The next afternoon.
Hozuki Suigetsu talked a lot of nonsense and loved to make sarcastic remarks, but out of the three from Kirigakure, he was probably the nicest one.
With the river flowing nearby and the tall tower already almost in front of them, Suigetsu kept chattering loudly.
"Just throw the scroll outside! Destroying a scroll probably means three fewer people to deal with!"
"I think that's kinda a shame, though, because…"
"Who would feel bad about having three fewer enemies?"
Haku gave Suigetsu a blank look. Giving the enemy a chance just meant giving yourself more chances to die.
He was the kind who always put the mission first.
Still, Suigetsu clearly meant they should secretly give the scroll to Naruto's group. After all, not only did they not get any scrolls on the first day, they even lost their own.
Even though someone strange had snuck into the exam, it didn't look like there were any plans to cancel it for now.
Since the exam involved multiple countries, stopping it would cause a lot of trouble—not just with other nations, but it would also hurt Konoha's security reputation.
Someone like Sarutobi Hiruzen, who cared a lot about appearances, wouldn't stop the exam unless something really serious happened.
Even though three Kusagakure Ninja had already died, they could just say they died inside the Forest of Death to cover it up.
Those deaths were kept quiet—only the Konoha jonin and their teachers had seen it. No one else knew.
"Whatever, just toss it. Don't waste too much time."
Kimimaro glanced at Suigetsu and casually tossed him the Earth scroll he was holding.
After fighting Orochimaru, he had a pretty good idea of Naruto's group's abilities.
They had potential, but compared to the others, they still weren't quite there yet.
In the next part of the exam, Kimimaro wouldn't be paying much attention to Naruto and the others.
Right now, it was still a team-based test, and that group already seemed shaky. They'd stand no chance in the one-on-one matches coming later.
"Alright! Hey, can we go into the tower a bit later? I thought we had five days to survive here!"
Suigetsu jumped up to catch the scroll and smiled brightly at the other two.
He usually did missions without even drawing a weapon. Getting the chance to fight a bunch of students was actually kind of fun for him.
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
Haku and Kimimaro, for once, rejected him at the same time.
They usually let Suigetsu do whatever he wanted, and even if something went wrong, the two of them could cover for him.
But dragging it out any longer just didn't make sense.
They'd already spent a full day outside just to observe a few people who looked like they had potential.
Now that the observation was done, staying outside was pointless.
Haku thought that the longer they stayed out there, the more chances things could change. Even though they were strong, there was always a chance they'd run into someone even stronger.
Kimimaro, on the other hand, felt that showing up late made them look weak. They had already collected the scrolls—why were they still dragging their feet?
But Hatake Satoru himself didn't care about things like that. Right now, he was happily playing cards in the teachers' lounge.
Kimimaro glanced thoughtfully at Hozuki Suigetsu, who ran out without hesitation to toss the scroll the moment his suggestion was rejected.
Yesterday, when they scared off that Grass ninja, it probably had been Hatake Satoru who showed up.
After all, aside from him, there was basically no one else who could make such a scene and then vanish without a trace.
Only he would dare to come into the exam area just because he could teleport.
Kimimaro couldn't help but let out a small sigh.
When he was younger, he used to think about how to surpass Hatake Satoru. But now, it didn't seem possible at all.
Maybe he should set a more realistic goal—like surpassing the Mizukage first.
By the time Suigetsu came back, the sky was already completely dark, and the three of them walked into the tower together.
The building was empty, not even a single person in sight.
Hozuki Suigetsu looked around with a puzzled face. He squinted and checked under the stairs as well.
"Why isn't anyone here? Shouldn't there be a teacher around at this time?"
"No one knows exactly when students will show up. There's no way they'd just sit around waiting."
Haku opened both scrolls, one in each hand, revealing the summoning patterns inside.
"Whoa!! Why'd you open them?! Weren't we told not to during the test?!"
Seeing the white smoke rise from the scroll, Suigetsu panicked and tried to roll it back up.
"We're done with the exam now. Opening them isn't a problem anymore."
With a blank face, Kimimaro pulled Suigetsu to the side.
With a dull *poof*, both scrolls disappeared from Haku's hands, and a thick cloud of smoke rose in front of them.
"Ah—so this is what it feels like to be summoned~"
"But couldn't you have picked a better time? I was just about to go wash up."
Hatake Satoru scratched his head in his pajamas.
At the end of the second exam, the teachers from each village were assigned as the "summon targets" for each student group.
Once the scrolls were opened, the teacher would be summoned instantly to greet and guide the team.
Because there were a lot of foreign teams, even someone like Hatake Satoru, who usually slacked off, was brought in to help.
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But it was just a support role, so it wasn't a big deal.
"This is awesome! Too bad the scrolls are one-time use… otherwise I could summon you anytime!"
Suigetsu's eyes lit up, though he looked a little disappointed at Haku's now-empty hands.
"Just happened to be on duty this time. You guys finished pretty fast."
"But the third exam won't start for another three days. You'll have to wait until then."
"Use the time to rest, but don't bother the students who are still inside taking the exam."
Right after Hatake Satoru finished speaking, the doors behind Suigetsu and the others swung open.
The Sand siblings walked in, and Gaara didn't hesitate—he pulled open both of their scrolls at once.
*Poof!* A burst of white smoke followed, and Kakashi appeared in front of them.
"Ah, this group was fast too."
Kakashi lazily looked at the three students in front of him.
Since Iruka had requested to handle Team 7's group, Kakashi was left to deal with the foreign teams.
Gaara didn't even glance at Kakashi. He just stared coldly at Kimimaro.
"Well, now that you're here, the test's basically over. Better not start fighting on your own."
Kakashi stepped to the side and looked over at Hatake Satoru, who was still wearing pajamas, raising an eyebrow with a helpless expression.
"I told you not to bother changing clothes."
"I look good no matter what I wear. Pajamas too." Satoru said with a shrug.
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