Chapter 66: The Third Chunin Exam
This was the most boisterous day of summer.
The rising morning sun was already a bit fierce, baking dry the dewdrops left from the early morning.
Sunlight slanted into the huge arena, where light and shadow drew a dividing line between restlessness and cool shade.
In the arena, Sakura's group was lined up in a row, like soldiers awaiting inspection, facing the high-up spectator stands.
The third match of the Chunin Exams was also about to begin.
However, the match, which was originally scheduled to start at nine o'clock, was now approaching nine-thirty, and the signal to begin was still nowhere in sight.
The ordinary spectator stands were already about seventy to eighty percent full, but of those honored guests, the various daimyo and nobles, only a small half had trickled in.
"What's going on! Why hasn't the match started yet? It's already been almost half an hour!"
Naruto, who had already grown impatient waiting below, said complainingly while stretching his arms and shaking his legs to loosen his stiff body.
"Tch, aren't all leaders like this? If they don't make us wait for half a day, how can they show their importance? That's just how bureaucrats operate!"
Sakura pursed her lips and added with cold sarcasm.
But her eyes were slightly narrowed, looking at the empty seats on the main viewing platform.
The ones who were absent were the Daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire.
Sakura let out a cold laugh. Lord Hokage and Lord Kazekage had already been seated punctually for a long time. She really didn't know where these dignitaries got the courage and the face to be so perfunctory towards the ninja.
Could it be that they want to give the Konoha ninja village a show of force?
The establishment of the ninja village system in various countries had allowed the entire Naruto world to escape the war-torn, endlessly slaughtering Warring States period and enter the era of great power confrontation between ninja villages. This system was a great step forward for the Naruto world to escape from ignorance, but it had also buried many hidden dangers.
One country, one village. Who was in charge?
The country held the economic lifeline for the ninja village's survival, while the ninja village possessed the military strength to overthrow the daimyo's throne and even conquer the country. The relationship between the daimyo and the Kage was one of mutual cooperation and mutual restraint.
When a ninja village was weak, it would silently act subservient, yielding to the daimyo in exchange for various kinds of economic and material support to accumulate strength. When it was strong, it would completely disregard the country, act on its own, do whatever it wanted, and fight whomever it wanted. The daimyo couldn't control them at all.
The daimyo, on one hand, wanted the ninja village to be strong so that they would not be invaded by foreign enemies. On the other hand, they wanted the ninja village to be weak so that it would be easy to control.
It was quite a contradiction.
In the eyes of the Land of Fire's Daimyo and others, the current Konoha, with the Third Hokage aging, the Sannin either having defected or left, the middle generation unable to take on heavy responsibilities, and the new generation in a slump, was at its weakest.
It was also the best moment for them to establish their authority.
They were deliberately late, forcing everyone to wait for them, precisely to show everyone who was in charge in this country.
Of course, this was just Sakura's speculation.
Whether the late arrival of the Land of Fire's Daimyo and nobles was due to bureaucracy or ulterior motives, Sakura couldn't be sure. She only knew that with Tsunade and Jiraiya here now, Konoha was far from being as weak as these people imagined. If they were really harboring ill intentions, this score would be settled sooner or later.
There were many others who had realized the daimyo's intentions.
On the central viewing platform, the Third Hokage glanced at the spectator stands as if inadvertently, secretly shook his head, and continued to chat and laugh with the Fourth Kazekage as if nothing was wrong. An Anbu member serving as his guard behind him also glanced at the empty seat of the Fire Daimyo, but under his mask, he let out a cold, impassive sneer.
The daimyo wanted to put the ninja village in its place, but he didn't know that the ninja village didn't even take him seriously. For a large village like Konoha, if the daimyo dared to be too arrogant, they could put him in his place at any time. The ninja village only had some reservations about the daimyo in order to maintain the good operation of the Land of Fire so that Konoha could receive the support of a nation.
The other Genin below didn't think so much about the political level.
"Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, you two should calm down. The match is about to start. If you're too restless, you won't be able to perform well!"
Hinata, standing between Naruto and Sakura, gently pulled on Sakura's sleeve and said in a low voice.
She clearly wanted to say it to Naruto, but she turned to Sakura instead. This small shyness made Sakura laugh secretly.
Hinata, who was usually very frank, honest, and poised, would become a different person when facing the person she liked. It was very cute. It was just like many boys, who were usually carefree, but when they faced the person they liked, they couldn't even speak.
"Hinata-chan, you should be pulling Naruto and telling him that. I'm not restless at all!"
Sakura said with a sneaky smile, glancing at Naruto, which made him confused. "Eh? What's wrong?"
Just as she was about to continue teasing Hinata, she suddenly felt something and, at the same time as Hinata, looked towards a certain spot on the viewing platform.
The head of the Hyuga family, Hiashi, the main family daughter, Hanabi, and the branch family member, Neji, were sitting there primly.
"Is that the big sister Haruno Sakura who defeated brother Neji?" Although Hanabi had seen Sakura many times, she didn't know how strong she was. Hearing that brother Neji was the genius of the Hyuga family, and that Sakura had defeated him, she pointed at Sakura below and asked curiously.
"Yes, that's her. Her ninjutsu is more worthy of being called an absolute defense than my Rotation..." Neji thought again of the scene where he had been defeated by Sakura.
"Big sister's friend is actually this strong! You can't tell at all!"
"Hanabi, a person's strength cannot be judged simply by their appearance. You must remember this! Neji, I must emphasize again, although every ninjutsu has its weaknesses, I may not be able to see them just by watching a few matches. A better way for you to crack her ninjutsu is to spar with her more often," Hiashi said seriously, sitting upright. Neji quickly nodded in agreement.
"Father, brother Neji, look, big sister saw us!" Hanabi waved excitedly at Hinata below.
The Hanabi of this world, although she didn't understand why Hinata had given up the family inheritance to become a Genin, had always admired her strong and sunny older sister, and the two sisters had a very good relationship.
"Hmph!" Hiashi suddenly remembered that he seemed to be the last in the family to discover his eldest daughter's strength and her altered Gentle Fist. The moment Hinata was mentioned, he subconsciously snorted and put on the air of a family head, but he had to admit that Hinata really did have some skill.
"...Hanabi, look closely. Your older sister's Gentle Fist has already taken a different path. Although I require you not to mess around with the Gentle Fist like she did, there are still some things worth learning from it!"
"Yes, Father!" Hanabi answered obediently.
Just then, a clamor came from the other side of the viewing platform. It turned out that the Fire Daimyo and the nobles had finally arrived late.
And this also meant that the match was about to begin!
Below, the proctor standing in front of the few Genin coughed a few times, signaling for Sakura and the others to stop messing around.
"Stand properly, you lot. The match is about to begin. Face the audience properly!" Genma Shiranui, who always had a senbon in his mouth, said faintly. "Because the stars of this match are you!"
Amidst the cheers of the audience, the Third Hokage, using some unknown method, made his voice echo throughout the entire arena.
"...Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to watch the Chunin Selection Exams hosted by our Konoha village! Now, I declare the selection matches between the nine who passed the preliminaries officially begin!"
The short opening speech ignited the enthusiasm of the entire audience to its peak!
Then, after Genma Shiranui finished explaining the rules of the match, the first round finally began—
"First round, Uzumaki Naruto versus Haruno Sakura!"
"Will the other participants please go to the contestant waiting area."
Under his command, the remaining few left in a line, leaving only Genma as the proctor and Naruto and Sakura in the arena.
"Naruto, I never thought you and I would be facing each other here!" Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto's azure eyes stared intently at Sakura, and he said with a smile:
"Sakura-chan, did you know? You've always been the person I've wanted to challenge the most! Although we've sparred many times before, and it always ended with my defeat, the me of today is different! You'd better be careful, otherwise, you might just lose to me!"
"Hmph, is that so?" Sakura smiled faintly and lowered her arms from her chest. "Then I'll have to look forward to it!"
"Don't worry, I definitely... won't let you down!"
The two were ready for battle. Genma did not delay and swung his hand down sharply—
"First round of the match... begin!"
As soon as his voice fell, Sakura's figure turned into an afterimage, instantly rushing in front of Naruto and crashing into his arms!
The two seemed to be hugging tightly, standing face to face.
And the kunai in Sakura's hand had already been deeply plunged into Naruto's abdomen!
A trace of blood flowed out from the wound.
"So fast!" Naruto's azure eyes still held a trace of disbelief as he said with a tremor.
Sakura's gaze was indifferent.
There was neither the sadness of having hurt a friend, nor the joy of winning the match.
She just stared coldly ahead.
The surrounding audience stared blankly at this scene, silent as a cicada in winter, as if they couldn't believe that the first match had ended so quickly!
Genma Shiranui watched this scene calmly, standing in place without a word.
On the waiting platform, Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan, veins bulging, as she scanned the entire arena over and over again!
Then, Naruto fell softly to the ground, the light in his azure eyes gone.
Sakura didn't even look at Naruto on the ground and said faintly.
"You're not slow either... Naruto!"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!