"Heh, the voice is even more alike!"
Kakashi's former Anbu subordinates, familiar with him, including examiner Anko, all turned to look at Naruto. Due to their differing job responsibilities, none of them had much contact with Naruto, and for most, this was their first close-up encounter. Was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's personality... that quirky? Truly the King of Pranks.
"Naruto!"
"Hahaha," Naruto scratched his head awkwardly, hearing Kakashi's distinct change in tone. "Kakashi-sensei, I was just kidding." Couldn't he sense Kakashi's chakra signature? Besides, Kakashi's white hair was far too noticeable. Wearing an Anbu uniform was as good as wearing nothing.
"Naruto Uzumaki, did you encounter Orochimaru?" The impatient Anko couldn't wait for the master and student to chat and went straight to the point.
"Orochimaru? Never heard of him," Naruto subtly signaled Sasuke not to speak, then feigned a thoughtful expression. "I only saw a ninja flicking his tongue at me and attacking."
"And then?"
"Then... I used one Fire Style, a dozen Wind Styles, and he vanished. Don't know if he's dead or not," Naruto said, shrugging.
An Anbu member couldn't believe this account. Looking at Naruto's laid-back demeanor and his age, he couldn't connect him with that terrifying Fire Style from earlier.
"Was that Fire Style yours?"
Naruto didn't refute. "Could also be some hero, passing by out of interest, who just happened to cast a Fire Style."
"Naruto!" Naruto's personality sometimes even gave Kakashi a headache.
"Alright, it was indeed me."
Naruto's straightforward admission, ironically, made the Anbu members disbelieve him even more. That terrifying chakra capacity implied by an S-rank Fire Style, an unknown but similarly S-rank Wind Style, and dozens of continuous bombardment ninjutsu... They couldn't connect the person responsible for all of it with the quirky, casual-looking twelve- or thirteen-year-old child before them. Such a scene simply didn't compute in their minds!
But who that person actually was, the Anbu members weren't sure. Along the way, they had only seen various ninjutsu bombardments. They tried to rush to the scene but were blocked by a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, followed by various ninjutsu explosions on their path forward. Fearing collateral damage, they hadn't dared to get too close. This was also intentional on Naruto's part. No one could interrupt him from beating Orochimaru to a pulp! No one. Not the Anbu. Not even Orochimaru himself!
Beating Orochimaru couldn't be interrupted, but Orochimaru also couldn't be captured. So, these Anbu simply had to suffer a bit.
"Whistle, Sparrow, continue forward and search. I'll handle things here," Kakashi ordered, intending to send the Anbu away.
The Anbu nodded. "Senior, we'll go pursue." Some were tempted to do something about this quirky Naruto, but a glance at Kakashi, the leading Jonin, made them give up. They could only continue searching forward.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~
Several Anbu and Anko left. The Anbu didn't believe Naruto's words, but Kakashi did. Recalling the overwhelming Fire Style he saw before entering, Kakashi knew that even though he had tried to estimate his student's strength as generously as possible, he had still underestimated him.
Glancing at the two, Kakashi asked curiously, "Where's Sakura? Why isn't she here?"
"Oh no, I forgot!" Naruto slapped his head as if suddenly remembering something. "Kakashi-sensei, we'll go back and find her now!"
"Hm."
"Goodbye, Kakashi-sensei~"
Whoosh~
Naruto pulled Sasuke and left. Watching the two rush off, Kakashi was deep in thought.
On the way back.
"Naruto, you..." Sasuke hesitated, wanting to say something.
"What's wrong? You want to explain in detail? If you do that, your exam will be over, and you'll be taken away for investigation."
"It's such a pain!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto suddenly realized he might have been infected by Shikamaru. But that didn't matter. Regardless, the Chunin Exam had to continue. He desperately needed this stage.
"No, I wasn't talking about that..."
"Hm? Then what is it?"
With a sigh, Sasuke seemed to put aside his pride. "Naruto, can you teach me Fire Style?"
At this moment, lions lurked in Sasuke's eyes. He had indeed been shocked by Naruto's Fire Style. He had just been thinking, if he had Naruto's Fire Style, could he avenge Itachi? The desire for revenge outweighed his pride. He, Sasuke, also wanted to learn this kind of Fire Style.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke in surprise, finding it quite odd. Sasuke had always considered him his greatest rival, always trying to surpass him. Yet now, he was asking his rival for guidance. Are you a moss-head too?
"Sasuke, a person needs backbone!"
"What do you mean?"
"Not teaching you!"
"I..." Sasuke kept saying "I" but couldn't utter the next word, as if engaged in an internal struggle or decision.
"Actually... Leopard-sensei is no less capable than I am," Naruto slowly said.
"Really?"
"Definitely real," since it was his clone, it must be like him. Facing Sasuke's expectant gaze, Naruto continued to explain, "What you're learning right now is still very basic. Leopard-sensei just hasn't had a chance to show off yet."
"I learned all my ninjutsu from Leopard-sensei. Learning from him is definitely the right choice!"
"So that's how it is!" Sasuke's hope rekindled. "Just you wait, Naruto, within three years, I'll definitely surpass you!"
Naruto was speechless. This guy was like a nail, begging to be hammered. Moreover, this Uchiha was overly confident!
The two hurried back and finally found Sakura nearby.
"Third Disciple, are you there?"
"Hahaha! Sasuke, Naruto!"
Hearing the secret signal, pink-haired Sakura emerged from the tree hollow, greeting the two cheerfully. A closer look revealed that the timid Sakura who had entered the exam earlier was long gone. Standing before them now was: Confident Sakura!
Why confident? Naruto immediately noticed the three members of another team tied up at the bottom of the tree hollow. Judging by their headbands, they were a Genin team from the Land of Grass, two males and one female. The two males looked quite sturdy, probably adults, while the young girl was around their age, with striking red hair.
"When I first met them, I was so scared. They saw me, a weak girl, and came to snatch our scrolls. But this is our team's hope, I couldn't just hand it over to them, so I fought them," Sakura explained, her face feigning lingering fear but secretly beaming with delight. "I didn't expect them to be so weak. They were defeated by my fists in just a few moves, hehe."
"Ta-da!~"
Then, Sakura proudly presented a scroll of Earth, like an offering. With this, their team now had both the Heaven and Earth scrolls.
"You're amazing, Sakura! Sasuke and I didn't even get an Earth scroll, but you got it ahead of us!" Seeing Sakura's rare moment in the spotlight, Naruto immediately offered praise. "I declare that in this team internal competition, you have won the undisputed first place!"
"Sasuke, what do you think?" After speaking, he subtly signaled Sasuke to also praise her.
Sakura looked expectantly at Sasuke.
"Good job, Sakura!"
"Sasuke-kun!"
The praise from Sasuke moved Sakura to tears. Did this mean their relationship had taken another step forward? In that instant, she had even thought of their children's names.
"Hey, what's your name?" Naruto walked over to the three tied-up captives and asked the red-haired girl. Her other two teammates had been knocked unconscious by Sakura's monstrous strength taijutsu; only she remained awake.
"Karin... Karin Uzumaki."