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Chapter 122 - Chapter 122

Naruto hadn't arrived yet, but his voice came first.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura appeared in front of the group.

Kimimaro glanced up at the three. Kakashi-sensei? So these three's teacher wasn't Hatake Satoru?

From how they were addressed, it seemed they only knew Hatake Satoru casually.

Kimimaro's connection was only as a student to Hatake Satoru. He had been aiming to become the best student of Mizukage Hozuki Suigetsu.

He wanted to be the teacher's top student.

Before, when he saw Hatake Satoru with Naruto and Sasuke, Kimimaro added three rivals in his mind.

But now it seemed those three could be crossed off the list.

"What's that guy doing here? What's a normal person doing at the Chunin Exams?"

Sasuke shifted his gaze with some annoyance.

Kakashi and Hatake Satoru, both tall and thin, stood out a lot.

There seemed to be a few more people with them, but Naruto and the others didn't get close enough to clearly see their faces.

"Eh?! Isn't that the masked guy from before?!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes and looked at the white-haired figure turning toward them.

"!?"

"!?"

Sasuke instantly tensed up. That guy was supposed to be dead! How could he be here again?

Naruto had talked with White after breaking his mask before.

He still felt a bit upset about White's death.

Seeing him alive and standing right in front of him now made Naruto freeze for a moment.

Then their eyes shifted to Kimimaro and Suigetsu standing near Hatake Satoru.

But White still kept some distance from Kakashi and Hatake Satoru, while two others were standing right next to Hatake Satoru.

A normal person surrounded by two outsiders.

Something about this didn't feel right.

Suigetsu, like his brother Suigetsu, wore his headband around his neck. Kimimaro had his headband tied on his arm.

These three were all from Kirigakure!

Even though Naruto was sad about White's death, he couldn't deny they were enemies back then.

White was unfortunate, but the Kirigakure people were definitely not good guys.

"Hey! You two, let go of Satoru-nii!"

Naruto jumped up and rushed toward Hatake Satoru.

Sasuke didn't say anything but his eyes were full of hostility.

Although Kirigakure said they were here to build ties, Naruto and the others had just fought White not long ago and naturally disliked Kirigakure.

Seeing the three standing around Hatake Satoru, they immediately thought those three were threatening him.

"What are you two doing? They're here for the Chunin Exams."

"If you want to fight, wait until the exam."

Kakashi sighed deeply, a bit tired. What was going on, fighting right at the classroom door?

He was surprised White was alive too, but now wasn't the time to argue about that.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by the collars, one in each hand, lifting them up to stop them from charging at White and the others.

The exam!?

Naruto and Sasuke both froze, not knowing how strong Kimimaro and Suigetsu were.

But White? Here to take the Chunin Exams!?

It kind of feels like this is throwing things off balance a bit.

"Tch! If it's an exam, then fine—but you two foreigners, let go of Satoru-nii already!"

Naruto was still trying to protect Hatake Satoru, shouting and waving his arms at Kimimaro and Suigetsu.

Foreigners?

To Satoru-sensei, *you* guys are probably the foreigners.

Kimimaro and Suigetsu looked at each other, then each leaned in closer to Satoru's sides and made silly faces at Naruto by pulling down their eyelids.

"..."

What's with these kids?

Hatake Satoru was speechless for a moment, watching the bunch around him.

Stop fighting over him already… this is just weird.

Sure, it does kind of show he's doing a good job as a teacher, but still—this feels way too awkward!?

Kakashi looked down at the two kids he was carrying, then looked again at the two standing by Hatake Satoru.

They're both teachers, so why is the difference in treatment this big!?

Hatake Satoru must've done something to win them over, right!?

"You two rushing in like that—you're both idiots too."

Suigetsu just had to get in one more jab, sneering at Naruto and Sasuke.

I'm gonna kill this guy.

Naruto and Sasuke looked like they were dead inside, glaring daggers at Suigetsu.

"Calling someone an idiot when you're an idiot too—maybe don't do that, Suigetsu~"

Hatake Satoru didn't even look, just smiled and lightly punched Suigetsu on the head.

"Ugh!"

Suigetsu held his head and turned away.

Hatake Satoru opened the door to the classroom, and Suigetsu and Kimimaro walked in first.

As Haku passed Naruto and Sasuke, he tilted his head slightly and looked at them.

"This time, let's do our best."

Then he walked into Room 301 without another word.

Trying to act cool again, huh...

Sasuke and Naruto thought the same thing at the same time.

Back when Haku wore a mask, he already acted like that. Sasuke was starting to feel like his cool guy status was being challenged.

Hatake Satoru rolled up his sleeves and checked his watch, then casually patted Kakashi on the shoulder.

"It's almost time~ You should go hand in their exam forms."

Kakashi tilted his head, gave Satoru an "OK" sign with his hand.

Seeing that everyone had finally calmed down, Kakashi let Sasuke and Naruto go, then smiled at the three of them.

"Well, since the three of you came together, I can now officially sign you up for the Chunin Exams."

Sakura blinked in surprise, looking confused.

"Huh? Wait, I thought we were signing up by choice?"

Kakashi scratched the headband on his forehead, thought for a moment, then looked up to explain.

"I didn't want to force you. I wanted you to come because *you* really wanted to."

"If I had told you from the start that it had to be all three of you—"

"Since Sasuke and Naruto were going, even if you didn't want to, you probably would've gone along just because you had to make a team of three."

Sakura glanced at the two beside her—Sasuke would definitely go, chasing after strength. Naruto was a loud, hot-headed idiot, so he was almost guaranteed to go.

If it really had been presented as a three-person thing from the start, she probably would've forced herself to join too.

"Well, if even one of you had decided not to go, I would've told the other two to back out too."

Kakashi took two steps back and moved aside, revealing the door behind him.

"I'm really glad you all decided to come. Now go on, head inside together."

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