"Isn't that the written exam proctor? When did he go up there?"
Temari frowned slightly. It wouldn't be strange for any proctor to step in at a time like this.
But it was odd to see the written exam teacher standing right in the middle, especially since she remembered he wasn't even a ninja.
Standing so steadily among the sand and bones—if he were just a normal person, that would be way too weird.
"How did he stop those two? Why didn't I even see what happened?"
Kankuro rubbed his eyes and stared blankly at Hatake Satoru, who was now standing between the two.
Those two were terrifying, but the moment the written exam teacher walked down, it was like someone hit the pause button.
And the weird thing was, the teacher didn't even do anything. He just stood there like normal and cleanly separated the two.
Is that something a normal teacher should be able to do?
Kankuro thought the guy would at least have to fight Gaara and Kimimaro to hold them back.
Especially since they were from Sunagakure and Kirigakure, it wouldn't be a good look for either of their own proctors to step in. The most neutral option should've been someone from Konohagakure.
That way, it would be fair for everyone.
"Satoru-nii is amazing! He just walked down there and stood still, and that panda-eyes guy and the bone kid both froze!"
Naruto and Sasuke had also been sent back by Kakashi. They eagerly leaned on the railing, their eyes shining.
That's Satoru-nii for you—able to do what others can't with ease.
"It's not that impressive… he just stood there."
Sasuke mumbled quietly, sounding awkward even as he said it.
But the truth was right in front of them—Hatake Satoru was always strong, no matter the situation.
The students didn't quite understand what had happened. They just thought Satoru suddenly appeared between the two and scared them into stopping.
But most of the teachers had already noticed something was off. They exchanged meaningful looks.
Gaara's sand clearly rushed toward him, but it couldn't get near Satoru at all. It just floated around him, like something was keeping it away.
And Kimimaro's bones—some strange force shattered them on the spot.
Even if his bones weren't as hard as the Dance of the Clematis, they definitely shouldn't break that easily.
What was up with this guy? He didn't seem to have any chakra flowing through him, and he wasn't doing anything either.
He was just… standing there.
Such a weird ability.
Kakashi rested his hand on his chin. That moment where Gaara's sand couldn't touch Satoru…
It reminded him of how Satoru blocked all the sand just so he could eat his snacks in peace.
So that ability wasn't just for keeping his chips clean—it was meant to block attacks too.
But just how strong was that defensive ability?
No one knew what kind of attack it could actually stop.
This guy was a total mystery.
"Go announce the result."
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Gekko Hayate, who had a head full of sand next to him.
He remembered the young man standing in the middle—Kakashi's older brother, Hatake Satoru.
The Hatake clan may have produced a genius like Kakashi, but his older brother was supposedly just an ordinary person with zero chakra.
In fact, because of their father, Satoru had always avoided anything related to ninjas.
But for some reason, he showed unexpected interest in this Chunin Exam.
Not excitement—just a lack of resistance for once.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't figure out what the kid was thinking or planning.
But from the look of things, he might have some connection with the Mizukage and the people from Kirigakure Village.
But this time Kirigakure Village came to establish diplomatic ties, so there's not really anything to criticize.
Every move Hatake Satoru made seemed intentional, but he still couldn't figure out what the young man was thinking.
After all, in the past few years, Hatake Satoru hadn't even been in the village, so he hadn't had much chance to get to know him.
As for earlier, none of them made a move—those in charge of protecting the Hokage protected the Hokage, and those responsible for guarding the students guarded the students.
No one stepped forward to stop the two students.
Partly because of personal positions, and partly because no one really wanted to get involved with those two insane genin.
"Yes."
Gekko Hayate answered and disappeared, standing next to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Then, with his hair full of sand, he looked at Hatake Satoru standing in the middle. After a brief moment of thought, he chose not to join the commotion and just announced a draw while standing in the sand.
After all, Gaara was seriously injured. If he didn't get medical help soon, he might not make it.
Kimimaro also seemed out of it, not fully conscious.
Neither of them was in good shape.
So they were both considered to have tied and would move on to the official matches together.
Baki brought Gaara up and sent him straight to the medical team.
Hatake Satoru carried Kimimaro up to the stands.
At this point, the entire arena was damaged pretty evenly, so holding more matches would be difficult.
Even though Kimimaro and Gaara's fight was one of the last ones.
Because of all these issues, the jonin in charge of the remaining students were called to a meeting with the Third Hokage to come up with a solution everyone could accept.
As for Team 7, since all their matches were already over, they happily followed along to check on Kimimaro, who had just been brought up.
Kakashi scratched his head and followed behind the two. He felt a bit helpless—they were way too interested in the three people from Kirigakure Village.
Even though Kirigakure was here for diplomacy and it was fine to get along, they were still opponents until the exam ended.
"Let him take it. The whole bottle, even. If he can't make it through the official match, then there's no point anyway."
Hatake Satoru pulled out a bottle from his clothes and casually tossed it to Hozuki Suigetsu.
"Oh, this stuff again."
"I've seen him eat this a lot before—so you're the one giving it to him!"
Hozuki Suigetsu turned the bottle around in his hands, but it was just a plain white medicine bottle with no label.
"What is it?"
Kakashi looked at the half-dead Kimimaro with a slight frown. Kimimaro looked like he was in a state they had never seen before.
It was like all the bones in his body had been pulled out—completely limp.
Is it really okay to just give him medicine now instead of taking him to the hospital?
"Huh? Don't tell me you really thought his bones were unlimited or something."
"It's high-concentration calcium phosphate. It supports his bone cells and speeds up recovery."
"Otherwise, he really would die, y'know~"
Turns out that trip he took earlier wasn't just for snacks.
Hatake Satoru sat on the bent railing, propping up his face with one hand and smiling at Kakashi.
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