor. Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato hurried after them. After calling out to Rock Lee, Neji followed as well. There was nothing worth watching in this farce, and they could not waste time getting into the exam room.

The group quickly entered the examination room on the third floor. The moment they walked in, they were met with the attention of a crowd.

Every one of them looked fierce and menacing. An ordinary person would definitely feel enormous pressure under those stares.

But they were naturally no ordinary people. They calmly swept their gazes around, located their friends, and walked straight over.

"Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Kiba, Hinata—it seems Team 8 and Team 10 signed up too. It's been a long time. Have you all been well?"

... ... ...

As Xia Mu spoke, he bumped fists with Shino.

The two had been friends and desk mates for years, so they were naturally closer.

Tenten greeted them too, but her smile was directed at Shino. Shino was not merely a friend—he had also played matchmaker for her and Xia Mu. Their relationship was naturally different.

"Xia Mu, Tenten, it's been a long time."

Shino was happy as well, not only because he had seen his friends, but because Xia Mu and Tenten always noticed him immediately.

His presence had always been weak. Even Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata, two reconnaissance-type ninja, often overlooked him. Only Xia Mu and Tenten, his two friends, always remembered him.

Naturally, that made him happy.

"I knew you lovebirds would come. By the way, why is everyone in Team 9 wearing sunglasses?" Ino said with a smile, waving at them.

"Tch, such a troublesome exam, and all of you came too," Shikamaru said, as usual.

"Xia Mu, how about we go to your house for a feast after the exam? It's been so long since I've had your cooking. I've been craving it forever," Choji said, also as usual, but his words won widespread agreement.

Wasn't that right? Xia Mu's cooking was so good, and they had not tasted it since graduation. Of course they craved it.

Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru immediately voiced their agreement.

Hinata remained quietly silent, just as shy as ever. Seeing Neji there made her even more timid. Fortunately, Neji had no intention of making things difficult for her in public, which let Hinata breathe a sigh of relief.

The Written Exam Begins

There was nothing more delightful than seeing that their friends were all well.

Xia Mu and Tenten chatted with everyone. As for the ninja from other villages, there was no need to pay them any attention.

Oh, except for that Sand Ninja with the red character for "love" on his forehead. He deserved some attention. That guy was mentally unstable, and getting tangled up with him would be troublesome. It was not as though Xia Mu could just kill him when the time came.

At that moment, Rock Lee returned. At least he had not been late.

According to him, he had fought Sasuke Uchiha, but had not gained much of an advantage. Sasuke seemed very strong.

Xia Mu glanced at Rock Lee. It seemed Sasuke had been stirred up by him before and had probably gone to Kakashi for extra training. Otherwise, he could not possibly be Rock Lee's match now.

That was good too. It would save him from getting utterly crushed by Orochimaru when they entered the Forest of Death. At the very least, he would have some ability to resist.

Not long after, Team 7 pushed open the door and entered, once again drawing everyone's attention.

The intense stares from the crowd put some pressure on the three of them. Even Naruto, who was usually so carefree, felt uncomfortable being watched by so many people.

The plot unfolded as usual. Kabuto Yakushi, the white-haired guy with glasses, pretended to kindly come forward and introduce information on the examinees. He even voluntarily revealed that he had taken the exam many times without becoming a Chunin. Then he deliberately said some unpleasant things and pretended to clash with the Sound Ninja Trio, making everyone think he was weak. He really could act.

Little did they know that everything happening here was being watched.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the crystal ball and smoked in silence.

Mitokado Homura, standing beside him, finally could not help speaking. "Hiruzen, isn't this too risky? You know Otogakure is connected to Orochimaru, yet you still allowed their ninja to take the Chunin Exams. Aren't you worried they might be plotting something?"

Utatane Koharu added, "Orochimaru knows Konoha and the Land of Fire inside and out, and he is quite powerful. If he truly makes a move, it will be difficult for us to stop him!"

"I know everything you've said."

Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly took a drag from his pipe. "As they say, you can be a thief for a thousand days, but you cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days. Orochimaru is currently in the shadows. We have no way to defend against him because we do not know what he intends to do. Since the Otogakure ninja are his people, we might as well let them come in and make trouble. We only need to keep them under surveillance. Then we can follow the trail and should be able to find Orochimaru's whereabouts."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu naturally knew that, since it had already been discussed during the meeting.

Still, they felt they needed to be more cautious when dealing with Orochimaru.

Otherwise, one careless mistake could still ruin everything.

After giving it some more thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided, "We can summon Jiraiya back. If Orochimaru appears, at least we will not lack combat power."

Only then did Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu relax. So long as Jiraiya returned, there would still be someone capable of restraining Orochimaru, and the village would not be in danger.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, the strongest Hokage—setting aside whether he was truly that strong, he really was old.

Facing Orochimaru would be genuinely dangerous.

If something happened to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha would lose a pillar of support. Not only would the power of the F4 need to be redistributed, but the Land of Fire would also face the risk of war.

Sigh, these were troubled times indeed!

Back at the examination room, examiner Ibiki Morino arrived in time with a group of Chunin and put a stop to the commotion.

Then he collected all the registration forms, had the examinees take their assigned seats, and announced the content of the first exam: a written test!

Most people were not surprised. After all, a ninja's basic skill was gathering intelligence. Konoha had held the Chunin Exams more than once, and the process had always remained the same. Only Team 7 acted startled and flustered.

It could only be said that Team 7's basic ninja skills were poor.

They barely gathered intelligence, their reconnaissance abilities were weak, and they only noticed enemies when they were right in their faces. In short, their bewildering actions made people's eyelids twitch.

Xia Mu ignored the others. Instead, he extended two Chakra Threads from his forehead and connected them to the foreheads of Tatsuya Yamashiro and Megumi Kato, who were seated nearby. Then he used electrical currents to transmit Morse code: This should be testing intelligence-gathering ability. But the examiner is strict, so don't act recklessly if you aren't confident. Leave everything to me.

The two immediately used Chakra to manipulate the Chakra Threads and replied in Morse code as well: Understood!

The test papers were quickly handed out. Xia Mu took a rough look at the questions and knew they were extremely difficult. Very few people would know the answers; only Sakura and Hinata could complete it independently.

Xia Mu could not be bothered to think. He formed One-Handed Seals and condensed an inconspicuous lens in the air, connecting it to the lenses beneath his sunglasses. He locked onto the paper of an examinee deliberately arranged by Konoha. That examinee was already writing furiously. Such difficult questions were as easy as drinking water to him. He was clearly waiting for others to find a way to copy.

While copying the answers, Xia Mu transmitted Morse code through the Chakra Threads and sent them to his two teammates.

As for Tenten, she had her own methods. Xia Mu did not need to worry about her at all.

Before long, that person finished his test paper, and Xia Mu's group of three finished as well. They immediately put down their pens, covered their papers, and waited for the exam to end.

Naturally, the examiners noticed this. Every one of them could not help nodding.

Being able to gather intelligence so quickly was undeniably excellent.

Do not assume that turning in a blank paper here would still let someone pass. They could indeed pass, but the examiners' evaluations were also important and would affect whether they advanced to Chunin afterward.

Why had Shikamaru been the only one to become a Chunin in the original story?

It was not merely because he performed well in the final matches. His performance in the written exam would also be taken into consideration.

Xia Mu had no intention of remaining a Genin forever. He wanted to advance as quickly as possible. Ideally, when Tsunade became Hokage, she would directly promote him to Jonin. Then many problems would be easily resolved.

For example, he could trade with Tsunade for some ninjutsu, as well as knowledge of Summoning Jutsu and Sealing Jutsu.

That was very important. If Xia Mu wanted to make the best possible use of the Special Laboratory, he had to obtain as much advanced knowledge as possible. Otherwise, many experiments could not be carried out.

For instance, Water Release and Lightning Release Chakra could fuse to form the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai. Was it that Xia Mu did not want to fuse them? No, he simply did not know how to do it at all. He had not even the slightest bit of relevant knowledge in his head. He could not make whatever he wanted simply by thinking of it. If it worked that way, he would have become invincible long ago.

Therefore, status was also important. Only with status would he have a voice and be able to trade for more good things.

So, he had to perform as well as possible in this Chunin Exams, all so he could advance sooner.

Xia Mu took a moment to glance at Tenten and saw that she was using a small mirror to gather answers. She even passed a copy to Rock Lee. As expected, everything was going smoothly.

Everyone else displayed their own abilities as well. Neji activated his Byakugan to copy directly, Sasuke used his Sharingan to imitate movements, Kiba Inuzuka relied on his dog, Shino relied on insects, Ino had the Mind Transfer Jutsu, Gaara used the Eye of Sand, and so on.

It was dazzling.

Only Naruto scratched his head in frustration, still failing to understand the exam's true purpose. Even if he understood, he had no means of cheating.

If Ibiki Morino had not pulled that stunt with the final question, Team 7 would have been eliminated outright.

Targeted by a Venomous Snake

Sure enough, as the exam was about to end, Ibiki Morino's twisted sense of humor appeared.

He directly made the examinees choose whether to answer the tenth question. Those who chose not to answer could leave immediately. Those who chose to answer but got it wrong would remain Genin for life.

Who was that supposed to scare?

Did he think he was the Hokage, able to decide whether others could advance?

Besides, some examinees were from other villages. Their promotions were decided by those in power in their own villages!

And even if they failed here, they could take the exam in the Cloud Village next time. What could he do about it?

Only a few people with poor mental fortitude were bluffed. Sakura had nearly raised her hand, but then Naruto activated his Talk no Jutsu. He said that even if he remained a Genin for the rest of his life, he would still become Hokage. He boasted without even drafting a script, and the key was that Ibiki Morino actually admired him. What was that about?

A Genin becoming Hokage? What a joke.

Oh, he really could. The plot had arranged it, so never mind.

The whole thing felt like a farce, and Xia Mu was almost yawning. Afterward, Anko Mitarashi—not Anko Sweet Potato—would crash through the window, thinking her entrance was cool when it was actually extremely awkward.

After Anko Mitarashi announced the time and location of the second exam, everyone dispersed.

After walking out of the examination room, Naruto shamelessly declared, "What was that? I thought this exam would be hard, but didn't we pass easily?"

Xia Mu finally could not hold it in and jabbed at him. "Naruto, you handed in a blank paper."

Gah! Naruto froze. The others all looked at him, their gazes filled with suspicion. He had just kept saying he passed easily, but he had turned in a blank paper?

Sasuke and Sakura's expressions darkened as well. "Naruto, you idiot..."

Naruto immediately tried to defend himself. "It's not like I had a choice! I didn't know a single answer, and I couldn't cheat either. If the examiner caught me cheating, I'd be kicked out of the examination room right away! It was hard for me too, believe it!"

His explanation was useless. Sasuke and Sakura simply looked away with cold expressions.

If the examiner's tenth question had not allowed him to pass, his blank paper would have caused Team 7 to fail the first exam, dragging his teammates down with him.

And he still dared to say it was easy? Where was his shame?

Naruto felt immensely wronged and turned toward Xia Mu. "Xia Mu, why did you expose me?"

Xia Mu rolled his Byakugan. "You dared to say the exam was easy, so why shouldn't I expose you? Naruto, sometimes admitting that you do not know something is not shameful. Everyone knows your grades are bad. What is the point of insisting on lying? More importantly, the way you boast so shamelessly is genuinely irritating!"

Everyone else murmured their agreement. Who would like someone who shamelessly boasted?

Oh, someone would. A certain Byakugan-using little girl.

Naruto had nothing to say. Later, with the other examinees' stares growing too piercing, Sakura had no choice but to quickly drag Naruto away so he would not continue embarrassing himself.

Tenten sighed. "Naruto really feels like he hasn't grown up."

Xia Mu agreed. "Isn't that so? He's already an official ninja, yet he still acts so foolishly. Does he really think boasting will make everyone think more highly of him? If he honestly admitted that he didn't know the answers but passed through luck, everyone might even praise him. But after saying that, he just makes people dislike him."

"Xia Mu, don't be too harsh. Naruto is just scared."

Shino, the ever-kind person, spoke up for Naruto. "He has always been like that—afraid of being looked down on, afraid of not being acknowledged. When he cannot do something well, he can only try to convince himself with lies. He only wants to convince himself. He is not trying to deceive everyone."

Xia Mu nodded. "Shino, I understand. But others might not. So I wanted to tell him that what he is doing is bad and wrong, and that he should be more sincere. If he does not change or grow, he will only have fewer and fewer friends. I do not want to hate him someday either."

Shino fell silent. He understood Xia Mu's thoughts.

It was fine to be childish at the academy, but after becoming a ninja, one needed to face reality. Naruto could not remain so naive and immature. He truly needed to grow up. Everyone would give him the tolerance he deserved, but they would not tolerate him forever. Tolerance would gradually wear away with time. If Naruto truly did not grow, it would indeed become difficult for him to have friends in the future.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. It's rare for everyone to meet. Do you want to come to my house?" Xia Mu invited them.

"Although I would like to, let's skip it this time."

Shino shook his head in refusal. "It's already getting late, and there is another exam tomorrow. We should rest properly and recover our energy. If I visit, you will have to trouble yourselves entertaining me. Let's wait until the exams are over. Then I'll bring vegetables and visit properly."

Xia Mu and Tenten did not insist after hearing that.

Shino was thoughtful. He understood that now was not the time to visit, and he did not want his friends, exhausted from taking the exam, to still have to busy themselves hosting him.

Shino really was such a good friend. I'm crying.