Kabuto Yakushi, an otherwise potential man of this world if not for his life being dragged into the shadows by this world's darkness.
There were many in this world who had a lot of potential, but if Sukuna had to label one person as a potential man, then it had to be Kabuto.
Though this might be a wrong estimation, since perhaps it was those shadows and darkness which actually pushed the boy to achieve what he did in the canon series.
"You guys shouldn't make this much noise... you are attracting unwanted attention." Kabuto said as he discreetly pointed at the other candidates who had their eyes planted on them now.
From Team 7 to 11, everyone quieted down at that.
"And who are you again?" Sukuna asked, knowing what was about to come.
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi, a fellow Leaf nin. You can say I'm some sort of senpai to you in this exam since I have participated in it quite some times now."
Naruto blinked, curiosity winning out as he asked, "How many times?"
"7 times, and lost each one." Kabuto gave a defeated smile at this. Sukuna had to say that the boy's acting was top notch.
"Woh, seven times..." Naruto was amazed, even others were, now reconsidering the level of difficulty they were about to face in this exam."
Sasuke at this clicked his tongue, not impressed. "Why should we wanna listen to a man who failed 7 times in an exam."
"Sasuke." Kiyomi shot her brother a glare, like telling 'don't be rude.' Sasuke just turned his head away like he wasn't interested.
"Hahaha... right, that might seem like that at first glance, but you know what, with repeated tries comes knowledge and experience. Look at this..." Kabuto laughed and took out a bunch of cards from his pocket.
"What are those?"
"These are my ninja cards. During my time taking Chunin Exams I have taken note of intel of almost every genin present here. Since you rookies are fellow Konoha nin, think of it like a gift from your senpai. Ask me for any genin's intel, free of charge."
Everyone's eyes darted at the cards and for a second, excitement bubbled up.
"They really have intel on everyone here?" Karin asked, not believing.
"Give it a try, you do have anyone you wish to know about?"
Before Karin could think of anyone, it was Sasuke who spoke first. "Tell me what you have on Sukuna Haruno, Gaara of the Sand and Kimimaro from Mist."
Everyone's eyebrows shot up upon hearing the names. Even Sukuna mused, seeing Sasuke trying to gather intel on him. Was training with them all this time not enough, or did the brat just ask for it to ensure the quality of the intel...'Smart...'
"Hey, I was about to ask." Karin chided, but Sasuke just ignored her.
"Ah, you know their names, that makes it easy, let me see." Kabuto shuffled his cards and quickly found the three cards Sasuke asked for.
"Sukuna Haruno... a rookie Genin.
Teammates are Uzumaki Karin and Uchiha Kiyomi. They are currently listed under a temporary team and their Jonin sensei is Uchiha Izumi.
The team has completed 13 D-rank Missions and one C-rank Mission.
Nothing too impressive.
However, the records of the team were only dated to recent months or two. Meaning it was a very new team. I don't know anything about him before that though.
However, I do know that Haruno-san here is a Taijutsu style fighter with a certified medical degree. He has worked at Konoha Hospital for years. I know this personally since I too am a medical nin. I heard a lot about his medical feats.
I also heard that he wasn't proficient in other ninjutsu.
As for more, I don't have any more records on him." Kabuto said.
Reason being, the Hokage really sealed off some of the more dangerous intel about Sukuna. Like how he fought a Biju, became the only third person in the world who could use the Flying Thunder God technique.
"A 'C-rank' mission..." Shikamaru's eyebrows raised higher while Kiba looked at Sukuna like he was seeing him for the first time. Though he always lost to the boy in Taijutsu, everyone who trained with him knew that the boy couldn't do ninjutsu, so sooner or later everyone knew would surpass him.
Choji, Ino, Hinata, Shino, Tenten also looked surprised. Not so much Lee, Team 7 and his own team, they knew the reality. And they weren't planning on saying anything. Not that they were intending to hide his real power. They just wished to see the faces of those genin later when they faced him.
'We have suffered enough, why shouldn't they?' was the attitude.
The one person who neither looked surprised nor calm was Neji. The boy didn't come with his team to greet them, he was observing from further away. Eyes were fixed on Hinata, Sasuke and Sukuna.
Sukuna captured that glare almost immediately but he ignored him for the time being. The boy had daddy issues, he'll let Naruto handle him before planning to talk with him.
"Gaara of the Sand... is the youngest kid of the current Kazekage. He is also considered the strongest of his children. His teammates are his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro. And their Jonin sensei is Baki." Kabuto continued.
"What's impressive about him is that he has done all his missions and never gotten injured." Kabuto said, bringing a silence from the group. They took some time to digest that statement. Not getting injured even once, just how strong did that genin have to be?
"I don't have much more on him, however, I'll advise to be cautious around that one." Kabuto's eyes pointed at the redhead with the gourd standing at the edge of the room and advised.
"Lastly, Kimimaro from the Hidden Mist." He took out another card.
Sukuna tuned out the rest, he wasn't interested. His eyes wandered around the room, spotting every recognizable face. He didn't know half of them and the other half were mostly useless characters which might have been mentioned once or twice. Not worth it.
Who he really was searching for was a certain Sannin who might or might not infiltrate the exam later on, since after his intervention in this world, nothing could be said lightly.
He didn't sense any overwhelming negative emotions in the room outside of course Kurama in Naruto and Kiyomi's own curse energy.
'Did he not come? Or he'll join in the Forest of Death.'
Sukuna wasn't afraid of the snake Sannin, if anything he was looking forward to meeting the number one scientist of this world. What slightly worried him were other teams.
'It might have been nice to be born in a less bloody place than the Elemental Nations for once...' He grumbled but let the thought go. He would have liked a low-powered world anyway.
Perhaps Harry Potter, but that place too got its problems.
Soon the proctor for the exam came in, and it was Ibiki just like in the canon. Meaning there was a possibility that he could pass even if he didn't write anything, good shit...'
Sukuna had to say that Ibiki was a badass character, not necessarily the strongest, but he had extreme mental resistance and willpower.
The man knew how to toy with someone's mind well.
The exam went ahead almost exactly how it did in the story. Ibiki's test consisted of 10 questions. The last one given at the end.
All questions were extremely difficult. And the answers were willingly placed in front of them since some of the proctors were taking exams as candidates, they had answers.
Needless to say, cheating was the goal, intel gathering was the real test.
Having the Sharingan had its benefits, like how both Kiyomi and Sasuke copied answers from others. Sukuna frowned at this. He too had the Sharingan and he too wished to do this. Unfortunately he couldn't since he already knew the answers.
It took much more than pure muscles to constantly one-up her brain-freak of a sister in the academy after all. He knew his books.
One glance at Sakura and it was obvious that she too was able to answer. Shikamaru was also in the same boat, as long as he didn't find the entire test a big old drag, that is.
Others didn't fare that well. Of course they were trying to cheat, but doing so was much harder for them.
But still they did make something out, everyone except one...
'Poor Naruto...' Sukuna sighed. The boy was too innocent to realize that cheating was the goal.
But still Sukuna wasn't planning to help. If anything he wouldn't mind Team 7 getting out now. That would save them a lot of problems in the next test.
He rather cared about his own team, Kiyomi was fine but Karin was sweating bullets.
'Now how do I help her?' Sukuna pondered.
xXx
A/N : I wanted to change the exam structure as well, but honestly couldn't figure out to outpace Kishimoto in this place, man really made this test arguably the most brilliant moment in Naruto for me.
Pure mental warfare.
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